A British man, overstaying a tourist visa for a total of 25 years in Thailand, has been arrested by the latter’s police officials.
A Thai senior officer said that the 60-year-old entered the kingdom in early 2000 on a tourist visa, and never left, VisaGuide.World reports.
The officer told AFP that when asked by police he claimed to be in the process of extending his visa.
The British man, whose identity has not been made public, was caught on Monday, in the northern province of Chiang Mai, during a crackdown by immigration officials on overstaying internationals.
He was caught over 9,000 days after reaching Thailand on a 30-day visa. Police officers found the Briton who failed to show his passport during an operation on territories that are often frequented by foreign nationals.
After checking his name on our immigration system, he entered Thailand in 2000 and never had any other stamp on our system since then. It was 9,135 days that he overstayed in Thailand — it is the record. The longest previous overstay was a Pakistani man with 10 years.
British Man Will Be Deported to UK
According to police officials in Thailand, the British man will be deported back to the United Kingdom. In addition, he managed to renew his passport in 2018. According to police, the man lived in Bangkok for 13 years and has been married to a Thai woman with whom he had a child.
In spite of the fact that the British man moved to Chiang Mai 12 years ago citing economic reasons, police officials said that the man does not have a job and lives on money from his British family.
According to police, the 60-year-old man managed not to be arrested by Thai authorities after he told the authorities he was in the process of extending his visa. Such information can only be checked by the immigration bureau.
Tourists Overstaying Their Visas Are Subject to Fines
Thailand’s Tourist Visas are granted to nationals who are not included in Thailand’s exemption list and are severe for short-term purposes.
Travelers from other countries are eligible to visit Thailand by choosing one of the three types of tourist visas: single-entry, multiple-entry and Thai Visa on Arrival.
While the single-entry visa is valid for three months, the multiple-entry visa is valid for six months, while the visa on arrival is up to 15 days.
In order to extend the visa, those on tourist visas are required to apply for an extension of their visas at the Office of the Thailand Immigration Bureau in Bangkok.
Those overstaying tourist visas will be subject to fines. Overstaying a tourist visa for longer than 90 days, penalties include deportation and an entry ban that could go to ten years.