I have tried to explain the visa overstay system.

It is easy to start with.

1. When the visa expires the farang must leave Thailand - OK

2. If the farang don't go, there will be an overstay fee - OK (thais understand about paying to the police)

Then it beguins to get difficult.

It's not so easy to explain what the detention center is.

And that the farang must pay, not only the overstay fee, but also the ticket home and some other costs before being put on a plane home.

And if the farang has a european or american passport then we are talking about some seriously big money.

(Well, big money for most people that find themselvs in the detention center.)

I have started looking for a semi-formal description of this system in thai language on the net.

It can't be so formal and legal that ordinary people dont understand it, but on the other hand, not so informal that people don't take it seriously.

Dictionaries and thing like google translate are useless in this case. You need somebody that is so good in thai that he / she can figure out how formal a text is.

Do we have somebody that likes a Saturday morning challange here on thaivisa ?

Not a Thai language point, I'll move to a more appropriate forum.

Please replace 'farang' with 'foreigner' and you're on the right way. But nationality has nothing to do with the amount to be paid in the detention center.

You do not overstay a visa. You overstay your permit to stay,

The fine for overstaying is 500 baht a day up to a maximum of 20000 baht.

You only would be sent to the immigration detention carter (IDC) if you got caught with an overstay. Most people pay the fine on the way out of the country.

If you got caught with overstay and had the money for the fine and ticket out you might not spend much time at the IDC.

If you do not have enough money pay the normal fine you would make an appearance in court. The judge when then set the fine you need to pay. I seen reports of a judge lowering the maximum fine to a little as 3000 baht to 12000 baht,

If you did not have the money for the fine and a ticket out the country. You will be sent to a prison and you would get 200 baht applied towards fine for each day of detention. If you did not have money for the ticket you would bedetained until you did have it.

Once you pay off the fine and have the ticket you will be escorted to the airport for your flight.

have started looking for a semi-formal description of this system in thai language on the net.

It can't be so formal and legal that ordinary people dont understand it, but on the other hand, not so informal that people don't take it seriously.

My understanding was that the poster indeed wants to explain the stuff to Thai people.

So it would well be a Thai language item.

You do not overstay a visa. You overstay your permit to stay,

The fine for overstaying is 500 baht a day up to a maximum of 20000 baht.

You only would be sent to the immigration detention carter (IDC) if you got caught with an overstay. Most people pay the fine on the way out of the country.

If you got caught with overstay and had the money for the fine and ticket out you might not spend much time at the IDC.

If you do not have enough money pay the normal fine you would make an appearance in court. The judge when then set the fine you need to pay. I seen reports of a judge lowering the maximum fine to a little as 3000 baht to 12000 baht,

If you did not have the money for the fine and a ticket out the country. You will be sent to a prison and you would get 200 baht applied towards fine for each day of detention. If you did not have money for the ticket you would bedetained until you did have it.

Once you pay off the fine and have the ticket you will be escorted to the airport for your flight.

Good information but I will add to this... and this is something I never seen discussed in these forums, for some reason everybody thinks overstay in NOT a big deal.. pay the fine and all good. Right? Wrong!

This comes from 18 years experience making Visa's and I own a Visa company here in Thailand also... so you can rely on this as correct information. The entire overstay situation in Thailand is unique... ridiculous by global standards.

Firstly, an overstay CAN or CAN NOT be stamped into your passport, depending on the mood of the Imigration officer. But even if its not, rest assured, the Overstay is lodged into Immigration Computers (at least at the major airports). It is recorded internally, getting a new passport does nothing to erase the history. Why people think the only method Thai immigration Officers have to check your Overstay history is by checking your passport... is beyond me. Thai Immigration is the front line to border protection... your full history including all overstays is available for them to see with a simple search through your Immigration file. 95% of the time they won't bother looking... but they CAN very easily if they want.

Secondly, there is nothing to say in the future, Immigration will come out with a new policy on Overstay... maybe anybody who has ever overstayed more than 30 days will be banned from entering Thailand. They can retrospect this if they want. Likely to happen? Probably not. But possible? Consider this... another bomb goes of in Bangkok, a crazy Aussie is responsible and he was on overstay when he detonated the bomb... do you really think Thai Immigration wont have a long look at their policy on Overstay? Anything can change in the future, an Overstay is serious. You become an illegal immigrant. You are not on overstay... you are an illegal immigrant and in almost every other country in the world its not that easy just to pay a fine and leave. If you are a Thai person, and visit Australia and overstay your Tourist Visa.. you are arrested at the airport. Detained. Fined. Banned. Permanent record in your passport.

Thirdly, if you have a long record of Thai overstays, then one day you want to move to the Philippines, or maybe you have a job offer in Australia... it will be difficult for you to get the visa. And that's because you have a history of overstaying Thai Visa's or Visa Exemptions. Its on your record. So that 500 baht "oh she'll be right mate its just an overstay" payment you made at the airport could end up costing you a lot more once you start applying for Visa's in countries that arent as morally bankrupt as this place is.

Think about it.

Just wondering why ordinary (as you put it)Thai people would be interested or care about overstay fees for foreigners?