Overstaying in Thailand
฿500 a day, capped at ฿20,000, and a ban that starts at 90 days. The fine is survivable; the ban is not, and it is calculated from how long you stayed past your stamp, in brackets that get steep quickly.
The fine
Overstaying costs ฿500 per day, to a maximum of ฿20,000 — the cap is reached at forty days, so anything longer costs the same. You pay at the airport or border on the way out. Under 90 days, paying the fine clears the matter and you are not banned; the overstay is still recorded against your passport number and will be visible the next time you enter.
Forty days at ฿20,000 is about $570. Painful, but recoverable, and it is the cheapest end of this scale by a wide margin.
The ban, by bracket
| Time overstayed | If you surrender | If you are arrested |
|---|---|---|
| Under 90 days | Fine only, no ban | — |
| Over 90 days | 1 year ban | 5 years (under 1 year) |
| Over 1 year | 3 years ban | 10 years |
| Over 3 years | 5 years ban | 10 years |
| Over 5 years | 10 years ban | 10 years |
The gap between the two columns is the whole point. Surrendering — walking into an immigration office or up to the counter at the airport and saying you have overstayed — is treated differently from being caught, and the difference between a one-year ban and a five-year ban is whether you handed yourself in.
If you have already overstayed
Do not wait for it to get worse, and do not try to leave through a small land crossing hoping nobody checks. Go to the immigration office in the province you are staying in, or to the airport, and say what happened. You will pay the fine, be stamped out, and if you are over 90 days you will receive a ban document that states the length. There is no negotiation on the bracket.
If you are ill, or cannot travel, the immigration office can extend on medical grounds with a doctor's letter — that is a legitimate route and it is worth asking about rather than accumulating days. If you are over 90 days and have a compelling reason, a lawyer can sometimes reduce the outcome, but the baseline is the table above.
Ninety-day reporting is a different thing
If you hold a long-stay visa and remain in Thailand for more than 90 days, you must report your address to immigration every 90 days — form TM47, now doable online. That is an administrative requirement, not a visa extension, and missing it carries a fine of up to ฿4,000. It does not apply to tourists on a 30- or 60-day stamp, which is why most visitors never encounter it.
The record stays
An overstay is attached to your passport number, and the next immigration officer sees it. A single short overstay that was paid at the airport is rarely a problem; two, or one over 90 days, changes how your next entry is assessed and makes future visa applications harder. If you are planning to come back, the clean exit is worth more than the days you gained.
Overstays, answered
How much is the fine for overstaying in Thailand?
฿500 per day, capped at ฿20,000 — the cap is reached at 40 days, so a 40-day overstay and a 400-day overstay cost the same fine. You pay on departure, at the airport or the border, in cash. Below 90 days, paying the fine at departure means no ban, though the overstay is recorded against your passport number permanently. The fine is the cheap part of the penalty; the ban brackets above 90 days are the expensive part, and they are not negotiable at the counter.
What is the ban for overstaying more than 90 days?
One year if you surrender to the authorities, five years if you are arrested and prosecuted. The brackets then climb: over one year is three years if you surrender and ten if caught; over three years is five years; over five years is ten. This asymmetry is deliberate policy — it rewards people who hand themselves in — and it is the single most useful thing to know if you are already in the situation. Walking into an immigration office is materially better than being stopped at a checkpoint.
Will an overstay stop me coming back?
A short overstay that you paid at the airport does not ban you, but it is visible on your record the next time you enter and it makes future visa applications harder — the form asks about overstays and a false answer is worse than a truthful one. An overstay of more than 90 days triggers an actual ban of one to ten years, during which any attempt to enter is refused at the border. If you have a ban and want to return early, the only route is a formal appeal through a lawyer, and it rarely succeeds for tourist cases.
I am overstaying by a few days because of a cancelled flight. What now?
Go to the airport and pay the fine on departure. A few days is ฿1,500–2,500, no ban, and the officer will stamp you out. Bring the airline cancellation notice — it does not change the fine, which is statutory, but it does explain the record if you are ever asked. Do not extend the overstay by rebooking a week later: the fine doubles and, more importantly, the pattern looks different to the officer assessing your next entry.
What is 90-day reporting, and does it apply to me?
It applies if you hold a long-stay visa and remain in Thailand continuously for more than 90 days: you must report your address to immigration every 90 days on form TM47, which can now be done online. Missing it carries a fine of up to ฿4,000. It does not apply to tourists on a 30-day stamp or a 60-day tourist visa, because those stays end before the 90-day mark. Long-stay residents often confuse the two — reporting is administrative, and it is not the same thing as extending a visa.
Fixing a trip, not a visa?
If your dates have moved, tell us — moving a booking is easier than moving a stamp.
Written and checked by the Travel Thailand Tour team, Bangkok · Last updated · Prices are per person and were correct at the time of writing.