Phangan FAQ
Thai stories
Thailand is like a roulette. Laws do not always work here and there is no presumption of innocence. One can not get a third stamp on the border run then another gets 8 stamps in a row. And the most significant stories usually happen at the border …
Vasilina and 20,000 baht
In January 2019, two girlfriends went to Vietnam for a visa run. After having received visas girls popped on a plane and returned to Thailand’s Don Mueang airport.
At the passport control officer asked them to show return tickets to Russia, a hotel reservation and twenty thousand baht in cash. The girls showed 300 USD in cash, a bank statement and even a Thai bank card with 20 000 baht. Yet still it wasn’t enough.
The girls were stamped with a refusal to enter the country and their passports were taken away. They had to spend three days in IDC (Immigration detention center) at the airport. Three days later, the girls had to apply for Vietnamese visa and buy tickets to Vietnam — all for their own money. They also paid for the room out of pocket — 800 baht per person per day!
In Vietnam border officer also did not want to let them into the country:
— Why were you not allowed to enter Thailand? Do you have enough money? Maybe you have money to buy a ticket to Russia? We can not let you into Vietnam.
After much persuasion and explanation of the situation border officers stamped their passports and let them into the country.
A week later they flew to Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, from there — by plane to Kota Bharu, where they crossed the Thai border by land with no problem.
At the passport control officer asked them to show return tickets to Russia, a hotel reservation and twenty thousand baht in cash. The girls showed 300 USD in cash, a bank statement and even a Thai bank card with 20 000 baht. Yet still it wasn’t enough.
The girls were stamped with a refusal to enter the country and their passports were taken away. They had to spend three days in IDC (Immigration detention center) at the airport. Three days later, the girls had to apply for Vietnamese visa and buy tickets to Vietnam — all for their own money. They also paid for the room out of pocket — 800 baht per person per day!
In Vietnam border officer also did not want to let them into the country:
— Why were you not allowed to enter Thailand? Do you have enough money? Maybe you have money to buy a ticket to Russia? We can not let you into Vietnam.
After much persuasion and explanation of the situation border officers stamped their passports and let them into the country.
A week later they flew to Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, from there — by plane to Kota Bharu, where they crossed the Thai border by land with no problem.
Nikolay and one day of overstay
Nikolay has been living in Thailand for 10 years, he owns a company here and holds a one-year work visa.
The peculiarities of a work visa are that every 3 months you need to go to the border and put a stamp. Once Nikolay was late for one (!) day. On December 12, 2018, he was riding his scooter towards the border with Myanmar in Ranong. There was a military post 70 kilometers from the border, nothing unusual. But then a police officer appeared, checked Nikolay’s passport and one day of overstay …
Nikolay was handcuffed and put into a 2×4 square meters cell with five Burmese (they slept on the floor). Then a court, a lawyer, again a cell and deportation. One day of overstay ended up costing 90,000 baht, six days in a cell, 5 years on the blacklist and a lot of nerves.
The peculiarities of a work visa are that every 3 months you need to go to the border and put a stamp. Once Nikolay was late for one (!) day. On December 12, 2018, he was riding his scooter towards the border with Myanmar in Ranong. There was a military post 70 kilometers from the border, nothing unusual. But then a police officer appeared, checked Nikolay’s passport and one day of overstay …
Nikolay was handcuffed and put into a 2×4 square meters cell with five Burmese (they slept on the floor). Then a court, a lawyer, again a cell and deportation. One day of overstay ended up costing 90,000 baht, six days in a cell, 5 years on the blacklist and a lot of nerves.
Victoria wanted to pay for the overstay
In 2018 Victoria delayed her stamp by two days, and this was not a problem. At the airport’s passport control in Bangkok, she filled out the paperwork for the overstay and was ready to pay the fine.
"But I had one problem, I had only USD in cash and money on my credit card. The officer explained to me that I have to pay in Thai baht. I asked to take me to an ATM or exchange office, and I will pay the full amount, since I had money. To which they refused me, no matter how I asked to understand that I have money, but I only need to withdraw it, the officer refused to listen to me. When it was 15 minutes before my plane took off, the officer took my luggage off the flight, took me to some room and said that now I was going to the immigration detention center"
After a week in IDC, Victoria bought a ticket to Ukraine at her own expense and flew away. But on top of that, she was blacklisted for five years. And she will not get to Thailand in the near future.
"But I had one problem, I had only USD in cash and money on my credit card. The officer explained to me that I have to pay in Thai baht. I asked to take me to an ATM or exchange office, and I will pay the full amount, since I had money. To which they refused me, no matter how I asked to understand that I have money, but I only need to withdraw it, the officer refused to listen to me. When it was 15 minutes before my plane took off, the officer took my luggage off the flight, took me to some room and said that now I was going to the immigration detention center"
After a week in IDC, Victoria bought a ticket to Ukraine at her own expense and flew away. But on top of that, she was blacklisted for five years. And she will not get to Thailand in the near future.
Six months overstay is not a problem!
Christina has been living in Phuket in 2018. Friends told her that there would be nothing for the overstay (good friends indeed). And Christina decided to not bother with visa runs and simply overstayed her visa by more than 4 months.
When she was departing from Phuket airport few months later no one paid any attention to the fact of overstay. She didn’t even has to pay a fine for overstay — they stamped her departure and let her go. A year later, Christina again arrived to Phuket for a holiday, and again everything was fine.
In the winter of 2019, Christina was travelling from Moscow to Bali with a layover in Bangkok. And it was when a passport control officer brought up the entire travel history, interrogated her and blacklisted for six months.
When she was departing from Phuket airport few months later no one paid any attention to the fact of overstay. She didn’t even has to pay a fine for overstay — they stamped her departure and let her go. A year later, Christina again arrived to Phuket for a holiday, and again everything was fine.
In the winter of 2019, Christina was travelling from Moscow to Bali with a layover in Bangkok. And it was when a passport control officer brought up the entire travel history, interrogated her and blacklisted for six months.
They drove into you — and you have to pay!
An interesting story with an accident that happened in Phangan with Slava and Polina. The guys turned to the gas station on the right using their turn signal, but a Thai woman flew into their side at a high speed. The bike was badly damaged. Slava escaped with bruises and scratches. The Thai lady hit her head. The guys were not to blame and were counting on compensation for the repair of their bike and thought to quickly close the issue. But we are in Thailand …
There is a camera near the gas station. And there, in the cafe, there were cops who everyone saw. They took the bike to a fine parking lot, said to come the next day. Slava asked for a recording from the camera, which shows how the Thai woman crashed into them, and went to the police station. The police said that the Thai woman had something wrong with her leg because of the accident. While nothing is clear with her, they will not give the bike to them. They said to come in 4 days.
After 4 days at the Police Station, the Chief Cop wrote to Slava on a piece of paper: 50,000 baht and explains that he must pay this amount, since it is possible that she will need to go to the hospital on the mainland with her injured leg. Slava begins to be hesitant, since he hoped that the Thai people would simply give him money to repair the bike and be on their way. The cops started acting like they no longer understood what he was talking about or couldn’t understand english.
The guys went to the Tourist Police. But they say that everything will be as the chief of police says at the police station. The guys went to a law firm. They were calmed down at first, but in the end they could not help them either.
Another visit to the Police Station. Slava himself shows a video from the camera and items of Thai traffic rules to indicate that the Thai woman is to blame. The cop is now writing 40,000 baht for them. Slava says that he is not going to pay that amount, because he knows that he is right.
The cop says: you have to prove to us that you turned on the turn signal 60 meters before the start of the maneuver. "Yes, in the video you are with a turn signal, but I don’t know exactly when you turned it on." - the cop said. The proceedings lasted about an hour. At the end, the cop just asked how much you can pay? I know you are right, but if we go to court, you will waste a lot of time and money.
As a result, they agreed on 5,000 baht, after which they gave the bike to the guys and close the case.
There is a camera near the gas station. And there, in the cafe, there were cops who everyone saw. They took the bike to a fine parking lot, said to come the next day. Slava asked for a recording from the camera, which shows how the Thai woman crashed into them, and went to the police station. The police said that the Thai woman had something wrong with her leg because of the accident. While nothing is clear with her, they will not give the bike to them. They said to come in 4 days.
After 4 days at the Police Station, the Chief Cop wrote to Slava on a piece of paper: 50,000 baht and explains that he must pay this amount, since it is possible that she will need to go to the hospital on the mainland with her injured leg. Slava begins to be hesitant, since he hoped that the Thai people would simply give him money to repair the bike and be on their way. The cops started acting like they no longer understood what he was talking about or couldn’t understand english.
The guys went to the Tourist Police. But they say that everything will be as the chief of police says at the police station. The guys went to a law firm. They were calmed down at first, but in the end they could not help them either.
Another visit to the Police Station. Slava himself shows a video from the camera and items of Thai traffic rules to indicate that the Thai woman is to blame. The cop is now writing 40,000 baht for them. Slava says that he is not going to pay that amount, because he knows that he is right.
The cop says: you have to prove to us that you turned on the turn signal 60 meters before the start of the maneuver. "Yes, in the video you are with a turn signal, but I don’t know exactly when you turned it on." - the cop said. The proceedings lasted about an hour. At the end, the cop just asked how much you can pay? I know you are right, but if we go to court, you will waste a lot of time and money.
As a result, they agreed on 5,000 baht, after which they gave the bike to the guys and close the case.
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