August 29 - heavy new penalties await visa overstays: Thai Immigration

[oldsailor35]

Blame only the foreigners that the corrupt Police and Immigration haven't done their job for decades. A Thai Government Official can't do wrong. The level of hypocrisy is unbelievable.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ XA using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

I have not been asked for my PP or ID  once in 10 years. Put that down to lazy police. A friend who was asked for his PP in Chonbury, did'nt have it, so was fined Bht1000 on the spot by police ???   What happens to Thai caught without their ID .

[khwaibah]

 

There is no 20,000 baht fine or 2 year in jail regulation. What is quoted is the rule regarding ovrstay, which is punishable with a fine of up to 20,000 baht and/or a jailterm of up to two years.

 

Failure to carry a passport is reason to hold someone to establish his/her identity and determine ones status in the country, according to the immigration Act. That is a right immigration has.and also the reason they do not have to accept a drivers licence or such and can insist on a passport in case of a foreigner.

 

There is a general requiremnt for an ID, but i understand you must be able to produce it within a reasonable time and than no fine will be levied.

 

 

 

The voice of sanity. Thank you sir!

 

 

That is not what immigration said. "He added that starting from August 29, foreigners who failed to produce their passports would be fined up to Bt20,000 and jailed for up to two years." Thai Visa and Immigration both need to get their acts togethers before making major announcements and comments. 

[thaussie]

Chinese woman said she had come to Thailand to make a living, not to commit any crime.

 

Woman considers working illegally is not a crime. Complete Ignorance. Much complaining on Thaivisa over recent months.

 

All these people writing posts filled with unqualified interpretations of law and talking about the good old days need to wake up.

 

Can't understand why tourists and such come here by choice then complain about the rules. Accept them or move on.

 

[oldsailor35]

 

In before the 29 pages of "but my case is different than the hundreds of others asking about the same thing with the same details as me" posts that are sure to follow.

 

Of those 70k over-stayers last year (and 30k so far this year) I wonder how many are for over-stays of less than 2-3 days ? TAT claims 26.7 million tourist arrivals in 2013, so 70,000 over-stayers would represent about .0026% of that total (a quarter of 1% of the total). Doesn't seem quite the massive problem requiring draconian measures as it sounded before.

 

i was one ..had a 2 day over stay due to plane delay over technical problems (plane was not even in thailand)

 

Last time i flew out, i was one day over BHT500 at  PP control. This was cheaper than  buying one week at immigration. I guess i was one of these offenders.

[Krataiboy]

The honeymoon is over.

[MILT]

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70,000 overstayers in one year. That puts things into perspective somewhat! Good riddance to the beach bum pot head scum bags that give the law abiding visa legal folk a bad name!

 

So I get it! You are a hater on pot smokers + hanging out on the beach and overstaying their visa.

I sympathize with you cause I hate all the booze drinking mindless over-stayers but not necessarily on the beach.

But still no one can give me a bad name except for me. In my view folks like you give us law abiding expats a bad name based on a 

real bad attitude. Have a great................

[oldsailor35]

Catching foreign over-stayers seems to be a major problem requiring urgent and aggressive attention.

 

Pity such an effort isn't put into catching fugitive Thais.

If the trend continues, that will be easy soon as they will be "monking" it up in the nearest temple !  Especially down Suratthani way.

[Bernard Flint]

 

Blame only the foreigners that the corrupt Police and Immigration haven't done their job for decades. A Thai Government Official can't do wrong. The level of hypocrisy is unbelievable.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ XA using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

I have not been asked for my PP or ID  once in 10 years. Put that down to lazy police. A friend who was asked for his PP in Chonbury, did'nt have it, so was fined Bht1000 on the spot by police ???   What happens to Thai caught without their ID .

 

 

What happens to thais has no relevence,we are talking about non thais,dont throw in the racist crap

[khunJeroen]

Just put overstayers on a blacklist for a few years. 

[PaulHamon]

evil 0.3 percent.

[StevenHeidbriderSr]

Many over stays are immigrations own ineptitude in my opinion. My most recent experience was an immigration officer stamped my passport for 90 days when it should have been 30 days at most which i learned later at the Airport when another immigration officer tried to hold me up for money because of this error.

 

I was lucky to get out of Thailand and it was NO FAULT or attempt at deception on my part at all. I always followed the stamps immigration put in my passport.

 

BTW I was on a Retirement Visa...

i am Now thinking i may never return???? My own country OR another nearby to Thailand like laos or Cambodia may want me and my money more and be more congenial.

[SABloke]

70,000 overstayers in one year. That puts things into perspective somewhat! Good riddance to the beach bum pot head scum bags that give the law abiding visa legal folk a bad name!

 
LOL first time ive been called that...even when i ran my business here the 50+ staff none never called me that? (most prob much worse)

Terry, my comment not directed at chaps like you. A good number of the 70,000 are no doubt generally law abiding and have just fallen foul of a few days or a week or two. I am talking about beach bum pot head scum bags!

There are beaches in Isaan?

Sent from my GT-S7270 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Krataiboy]

. . . overstayers were found to have flouted Thai laws in various aspects - such as buying Thai-national identification cards.

 

Well, maybe if I dyed my hair and worked on my tan. . . 

[oldsailor35]

1. Does "failed to produce" mean the same as I need to carry the passport with me all the time?

2. Or does produce mean that I have time to get back to my home and bring the passport within a reasonable time (e.g. 48hours) to the next police station?

3. What is the exact text of the new regulation (Internet site?)?

 

 

Small differnces could result in big problems!

Strange question that.I always understood that my PP should be carried at all times worldwide. ID is one of the reasons for having it.

[StevenHeidbriderSr]

I am hearing more and more that the Phillipines are very very xpat friendly!!

[anon467367354]

I can see it now where a family wants to go to the beach, they have their passports, plane tickets etc locked in the hotel safe for "safe keeping" and

they all get arrested for not having their passports on their person. I would hate to bring my passport to the beach, probably the easiest place to have it stolen.

I wonder if this would send travel warnings about going to Thailand when people are thrown in jail for something like this and end up beaten to death by the scum inmates.

It has happened in the past.

[oldsailor35]

A serious question  if I have  government ID card from my country with everything but mypassport number on it will that be accepted as ID it has more than a drivers licence and is a legal id?

When one gets a driving licence, one has to verify with ones Passport. So they know that PP has been sighted and above board.

[Frank James]

 

70,000 overstayers in one year. That puts things into perspective somewhat! Good riddance to the beach bum pot head scum bags that give the law abiding visa legal folk a bad name!

 

Let me guess...... your sh*t dont stink either!

 

How can you lump every overstayer into the beach bum pot head scum bag group?  without knowing each individual case?

 

 

I'm sure "iancnx" is a very righteous and solid citizen, fully qualified and justified in smearing his fellow aliens. Overstayers! Bums!  I'd better stop now.
 

[garyinhuahin]

I think this clarifies yesterday's very unclear message from Hua Hin Immigration and, in regard to producing your passport, is nothing new. The new clarification just says failure to produce a passport, which I read as not having a passport - i.e. the individual is unable to produce a passport because he/she doesn't have one.

I have faith that a decent copy, showing the ID page and visa/extension stamp will be enough for a police check.

 

Probably. I'll carry mine for now until this clarifies further. Especially as I am in Hua Hin

 

[jvs]

I guess the best way to deal with this is to wait for tomorrows new (adapted) rules.

A lot of people comment without reading,i will not start packing my suitcase yet.

 

 

[maximillian]

Alright, I am also for Law abiding, that's why I ask the Thai rulers to make their officers to be Law abiding as well.

 

It cannot be right, that a immigaration officer charges 5.000 THB,

when on the black bord behind him, the sum of 1.900 THB is showing the price for a visa extension.

 

I really wish, the stream of tourist would cease for a while to show some folks here what tourism is doing for this country.

Even overstayer are spending money in Thailand. What is the benefit for Thailand to put any of them in jail ?

[heybuz]

The penalties are absolutely no big deal. Why overstay in the very first place.

the penalties are no big deal,but for an accidental overstay of one or two days,especially if you are at the airport and on your way out of the country and happened to be apprehended for an overstay fined and threatened with two years goal,then it becomes a big deal.

[Yann55]

As an aside it would indeed be interesting to actually see the numbers regarding the nationalities of these '' long term over stayers.'' One wonders just how many of them  might be of western origin i.e. farangs.

 

People are perhaps seeing wrongly a witch hunt against one specific group of people as opposed to a wider range of people who  are ''overstayers'' who probably blend into the local community without any problems at all and have no need of a sunburn camouflage.

 

Yep, interesting question indeed.

 

The example given in the article is that of a Chinese woman, who deliberately overstayed (crime) so that she could work here illegally (crime). There is also mention of people buying fake Thai ID cards (crime), and obviously no white person in his/her right mind would do such a thing.

 

My feeling (but I admit I do not have the data to support it) is that the largest number of serious overstays are not 'farangs' and that, where said 'farangs' are concerned, most overstays are probably for just a few days (such as what happened to terryp).

 

Now, there are of course, as always, a few really bad sheep and that handful of scum can now officially start giggling because they are goig to cause endless problems for normal, law-abiding and peaceful visitors/expats in this country. And this, in turn, will harm the country itself, because there's a limit to how much hassle you can impose on normal tourists and/or legal residents.

Edited July 31, 2014 by Yann55

[oldsailor35]

I also don't see Thailands problem either.  Out of that 70,000, how many are a burden to the state?  Do they pay them unemployment benefit? Do they have to house them? Do they have to pay their medical fees?

 

The answer to all of the above is NO.  Some people overstay here because they want to make a life here with their Thai girlfriend or wife.  But because Thailand has so many stupid visa laws and makes it so difficult to stay here long term, some are forced to bend the rules.

 

I would be happy if Thailand was dragged kicking and screaming into the 19th century let alone the 21st!

(oh and for the, record I work here and am on a 2 year BOI visa/work permit)

Try staying in Australia without a current visa. I guess they will also be stupid to people like you.

[Kirbicus]

For Hardy 99,

 

Being on a multi o marriage visa I go to Mai Sai every 90 days x5 for this visa 1 year and 3 months.

 

I don't actually see an immigration office with this particular visa.

 

That is why I was inquiring about going to a  local police station.

 

 

 

 

[chrisinth]

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im actually looking forward to tomorrows press release as this is getting more stupid by the day...I can feel a huge clarification (U TURN) about to arrive

 

Yep, I'm with you on that.

 

A good start for them would be to clarify the 20,000 baht fine & 2 years jail time. Logic would say that this is not directed at the normal tourist on the street but at someone (possibly on overstay already) refusing to show their passport when asked for it.

 

However, the initial reports, as seen for all the new enforcements and changes over the last couple of months, don't define circumstances when the penalties will be enforced.

 

Leading to mass hysteria and speculation among certain groups..........................

Does it matter, whether 20,000 or 2,000, does it matter whether 2 years in jail or 2 months????. the long stay overstayers deserve everything they get,and i dont care if you are married with kids here, you are criminals.

 

 

Certainly not disagreeing with that.

 

My point was that the way the comment about the fine is being portrayed is that anyone stopped and not in possession of their passport will be fined and jailed. 

 

That of course is only my reading of it, but if I as an individual have problems interpreting the message, how are the officials dealing with the situation going to see it? 

[Oziex1]

The times they are a changing.

 

Can we move on from the bleating line that it's the end of Thai tourism, this seems to be the predicted outcome of just about any action or topic here on Thai Visa.

 

It's not the end nowhere near it, it is a concept used by the frustrated and dissatisfied, malcontents.

Edited July 31, 2014 by Oziex1

[KhnomKhnom]

In before the 29 pages of "but my case is different than the hundreds of others asking about the same thing with the same details as me" posts that are sure to follow.

 

Of those 70k over-stayers last year (and 30k so far this year) I wonder how many are for over-stays of less than 2-3 days ? TAT claims 26.7 million tourist arrivals in 2013, so 70,000 over-stayers would represent about .0026% of that total (a quarter of 1% of the total). Doesn't seem quite the massive problem requiring draconian measures as it sounded before.

If the world's busy-bodies, like USA, are pressing Thailand to catch criminals hiding here, then the good way is to just inspect every foreigner's passport.  This is a much better idea than some nations would do........  some nations would simply order all foreigners to appear at the local sports stadium, inspect documents, shoot some, jail some others, and watch the rest. 

 

Foreigners in Thailand obviously from comments here just do not know when they have it good.

 

Too, there are bitter complaints about what is labeled as inconsistent application of rules and then more bitter complaints about individuals "different cases" not being considered individually.  I hope you can see the contradiction here.  Every case treated individually, the humane approach and Thailand's approach, will naturally result in different people getting different treatment.  You cant have it both ways.

[oldsailor35]

 

Exceeding one's permit to stay in the kingdom for more than 90 days is just snubbing one's nose at the law and the authorities. A 10 year ban for such actions is inadequate. Life long blacklisting would be much more fitting for these unsavouries.

 

Dont be such a god damn snob!  You and your ilk are one of the main reasons I refuse to drink in the Thai Visa Bar!

 

There will always be one "dick head" who decides that the  country's rules do not apply to him.

[Yann55]

I guess the best way to deal with this is to wait for tomorrows new (adapted) rules.

A lot of people comment without reading,i will not start packing my suitcase yet.

 

 

 

You're right, jvs. Some of them obviously don't even read their own comments !