Foreign visitors who overstay their visas or visa exemption period will
be barred from reentering Thailand for up to two years, said the Thai
authorities.
Beginning on August 29, foreigners who fail
to renew their visas will be fined up to 20,000 THB and barred from
returning to Thailand for up to two years.
Colonel Worawat
Amornwiwat, the Immigration Bureau spokesman, disclosed that 70,715
foreigners were charged with overstaying their visas last year. The
number of visitors charged between January and June this year already
topped 30,000.
According to the spokesperson, the
Immigration Bureau decided to come with such harsh penalties after the
current ones have failed to deter visitors from overstaying.-VNA