One hell of a visa overstay, but finally caught

[Gaybutton]

British Man Arrested in Chiang Mai for Overstaying Visa For Over 25 Years!!

By Adam Judd

February 25, 2025

Chiang Mai Immigration authorities, under the leadership of Police Colonel Surachai Eimpuang, Superintendent of Chiang Mai Immigration, have intensified efforts to crack down on immigration violations. On February 24, 2025, a British national was arrested for overstaying his visa by a staggering 9,135 days—more than 25 years—following a targeted operation in the city.

The operation was led by Police Lieutenant Colonel Suthirathep Phothinimit, Chief of the Chiang Mai Immigration Division, who led a team of investigation officers in collaboration with Crime Suppression Division 5. The joint task force conducted inspections in high-risk areas along Rakang Road in the Chang Klan Subdistrict, as part of an ongoing initiative to enforce the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 and address other related offenses.

During the inspection, authorities apprehended the British man, charging him with “Being an alien who entered and resided in the Kingdom after permission had expired.” After informing him of the charges and his legal rights, officers transferred him to the Chiang Mai City Police Station for further legal proceedings. He is now awaiting deportation to the United Kingdom.

The suspect admitted to entering Thailand on January 9, 2000, under a 30-day visa exemption (Por.30). When his permit expired, he failed to apply for an extension and instead successfully managed to evade authorities for over two decades. He reportedly lived in Bangkok for 13 years before relocating to Chiang Mai, where he resided for an additional 12 years. During this time, he obtained a new passport, possibly in an attempt to avoid detection. However, Chiang Mai Immigration officers tracked him down and made the arrest.

Although overstay arrests and deportations are common in Thailand, one of this level of length is extremely unusual and even Immigration officers were shocked at all long the suspect, whose name wasn’t released to the press, has evaded authorities. His name was withheld as Immigration officials were further investigating the man and his connections to attempt to determine exactly how he had avoided them for so long and if he possibly had any criminal records or history in the UK.

https://thepattayanews.com/2025/02/25/b ... -25-years/

"Like your friend, Mr. Bond, you were a little too clever and now you are caught!"
- Adolfo Celi (Largo), 'Thunderball'

[Jun]

overstaying his visa by a staggering 9,135 days

Does he have to pay the 500 baht per day overstay charge?
I make that 4.5 million baht. Or has he reached a "settlement" ?

[gerefan]

With the average daily spending of 3000 baht he has spent 27,405,000 baht while he has been here.

The Tourism authorities should be grateful.

[Gaybutton]

Does he have to pay the 500 baht per day overstay charge?

If he does, that works out to 4,567,500 baht - well over US $136,000 - and with the legal problems he now faces, that would be only the beginning.

To me the underlying question is why. Why did he do it? The article doesn't tell us his age, so we don't know whether he would have been eligible for the retirement visa. I wonder if he had any other alternatives that would have allowed him to stay in Thailand legally.

25 years ago, until they changed the law, he could have stayed in Thailand legally and indefinitely simply by doing visa runs. Apparently he never even did that.

If he remained in Thailand that long, he must have had an income of some kind, from somewhere. 25 years ago he could have easily opened a Thai bank account simply by showing his passport and an opening deposit of 500 baht.

And after so many years of getting away with it, he probably became complacent about it, assuming he was never going to be caught. Now he had an unpleasant little surprise.

No matter what his reasons were, 25 years is a very long time. He probably had his life fully established here. I hope for his sake he didn't burn all his bridges in the UK, but now he is probably in immigration detention, which is a terrible place to be, and facing deportation - which he will have to pay for himself plus many other legal fees. He will not be able to take much with him other than the clothes on his back, so whatever he has in Thailand, now he most likely will lose everything. I wonder what awaits him once he is back in the UK.

I hope the news media follows up on this. There is quite a bit I'm curious to know. For now, is he going to just resign himself to his fate or is he going to try to fight deportation? Is he going to have to appear in court and present a case for being allowed to stay in Thailand or is he going to end up facing prison time, heavy fines, and then face deportation? Whatever happens to him now, it isn't going to be good. I don't think this is going to end well for him.

Whatever is in store for him, I would not want to be in his shoes.

[gerefan]

I know you are all joking but the maximum fine for overstay is only 20,000 baht.

The problem would be that he would not be allowed to re-enter thailand for a huge number of years…

[Gaybutton]

I know you are all joking but the maximum fine for overstay is only 20,000 baht

Along with deportation. I have a feeling all kinds of additional fees and fines are on the horizon for him.

I would imagine that even some immigration officers are sympathetic since he got away with it for such a long time, apparently without causing any trouble, but I don't see how there is any choice other than to deport him. If they don't, it would establish the wrong precedent.

In some ways I feel sorry for this man and in some ways I think whatever penalties he faces now are certainly justified.

I am also somewhat surprised that I have not spotted one word about this in any other English language Thailand media. I hope the Pattaya News will keep us updated. I'm very curious as to what will happen to this man and I want to see the reasons why he did this and how he managed to get away with it for such a long time.

[Jun]

In some ways I feel sorry for this man and in some ways I think whatever penalties he faces now are certainly justified

I don't feel sorry for him in any way. He broke the rules, so should face the consequences.

I also thought you support the US deporting illegal immigrants. This is the same.

The people I feel sorry for would be those stuck in North Korea, or those in Myanmar.

[Gaybutton]

I also thought you support the US deporting illegal immigrants.

I am in favor of deporting illegal immigrants, very much so, including this guy. That doesn't mean I can't feel a little bit sorry for some of them at the same time.

Here is Barry Kenyon's take on it - but still nothing about my main question about why he did this:
_______________________________________________

How is it possible to overstay for 25 years in Thailand?

by Barry Kenyon

February 26, 2025

The news that a still-anonymous British man has been arrested by Chiang Mai immigration police for an overstay of a quarter of a century has set social media aflame. According to The Independent, the 60 years old expat arrived with 30 days on arrival in the year 2000 and never appeared again at immigration prior to his arrest this week.

Previously, the longest confirmed overstayer was an Iraqi citizen caught last year after an illegal sojourn of 15 years. He was arrested after Thai neighbors thought he was behaving peculiarly in his neighborhood and came to the conclusion he was likely without lawful authorization to remain in the kingdom. There has long been an unconfirmed report of 2016 that an American citizen died in a Pattaya hospital after a 20 years overstay. His last words were reputed to be, “Please forgive me!”

Immigration officials point out that first-generation computerized records 25 years ago were not digitally controlled and easily fooled by foreigners using a second passport or exchanging their old one after first entry. They also point out that, when a foreigner applies to his embassy in Bangkok for a replacement passport, there is no immigration bureau involvement until the holder visits his or her local office to transfer the old entry stamp or visas to the new permit.

Immigration lawyer and visa expert Jessataporn Bunnag said, “The British man must have lived very quietly and avoided any risks where he would need to show his passport, for example obtaining or renewing a driving licence or obtaining insurance.” He added that, according to British news reports, the overstay Brit had misleadingly told people over the years not to worry as he was in the process of reapplying for a new passport.

In any case, according to some embassy websites, passport renewal applications are not reported to immigration. Some expats have two passports via dual nationality so the absence of a current entry stamp in one passport doesn’t necessarily mean there is an overstay. Nonetheless, the British overstayer was lucky as relatives transmitted cash to him overseas. The foreign exchange or Thai bank clearly never asked to see his passport or failed to notice the out-of-date entry stamp.

Immigration specialists say that the new generation of computerized records, which have totally replaced the old analogue versions, make it much more difficult to cheat on the visa front. For example, changing passports to evade detection or failing to report a local address both spark alarms. None the less, immigration bureaux still continue to publish contact phone numbers to enable concerned members of the public to report absconders. That suggests that human informers are still in demand.

https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/ ... and-492062

[Gaybutton]

Some additional information has come out and several news sources published it. Most of it is a rehash of what we already know, so I am posting only the part of this article that is holding the new information. No new photos.

During his first 13 years in Bangkok, the man built a life with a Thai woman with whom he has a child, police said. They moved to Chiang Mai 12 years ago for economic reasons, but the man does not have a job and lives off money from his family in Britain, police said.

He avoided arrest by Thai authorities for 9,135 days before his arrest - but will now be deported back to the United Kingdom as part of a crackdown by immigration police. His name is being withheld as police look into how he was able to stay for so long in the country.

The man confessed that he did not apply for an extension of his visa after his first permit arrived, the post said. But he successfully applied for a renewed passport in 2018, police said.

For the full article, see: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 04375.html

There are still aspects of the story that make no sense to me. Apparently he comes from a well-to-do family since they have been financially supporting him all this time. For years he could easily have left Thailand if he could make it to the airport without getting caught by the police. In those days it would have been a 500 baht fine and he could have returned to Thailand without any problems.

Apparently he was taking a huge chance with his health. I don't know how he could have stayed in a hospital without getting caught. And in case of a serious illness or accident what about medical insurance?

Next question - if he has a wife and child, what becomes of them now? Are they legally married or just living together? If he was legally married to a Thai, he could have gotten visas to remain in Thailand, couldn't he? I really don't know much about how that works.

So far, most of the choices he made are occupying a place on my "I Don't Get It" list.

[christianpfc]

With the average daily spending of 3000 baht he has spent 27,405,000 baht while he has been here.

The Tourism authorities should be grateful.

Most people on overstay are short of money (and that's the reason why they are on overstay). However, even "short of money" for a tourist can be a contribution to the Thai economy.

These overstay stories are crimes without victims, a loss-loss situation both for the person affected and Thai economy. I use "person affected" because I see him as the victim of excessive bureaucracy. Immigration rules hassle honest folk, but don't prevent criminals from doing their business.

I think as long as they can fund themselves, everyone should be able to stay in any country he wants.