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The A-to-Z of Overstay: Rules, Fines, Bans, Detention & More

If you're new to Thailand then you probably don't know too much about overstaying your visa. If you've made a few trips back-and-forth already, you may have heard the term but probably aren't  au fait with the rules.

Either way, it's something every visitor and expat should familiarise themselves with.

So in this post I give you a full breakdown of the rules, plus some advice on how to avoid the hassle of overstaying your visa.

The A-to-Z of Overstay

What Does Overstay Mean?

Overstay refers to staying in Thailand beyond the period for which you are permitted.

An example of overstay would be to stay more than 30 days, if you have been given a 30-day exemption stamp.

Another example would be to stay more than 60 days on a single entry tourist visa, or more than 90 days on a single entry Non Immigrant O Visa.

Is Overstaying Illegal?

It is illegal to overstay your visa in Thailand, but overstaying by a small number of days does not carry a serious penalty.

However, overstaying for a long period of time could land you in a lot of trouble.  Indeed, if you are on overstay and you are apprehended by immigration police, the consequences are far worse.

What Are the Current Overstay Rules?

  • Overstay more than 90 days –   1 year ban from Thailand
  • Overstay more than  1 year  –    3 year ban from Thailand
  • Overstay more than  3 years –   5 year ban from Thailand
  • Overstay more than  5 years – 10 year ban from Thailand

How Much Is the Overstay Fine?

The fine depends on the number of days you have overstayed. The minimum charge is 500 Baht per day. This goes up to a maximum of 20,000 Baht for overstays of 40 days or longer.

What If I Am Arrested by Immigration for Overstaying?

If you are arrested by immigration for overstaying your visa, the penalty is far worse. It is likely that you will be taken to an immigration detention centre. After this, you will be subject to the following ban:

  • Overstay less than  1 Year  –   5 year ban from Thailand
  • Overstay more than  1 Year – 10 year ban from Thailand

Where Is the Immigration Detention Center?

The IDC is located at the Immigration Office on Soi Suanplu, Bangkok.  If you get arrested you will be held there while you await a court date. If you are to be deported, you'll be held here too until you take your flight home.

Note that the IDC is generally somewhere a serious overstayer will be taken; we're talking months not days.

Will I Be Banned from Thailand If I Overstay by a Few Days?

No. You can pay a fine and you will not receive a black mark against you. There are foreigners who pay overstay fines every day.

It is easiest to pay your fine on the way out of Thailand at the airport. However, the legal line is that any person who realises they are on overstay should immediately go to an immigration office and pay the fine.

You may have noticed that there is an overstay booth  located on the other side of passport control –  at the major airports. It is here you can pay your overstay fine.

Overstay is very common, at least by one or two days. Often people have good reason to stay another day or two and therefore it isn't practical to spend a day at immigration extending a visa. So it's just easier to pay 500 Baht per day at the airport overstay counter.

Let's say you overstay by 4 days: you'll pay 4 days x 500 Baht = 2000 Baht.

However, you should not make a habit of this. It is perfectly reasonable to overstay your visa by a day or two if you have misplaced your passport, or you are suffering from illness and cannot fly.

That said, excuses such as the fact that you wanted to spend an extra couple of days with your girlfriend, or needed to do some more shopping, are not valid. If you are a regular visitor to Thailand, endeavour to keep your immigration history as clean as possible.

What If I Overstay More Than Once?

One or two times isn't going to be an issue, particularly if it is just one, two or three days. But continuous violation of this immigration law could become a problem for you.

Your passport could be marked with a stamp declaring you in violation of immigration law. This stamp will label you as an “undesirable alien”. This could make travel  to Thailand, and obtaining visas for other countries, more difficult.

We all hate having too many rules, especially when it interferes with our holiday. But in the case of overstay, it is best to stay on the right side of the law.

What If I Overstay by a Few Hours, Will I Be Fined?

Probably not. Immigration understands that some people have their flights cancelled or delayed, or that they might get stuck in traffic, be late to the airport and miss their flight.

There are clearly circumstances beyond your control that may cause you to overstay. In these circumstances, there generally won't be any problem.

Can Children Be Fined for Overstay?

Children under the age of 15 are not charged a fine for overstaying but still get overstay stamps when they leave the country. However, note that being exempt from the fine does not make them exempt from needing a valid visa entry or extension to stay in the country.

The easiest way to avoid overstay is to simply organise yourself efficiently. Plan your trip so that you have a visa that covers the amount of time you want to stay in Thailand.

=> A full guide to visas can be found here

Rather than think; “If I need more time I will just do a visa run”,  simply apply for a single or multiple entry tourist visa before you leave your home country that gives you more than enough time than you need in the kingdom.

That way, if you do need to stay a couple of extra days you will be fully covered. Visa runs can be a pain, and certainly isn't something you want to leave the beach or the bar for

=> If you are considering a visa run, read this first

If you think you might need more than the 30 or 15 days you get on arrival (depending on which country you are from), make sure you get the right visa before you arrive.

Also remember that you can always extend your stay in the kingdom by visiting an immigration office. So if you are three quarters of the way through your holiday and think you might want to stay longer, take the afternoon out and go to immigration to extend your visa.

The overstay rules in Thailand are stricter than they used to be, but they are still pretty reasonable –  especially considering how people have abused the system over the years.

Simply being able to pay 500 Baht per day for a couple of extra days in Thailand is not a big expense, and it is reassuring to know that if you do come down with a bout of traveller's tummy you have a little extra time to recover before your flight.

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  1. I went to Cambodia a from Thailand via mini bus on the 6th March. Got my stamp and 30 day and back into Thailand the next day. The one stamp says visa valid until 6th April and another one says 4th April. I now want to extend my visa at immigration for one month. Since today is the 4th April. If i do not go today will i have to pay a fine. Even though I have 2 stamps. One with the 6th and one with the 4th. I am not sure why the stamp says the 4th April as I entered back into Thailand the 6th March on a 30 day visa. Please assist. Thank you
    Reply

    • 30 days is 4th April. The other stamp may have been a mistake. You need to go today. If not, go tomorrow and say you thought it was the 6th because that's what the stamp says. You might get a pass.
      Reply

  2. I have accidently overstayed 30 days in Thailand. This was genuine confusion after people in the queue were surprised they had 3 months instead of the usual 2. I got my passport and indeed it had until march 18th. I didn't pay attention to the stamps however, just thought they would tally with the visa. To my horrror, as I was about to go to immigration to extend, I saw the stamps and got a sinking feeling. Realised that the 18th march date was just the visa validity length and not my allowed stay in thailand. I'm not sure what to do as Kuala Lumpur apparently dont like to see multiple tourist visas in passports. I'll have to flu out and pay a hefty fine - but can I just re-enter on 30 days visa exemption?
    Reply

  3. Me and my wife (both Indian nationals of 65 and 63 years of age) came here on 13th night. We checked at 2300 Hrs and was given visa on arrival for 15 days. Our return flight is on 28th March, early morning. We requested Immigeration officer for allowing us either staming our passports after 1 hour on 14th March or give us 16 days visa. He seems to be very angry with the whole world and shouting at everyone. He did not agree to our genuine request. I do. It know why such a officer is given the duty at the counter, who cannot even smile or return your good evening message.Are we supposed to pay a fine of 500 Bhts on 28th morning before standing in the long line at the immigeratiom counter or first trying our luck at immigeratiom and if the authorities ask us to pay, then pay and this delay thr flight.
    Reply

    • The officer can't give you 16 days because there isn't a 16 day stamp. It's unfortunate that you arrived an hour before and will overstay by a day. You can try and leave as normal but most likely they will charge you 1-day overstay. Don't stress, try and enjoy your holiday.
      Reply

    • To clarify: you were on a retirement visa (extension), which was valid at the time you left Thailand, then you left for a week, came back in and was banned for a year? Or do you mean you came back in and didn't realize your retirement visa had been cancelled and actually you were on an exemption stamp for 30 days?Unfortunately the onus is on you to know the rules. You can appeal but it will be a costly process and difficult to do from outside Thailand.How long did you overstay?
      Reply

    • You mean they stamped the wrong date? Hmm, tricky one, because it may say the proper date on the system, so when you go to leave it will trigger overstay. But it's their error. I reckon it's worth going to immigration and getting it cleared up.
      Reply

  8. Good morning, for many personnal reasons, my overstay is almost four years. Now i have ticket plane to come back in my country and 20000 baths for emigration office at the airport, can i go without trouble or i have to pay more ? Thank's for answer and best regard.
    Reply

    • I would not do as replay says I would get passport sorted with embassy and phone who you can for a flight home because you will be taken to Idc and left in there until you pull up the money but you will be limited in how you go about that because I have just left idc myself it was very hard to contact the out side world I had money on my debit card but they wouldn’t let me book on line so-had to relay on my British embassy that come once a week to make calls to family the embassy where useless would leave saying the would-send email to my dad with bank details which they never did I had no other way of getting money to me safely and was locked up for longer then I had to be because idc is a business where human well being doesn’t matter it’s about charging you more money then your ticket home is me and my partner was there who was pregnant it was hell I would have paid any think to get out it was such a inhumain place we come out sick I have just been told I have scabbies we feel so unwell with in are selfs . for a immigration center you are treated worse then if you are a prisoner in Thailand if any one has over stayed even by a day when leaving I would have to advice to have in cash your flight money plus bribe money cos the idc say they need to check your finger prints that take two weeks if your lucky but if you pull up money they can do it with in days if you have cash but if you got a card no good as A result of how me and my partner was locked up for 3 mouths for nothing treated worst then animals giveing food you wouldn’t even give to a dog I will never go back to Thailand been out there 4 times in the last year wanted to travel more see more but not now will never go back
      Reply

  11. This article appeared in the Bangkok Post this morning. The Thai Immigration Department is rolling out a test of using text messaging to warn people when their visa is about to expire. It also claims that overstay is now at 0 since the recent crackdown. I'm guessing not.https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1584694/foreigners-to-get-visa-text-alerts
    Reply

    • Once the 6-month ban is up you'll be good to come back in. Did they stamp your passport with the ban? If so, maybe apply for a new one so the immigration officer doesn't see that when you come back in. Next time get a tourist visa; it's easier.
      Reply

  13. Hi thank you for the details information re Thailand visa. My son is 1 year old and only get a tourist visa when we entered Thailand. My wife and I work in Bangkok, and is the child under 15 year age are not charged any fine for overstaying? I'm is this still valid until today? 2018? I have read from few forums and websites but never find any information from a goverment site etc, so I'm still worry we have to pay a lot of money when we leave Thailand for holiday.
    Reply

    • Hi Kevin,Children under the age of 15 are not charged a fine for overstaying but still get overstay stamps when they leave the country; because like everyone else children need a valid visa entry or extension to stay in the country.
      Reply

  14. Hello .in 2015 my visa had expired ,i was oversaty 4 monts but finally i go to court paid fine and went back home country .in 2016 i came thailand but unfortunatly my visa again expire from 4 monts .but again i want to leave thailand .so can i go to airport and pay fine or should i go by cort . My tickets are ready at18 november 2018
    Reply

  15. Perhaps this is a separate topic unto itself. But there seems to be lots of discussion these days on expats needing to fill out the TM30 form,Personally, never filled one out and never been asked in all my years of going back and forth to Thailand. I doubt my Thai family would even know about this. Chief of police in my village is a family friend, but this doesn't necessarily mean I wouldn't be fined one day.Any thoughts on this?
    Reply

    • The law states that all properties that have non-Thai nationals living on their premises must register them with the immigration department. The owner of the property can do this online or in person. Once you leave the country it will expire, so when you re-enter and stay with the person again it must be done again.Most likely you could go 100 years without doing it and no issue, but for the sake of compliance I'd just get it done.
      Reply

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