Why do so many people overstay? I have lived in Thailand for almost ten years and only overstayed once due to late return of UK passport, which I quickly cleared. I just can not understand the mentality of people who overstay for months or more. Would they break the law in a similar way in other countries, or do they just break the law here as it is (was) easy? And if they break this law, what other laws do they break as they obviously ignore authority? Any comments, please

By whom was the return of your UK passport delayed, and why?

Why worry about what strangers do? (No I am not a overstayer by the way)

If people choose to overstay that's their business not yours

They chose to overstay because they enjoy pushing the boundaries while the rest of us chose to stay within the law.

They chose to overstay because they enjoy pushing the boundaries while the rest of us chose to stay within the law.

...... or they have no money.......

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?/topic/901203-do-you-have-friends-on-overstay?

Not always the case as in this thread.

But illegal immigration is all over the world. Must be some benefit to doing so.

Posts such as this remind me of the Monty Python argument sketch.

A man walks into an office and says "Ah. I'd like to have an argument, please."

Posts such as this remind me of the Monty Python argument sketch.

A man walks into an office and says "Ah. I'd like to have an argument, please."

No it doesn't

Posts such as this remind me of the Monty Python argument sketch.

A man walks into an office and says "Ah. I'd like to have an argument, please."

No it doesn't

Yes it does

The only overstayers I have known (some personally) were time share touts who arrived on tourist visas and worked illegally. They would talk about the "big money" they were expecting from the time share company but were always broke and lived in very cheap accommodation.

After 90 days they were in effect trapped, not able to afford to travel for a new visa and unlikely to ever be able to secure a B visa or work permit. So fell into overstay.

I never found out what these people were actually paid, but they existed by hassling tourists and handing out fake scratch cards.

About 3-4 years ago the police,immigration and the labour dept. swept these touts off the street as the result of numerous complaints.

I know for fact the some of these people ended in the Bangkok IDC but never heard how long they remained or how they got out.

Everyone of these youngsters was a volunteer and victim of their own foolishness.

They chose to overstay because they enjoy pushing the boundaries while the rest of us chose to stay within the law.

...... or they have no money.......

Rubbish.

Why worry about what strangers do? (No I am not a overstayer by the way)

If people choose to overstay that's their business not yours

" that's their business not yours "

Except that when large numbers of people game the system, the system hardens the rules and the consequences for not following those rules, which often negatively impacts all of us.

Why worry about what strangers do? (No I am not a overstayer by the way)

If people choose to overstay that's their business not yours

" that's their business not yours "

Except that when large numbers of people game the system, the system hardens the rules and the consequences for not following those rules, which often negatively impacts all of us.

It will only impact you if you can't meet the new rules for whichever visa you are on, if you can there will be no problem, sure there will be more hoops to jump through but that's life

Rules are not being tightened just because of overstayers, it will be because of the threat of international terrorism also

Edited March 8, 201610 yr by darrendsd

Why worry about what strangers do? (No I am not a overstayer by the way)

If people choose to overstay that's their business not yours

" that's their business not yours "

Except that when large numbers of people game the system, the system hardens the rules and the consequences for not following those rules, which often negatively impacts all of us.

It will only impact you if you can't meet the new rules for whichever visa you are on, if you can there will be no problem, sure there will be more hoops to jump through but that's life

Whilst not agreeing with the argument that the overstayers are the cause of me suffering any problem there can be no doubt that IO's are looking at foreigners long stay applications much more carefully. I am fortunate in having used the same office for a number of years but even my (always complete) application is now very carefully examined.

The IO's are also examining all Ed extension applications very,very carefully --------------I wonder why ?

Why worry about what strangers do? (No I am not a overstayer by the way)

If people choose to overstay that's their business not yours

" that's their business not yours "

Except that when large numbers of people game the system, the system hardens the rules and the consequences for not following those rules, which often negatively impacts all of us.

It will only impact you if you can't meet the new rules for whichever visa you are on, if you can there will be no problem, sure there will be more hoops to jump through but that's life

Whilst not agreeing with the argument that the overstayers are the cause of me suffering any problem there can be no doubt that IO's are looking at foreigners long stay applications much more carefully. I am fortunate in having used the same office for a number of years but even my (always complete) application is now very carefully examined.

The IO's are also examining all Ed extension applications very,very carefully --------------I wonder why ?

Examining Ed Visa extensions is nothing new, I got tested on my first 90 day extension nearly 6 years ago

The world is changing due to the ever present threat of terrorism and Thailand is changing with it, they would be stupid not to check applications more stringently

Mr Smartpant here.

I overstayed in the USA because nobody gave a rat at the time. pre 911

why? because a flight was too expensive and being caught was slim.

do I regret? no.

what did I think after my visa expired? I didn't give a rat. even police didn't care. I even got bank account, ssn and all.

why people overstay In Thailand? because they are not caught.

Edited March 8, 201610 yr by smartpant

Mr Smartpant here.

I overstayed in the USA because nobody gave a rat at the time. pre 911

why? because a flight was too expensive and being caught was slim.

do I regret? no.

what did I think after my visa expired? I didn't give a rat. even police didn't care. I even got bank account, ssn and all.

why people overstay In Thailand? because they are not caught.

I suggest you overstay in Thailand post March 20.

Make it a good "I do not give a rat" overstay.

Maybe you will not "give a rat" about being incarcerated in the IDC ...............

Posts such as this remind me of the Monty Python argument sketch.

A man walks into an office and says "Ah. I'd like to have an argument, please."

You are in the wrong forum. This is the abuse forum.

One of Douglas Bader's famous quotes is

Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools.

While this philosophy can be taken too far, I am in sympathy with the view that

• if what you are doing does not harm other people, and
• breaking rules does not lead to unacceptable penalties,

then breaking often irrational rules made on the basis of xenophobia and genetically acquired tribal instincts is a perfectly reasonable choice.

I obey the immigration laws of Thailand, not because I agree with state boundaries established by wars and the accidents of history, but because the Thai authorities might choose to give me serious grief if I do not.

No need for another topic discussing overstays. There are plenty of others where it has been discussed.

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