At around 10.50am yesterday (May 2), officers from the Immigration Bureau of the Royal Thai Police apprehended a Russian man after he was found to have stayed in the country illegally for 59 days beyond the expiration of his permit to stay. The man was taken to Sakhu Police Station for further legal proceedings.
The arrest took place at the International Departures Hall, as reported by Phuket Immigration through the Phuket Immigration Checkpoint page on Facebook.
According to Immigration Bureau regulations, the fine for overstaying is B500 per day. However, the "Good Guys In, Bad Guys Out" policy, implemented in 2016, stipulates that foreigners arrested for an overstay of less than one year will be deported and blacklisted from re-entering the country for five years. Those arrested for an overstay of more than one year will face deportation and a ten-year re-entry ban.
Foreigners who voluntarily surrender for overstaying receive relatively lenient punishments. In addition to the daily fine, those who surrender for an overstay of more than 90 days but less than one year will be deported and blacklisted for one year. Overstays of more than one year but less than three years lead to a three-year ban, while overstays of more than three years but less than five years result in a five-year ban. Overstays of more than five years attract a ten-year ban.
What is often overlooked by the media is that Section 81 of the Immigration Act also prescribes up to two years in prison as a potential punishment for overstaying.