Overstay with blank passport at Suvarnabhumi today

[lupusdom]

As there is a lack of reports what actually happened at the airports in the current mess, here is a report of suvarnabhumi today

What happened before, a good friend of mine (phillipino girl) had her two old passports stolen, with which she made usually visa runs. That happened two years ago.
Since then, she was illegal in Thailand, without visa or passport - but she did go to police and report the theft, and so had the police report

To help her, we tried to gather information, get a new passport and what to do - obviously, before the 20th of March.
She go a plane ticket to the phillipines, collected the 20.000 Baht overstay fee and we went to the airport.
Strangely, Phillipine Airlines didn't even ask for a passport with an entrance stamp, a friend was denied flight before for that reason, so maybe they just don't care anymore.

After going through the passport control and some rather long talk with the immigration there (supposedly they very efficient, but friendly) a problem that came up was the missing entry stamp -
and the police report mentioned only the prior theft of one passport, not of two.

The immigration said it is possible to get the report done immediately at either the suvarnabhumi police, or the tourist police.
We went to the tourist police, but that started to be a big issue. A long time arguing, them ordering us to some police downtown etc. despite seeing the check in tickets was just resolved by some
superior officer that ordered them to just write it.

After that the case went on normal, through security, and immigration, paying the fee.
I hope the slightly more detailed description helps anyone who worries about their visa :-)

So, long story short - overstay is still possible, even with a blank passport BUT have your papers together. It would have been a big issue if she would not have been bright enough to have copies of anything in her passports before and made at least a police report for one of the stolen passports. They clearly want to track exactly from when until when you have been where.

For anyone that had a recent overstay - with my poor Thai, I see now only four stamps in her passport.
One for the transfer of the entrance stamp from an old passport, one as entrance stamp / visa on arrival, one as departure stamp and one that she overstayed and paid 20.000 Baht
As they made her sign the "5 year ban" etc. thing but did not say anything about it, she actually can reenter or not?
Would a ban from the kingdom not be stamped in red?

Thanks in advance

[ubonjoe]

Stamps she got as you described are all normal.

There is no banning in effect yet.

She probably just signed an acknowledgement of the overstay new rules.

Having two lost passports is an unusual case. But it would certainly be necessary to have to 2 police reports.

[Pattaya46]

Not claiming for a new passport during 2 years after you had it stolen is another unusual case !

Who would do that? and why?? There is a Philippines Embassy in Bangkok.

[BritTim]

She can reenter. Suggest she takes care of her passport in the future and does not overstay again.

[elviajero]

If she was banned, which she is not, there would be a stamp in her passport confirming the ban.

[lupusdom]

There was one old passport with some old visas or something in it, to which the newer passport referred - and both were stolen.
She got a new passport maybe one year ago, but had trouble collecting the money, and I think there was a huge amount of shyness involved to approach immigration/airport/whatever.

So yes, the police reports were vital. I just wonder what they do if someone has a blank passport, 20k but no police reports or anything

And sure, it was one of her big issues - actually not an unresponsible person, but she just slipped into this shitty situation. Glad that is solved now, if she reenters then on proper visas

Thanks :-)

[ubonjoe]

With no proof of having a previous passport used for entry they could assume she entered the country illegally. That is why it is so important to have the correct documents.

[PremiumLane]

She will be able to get back in. I had the same problem, except for me it was the British FCO keeping my old passport when I got a new one.

I had to do the same, file a police report at the airport, and as I had the old passport number they could bring up all my old details and transfer the stamp over - I then paid the overstay and came back on a tourist visa. I now have a work permit from a new job and had no problems when getting the Non-B and this at immigration at Chang Wattana.

[sunnyjim5]

She will be able to get back in. I had the same problem, except for me it was the British FCO keeping my old passport when I got a new one.

I had to do the same, file a police report at the airport, and as I had the old passport number they could bring up all my old details and transfer the stamp over - I then paid the overstay and came back on a tourist visa. I now have a work permit from a new job and had no problems when getting the Non-B and this at immigration at Chang Wattana.

Interesting.

Why did the FCO keep your passport ?

I have never heard of an expired British passport being retained.

[PremiumLane]

She will be able to get back in. I had the same problem, except for me it was the British FCO keeping my old passport when I got a new one.

I had to do the same, file a police report at the airport, and as I had the old passport number they could bring up all my old details and transfer the stamp over - I then paid the overstay and came back on a tourist visa. I now have a work permit from a new job and had no problems when getting the Non-B and this at immigration at Chang Wattana.

Interesting.

Why did the FCO keep your passport ?

I have never heard of an expired British passport being retained.

It was damaged, maybe that was why? But they did,

Edited March 13, 2016 by PremiumLane

[BritTim]

Interesting.

Why did the FCO keep your passport ?

I have never heard of an expired British passport being retained.

In the distant past, they used to keep the old passport routinely, unless there were valid visas in it. I do not think they ever do this now. They simply ensure the corners are cut off to indicate it is canceled.

[sunnyjim5]

Interesting.

Why did the FCO keep your passport ?

I have never heard of an expired British passport being retained.

In the distant past, they used to keep the old passport routinely, unless there were valid visas in it. I do not think they ever do this now. They simply ensure the corners are cut off to indicate it is canceled.

That must have been in the very distant past -------------I have all of my old passport going back to the days of old !

[Naroge]

There was one old passport with some old visas or something in it, to which the newer passport referred - and both were stolen.

She got a new passport maybe one year ago, but had trouble collecting the money, and I think there was a huge amount of shyness involved to approach immigration/airport/whatever.

So yes, the police reports were vital. I just wonder what they do if someone has a blank passport, 20k but no police reports or anything

And sure, it was one of her big issues - actually not an unresponsible person, but she just slipped into this shitty situation. Glad that is solved now, if she reenters then on proper visas

Thanks :-)

"I just wonder what they do if someone has a blank passport, 20k but no police reports or anything".

Without a police report they would do nothing or in the worst case assume you are illegally in the country. The police report is the only "proof" you have that the old passports actually existed.

[dddave]

Lost and stolen passports happen; it happened to me. This is a good example to remind everybody to make copies of your passport and visas and in this age of smartphones, to take clear pictures of your passport front page and visas and keep them on your device, and even better, in the "cloud" so should the unexpected happen, you have immediate access to all your document details; even if you loose everything.

[BritTim]

"I just wonder what they do if someone has a blank passport, 20k but no police reports or anything".

Without a police report they would do nothing or in the worst case assume you are illegally in the country. The police report is the only "proof" you have that the old passports actually existed.

Really, a police report is just a self declaration that you had a passport and used it to enter Thailand. It proves nothing.

I guess you are saying that someone could have left The Philippines without a passport and successfully entered Thailand illegally. While theoretically possible, I consider that highly unlikely. In most cases, the original record on immigration's computer can be found. I concede that it is possible (especially if the entry was made long ago) that immigration might have lost the record of the entry. For most nationalities, the insistence on a police report for the lost passport is just protocol that the IOs need to follow. It is, of course, a bit different for those from countries directly neighboring Thailand.

[ukrules]

There was one old passport with some old visas or something in it, to which the newer passport referred - and both were stolen.

She got a new passport maybe one year ago, but had trouble collecting the money, and I think there was a huge amount of shyness involved to approach immigration/airport/whatever.

So yes, the police reports were vital. I just wonder what they do if someone has a blank passport, 20k but no police reports or anything

And sure, it was one of her big issues - actually not an unresponsible person, but she just slipped into this shitty situation. Glad that is solved now, if she reenters then on proper visas

Thanks :-)

"I just wonder what they do if someone has a blank passport, 20k but no police reports or anything".

Without a police report they would do nothing or in the worst case assume you are illegally in the country. The police report is the only "proof" you have that the old passports actually existed.

You need a police report to get a new passport when it's stolen don't you ?

[DekDaeng]

If she was banned, which she is not, there would be a stamp in her passport confirming the ban.

What language?

[elviajero]

If she was banned, which she is not, there would be a stamp in her passport confirming the ban.

What language?

Thai.

[Naroge]

"I just wonder what they do if someone has a blank passport, 20k but no police reports or anything".

Without a police report they would do nothing or in the worst case assume you are illegally in the country. The police report is the only "proof" you have that the old passports actually existed.

Really, a police report is just a self declaration that you had a passport and used it to enter Thailand. It proves nothing.

I guess you are saying that someone could have left The Philippines without a passport and successfully entered Thailand illegally. While theoretically possible, I consider that highly unlikely. In most cases, the original record on immigration's computer can be found. I concede that it is possible (especially if the entry was made long ago) that immigration might have lost the record of the entry. For most nationalities, the insistence on a police report for the lost passport is just protocol that the IOs need to follow. It is, of course, a bit different for those from countries directly neighboring Thailand.

Of course you need a police report if your passport is lost or stolen, same as you need police report to claim from an insurance company. Reason being that a police report has higher "status" than if you just write your own paper "I hereby declare that I have lost my passport". Lying to a government official probably carries a higher penalty then the other version.

[Naroge]

There was one old passport with some old visas or something in it, to which the newer passport referred - and both were stolen.

She got a new passport maybe one year ago, but had trouble collecting the money, and I think there was a huge amount of shyness involved to approach immigration/airport/whatever.

So yes, the police reports were vital. I just wonder what they do if someone has a blank passport, 20k but no police reports or anything

And sure, it was one of her big issues - actually not an unresponsible person, but she just slipped into this shitty situation. Glad that is solved now, if she reenters then on proper visas

Thanks :-)

"I just wonder what they do if someone has a blank passport, 20k but no police reports or anything".

Without a police report they would do nothing or in the worst case assume you are illegally in the country. The police report is the only "proof" you have that the old passports actually existed.

You need a police report to get a new passport when it's stolen don't you ?

Sure. That's what I'm saying.

[bkkcanuck8]

Interesting.

Why did the FCO keep your passport ?

I have never heard of an expired British passport being retained.

In the distant past, they used to keep the old passport routinely, unless there were valid visas in it. I do not think they ever do this now. They simply ensure the corners are cut off to indicate it is canceled.

That must have been in the very distant past -------------I have all of my old passport going back to the days of old !

If Canada follows the same rules - they use to ask you if you want your old passport back (after the application is processed) .... which i always told them yes I do. Now on the Canadian application there is a little checkbox (not sure if that is new - but don't actually remember the checkbox).

i.e. it may be "routine" if you did not indicate otherwise.