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What should I do if I am detained at Don Muang Airport for overstaying my tourist visa in Thailand?

Thailand immigrationtourist visa rulesoverstay consequencesDon Muang Airport detentiontravel advicevisas for expatsvisa appeal process
Apr 14, 2019
6 years ago
Romain ***
ORIGINAL POSTER
Hello, i am actually in the detention room in Don Muang airport. i came tonight from Kuala Lumpur with a tourist visa. i had a outbound ticket booked, hotels booked and 22 k cash. The immigration told me that i had 291 days in tourist visa since last year. They obliged me to book a flight to KL for tomorrow, and even charge me 803 bath for the detention room ( i have invoice....lol)

Does anyone have some clue about what to do ?

Many thanks
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TLDR : Answer Summary
A person is currently detained at Don Muang Airport after being told they have overstayed their tourist visa. Despite having an outbound ticket and sufficient funds, the immigration officer informed them of an unofficial limit of 180 days of stay on a tourist visa within one calendar year. Users in the comments offer various suggestions, such as booking a flight back to their departure country, utilizing a land border crossing to re-enter Thailand, or acquiring a more suitable long-term visa rather than relying on tourist status.
Robert *******
And before more people are going to use this topic to ask: will this happen to me I close the commenting. If you have questions about your visa, please make your own topic.
6 years ago
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Sarah *********
@Tod ********
 if this happens to me tmr, flying in from Bali, could I fly to Laos and cross that way .?
6 years ago
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Tod *********
@Sarah ********
 if you have more questions make your own topic..

Thanx
6 years ago
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Jeremy ********
@Sarah ********
 many ways...taxi, grab, Tuk Tuk, etc yo border...
6 years ago
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Tod *********
@Sarah ********
, okay, google is your friend, You'd FLY in to Vientiane and then go to the 20KM to the border and enter the country at the Nong Khai border crossing
6 years ago
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Tod *********
@Jeremy *******
 not necessarily true
6 years ago
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Sarah *********
@Jeremy *******
 how would I get from Laos to Thailand, sorry if silly question I’m not panicking
6 years ago
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Tod *********
Believe it or not
@Sa***
, it's NOT the thai immigration officials who care where you go when you're denied entry It's the airline that brings you here.

Some allow you to fly anywhere they go, some MAKE you go back to country of passport origin.

So no one can say with 100% certainty that IF you were denied entry your air carrier would let you fly to Lao.

Now IF you did get to lao you could definitely enter by land :)
6 years ago
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Jeremy ********
@Sarah ********
 of course
6 years ago
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Jeremy ********
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Tod *********
Okay I deleted the comments that were judgemental. No matter what any poster thinks it's not our place to comment on why they're here on tourist visas. They are, and they are now in lock up.

As other's have pointed out there is no official rule about being here xxx number of days a year, etc. It's just made up.

There is an appeals process BUT it takes you staying in lock up until it gets processed (about 4 days WITHOUT a holiday so now about 8 or so).

IF your tourist visa wasn't marked used (which I doubt it is), you can certainly use it to re-enter the country at a land border.

You're lucky the airline you flew in on is letting you fly back to KL (because some make you go back to the country your passport is issued from :O ).

I'd say go back to K/L, make your way to one of the southern land borders and cross into thailand on your tourist visa there.
6 years ago
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Jimmy ******
Romain - before they forced you to book a flight out, did they not ask you why you spend so much time in thailand and how you are earning money?
6 years ago
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Romain ***
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Jimmy *****
 not at all. i try to speak to 3 different person, no possibility
6 years ago
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Romain ***
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Shaun *********
It makes me sad that I have to jump through hoops for a non-b
6 years ago
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Jeremy ********
If you spend that much time in Thailand you might as well bite the billet and buy an elite visa...if not depart country then come back via a land border crossing if you have not already used your 2 for the year already....
6 years ago
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Ivan ************
People often confuse this, that there is not a limit of 2 on land border crossings in general, it is only a limit on land border crossings _without a visa_.
6 years ago
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Ivan ************
@Jer***
 yes and my point is if he has the TV, he can use that, and it doesn't matter if his 2 _visa exempt_ land border crossings were exhausted. Even if you already used 2 visa exempt land border crossings, you can still enter with a visa.
6 years ago
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Jeremy ********
@Ivan ***********
 so you see, this might be his first TV of the year and he already exhausted his 2 land border crossings for the year....I don’t know him at all so I only told him that for his knowledge...
6 years ago
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Ivan ************
Just pointing out that it doesn't count against his 2 visa exempt land entries, which may be useful or relevant for him to know.
6 years ago
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Ivan ************
No
@Jer***
 no more than you know for sure that this visa was cancelled. But this is the most likely.
6 years ago
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Jeremy ********
@Ivan ***********
 but do you know that for sure?
6 years ago
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Ivan ************
If he has a visa the "2 land crossings for the year" is irrelevant. That only applies to visa-exempt entries. He said he has a visa. He did not enter Thailand- he was denied entry- so it should not have been cancelled, and if so he can still use it for a land entry.
6 years ago
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Jeremy ********
@Ivan ***********
 bit do you know for sure that he has not exhausted his 2 land crossings for the year and that his visa is not cancelled?
6 years ago
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Ivan ************
@Jer***
 he says he has a tourist visa right now. So unless that was cancelled, and if they denied him entry that would be unlikely, he can enter on that and it won't count against his 2 _visa-exempt_ land entries.
6 years ago
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Jeremy ********
@Ivan ***********
 do you know if he has already exhausted his 2 land border crossings for the year..:or did he always have a tourist visa if he did a land crossing??
6 years ago
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Ivan ************
@Jer***
 you can do 2 _visa-exempt_ land border crossings. Entries with a visa do not count against this.
6 years ago
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Jeremy ********
@Ivan ***********
 you can do 2 land border crossings per calendar year...If his visa is cancelled then yes it does matter...he never said if it was or was not
6 years ago
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Ivan ************
He has a tourist visa so a land border crossing wouldn't use up one of his 2 visa-exempt entries.
6 years ago
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Romain ***
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Jeremy *******
 thanks mate
6 years ago
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Jeremy ********
@Romain **********
 yes 1 Jan to 31 Dec
6 years ago
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Romain ***
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Jeremy *******
 when you say year you mean from 1st of January correct ?
6 years ago
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Romain ***
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Saurabh *****************
There is NO official limit of staying in TH on tourist visa. However ,now immi officers will tell you that the OFFICIAL LIMIT to stay on tourist visa in ONE CALENDAR year is 180 days , which is BULLSHIT , but since it's their own fiefdom you cannot do much. Go home and come back as a legit long term visa and not as a tourist posing as a resident.
6 years ago
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Dan ********
Welcome to Thailand !
6 years ago
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Massimo *********
Definetely not 180 days but pretty much correct
6 years ago
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Romain ***
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Saurabh ****************
 it is exactly what they said to me.
6 years ago
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Romain ***
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Steven *********
Don Muang has a fearsome reputation for this sort of carry on. Oh, for the good ole days.
6 years ago
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Steven *********
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