Thai Immigration Bureau to blacklist all overstayers of more than 90 days

[baboon]

Read it again. If you are apprehended on the street with an overstay of less than a year, you will be banned for 5 years.

I am sure it will not be the case.

This document looks like just a draft or some working notes.

I can't see this kind of ban for being late just a few days or week.

Should have be better to wait for the official rules before commenting on them...

Reasonable point. I would just add 'Wait for the official rules and which border points are enforcing what.'

There is no one single system here.

[wrgf]

I was in a UK embassy when a US woman was told that she was not eligible for a long term visa as she had overstayed 1 day on her previous visa.

Tears but it didn't help.

Guess that is coming to Thailand

[DrTuner]

I reckon this might spur a new branch of business, smuggling overstaying farangs in/out of Thailand.

[MrWorldwide]

next thing might be a cash incentive for turning in your mates

My visa specifically prohibits paid employment of any kind, otherwise it sounds like an excellent revenue stream.

[ericthai]

Depressing to see so many people saying "great to see life getting harder for someone other than me"

What people forget is, there are no good immigration bureaucracies in the world. The western ones mostly suck too. Immigrants are some of the most vulnerable people in the world. Thousands of people fall through the cracks, can't get visas, get separated from their loved ones, etc. because of inflexible bureaucracies.

For a long time one of the attractions of Thailand was that it was easy to come and go. I don't promote overstaying, but if they want to clean up corruption and enforce the law, how about starting with corrupt cops, or hi-so Thais who literally get away with murder? Because foreigners are an easy target that have no rights and no political representation.

If you're cheering on these changes that's what you're supporting -- selective law enforcement that goes after the easy targets.

Who knows where this stops, my concern is that it will continue to a point where living legally in Thailand gets too hard, and then that's one less great place in the world where I can live.

Where are they making it harder? They are making the fines for breaking the laws(overstaying)stronger, that's all. So are you upset because you are living here without a visa and overstaying? I followed the rules as with many others that live here have followed the rules.

I assume you don't support immigrants in your country staying in your country illegally? Same here, Thailand is cracking down on people that are living here illegally. It's still easy to come to Thailand, they still have the visa exempt stamp, you can still get a tourist visa along with B & O visa's.

There are many options to get a visa.

Also I guess you have not seen that the Junta is working on cracking down on corruption, they haven't just started with immigrants. They went after the taxi mafia, threw out the proposal for the airport expansion until it is more transparent. They are working on stopping corruption in politics etc.

I'd agree the junta seems to be doing some worthwhile work with corruption, ( the long term results yet to be seen) but just because they are making some positive (and in my opinion) correct decisions in one hand doesn't make every decision correct. From a point of principle I've already made a tonne of comments on this thread regarding the visa . It is an undeniable fact regulations are getting harder for many. mainly those that try to abide by doing things legally. Those that don't are never affected until caught anyway but their reasons could be varied and equally could be innocent despite being deemed illegal and therefore bad. Where does it stop and isnt there a better solution to the given problem. I dont single out Thailand with immigration issues my own country is equally bad. But some of the posts here about acceptance or good riddance to bad rubbish. or its easy for me so it should be easy for you kind of statements on here show a lack of compassion to many and makes me sad why the world is turning this way. Personally I think if they really focused on the anti corruption issues at all levels, there would be little need for more stringent regulation on the visa front. I would love to invest more money into Thailnd but dont feel comfortable doing so seeing all these new enforcements and regulations being applied to foreigners.. the way it is now a small slip up could cost me very dearly indeed.

So what do you think they should just let people that over stay 2,5,8+ years pay a small fine and come right back in? Dont you think 90 days is fair amount of time? If over 90 days then you are only banned for 1 year. You need to draw the line somewhere and I think 90 days is a fair line. Sure I have a heart and people still have time to get out. After that you know the rules. I have overstayed in the past by 1-3 days prior to moving here and doing projects that got delayed. Sure things happen, but they are allowing for 90 days, that's allot of time.

Really I think it will be a good thing. Right now you have allot of schools that don't care and take advantage of their teachers, this will stop that. This should help with all the little shady companies that are employing people without getting them the proper visa and work permit. Tourists will still be able to come on a visa exempt or tourist visa. People living here can still get a B or O visa, so many options for visa and it's not hard. Thailand is still easy compared to other places. I have a friend that was working in China, he is now 60 and they wont give him a visa to work anymore because he is too old. Thailand has no restriction on age for working. I dont understand the guys that are against this. that means you are supporting overstaying, why??

[BlueEasySleep]

Many farangs have abused the system over the years.

Not sure I understand all the "abused the system" comments.

That would imply that farangs as a whole take more money out of the system than they put in.

Which is extremely false.

[rebelplatoon]

Yes, it will be education visa's next. Then a firm control of people without a work permit who do work for overseas companies on the computer in Thailand, then they will be more strict on the income side of the pensioners

then they will adjust the laws for people taking care of their Thai children. A crackdown on foreigners who hold companies with proxy (people who hold shares for them but actually are not involved).

A crackdown on foreigners who hold land through companies. A crackdown on people with the 2x 30 years lease (they will make the lease price more realistic and not a nominal amount).

There is still lots happening. Not ALL good. Mind you if you have a proper company, pay taxes, declare profits and VAT but you are a foreigner they will come to check you very soon.

Get the picture yet? It's called xenophobic.

[ParadiseLost]

Next thing to expect is a bounty offered on foreigners living in hiding; surely more than a few loving wives would quite cheerfully hand their husbands in, possibly mine included

To those advocating strict bans, for even one day overstay; I hope you never have children as they will definitely have miserable lives being condemned by you for every wrong decision they make in life.

Not everyone on overstay is a criminal, or malicious type - some are willfully thumbing their noses at the law, but many have some pretty miserable lives and have no way out. Even the threat of harsh and inhumane punishment could lead to suicidal thoughts amongst the particularly impoverished.

As another poster pointed out, the detention centers had better be ready to treat a huge number of old, sick and demented men...

[Benmart]

Im not sure why someone would bother trying to overstay anyway. In ANY country in the world it's illegal and courting disaster. I actually hope that all these recent shakedowns will help rid the country of some of the scurvy bilge that is found clinging to the vestiges of their sorry lives in this beautiful land.

its illegal bla bla bla,,, perhaps if countries around the world stopped being so anal about foreign visitors of independent means , there might be less friction and a greater spread of culture, understanding of social and work ethics. Why should anyone be shackled to any one country just because they were born there...

stop bleating on about the law and stand up against it for the good of change.

My bleating or lack of it matters not. I am not Thai, don't vote here and prefer to obey the laws of my host country. When I can't or won't, then I move on.

How one stands up is predicated on legal foundation. Sometimes laying down is not a bad thing.

[BadBouy]

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I have a friend going down with Parkinsons and other medical complications.

He is just over 60 yrs old.

He and his wife have a successful manufacturing export company and 3 kids.

About 18 months ago they went to Vietnam sourcing product and at the same time he obtained a multiple entry Non Imm B visa.

This was about 6 months after the onset of his initial medical problems but whilst he was still well enough to travel.

Since then there has been a rapid deterioration of his condition (s) and he has been bed ridden for the last 6-8 months and is in severe pain.

His wife has done her best in the circumstances and has had no choice but to spend their life savings on medical bills.

Well over a couple of million to date, more bills to come and the house ( valued at about 5 million ) is now for sale.

He has no insurance.

The business is good but needs a westerner to interface with clients and do design etc.

By herself she is unlikely to make the business grow and a steady decline is more likely.

There were several different diagnoses from different hospitals and because she was taking him to different hospitals over a period ( always on the advice of various Dr's ) there is no continuity of paperwork and nobody advised her about the visa implications, which were neglected anyway because of the other dramas.

My friend is now on overstay by about 5-6 months, is too ill to travel anywhere and because there are several different hospitals involved, i doubt if a single certificate of treatment covering the overstay can be obtained.

Probably the best that can be obtained is simple certificates to the effect that he attended for treatment on such and such a date.

These will not have the continuity required by immigration.

He has no living relatives in his home country and is now too ill to fly anyway.

There are 3 kids and he has invested the last 30 years of his life here and created a unified family and a successful business ( against all the odds, I might add )

Under these new regulations he is ( choose an adjective ), can be deported and banned from his family and his only means of support.

The people on here lauding zenophobic, heartless and draconian new rules need their heads examined..........................

I know of at least a dozen others with tales similar to what PhilW told in post #123 -- only the men I know are much, much older and in situations where they've lost all contact with anyone in their home countries. There really is no one and no where for them to go if they were to return to their home countries. Plus, they have no way to finance a return trip, let alone an overstay fine. They spend their small pensions every month barely getting by. In many cases, their Thai family is caring for them and they are unable to travel.

How did they get on overstay? Well, in some cases it was as some have speculated. Dementia or a hospital stay and they simply lost track of keeping up with visa maintenance. Some were playing games in trying to stay here long-term with tourist visas because they lacked financial means to qualify for retirement/marriage visas and the rigors of travel got to be too much as they aged. Some because Thai partners cleaned out their 800,000 baht retirement visa account. Some because they became ill and were in-and-out of hospitals (as PhilW described) but Immigration wouldn't grant a medical extension and insisted they should go out of the country and pay the 20,000 baht fine.

That's right. Here in Chiang Mai Immigration they usually tell these guys -- just wait until you leave the country and pay the fine then. Wait until you can get the money together. They haven't tried to compromise or work with them. Some of these guys have been "waiting" for years. Now this happens.

Is IDC prepared to care for elderly men with multiple health problems?

I believe this crack down is to eliminate corruption with in the system as well as cull the herd or undesirables in country. No effort will ever be 100% effective. In the 2 quotes above the problems involved with first finding these people and then dealing with them would quickly overwhelm the system. They will have to find a lot of ruthless people to find and enforce these rules in this type of situation, not likely. There will be cases where the baby gets thrown out with the bath water, and this will cause economic problems and destroy opportunity for foreigners and Thais. This will prompt changes in the rules which would benefit Thailand as well as be beneficial towards those who pose no burden on the country.

Thailand is their country, their culture, the world is not yet one homogeneous pot. If your living in Thailand or any other part of the world and loving it, there is always the bad that goes with the good. Change for the better can be painful, unless unscrupulous tactics are shown I suggest patience. I am getting close to making the leap of "trying" retirement in Thailand. If ever there was a case to be made for only renting this is it. For those who have been in country on proper visas following the rules there is no change, for those really trying to follow the rules I bet there will be lenience, for those purposely trying to work around the laws, prepare to move someplace else. People that do not respect their laws are the ones they are after. I have no doubt that even the lose of these people will cause some economic pain and the best thing that could happen is house cleaning and a change in immigration laws, worst return to a corrupt system.

[ericthai]

Lets be honest, who overstays? not counting medical reasons and i am sure medical does not run over a year or even 3 months

So

1. People who have no money to do visa runs

2. People who are too lazy to do visa runs

3. People who can not afford proper visa

4. People who do not qualify for visa.

Not exactly the most desirable or productive people, though on the flip side Thailand should expect shortage of English teachers

Ummm - people like me who get 34/35 days of holidays (or more), 3 times a year (or more) ? I used to end up on 2 days overstay almost every trip. Under these new rules, if I was stopped on the way to the airport, I could get a 5 year ban (though one may suspect that if you have a history of short overstays, and plane tickets, etc, they could let it slip. Or not. Could depend entirely on the mood of the person detaining you, your appearance, your attitude, etc.)

Fortunately I've aged sufficiently that while I still get the holidays, I don't have the overstay worries anymore.

2 or 3 day over stay are not an issue,as of yet, though not sure why you think anyone should be allowed to over stay even by 1 day.

I can understand 1-2 days over stay. Things happens, working on a project that gets delayed. Has happened to me in the past.

I think the 90 days is very generous grace period.

[mrtoad]

I think Patrick Brownstone nailed it, as usual.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[choochoo]

Bugger ... that's going to stuff up a lot of the plans of the overstayers.

I hope there are the usual exemptions such as 'Medical' etc.

I don't think people actually plan to overstay. It's just that circumstances tend to overtake them and they get in a mess.

Best of luck to all people in that situation.

excuses, excuses, excuses. i bet all the long time over-stayers are scum......lol.

[larsjohnsson]

Many farangs have abused the system over the years.

Not sure I understand all the "abused the system" comments.

That would imply that farangs as a whole take more money out of the system than they put in.

Which is extremely false.

Abusing is about a lot more than money Edited July 7, 2014 by larsjohnsson

[epicstuff]

Depressing to see so many people saying "great to see life getting harder for someone other than me"

What people forget is, there are no good immigration bureaucracies in the world. The western ones mostly suck too. Immigrants are some of the most vulnerable people in the world. Thousands of people fall through the cracks, can't get visas, get separated from their loved ones, etc. because of inflexible bureaucracies.

For a long time one of the attractions of Thailand was that it was easy to come and go. I don't promote overstaying, but if they want to clean up corruption and enforce the law, how about starting with corrupt cops, or hi-so Thais who literally get away with murder? Because foreigners are an easy target that have no rights and no political representation.

If you're cheering on these changes that's what you're supporting -- selective law enforcement that goes after the easy targets.

Who knows where this stops, my concern is that it will continue to a point where living legally in Thailand gets too hard, and then that's one less great place in the world where I can live.

Where are they making it harder? They are making the fines for breaking the laws(overstaying)stronger, that's all. So are you upset because you are living here without a visa and overstaying? I followed the rules as with many others that live here have followed the rules.

I assume you don't support immigrants in your country staying in your country illegally? Same here, Thailand is cracking down on people that are living here illegally. It's still easy to come to Thailand, they still have the visa exempt stamp, you can still get a tourist visa along with B & O visa's.

There are many options to get a visa.

Also I guess you have not seen that the Junta is working on cracking down on corruption, they haven't just started with immigrants. They went after the taxi mafia, threw out the proposal for the airport expansion until it is more transparent. They are working on stopping corruption in politics etc.

I'd agree the junta seems to be doing some worthwhile work with corruption, ( the long term results yet to be seen) but just because they are making some positive (and in my opinion) correct decisions in one hand doesn't make every decision correct. From a point of principle I've already made a tonne of comments on this thread regarding the visa . It is an undeniable fact regulations are getting harder for many. mainly those that try to abide by doing things legally. Those that don't are never affected until caught anyway but their reasons could be varied and equally could be innocent despite being deemed illegal and therefore bad. Where does it stop and isnt there a better solution to the given problem. I dont single out Thailand with immigration issues my own country is equally bad. But some of the posts here about acceptance or good riddance to bad rubbish. or its easy for me so it should be easy for you kind of statements on here show a lack of compassion to many and makes me sad why the world is turning this way. Personally I think if they really focused on the anti corruption issues at all levels, there would be little need for more stringent regulation on the visa front. I would love to invest more money into Thailnd but dont feel comfortable doing so seeing all these new enforcements and regulations being applied to foreigners.. the way it is now a small slip up could cost me very dearly indeed.

So what do you think they should just let people that over stay 2,5,8+ years pay a small fine and come right back in? Dont you think 90 days is fair amount of time? If over 90 days then you are only banned for 1 year. You need to draw the line somewhere and I think 90 days is a fair line. Sure I have a heart and people still have time to get out. After that you know the rules. I have overstayed in the past by 1-3 days prior to moving here and doing projects that got delayed. Sure things happen, but they are allowing for 90 days, that's allot of time.

Really I think it will be a good thing. Right now you have allot of schools that don't care and take advantage of their teachers, this will stop that. This should help with all the little shady companies that are employing people without getting them the proper visa and work permit. Tourists will still be able to come on a visa exempt or tourist visa. People living here can still get a B or O visa, so many options for visa and it's not hard. Thailand is still easy compared to other places. I have a friend that was working in China, he is now 60 and they wont give him a visa to work anymore because he is too old. Thailand has no restriction on age for working. I dont understand the guys that are against this. that means you are supporting overstaying, why??

honestly I think if someone can contribute to society without being a burden on it, why put visa regulations on anyone . Clamp down on ne'er-do-wells. the real criminals and corruption. Love or hate Thailand there are areas that need improving with their outlook, work ethic etc., a broader acceptance of the foreigner cant do any harm as long as the bad-uns are rooted out quickly. I really dont see how all these visa regulations help any of that. It only causes resentment and paranoia among those trying to live an integrated fair existence within these borders. but i see more resentment against foreigners now than ever before and I here more complaints from foreigners about the system./ Tougher immigration regulations and enforcement bread a nationalistic mindset among the Thais that festers.

[firestar]

Not even TV or The Nation have been able to put a positive spin on this story.

Can we talk about the indisputable anti-farang tones of the last few televised speeches or is that forbidden by our dear leaders?

[ericthai]

Many farangs have abused the system over the years.

Not sure I understand all the "abused the system" comments.

That would imply that farangs as a whole take more money out of the system than they put in.

Which is extremely false.

Means they did not follow the rules and just decided to overstay and pay the fine instead of following the rules and

getting a visa. Just being lazy to go get a visa, I know a few guys like that. Didnt want to be bothered to go get a visa

and have to wait in line at a embassy etc so they would just overstay.

[Kovax]

Im not sure why someone would bother trying to overstay anyway. In ANY country in the world it's illegal and courting disaster. I actually hope that all these recent shakedowns will help rid the country of some of the scurvy bilge that is found clinging to the vestiges of their sorry lives in this beautiful land.

its illegal bla bla bla,,, perhaps if countries around the world stopped being so anal about foreign visitors of independent means , there might be less friction and a greater spread of culture, understanding of social and work ethics. Why should anyone be shackled to any one country just because they were born there...

stop bleating on about the law and stand up against it for the good of change.

With reference to Thailand specifically, if the foreigner's of independent means, truely had independent means they claim they have , they would have no cause to overstay, there are options for long term visas for those with "true" independent means

OK, the last two years I invested 9 million bath a soft drinks factory here in Thailand, unfortunately unfortunately we still have not received production license, -demonstrations Months 6 Months- - transition from 1 month-, closed to all public administration. Unfortunately, after only two employees pay contributions, so far not had a chance to claim the three-year investor visa. Right now how to further I will, All paper is fine, in progress the approval process, what to do?

[chrisinth]

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I read that (in the US) a name change in the court costs $200 and a new passport costs $120. Problem solved?

... until they start doing fingerprinting.

and rectal scans........................

(Spell check playing up)

[firestar]

Bugger ... that's going to stuff up a lot of the plans of the overstayers.

I hope there are the usual exemptions such as 'Medical' etc.

I don't think people actually plan to overstay. It's just that circumstances tend to overtake them and they get in a mess.

Best of luck to all people in that situation.

excuses, excuses, excuses. i bet all the long time over-stayers are scum......lol.

I overstayed once because of a delay by the embassy getting my new passport.

Should people who are victims of consulate incompetence be blacklisted for 5 years and called scum?

Or as another poster said, someone is seeking any kind of leverage against farangs and their crazy ideas about society?

Edited July 7, 2014 by firestar

[ericthai]

Im not sure why someone would bother trying to overstay anyway. In ANY country in the world it's illegal and courting disaster. I actually hope that all these recent shakedowns will help rid the country of some of the scurvy bilge that is found clinging to the vestiges of their sorry lives in this beautiful land.

its illegal bla bla bla,,, perhaps if countries around the world stopped being so anal about foreign visitors of independent means , there might be less friction and a greater spread of culture, understanding of social and work ethics. Why should anyone be shackled to any one country just because they were born there...

stop bleating on about the law and stand up against it for the good of change.

With reference to Thailand specifically, if the foreigner's of independent means, truely had independent means they claim they have , they would have no cause to overstay, there are options for long term visas for those with "true" independent means

OK, the last two years I invested 9 million bath a soft drinks factory here in Thailand, unfortunately unfortunately we still have not received production license, -demonstrations Months 6 Months- - transition from 1 month-, closed to all public administration. Unfortunately, after only two employees pay contributions, so far not had a chance to claim the three-year investor visa. Right now how to further I will, All paper is fine, in progress the approval process, what to do?

A little hard to understand exactly what you are saying. But if you have a company you can go get a B visa.

[FritsSikkink]

I mean really what is gained for all the headaches of these visa's??,,

You might say look at all the revenue that is gained by the country. Well after all the staff and buildings and tonnes of wasted paper how much money do they make? These long termers will only spend what money they have in the community paying taxes & Vat, it all goes back to the country eventually. The visa restrictions just do exactly that put people off from coming or take away part of their spending budget that would have gone back into the system.

So what about the undesirables . Well from what I see the real undesirables will be picked up and arrested sooner or later ( If they don’t, well maybe they weren’t undesirables in the first place) If the system wasn’t so corrupt they would be booted out at that point. However I see plenty of undesirables, thugs criminal gangs , real estate frauds, con men allowed to continue there existence here because they pay of the right people and are allowed to stay despite numerous arrests .

So all the visa thing is for as far as I can see is to annoy everybody and send a message that Thailand is for Thais and that you might be permitted to stay for now, but we can change the law tomorrow and get rid of you just like that like that then we’ll have all your nice Villas and cars and we who wield the power will grow richer from your losses and laugh at the dumb farang who thought he was above us just because he thought he had more money.( then the statement would be followed by manic laughter)

What a load of ..

If you have a nice house and car, get a proper visa too.

[techboy]

Im not sure why someone would bother trying to overstay anyway. In ANY country in the world it's illegal and courting disaster. I actually hope that all these recent shakedowns will help rid the country of some of the scurvy bilge that is found clinging to the vestiges of their sorry lives in this beautiful land.

Ooh eee! Listen to the man talk. How about all the "... scurvy bilge that is found clinging to the vestiges of their sorry lives in this beautiful land" whose paperwork is in order?

[ericthai]

Bugger ... that's going to stuff up a lot of the plans of the overstayers.

I hope there are the usual exemptions such as 'Medical' etc.

I don't think people actually plan to overstay. It's just that circumstances tend to overtake them and they get in a mess.

Best of luck to all people in that situation.

excuses, excuses, excuses. i bet all the long time over-stayers are scum......lol.

I overstayed once because of a delay by the embassy getting my new passport.

Should people who are victims of consulate incompetence be blacklisted for 5 years and called scum?

Or as another poster said, someone is seeking any kind of leverage against farangs and their crazy ideas about society?

Where are you getting 5 year ban for one day overstay? They have a 90 day grace period, just pay a fine no blacklist.

[PungShoeWrote]

Pay the 20K go home and change your name legally and you're back on the Thai farm again. I know lots of people who are on 2 years plus over stay. They laugh at me for following the law in a lawless country. Things "I hope" will be changing. "Hope" is a useless word!!!!!

[CRUNCHER]

Generally I do not have much sympathy for people with lengthy overstays.

However, I think an amnesty period would be a good idea. Give people a period, say 30 days, to report to immigration and get themselves sorted out. Those who do not respond deserve all they get.

Have you heard of the saying; Give them an inch and they'll take a mile?

Many farangs have abused the system over the years. Not enough money to apply for a visa extension each year? No problem, just continue on overstay for as long as they like then pay the 20000 baht overstay fine and begin the whole process over again. This has become common practice for many that has finally put the block on any clemency and flexibility towards visa applicants by the Immigration Department.

I have heard of cases where farangs have been on a 10 year overstay here, paid the max 20000 baht fine and all has been forgiven. These people are making a mockery of the system.

Give any leeway at all and there will be those who will abuse it, so the authorities may just as well lay down the ground rules right from the start with no exceptions. Break the rules and these people become history in Thailand. Short, sweet and simple to understand.

The burden for keeping visas up to date is the responsibility of the applicants, and not the duty of the Immigration Departments to investigate and judge each case by it`s merits and have to listen to excuses. Those who are unable to hack it here in Thailand and unable to meet the imposed visa requirements each year, tough titties, as the rules are the rules and should take all this into consideration prior to plonking themselves here.

We have to remember that the Thai authorities are doing us a favour by letting us stay here and the more their hospitality is abused, the more their tolerance levels towards us will decline.

I generally agree with you. What I am suggesting is a one off to get people out of the woodwork. Those that do not take advantage of the opportunity would deserve all they get. I would think that quite a few people would come forward who might otherwise think they have noting to lose by trying to stay under the radar. I suspect there are a lot of overstayers who would welcome the chance to clear the books and get back on the right path.

It is not that different to the amnesty that was given for the surrender of firearms.

[ttthailand]

Bugger ... that's going to stuff up a lot of the plans of the overstayers.

I hope there are the usual exemptions such as 'Medical' etc.

I don't think people actually plan to overstay. It's just that circumstances tend to overtake them and they get in a mess.

Best of luck to all people in that situation.

excuses, excuses, excuses. i bet all the long time over-stayers are scum......lol.

I overstayed once because of a delay by the embassy getting my new passport.

Should people who are victims of consulate incompetence be blacklisted for 5 years and called scum?

Or as another poster said, someone is seeking any kind of leverage against farangs and their crazy ideas about society?

Where are you getting 5 year ban for one day overstay? They have a 90 day grace period, just pay a fine no blacklist.

And just where exactly is that written ?

[Kaymcdonnell]

Im not sure why someone would bother trying to overstay anyway. In ANY country in the world it's illegal and courting disaster. I actually hope that all these recent shakedowns will help rid the country of some of the scurvy bilge that is found clinging to the vestiges of their sorry lives in this beautiful land.

its illegal bla bla bla,,, perhaps if countries around the world stopped being so anal about foreign visitors of independent means , there might be less friction and a greater spread of culture, understanding of social and work ethics. Why should anyone be shackled to any one country just because they were born there...

stop bleating on about the law and stand up against it for the good of change.

Spot on!

[gemguy]

The part of 5 year ban for being apprehended for an overstay of under one year, that could be ONE DAY, is in my opinion unreasonably HARSH. No I have never overstayed for even one day and don't intend to, but I can imagine unfortunate scenarios where that might unintentionally happen to me, to anyone.

If I'm reading this correctly, an under 90 day overstay where you make it to the airport and pay the fine WITHOUT apprehension, you're OK to come back. That's good.

Suppose you're in a traffic accident on the way to the airport and your passport is checked ...

Like I said ... that 5 year ban is scary.

Foreigners who applaud unreasonably harsh rules like this, I can't relate to that at all. It's bizarre actually. It could be YOU who is hit, whether you admit your human fallibility or not ... IT COULD.

On the other hand, I'm sure hard core Thai nationalists might go for even more severe penalties ... but I'm talking about fellow foreigners here. Why would you identify with hard core and possibly xenophobic Thai nationalists unless you're actually one yourself?

I have to agree with you.

I would like to know exactly who theses guys are that are so quick to applaud these drastic and dramatic changes in immigration rules and policies...as if their stay in the Kingdom for all their many years has been squeaky clean...... all the time.

Although the military rule is good in some aspects you can expect to see them cracking down on many infractions of the business laws and immigration laws and other laws that are not really of great importance.

The country has been dealing with overstays for going on 40 years and making money off of it while some people stay here on overstay and what harm does it do of any notable negative consequence.....Nothing... a big fat nothing.

Most of the overstay cases are not the Farang population anyhow as compared to the Burmese and Indian and other nationalities from around the region.

Given time, the new ruling(s) will be corrupted as the money to be made fixing the problem is always a strong incentive to work something out and appease all parties....as usual.

[toooa]

Im not sure why someone would bother trying to overstay anyway. In ANY country in the world it's illegal and courting disaster. I actually hope that all these recent shakedowns will help rid the country of some of the scurvy bilge that is found clinging to the vestiges of their sorry lives in this beautiful land.

its illegal bla bla bla,,, perhaps if countries around the world stopped being so anal about foreign visitors of independent means , there might be less friction and a greater spread of culture, understanding of social and work ethics. Why should anyone be shackled to any one country just because they were born there...

stop bleating on about the law and stand up against it for the good of change.

Well said epic...these small characters on this site who gain some kind of superiority from doing everything they're told make me laugh. They have this notion that if they lick the boot enough it will eventually be their friend, and enjoy self policing and have a lame little image of themselves as somehow better than people they have no clue about. In short "sock-chuckers".

Anyway, good point about the anality of movement laws in this world... like you have to get permission to move about on a planet you were born on.... of all places in the galaxy. Free travel and trade what a wonderful world it would be. Better than paranoia and parochialism.