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Overstay & the IDC

Overstay & the IDC

If you are living in Thailand and have overstayed your welcome then you will not like what happens to you when you are caught. The current overstay fines for Thailand is 500THB a day to a maximum of 20,000THB. This is only if you do not get caught.

If you do get caught overstaying your visa you will end up in Bangkok at the Immigration Detention Center. This depends again on where you had been caught. As an example if you have been caught overstaying your visa in Pattaya, they will place you in an immigration holding cell in Pattaya until such time that they have enough prisoners to take you to Bangkok. This is normally twice a week. Once you arrive in Bangkok they will take you to the IDC. You will then appear before a judge in court and fined. Once this is done you will be taken back to the IDC.

Conditions in the IDC are cramped and everyone has been split into sections. There is an Asian section and a Western section. Once you are able to do the following you will be taken out of the IDC and taken to the airport. You need to:

– Pay your fine which they court handed down;

– Pay your deportation cost;

– Have a confirmed airline ticket out of Thailand.

Once you have these they will hold you till the day your flight leaves Thailand. A few hours before the flight leaves they will allow an outsider to bring you clothing and a suitcase to get dressed. Thai immigration will then handcuff you and take you to the airport. They only uncuff you once you board the plane. Now normally they do not blacklist you however if the judge or immigration feels that you are not the ‘type’ of visitor they want in Thailand they will  blacklist you.

If you want to know if you have been blacklisted then contact the Thai embassy in your country to check for you. If not then they will issue you with another visa back to Thailand if that is what you want to do.

Word of Advice – always contact a lawyer before you contact immigration about your overstay. The process tends to be faster with a lawyer at hand.

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