January 24th, 2006, 06:09
f you're arrested for visa overstayтАж
Pattaya Today: 16. January 2006, 21:40
A layman's guide to the ins and outs Statistically, you are more likely to be arrested for visa overstay in Thailand than for any other offence. Nobody knows the exact figure, but itтАЩs certainly several hundreds a year with all nationalities combined. There are usually a handful of farangs in the Pattaya police station cells at any one time, and itтАЩs a fair bet that most of them will have overstayed their legal stay in the Land of Smiles.
Overstayers have turned up who are months or even years in residence as illegal immigrants. The longest number of years known to the present writer is eight years, and thatтАЩs probably not the record by any means. This particular guy had lived rough, usually on the beach, for ages and knew how to survive by begging food and cash from indulgent proprietors and sympathetic tourists. He was especially adept at тАЬborrowingтАЭ sandwiches from picknicking families. That manтАЩs overstay had started like most peopleтАЩs тАУ he just couldnтАЩt face going home, to Accrington in Lancashire in his particular case. At first, he went on cheap visa runs to the Cambodian border before his cash situation became desperate and the ATM machine eventually swallowed his credit card. But most overstayers soon find their bleak situation intolerable and want to give themselves up. At least, they do feed you in jail.
One of the more bizarre aspects of my job is accompanying unhappy men to the immigration police, at their request, as they are literally desperate to be arrested and donтАЩt know how to achieve their aim. Yet many, probably most, overstayers donтАЩt surrender voluntarily. They are reported to the police by a wide range of persons who donтАЩt wish them well тАУ former lovers, fed-up creditors, angry landladies, business partners anxious to get even and so on. Whilst itтАЩs true that overstayers can usually avoid imprisonment if they can pay the 200 baht a day fine (up to a maximum of 20,000 baht) and provided have a valid air ticket in their possession, most offenders are not in that fortunate situation. So they have to be processed along with all the others. Under Thai law, offenders normally have to be presented in court within 48 hours. Typically, a guy will be held in Pattaya police station until his appearance in Jomtien courthouse under guard.
The standard fine is 2,000 baht (effectively 10 days in jail) followed by deportation, irrespective of the length of the overstay. If there are other offences to consider, say fake documents or a drugs charge, then the offender will be sent to Pattaya remand prison in Nong Palai sub-district or even be granted bail if he has the appropriate cash bond and a broker willing to guarantee him. However, thatтАЩs unlikely as nearly all overstayers are financially broke. And theyтАЩre invariably male. So a typical offender will find himself back in Pattaya police station cells to serve his sentence. There will then be a further delay awaiting the arrival of the formal court paper work, including the тАЬkam pit pak saanтАЭ or judgeтАЩs summation.
If, by this time, the offender has raised enough cash for an airticket тАУ one complication is that some airlines wonтАЩt take deportees тАУ and transport to Bangkok airport, the immigration police may take him direct as a discretion. However, itтАЩs more usual for the overstayer to be transported by police van to BangkokтАЩs immigration detention centre to await these formalities. ItтАЩs a common question as to what happens to guys who canтАЩt raise the money for an airticket home, even through friends and relatives. The answer is that it depends on the manтАЩs embassy. Most western embassies eventually, maybe after many months of waiting, will purchase the ticket but only on an тАЬundertaking to repayтАЭ or loan basis, with the passport confiscated as collateral. ItтАЩs taxpayersтАЩ money back home and thus a deliberately slow process. Finally, visa overstayers will normally be allowed back into Thailand by the immigration authorities although they may find themselves ineligible for long visas and work permits. The Land of Smiles still wants your money and assumes, rightly or wrongly, that you have learned your lesson.
by Barry Kenyon
Pattaya Today: 16. January 2006, 21:40
A layman's guide to the ins and outs Statistically, you are more likely to be arrested for visa overstay in Thailand than for any other offence. Nobody knows the exact figure, but itтАЩs certainly several hundreds a year with all nationalities combined. There are usually a handful of farangs in the Pattaya police station cells at any one time, and itтАЩs a fair bet that most of them will have overstayed their legal stay in the Land of Smiles.
Overstayers have turned up who are months or even years in residence as illegal immigrants. The longest number of years known to the present writer is eight years, and thatтАЩs probably not the record by any means. This particular guy had lived rough, usually on the beach, for ages and knew how to survive by begging food and cash from indulgent proprietors and sympathetic tourists. He was especially adept at тАЬborrowingтАЭ sandwiches from picknicking families. That manтАЩs overstay had started like most peopleтАЩs тАУ he just couldnтАЩt face going home, to Accrington in Lancashire in his particular case. At first, he went on cheap visa runs to the Cambodian border before his cash situation became desperate and the ATM machine eventually swallowed his credit card. But most overstayers soon find their bleak situation intolerable and want to give themselves up. At least, they do feed you in jail.
One of the more bizarre aspects of my job is accompanying unhappy men to the immigration police, at their request, as they are literally desperate to be arrested and donтАЩt know how to achieve their aim. Yet many, probably most, overstayers donтАЩt surrender voluntarily. They are reported to the police by a wide range of persons who donтАЩt wish them well тАУ former lovers, fed-up creditors, angry landladies, business partners anxious to get even and so on. Whilst itтАЩs true that overstayers can usually avoid imprisonment if they can pay the 200 baht a day fine (up to a maximum of 20,000 baht) and provided have a valid air ticket in their possession, most offenders are not in that fortunate situation. So they have to be processed along with all the others. Under Thai law, offenders normally have to be presented in court within 48 hours. Typically, a guy will be held in Pattaya police station until his appearance in Jomtien courthouse under guard.
The standard fine is 2,000 baht (effectively 10 days in jail) followed by deportation, irrespective of the length of the overstay. If there are other offences to consider, say fake documents or a drugs charge, then the offender will be sent to Pattaya remand prison in Nong Palai sub-district or even be granted bail if he has the appropriate cash bond and a broker willing to guarantee him. However, thatтАЩs unlikely as nearly all overstayers are financially broke. And theyтАЩre invariably male. So a typical offender will find himself back in Pattaya police station cells to serve his sentence. There will then be a further delay awaiting the arrival of the formal court paper work, including the тАЬkam pit pak saanтАЭ or judgeтАЩs summation.
If, by this time, the offender has raised enough cash for an airticket тАУ one complication is that some airlines wonтАЩt take deportees тАУ and transport to Bangkok airport, the immigration police may take him direct as a discretion. However, itтАЩs more usual for the overstayer to be transported by police van to BangkokтАЩs immigration detention centre to await these formalities. ItтАЩs a common question as to what happens to guys who canтАЩt raise the money for an airticket home, even through friends and relatives. The answer is that it depends on the manтАЩs embassy. Most western embassies eventually, maybe after many months of waiting, will purchase the ticket but only on an тАЬundertaking to repayтАЭ or loan basis, with the passport confiscated as collateral. ItтАЩs taxpayersтАЩ money back home and thus a deliberately slow process. Finally, visa overstayers will normally be allowed back into Thailand by the immigration authorities although they may find themselves ineligible for long visas and work permits. The Land of Smiles still wants your money and assumes, rightly or wrongly, that you have learned your lesson.
by Barry Kenyon