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World / Asia

Thai authorities arrest UK man for 25 year visa overstay

Published: 17 Mar 2025 - 10:19 pm | Last Updated: 17 Mar 2025 - 10:42 pm
Photo for representational purposes only. Pic source: Unsplash.

Photo for representational purposes only. Pic source: Unsplash.

Chiang Mai, Thailand: Police in Thailand arrested a UK man for overstaying his tourist visa by 25 years, Yahoo! News reported.

The unidentified 60-year-old had reportedly entered Thailand in early 2000 on a tourist visa, and managed to evade previous police checks by claiming he was in the process of extending his visa.

The Briton was finally apprehended in Chiang Mai on Monday during a crackdown by immigration officials, after having spent a whopping 9,000 days after arriving on his 30-day visa.

"After checking on his name on our immigration system, he entered Thailand since 2000 and never had any other stamp on our system since then," a senior officer in the operation said.

"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," he said.

According to Yahoo! News, police said the Briton lived in Bangkok for 13 years, and even built a life with a Thai woman with whom he had a child.