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 The foreign exchange or Thai bank clearly never asked to see his passport or failed to notice the out-of-date entry stamp.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.
