Thread: Visa Long Long Overstay

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

I'm just surprised you were able to manage so long whilst remaining illegally. Messing around with bank accounts, renting places, booking into hotels, hiring cars and even going to a hospital inevitably involves the production of a passport at some point, according to my experience, so I was rather impressed that you managed to function for so long

Immigration are the only people interested in visas, I get stopped every time I take the kids to school, army and police check points.
Photo ID, of any kind, on your way, hotels etc only check the photo page of your passport, if you have a Thai drivers licence, that's all they need.

Never carry my passport in Ubon province, never been asked for it, cross over to Lao, official/ non official crossing [meaning you can't stamp in, out] no passport, no ID.

Not hard to keep under the radar outside tourist areas.

I'm back in Blighty now and, as I said, will update the thread with my experience. I went the court route as explained in previous post. It went much according to plan and without hitch, hassle or surprise. It involved waiting here there and everywhere all day from morning till flight but that was expected. The immigration officials were courteous-friendly almost like tour guides getting people to follow them. They are dressed plain clothes jeans Tshiirt and no handcuffs. Total cost of the court route "package deal" was 15K including fine, transports. So its 5k less than the 20k airport routed with a day of waiting around on the negative side but on the positive the certainty of getting out on the desired date without risk or airport immigration causing problems.

In retrospect the airport 20k may be good for those with relative short overstay but given the length of my overstay and the seemingly "get tough" on overstay climate I prefer the certainity and plannability of the court route to putting faith in airport immigration.

Once again, many thanks to toddaniels for putting me in touch with his contact, who was friendly, reliable and had the connections.
　
@tod - pm me your email address pls. Bloody yahoo won't let me connect to my email because I'm connecting from a different location. It wants to send a sms to my mobile which is in Thailand.

Glad to hear it worked out for you!

Well done Denatu. Always good to hear the final result - thanks

Hope it's fucking cold there you slimy bastard

Only joking, nice one.

Did they put an overstay stamp in your passport or warn you about doing it again ?

@Dillinger - Yes they put a stamp in the passport but I'll change the passport and the officialls at IDC assured me no problem to return., In fact they all assume the farang will be returning and far from warning you they welcome your return. There were 12 who arrived that morning and left that night so assuming akll were on the same "deal" you can do the maths.

Perhaps the judge would have given the verbal slap on the wrist but we never saw the judge. We were all in court. 12 of us and about 20 thais in another group who looked like they were all from a company. Court officials there but no judge. I heard an official ask another where the judge was and was told the judge was still at lunch. Then in came court clerks. I exopected the judge to come but the immigration officer escorting us went to the clerks and asked "how much". Then plonked a stack of cash on the table to coiver the fine for all of us, got the papers stamped and off we all went. Looks like the judge wasn't going to cut short his afternoon session with Johnnie Walker at the restaurant just for us small fry. It's the thai version of trial in absentia only instead of the defendant being absent its the judge.
　
　
　

When are you coming back mate?

That result was funny as f*ck

Denatu;

Thank you for the real, first-hand, first person, this is what actually happened account.

Good luck to you.

Thanks for updating us and good to hear it all went well for you. Must have been a stress.

great thread,good result

The great escape, well done

Thx for the update Denatu even if it is a bit anticlimactic, it would make a much better tale if they hung you by your thumbs on a damp prison wall, maybe you can embellish it for the grandkids

^
Don't you believe it. Denatu is rotting in a Thai hellhole being tortured and anally raped on a daily basis.
They got his password and are just enticing others into the trap.

^ Now that's more.like it!

Go to the airport

Originally Posted by navynine

Go to the airport

Christ even the british embassy will say you have a 50/50 chance of getting outta Suvarnabhumi without a problem when you're clearing an overstay, especially a LONG one.

Call them and ask 'em yourself..
Brit Embassy Bangkok
02-305-8333 <- may or may not work (NOT being a Brit I googled it)

I still don't understand except that it is so ridiculous to go to court to save 5k and few days in jail but take the risk not to be able to come back....

Originally Posted by Denatu

I'm back in Blighty now and, as I said, will update the thread with my experience. I went the court route as explained in previous post. It went much according to plan and without hitch, hassle or surprise. It involved waiting here there and everywhere all day from morning till flight but that was expected. The immigration officials were courteous-friendly almost like tour guides getting people to follow them. They are dressed plain clothes jeans Tshiirt and no handcuffs. Total cost of the court route "package deal" was 15K including fine, transports. So its 5k less than the 20k airport routed with a day of waiting around on the negative side but on the positive the certainty of getting out on the desired date without risk or airport immigration causing problems.

In retrospect the airport 20k may be good for those with relative short overstay but given the length of my overstay and the seemingly "get tough" on overstay climate I prefer the certainity and plannability of the court route to putting faith in airport immigration.

Once again, many thanks to toddaniels for putting me in touch with his contact, who was friendly, reliable and had the connections.
　
@tod - pm me your email address pls. Bloody yahoo won't let me connect to my email because I'm connecting from a different location. It wants to send a sms to my mobile which is in Thailand.

Originally Posted by thefactoryoutlet

I still don't understand except that it is so ridiculous to go to court to save 5k and few days in jail but take the risk not to be able to come back....

Turning yourself in and going the court route carries NO risk of "not to be able to come back".

There is a chance (however slim with lengthy overstays), that you're gonna get a persnickety officer at the overstay counter at the airport who wants to run you off the rails.

The O/P just decided it was the best route for him to go. What's hard to understand about that?

Just one quick thing as a further reply to 'thefactoryoutlet'.

You don't spend ANY time in jail, as in not a second and as I said there is nothing stopping you from winging your way right back into the glorious "Land 'O Thais"..

In fact the closest you get to jail is the lobby of IDC. They have wifi, you can use your phone, order food to be delivered, etc. It's far from a hardship. You just 'hang out' there until they drive you to the airport to catch your flight.

Man, you've got your wires crossed or aren't firing on all cylinders.

My boyfriend phoned me yesterday at around 11 AM Thailand time when he was at the court place. We couldn't talk for a long time since he had to hang up immediately. He basically had stayed at IDC for two days by the time he got to court. And that was the last time we talked. In this concern, I'd like to know if he is back in IDC or was put in regular Thai prison. Basically, he couldn't pay the court for his overstay but he is able to fly out of Thailand. I've been waiting for him to phone me again. I really want to know if he is back in IDC or was put in regular Thai prison and how much time does he need to be detained before he can fly out of Thailand. I really want to find the answers to these questions since he doesn't seem to be able to phone me again soon. Please let me know what you know about this concern. Once I find out where he is now, I'll be less worried.

Are you a Thai living in Thailand?

That 15000 baht makes overstay sound like a good deal. How much is 10 years worth of visa fees?

If he doesn't have any money this could be a plus Sandy.

Probably you may find him sitting on the steps of his embassy tomorrow morning.