Overstay in Thailand with no money

[DonnyBoy84]

Hello. I have a friend in Thailand, he is stuck with no money and no ticket to get home. I have read a lot of posts on here but they mostly involve having money for ticket and the 20, 000 baht fine. Any advice would be great and thank you in advance.

[2fishin2]

Normal people dont get "stuck" anywhere

[saakura]

Friend?

[DonnyBoy84]

Yes its a friend. I am in the UK. He fell in love and spent all of his money! Surely this has happened to someone in the past?

[mitsubishi]

Can he post instead of getting you to do it troll?

[DonnyBoy84]

Mitsubishi - I am sure he would do it himself if he had Internet. Anyone that can actually help?

[howerde]

Has he any family/friends in Thailand or overseas who can help?

Does he own anything in Thailand he could sell? or even own anything in his home country?

[DonnyBoy84]

His parents helped him out to get there, so cant help anymore. He doesn't have anything to sell. Just spent everything to go and see his Thai wife and is now in trouble.

[howerde]

How/where is he living now?

assuming max overstay plus ticket back to UK, should be less than £1500.

does he not have afew friends a couple of hundred each would cover it.

[DonnyBoy84]

He is living with his wife's parents. He has already borrowed money from friends and family. 10 weeks now that he has overstayed. Could he go to the British Embassy for help?

[mania]

He might give his embassy a try?

Now he knows why Hotel California is played here so often

Edit: Oops we posted at the same time.
Yes I would give the embassy a try you never know.

They may have a loan type deal

[DonnyBoy84]

Thank you Mania. I will tell him to contact British Embassy.

[howerde]

I don't believe the embassy will do anything other than give replaement travel documents, if he has lost his, in terms of buying a ticket etc they always say they will not do thiss. Hope somone has more up to date info on this, if he turned up at embassy in just the clothes he was wearing and nothing else, would they just kick him out? or would they relent

[DP25]

He can try to get job teaching English and claw his way back. They aren't picky in a lot of rural areas.

[DonnyBoy84]

Thanks for replys. He is in issan so maybe teaching is an option but the more he overstays the worse the punishment?

[cooked]

I know a German guy that lost his retirement pension money to a girl shortly after getting to Pattaya. He is still here in Isaan, on overstay, with his wife and a small house, 10 years later. Not a good situation to be in. No way would I criticise people that get into this kind of mess without knowing what happened. If the Swiss Frank goes under ฿27.00 (33 now) then I have to go home also, but at least I have some reserves.

[DonnyBoy84]

Yes its a horrible thing to happen. I hope things work out well for you. I just wish I could give him some good advice. Thanks

[JOC]

Yes its a horrible thing to happen. I hope things work out well for you. I just wish I could give him some good advice. Thanks

" I just wish I could give him some good advice. "

Tell him to grow up and take responsibility for his own actions!!

[DonnyBoy84]

I think he knows that himself but just need a little help.

[Squeegee]

If his motorcycle had been hit by a pick up truck and he was stuck with huge hospital bills I'd have some sympathy.

In this case he was irresponsible, made poor decisions and wants others to pay up because he "fell in love". His parents financed his move here and now he wants some stranger to finance him again.

This guy doesn't need help: he needs a good slap, and he's going to get it one way or the other, unless some silly sop bails him out. And whosoever is that silly sop also deserves to have their cash removed by sob stories like this and a billion others, equally undeserving.

[DonnyBoy84]

I know how irresponsible he was but looking past that now and trying to help him. Maybe there is nothing he can do unless he either works illegally or gets sent the money for tickets and overstay fine. Cheers

[Squeegee]

I know how irresponsible he was but looking past that now and trying to help him. Maybe there is nothing he can do unless he either works illegally or gets sent the money for tickets and overstay fine. Cheers

Er no, not "looking past that now".

[BaldPlumber]

Why can't you bail him out?

[DonnyBoy84]

I have my own wife and family to look after. I asked for advice on options my friend might have? Didnt expect so many comments that did not have any help whatsoever!!!

[Squeegee]

He can go to his embassy for advice (since that is all they will give him).

That's it, like it or not.

[puukao]

I'm not sure what you expect OP: Sure, I can give him free money!! I think that train has left. You won't get much sympathy, which is just part of the internet. So I would put your energy towards other solutions.....yes, call embassy. have his parents start a fund in his home town. call his local tv station. of course his parents must have collateral for a pawn shop to get a loan....have them go to money lenders. You have your own family and wife, and we have our own responsibilities as well. friends help friends more than strangers...

[DonnyBoy84]

Squeegee you are right. Thanks for advice

[jspill]

Some crabby forum guys on thaivisa consider overstay one of the most heinous crimes going. Ignore them. Much worse things they should save their energy for.

In answer to your question there's no larger punishment for longer overstay, he's already at the 20k Baht cap. Blacklisting rules never went into law. He's not hurting anybody, it's a victimless crime. Other than the tired argument that he's 'making things worse for the rest of us law abiding types' which I never bought into. The blacklisting rules aren't in effect, if Thailand cared that much they would be. Ubonjoe suspects they've been shelved - http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/781882-overstay-on-3-month-non-b-am-i-in-trouble/#entry8767022

The only crackdown has been on people living here on multiple visa exemptions. No evidence overstayers have affected the experience of expats that don't overstay, one iota.

For now just focus on helping him find a legal source of income from somewhere, family loans, filling out online surveys, anything. Lots of menial online work he can do for a few dollars an hour - he has all the time in the world.

Overstay without money is dangerous, he'll be stuck in IDC if caught. It's fairly unlikely he will be, but if he doesn't have funds on hand or an ATM card to buy a flight ticket out and pay court fees, he could end up stuck in IDC indefinitely (see this thread - http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/780211-my-experience-at-idc-for-overstaying/)

[DonnyBoy84]

Great info jspill. Thanks very much.

[NancyL]

Right now the financial needs of your friend are the cost of the plane ticket home and 20,000 baht (a little less than 400 pound sterling) for the maximum overstay fine. Plus the cost of a emergency travel document if he lost his passport. As mentioned, there were plans to institute a blacklist program for overstays but that hasn't taken effect yet.

If your friend goes to the British Embassy he'll find there are no funds available for repatriation assistance. They will offer to cable the Foreign Office in the U.K. with details of his plight and contact information for his relatives so someone in London can call his relatives to ask for funds to be sent for his assistance. That's it. They'll make an official phone call or two on your friend's behalf.

He'll receive additional assistance from the Embassy if he's arrested for overstay and incarcerated in the Immigration Detention Center in Bangkok. Embassy representatives will visit him and more phone calls to relatives will be made on his behalf.

He really does need to step up the appeal to friends and relatives to borrow the funds necessary to get out of Thailand while he can.

The British Embassy does very little to help its citizens in this situation. The one thing it can do is to help insure that funds are used for their intended purpose.