The Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand announced that the Thai Immigration Bureau will start imposing fines and entry bans on Myanmar migrant workers who overstay in Thailand.

On 8 November, the embassy announced that Myanmar citizens holding various residence permits in Thailand will face a fine of 500 THB for everyday they overstay the period allowed by their visa. The maximum fine faced will be 20,000 THB.

Those who overstay their visas will also be banned from entering Thailand. The length of the ban imposed will depend on the length of overstay.

Those who overstay no longer than 90 days will not face a ban. Those who overstay between 90 days and a year will be banned from entry into Thailand for a year, those who overstay between one and three years will be banned for three years. Overstaying from five to ten years will result in a five-year ban and anyone overstaying more than 10 years will be banned from Thailand for 10 years.

These are the same rules that are applied to all tourists coming to Thailand.

A Myanmar migrant worker currently in Thailand said: “We feel this is extortion. In the past, if someone overstayed the 90-day period, they only had to pay 500 THB when renewing the permit, regardless of the overstay period. Now, it’s set at 500 THB per day, which is too much. On top of that, an entry ban penalty has also been imposed.”

The Thai Immigration Bureau said that these regulations are being enforced under Section B.E. 2522 of the Thai Immigration Act and it warned that any individuals who overstay will be dealt with strictly and will face consequences.

Those assisting Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand urged them to all renew their Certificate of Identity (CI) books in November, if they need renewing. Expired CI books are currently being renewed at centres in the Thai provinces of Samut Sakhon and Samut Prakan, just south of Bangkok.