I have a friend who has a Thai company, she is director, and her work permit expired and was not renewed back in july 2022. She has a stamp in the passport which shows the visa is good till march 2023. We know that the visa is linked to the work permit and technically the visa in the passport is expired. Is there a way to avoid 1) an overstay fee of 20,000 baht and 2) not allowed re-entry for 1 year? (these are the potential worst case senario rules which could be enforced when leaving Thailand). If she were to go through a land border somewhere remote vs. leaving from an international airport...would this make a difference? How organized and connected are the labor dept with immigration, does the labor dept report to immigration when someones work permit expires ( i hear technically yes, but practically)? Any one with any experiences? We know that the issue of paying overstay penalties may arise later if she were to try to renew her work permit after leaving and coming back, but she is not sure she will return here to work anyways and just looking for exit options;)
TLDR : Answer Summary
The user is seeking advice for a friend whose work permit expired in July 2022, while her visa remains valid until March 2023. However, since the visa is tied to the work permit, the poster is concerned about potential overstay fees and re-entry bans. Responses from the community indicate that both the visa and work permit must be active together and that due to the expired work permit, the friend is currently on an overstay. There is uncertainty whether leaving via a remote land border rather than an international airport would mitigate penalties. Members sharing their experiences suggest that one should aim to leave the country to avoid complications, as they indicate that immigration is aware of expired work permits.