One-day Overstay: Problem or Not?

[donnacha]

There seem to be a lot of conflicting thoughts on this, and rapidly shifting policies. I would appreciate any advice based on the latest developments.

I entered Thailand on the 30-day visa-exemption and had booked a flight to exit on day 30. I did not realise that, here, they count the days differently, so you actually get 29 days.

When I spotted that the date stamped in my passport was the day before my flight out, I actually sought out the main Immigration Police office in the Suvarnabhumi to query it and was shown the rule book from which the stamps are set, rather than using standard addition. I was assured, however, that an overstay of one day would not matter.

Reading here, I have seen some posts confirm that one-day overstays are simply waved through without a fine but others describe being fined 500 (and, in one case, 1000) and having a note made in their passport.

My concern is that such a note in my passport will bugger up my re-entry plans. I am flying direct from Chiang Mai to Kuala Lumpur with the intention of applying for a 60-day tourist visa and returning to Thailand 3 days later.

Is it in likely that, in Chiang Mai airport, I will get my passport marked for a one-day overstay?

And, if so, is that likely to provoke a rejection of my visa application by the embassy staff in KL?

I saw the announcement of a crackdown on overstays, they seemed to be talking about 90-day overstays etc ... but ... could those vibrations from the top cause embassy staff to now become more hawkish than usual, even in the case of one-day overstays?

Edited January 5, 2015 by donnacha

[Mario2008]

Your passport will be marked with overstay of 1 day, this will not prevent you from getting a new visa.

If you want to stay 100% legal, you can get a 30 day extension of stay for 1,900 baht at immigration.

KL is not the most firendly Thai embassy at the moment. Penang might be nicer.

[ubonjoe]

You may be charged 500 baht for one day of overstay at the airport in Chiang Mai.

I can confirm that the airports in Bangkok do not charge for an overstay of less than 24 hours although you do get a stamp stating that.

The new overstay rules were never approved by a higher authority so the are not in effect yet.

One day of overstay is not a problem for getting a visa. People have gotten them with much longer overstays.

[mahjongguy]

"I did not realise that, here, they count the days differently, so you actually get 29 days."

It's a very common error and in your case there should be no problem. It's probably why they don't fine people for one day overstay.

I don't see this as unique to Thailand. Every travel agent in the world promotes their offers that way. It's always something like "3 days (2 nights)".

[donnacha]

Thanks Mario2008, ubonjoe and mahjonguy.

I did consider the 1,900 extension, but am on a tight budget and it seems a lot to pay unless the overstay will definitely be a problem. I also picked up on the suggestion, in some posts, that the number of extensions you have marked in your passport, can, itself, be a viewed dimly in future visa applications.

Athough having overstay marks does not usually prevent people getting visas, does anyone think that applying for a visa the very next day might be harder for them to swallow?

I agree that many forms of marketing can be numerically deceptive but at least you know that paying for 7 nights in a hotel means x + 7 i.e. you can arrive on Tuesday the 3rd and check-out on Wednesday the 10th. I have never come across this odd Thai form of arithimetic being applied to something as important as actual international travel and visa arrangements, it seems almost willfully awkward, even dishonest if they are indeed collecting fines on that basis.

[ubonjoe]

They count the day you arrive because you are in the country on that date.

It is the same as checking into a hotel you are charged for the day you arrive.

[donnacha]

They count the day you arrive because you are in the country on that date.

It is the same as checking into a hotel you are charged for the day you arrive.

Yes, they start from 1 rather than zero, which I think is a bit different from hotels, where the day you are charged for finishes the following day. Under their system, you would get charged one unit for arriving in the hotel and a second unit for staying until the following day.

I did some searching and discovered that this numbering system was commonly used for working out the ages of children in East Asia (Japan, Korea and China) before the adoption of the now standard international counting system.

As this Wikipedia article explains, starting at one rather than zero means that a newborn babe is 1, what we would consider a one-year-old is considered to be two, etc: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asian_age_reckoning

[ubonjoe]

It is not matter of how they do the count. The first day is day is one because you are already in the country,

[Issangeorge]

In Thailand most Thais still count their years as you stated. They almost always say they are a year older than we would say in the west.

[kanook]

Are you travelling to KL just for the single entry (60 day) tourist visa? If that is the case and on a tight budget, there are much better options to extend your stay in Thailand

[Nemesis7]

its not a big deal, max 500 bhat fine and off you go.

[ukrules]

I would avoid getting any overstays in the current climate as they will be viewed dimly by anyone issuing a visa.

I've done a one day overstay myself before and I didn't need to pay anything. A supervisor was called over to the immigration booth and they just said no problem.

I've also done multi day overstays in the past as I tend to travel when it suits me, if I want to go at the weekend I would overstay a few days in which case I just paid the fine for the few days.

These days I would think twice about that if I was in Bangkok as it appears to be open season on foreigners.

[mogo51]

Pay 500 bht and cop it sweet.

[donnacha]

Thanks to everyone who responded, I am very grateful, the broad spread of opinions has genuinely useful in deciding how to play this.

I notice that a very good wind-up, by a member named realenglish1, appears to have been deleted. I received an email notification of it and, as wind-ups go, it hit the jackpot, really had me worried, and I came here to tip my hat to the guy and acknowledge a superbly executed joke.

That it has been erased is a pity, others might have enjoyed the post but, on the other hand, thanks to the mods here for allowing me to ask my question, it has made me feel a lot better about my chances on Wednesday

Edited January 5, 2015 by donnacha

[Suradit69]

I did not realise that, here, they count the days differently, so you actually get 29 days.

It is not matter of how they do the count. The first day is day is one because you are already in the country,

Yes, it might seem unfair if you arrive late at the night, but the first day you are in Thailand is day one. It's not going to be 30 x 24 hours unless you manage to stage your arrival just seconds past midnight of day one and exit just seconds before midnight of the 30th day.

As said, if you check into a hotel, no matter how late you arrive, you're charged for that first day/night even though other guest might have checked in much earlier in the day than you did.

[gk10002000]

Last year I overstayed my 30 day visa exempt on arrival by one day. I made a border run from Bangkok to Poi Pet via a mini van visa service. I paid the one day overstay fine, signed a couple of papers and nothing else happened. I got the next 30 day visa exempt stamp and turned around and after lunch at the casino went back into Thailand. The ladies at the immigration stand were very nice and friendly as was the man who probably was overseeing or the higher ranking fellow there. I have no oddities in my passport, just a yearly visit from the USA literally for the past 10 years. They asked me what my job at home is and when tell them I am an engineer (which I am), that seems to stop any further questions as I assume they are convinced I have money, funds, income etc, for my second 30 day stay.

[donnacha]

So, what happened at Chiang Mai Airport was that the immigration officer noticed my one-day overstay. I waved the Suvarnabhumi-branded post-it note that the phone number for the police their had been scribbled on and said something along the lines of "the immigration police at Bangkok said that one day is okay".

I have no idea if she understood what I was saying but she took went over to another desk, did something there, then came back and spent a minute or two on her computer, then stamped my passport, scribbled something and took my photo. Friendly throughout and did not fine me, but I can see that the departure stamp is different from the one I got last year, the text includes the number 30, so, I presume it is about my overstay. I have attached a photo.

Fingers crossed that it won't bother the embassy staff in KL when I apply for my tourist visa tomorrow.

Edited January 7, 2015 by donnacha

[Mario2008]

Although the overstay fine is not charged, the passport is marked as having been on overstay (including the numbers of day).

[donnacha]

Yes, thanks Mario, I guess I could not have expected them to not at least note it, I was lucky to avoid the fine.

Now I just hope you were right, in your earlier post, that it will not stop me getting a visa tomorrow

Edited January 7, 2015 by donnacha