Overstaying on your visa in Thailand

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Last edited: January 21, 2018 at 04:55:17

Overstay

In case you are staying longer than is allowed according to your visa, you are officially overstaying. Overstaying is not recommendable, unless it's more convenient for just a few days. Overstaying will get you some red stamps in your passport and it simply doesn't look good. Officially, you're residing in the Kingdom illegally.
Nobody really knows the truth, but overstaying may be recorded by Thai Immigration and affect future visa decisions by Thai embassies / consulates.
Besides that, overstaying costs money.

Some foreigners purposely decide to stay in Thailand long term without a proper visa or extension. Long term could be several years (!). Now, in the past, there used to be a maximum penalty for this of about THB 20,000 only, so these foreigners would walk up to Immigration on the airport with a big smile on their face and THB 20,000 cash in their pocket. These days are over. New rules from Immigration as of Aug 29, 2014 there will be long period of prohibited stay as a penalty to overstaying.

Costs: The normal fee is THB 500 per day.

Penalty of overstaying very long time:
overstay of more than 90 days - forbidden to return to Thailand for 1 year
overstay of more than 1 year - forbidden to return to Thailand for 3 years
overstay of more than 3 years - forbidden to return to Thailand for 5 years
overstay of more than 5 years - forbidden to return to Thailand for 10 years

If you get caught overstaying, so without you reporting by yourself, the penalty is even worse:
overstay of less than 1 year - forbidden to return to Thailand for 5 years
overstay of more than 1 year - forbidden to return to Thailand for 10 years

So, overstaying really isn't worth the trouble anymore, and if you do, you'd better report yourself before you get caught.


New overstay rules effective March 20, 2016, explained by Immigration. (This video appears to show more the perspective of the Immigration police that seems to see overstaying foreigners as bad guys committing crimes and overstaying on purpose, rather than the more likely reality that most foreigners don't overstay or overstay with just a few days because of circumstances.)

Want to stay long term in Thailand? Get a 1-year visa with ease.


DISCLAIMER: This information was compiled from several sources and best-practises. Policies, prices and procedures of the Thai authorities change continuously. CM Locator accepts no liability for incorrectness of information here. Help us keep this information as update and useful for visa applicants as possible and let us know if you find something has changed.


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What do you think about this article?

Sim100 Posted on April 12, 2018 at 01:56:25
No need to repport. You will have to pay 1000 baht (500 per day) at the airport immigration when living the Thailand.
momos Posted on April 12, 2018 at 01:39:35
We just discovered we will be overstaying 2 days... Mistake with the 30 days visa compared to 1 month... Where should we report in Chiang Mai airport? Thanks