A homeless Ukrainian man has become the first high-profile case of a foreigner being blacklisted from Thailand under new immigration regulations when he was caught overstaying his visa by nearly a year.
Aleksan Der Drozhak, 33, was taken into custody by Chonburi Immigration Office police April 26 near Jomtien Beach Road and Soi 5. He had no identification or travel documents on him.
Aleksan Der Drozhak was due to be deported and banned from returning for at least 5 years.
Officers searched the immigration database and discovered he had entered the kingdom on Aug. 31, 2014 and had permission to stay in the country until May 28 last year, leaving him with 337 days of overstay.
Homeless and hungry, the Ukrainian was given food and drink before being processed for deportation.
Under new regulations that went into effect March 20, he now faces being banned from Thailand for five years. He is the first case reported by Chonburi Immigration of a ban for a serious overstay.
Under the new system, penalties vary depending on whether the overstaying foreigner voluntarily turns himself in or is arrested.
For those who surrender, foreigners overstaying up to one year will be banned for a year from coming back to Thailand. Three-year bans await overstayers of 1-3 years while those who have lived here without a visa for 3-5 years will be banned for five years. Overstayers of more than five years will be banned for 10 years.
For those whose overstay is found upon arrest, the bans begin at five years for up to a year of overstay. Those here longer will be blacklisted for 10 years.
