First what to do in the next few hours, then the numbers: the fine, the entry bans, and the difference between walking in yourself and being caught. Everything sourced.
Facts checked 19 August 2026 · sources under each block
Six pages here are written in English: the tour catalogue, our two documents, and three guides to visas, borders and customs — what a visitor needs first. The wider island guide, the blog and the news are in Russian, and we keep adding to the English side.
We are not naming a date on purpose: a promised date that slips is worse than an honest “in progress”. Links marked RU lead to Russian pages.
An overstay — staying past your permitted date — is unpleasant but not a catastrophe, provided you act fast and act first. In Thailand the gap between «came in voluntarily» and «was caught» is enormous, and it is entirely in your hands right now.
The overstay fine is 500 baht for every day, capped at 20,000 baht in total. The 20,000 ceiling is reached at around day forty.
Source: Thai Immigration Bureau, Samut Prakan (official .go.th site)
| Length of overstay | Entry ban |
|---|---|
| More than 90 days | 1 year from the date of departure |
| More than 1 year | 3 years from the date of departure |
| More than 3 years | 5 years from the date of departure |
| More than 5 years | 10 years from the date of departure |
| Length of overstay | Entry ban |
|---|---|
| Less than 1 year | 5 years from the date of departure |
| More than 1 year | 10 years from the date of departure |
Both tables — the official overstay warning from Thai Immigration
A one-month overstay that you report yourself carries no entry ban at all — only the fine. The same overstay, discovered during a document check, costs five years of ban. The fine is identical either way. What makes the difference is not the length of the overstay but who got there first: you to them, or them to you.
Phuket immigration office: 482 Phuket Rd., Talad Yai, Mueang, Phuket 83000. Open Monday to Friday, 08:30–16:30, closed for lunch 12:00–13:00. Paperwork involving a fee is usually not accepted after 15:30 — come in the morning. Phone: 076 221 905.
Source: Phuket Immigration (official site) · Travelfish
This page is not legal advice. If the overstay is long, or the police are already involved, you need a Thai lawyer. We will tell you so plainly rather than pretend to a competence we do not have.
We have been on the island since 21 March 2013 and more than 5,000 guests have travelled with us. Overstays have walked in our door more than once. Where we are genuinely useful:
We are a tour company — not a visa agency and not lawyers. We do not process visas and we cannot represent you at immigration. What we do: explain, drive you there, and stay reachable. We answer 24/7 — that has been the rule since 2013. Anything urgent goes out on three channels at once and keeps repeating every five minutes until a person has it in hand, whatever the hour.