Overstay
The Thai Immigration Department is remarkably relaxed about the enforcement of the penalties for people who overstay. Those overstaying the expiry date of the visa are fined 500 baht per day for every day they overstay, up to a maximum of 20,000 baht. So if you overstay for 40 days, the fine would be 20,000 baht, just as if you overstayed for 4 years, the fine would also be no more than 20,000 baht. There is usually a grace period of one day, so if you leave the day after your visa expires, there is usually no fine. If you are picked up in country anywhere, at any time, on an expired visa, you will be arrested and taken to the Immigration department’s detention centre in Bangkok.
It should be noted that overstaying is a serious offence. In some of Thailand’s neighbouring countries the mandatory punishment is 14 days jail and in many Western countries, overstaying your visa may see you subject to a ban from returning to that country for a period of 5 years! Please don’t think that the 20,000 baht maximum fine is a friendly invitation to overstay as long as you wish, like some sort of convenient, long-term visa solution. It isn’t. It’s a serious crime. Don’t forget that!
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