Overstay Arrest

[Thai Travel Bug]

I will probably be retiring when my time comes to Panama. They welcome retiree's, visa is a no brainer, pensioner discounts to all registered under the programme, ie, new movies just out at the cinema, normally $4.00 US, discounted to $2.00 for pensioners. They actually want us, and for those that have been to Panama, it is absolutely beautiful. They will allow me to settle in their beautiful country, and even allow my Thai wife to join me.....We can always visit Thailand for holidays.......

[Bpuumike]

Set a Calendar alarm on your telephone. Simple

Same to renew your passport and apply plenty of time ahead.

[realenglish1]

It seems no one answered this question and just gave water cooler comments here. This is the general answer. If you are arrested for an overstay they will take you to jail and then you are going to half to try and make arrangements to exit the country from jail . You may half to rely on friends to help you in jail. No you will not be able to go back and get your stuff. You will be unceremoniously taken to the airport and pay the fine and then get on the next plane out of the country.

You may or may not be able to access your personal stuff It will all depend on the cops involved but they are not duty bound to do so. In other words you are in a lot of shit at that point.

[Greengotogo]

I do not understand the discussion.

Why would they blackball you for 5 years just because you were late for 1 day. Or maybe I'm not understanding the topic.

About 1 year ago, I was 30 days late. 90 days before that, I had gotten my first tourist 90 day visa. Stupid me thought that

I had a full 90 days before I had to make another Visa run to Laos. So, 90 days later I find myself at the bridge trying to go to

Laos to have my Visa renewed. Now I am being told that I am 30 days late. No one told me that after 60 days, I had to go to

immigration for a 30 day extension. To make a long story a little shorter. They charged me 15,000 baht and sent me on my

way to the Embassy for my next Tourist Visa. Was I just lucky ?

[KarenBravo]

If you are arrested for overstay, you will be sent immediately to an Immigration Detention Centre.

You will stay there from five to seven days whilst a check is made with the police to see if there are any outstanding charges against you.

You will need someone on the outside (embassy official?) to purchase an air-ticket from Bangkok direct to your home country, no stops are allowed. If there are no direct flights to your home country, permission must be granted by the transit country (don't know from whom).

Once this ticket is bought, you will be escorted by immigration officials actually on to the airplane where they will remove the hand-cuffs.

There are many potential problems. If you have no one to help you on the outside, you will stay in IDC.

If you do not use an airline that is from your home country, permission has to be granted by the pilot of the flight to transport a "criminal". They always say no because they are not told of the actual offence and they don't want to be liable should something happen.

An airline from your home country cannot refuse to take you.

Due to these rules, IDC is filled with people who have been there for years because either they don't have any money, or, they cannot get a direct flight home and permissions from transit countries cannot be attained.

So, to answer the OP, unless you have someone on the outside, bank accounts and property have to be abandoned.

What I describe is how it was a few years ago. I really hope it has changed, but, I don't think it has.

[colinneil]

On 4th of october last year, i had a serious accident. I was in a coma for 8 weeks. When i was able to communicate with my wife, my retirement extention, i was 35 days overstay . My wife had problems with immigration, she had to pay 20.000 baht.

People who say keep a diary ,use a white board ok .!!What about people in my situation?????

It is not always possible to get to immigration.

[Robert24]

What Karen describes would be a standard deportation process but not sure whether this will be applied for overstaying offences in Thailand.

But to answer the Op's question about assets or liabilities, I guess in a worst case scenario you would have to deal with it from abroad. Ie sell your property, arrange for your goods to be packed and shipped, arrange for your bank/broker account assets to be transferred. Now with regards to whether this deters foreign investment I'm not sure. Basically all immigration does is to more strictly enforce their laws. There are many other countries who have strict immigration laws and still a lot of foreign investment. Take Singapore as an example. You overatay there 1 day and will get a prison sentence. You overstay longer you get a longer prison sentence and caning. But Singapore is probably still one of the most attractive places for foreign investment. And the fact they have 35% foreigners seems evidence that strict law enforcement doesn't deter foreign investment, it probably attracts it.

[ubonjoe]

On 4th of october last year, i had a serious accident. I was in a coma for 8 weeks. When i was able to communicate with my wife, my retirement extention, i was 35 days overstay . My wife had problems with immigration, she had to pay 20.000 baht.

People who say keep a diary ,use a white board ok .!!What about people in my situation?????

It is not always possible to get to immigration.

It can happen if there is nobody that is aware of the need to get things sorted with immigration.

If somebody had been aware of the problem they could of applied for a medical extension for you to avoid for the overstay.

[transam]

Ignore those 2, they're just the Thai Visa som nam na bots.

Actually those 2 are right on the money. You can put important dates in your phone on a whiteboard ( i got my next 90 day reporting on the whiteboard). For 99,9999 % of the people its more laziness and incompetence and even done on purpose as a real memory lapse.

Though I agree that the complications can get real severe if you overstay and have a condo or other property in Thailand. These new laws don't make it easier to keep property in Thailand.

I think you might have to arrange everything by lawyer then if you want to get your money back and condo sold ect. be prepared to take a heavy hit. However if you have that kind of property a retirement visa (I dont qualify for the age) would be easy for most on Thaivisa. (most are quite old)

But your not old yet and don't realise what happens to the ol' gray cells. I have got there and know...

[KarenBravo]

What Karen describes would be a standard deportation process but not sure whether this will be applied for overstaying offences in Thailand.

For what other offences could people be possibly held for in an Immigration Detention Centre?

It certainly does apply to over-stayers.

[chrisinth]

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I think you must be having memory lapses already !! Where did you read 1 day overstay will get you banned for 5 years

Here, yesterday. New Rules.

Same rules that had this disclaimer?

"However, Thaivisa.com must stress that we are still awaiting official confirmation from the Immigration Bureau on this matter."

[Tomtomtom69]

Not sure about anyone else but I have never even been asked for my passport (except at immigration office or the airport).

For several years running now I have been getting stopped regularly while on public transport in the border areas. This is on the road from Lom Sak to Mukhdahan at 3AM, Trat-Had Lek, and Tak-Mae Sot. This is where there is a problem with human trafficking of illegal migrants from neighboring countries.

On the Tak-Mae Sot road one can expect to be asked for passport anywhere between 3-5 times, and they are now paying closer attention to western foreigners.

In the past the police ignored western aliens. That changed in the past year well prior to this latest coup. Now they always ask me for my passport, and recently the immigration officer noticed my overstay of one day. He allowed me to proceed to the border to clear it.

My questions in post #14 in this thread asks, if I had access to funds, what would it have cost me to get out of the mess if I had been arrested for that overstay under the current rules? I assume at least 24 hours in jail, to arrange bail. But what then?

The police or military on the Had Lek-Trad road and the Tak-Mae Sot roads are still not interested in western foreigners, at least not if they are driving or a passenger in a private vehicle. I just came back from Had Lek and although there were 4 checkpoints along the 89km stretch now (usually there's only 1) the army are more interested in seeing whether you have contraband inside your vehicle and never ask to see your passport (besides, they aren't immigration officers). Similarly for Tak-Mae Sod where I have been numerous times in the past 1.5 years alone. A Sri Lankan friend of mine was asked for his passport once to confirm he wasn't Indo/Burmese but the police at that checkpoint didn't look at his immigration stamps, only his passport front page. We were on our way to Yangon via the then newly opened Mae Sot/Myawady crossing. I guess it could be different if you catch public transport although personally I've only ever driven around by car.

[ScotBkk]

Many alleged lawyers in a Thailand are not lawyers, but Paralegals, with minimal legal education and experience. The first Thai law office I visited, I asked the man if he was a licensed lawyer and he said he was. He was the only one in the law office other than a secretary. I asked for a bar card or some supporting Photo ID card/wall license issued by the government identifying him as a Lawyer. He got pissed off and asked me to leave. My response was you just confirmed you are not a lawyer! That law office has ads running all over Thailand. The client has a duty for full disclosure to his Attorney. A season lawyer will always have the client sign a retention written agreement. If the client fails to disclose that he was arrested and blackballed from the country, and most contracts would allow the Lawyer to keep the retainer money on the basis of misrepresentation and close the file. If money was owned he could sue the client and get a lien. An ignorant paralegal may take the case, but would be prevented from arguing the case in a court of law. Most government laws no matter where one is, is not favorable to non citizens and most asset cases are heard in a court of law. In that case, I believe the paralegal would have a difficult time referring the case to licensed trial lawyer. The trial lawyer would demand what I would demand. When I researched more about the Thai lawyer education requirements, standards, the regulatory complaint process I was shocked! In my opinion if you leave Thailand without your assets, especially if you are single, and blackballed, you have a nightmare to deal with and recovery would be slim to none, especially after paying expenses! The proposed law does refer to over 90 days, but is still only proposed, complex and could easily be misinterpreted. A simple Scenario would be if someone was approached by a policeman on the street, and a overstayed existed, he was detained, would he be allowed to gather his assets prior to leaving Thailand. That is my primary question and everyone should be asking it with assets and family here?

The complexities you’ve inferred are of utmost importance where these copied pasted posts into topics are of a somewhat proposed legislative intent which plays a central role in future legal interpretation and constitutional theory. Yet, is repeatedly challenged as being an illusion because as yet not set in concrete. Refuting these or any comments you’ve made would be a sorry injustice for some if they don’t take heed or consume your helpful literature.

[Soutpeel]

On 4th of october last year, i had a serious accident. I was in a coma for 8 weeks. When i was able to communicate with my wife, my retirement extention, i was 35 days overstay . My wife had problems with immigration, she had to pay 20.000 baht.

People who say keep a diary ,use a white board ok .!!What about people in my situation?????

It is not always possible to get to immigration.

Not intending to sound all preachy, but don't you discuss with your wife what needs to happen in specific circumstances ?

I have told my Mrs, if anything happens to me while in Thailand such as accident, arrest etc she needs to grab my PP from the house and bring it with her, as well as a phone number list I have written out her, for colleagues & friends in Thailand as well as my family overseas, who should/could be contacted

In your specific case one suspects a letter from the hospital would have mitigated the need to pay THB 20k

Edited July 8, 2014 by Soutpeel

[Robert24]

What Karen describes would be a standard deportation process but not sure whether this will be applied for overstaying offences in Thailand.

For what other offences could people be possibly held for in an Immigration Detention Centre?

It certainly does apply to over-stayers.

If I understand it correctly, the new rules for arresting overstayers and deporting them and banning them from re-entering Thailand for a certain amount of time are only being considered now and have not been implemented yet.

What Karen describes is from her experience. I would think the Immigration detention centres will be full of illegal immigrants, i.e. Cambodians or people from Myanmar being here illegally without passport, work permit etc.. But maybe Karen can provide some more information from her observations. Don't think you find any farang overstayers there.

[KarenBravo]

What Karen describes would be a standard deportation process but not sure whether this will be applied for overstaying offences in Thailand.

For what other offences could people be possibly held for in an Immigration Detention Centre?

It certainly does apply to over-stayers.

If I understand it correctly, the new rules for arresting overstayers and deporting them and banning them from re-entering Thailand for a certain amount of time are only being considered now and have not been implemented yet.

What Karen describes is from her experience. I would think the Immigration detention centres will be full of illegal immigrants, i.e. Cambodians or people from Myanmar being here illegally without passport, work permit etc.. But maybe Karen can provide some more information from her observations. Don't think you find any farang overstayers there.

Yes, these are from my experience.

I won't go into the details, but, I spent a few nights in IDC due to a conflict between two immigration offices. Anyway, that is not relevant.

Firstly, Cambodians, Laos and Burmese are kept separate from the Europeans, Americans, Africans and Middle-Easterners.

In the dormitory I was in, there were more than 60 people. There was a total of three dormitories and all were full. Everyone in there was there because they were picked up for overstay, expired passports, or illegally entering the country. The vast majority were over-stayers. Some of these over-stayers had been in Thailand for years, some were just a few months over.

Many, many of them had been in IDC for months and at least three people in the dormitory had been in there for years. The longest had been in there for three years; all due to the problems I out-lined in my previous post.

If you overstay and are discovered before you can get to a border, you will go straight to IDC.

Edited July 8, 2014 by KarenBravo

[Thai Travel Bug]

What was the food like, did they have aircon in the dorms, and are you allowed semi dressed visitation rights with your wife. If all the above, then its not so bad....sign me up. The weather is great.

[KarenBravo]

Food - Edible.......just. You can get food from outside if you pay and order it.

Aircon - None at all, just a few sluggish fans. Very hot during the night as the concrete buildings start to radiate the energy absorbed in the day.

Visitaion - Twice a week. You have to yell across a gap of about two metres. As everyone to left and right of you is doing the same, communication is almost impossible.

Additional - Lights are on 24 hours a day. Inane Thai TV is on at a high volume until 21:00 hrs. God knows why as there are no Thais in the dormitory. If there is a fight between inmates, guards come in with clubs and beat many people, not just the fighters. Telephone privileges are revoked. Each dorm has a representative chosen by the IDC authorities, usually someone long-stay that they trust. All communications to IDC officers must go through him.

Trust me......it's not a place you want to go.

[phuketrichard]

karon; was this in Phuket or???

i hear the thai jails are worse than as they do not separate the inmates according to Nationality an the food is enough so u dont starve only.

[KarenBravo]

karon; was this in Phuket or???

i hear the thai jails are worse than as they do not separate the inmates according to Nationality an the food is enough so u dont starve only.

No, not in Phuket, in Bangkok.

Yes, Thai prisons are far worse than Immigration Detention Centres, so I have heard.

[moe666]

Not that simple! Everyone has memory lapses, or personal emergencies that could create an overstay for a day or two. There are many false arrests. Just being in the wrong place at the wrong time with a group you hardly know. With the new proposed law it appears if you are an overstay for one day and arrested you are black balled for 5 years! Can you imagine having a family here, owning a condo, owning a business, having fixed savings accounts. That could crush most future foreign investment! I really want to hear about the property recovery procedure after the arrest. I have lived in several foreign countries over the last 18 years and to my knowledge no other country has similar harsh penalties. Many try to encourage foreign investment You would think differently if you were over 65!

If one wants to stay in Thailand what is more important than taking care of your extension of stay or making the proper visa runs to extend your visa. Too use the excuse that I forgot something this important to your well being is like forgetting to pickup your pay check

[Kabula]

Before you make ridiculous comments, you need to read my first post on page 1. You are off topic. Karen answered my questions along with another poster. My question was if one was arrested for an overstay, would they be able to take personal property, close out fixed accounts or would they be forced to abandon all assets and cash in the bank if they were expelled from the country and black balled. Also, I was asking for a person that asked me that question! The question has nothing to do with me. You are looking mighty foolish!

[ubonjoe]

Since their are 2 topics about the new overstay rules and this topic continues to go off topic it is now closed.