A Filipino tourist has been detained for two months for tampering the validity stamp on his visa at a border checkpoint in Chiang Rai. The unnamed Filipino has been detained at the Central Prison while the police is still concluding the investigation.
In a Facebook post on The Honorary Consulate of the Republic of the Philippines, Chiangmai, it says, “the man was only visiting the country and had overstayed for two days. He should have just paid 1,000 Baht penalty at the border and just leave the country.”
According to the court ruling his offense could fall on forgery and use of fake passport. His case is yet to be submitted to the court, but they could not do it for they have to wait for the officer in charge of the case to return to his regular duties and submit the case to the court to clear his name and have him released.
The officers wondered why the man did nothing to notify the Philippine consulate/embassy. The embassy is reminding holders of Philippine passports and other aliens to contact their embassy/consulate when having legal problems such as this.
Below is the complete Facebook post:
“ASSISTANCE-TO-NATIONAL, Case 001/2016 – This involved a Pinoy who tampered with validity stamp on his visa and was caught at a border checkpoint in Chiang Rai. He has been detained at the Central Prison for 2 months while the police is still concluding the investigation. After obtaining the arrest report and wondering about why he did not ask to notify the Philippine consulate/embassy, it appears that he is visiting this country and overstayed for 2 days. Therefore, his overstay fines would be THB 1,000.00 and he could pay the fines at the border checkpoint and just leave the country. Now, we have to wait for the officer in charge of the case to return to his regular duties and to submit the case to the court and be careful of the charges as it appears on one of the court’s document that his offense was written down as forgery and use of fake passport.”
A reminder to all Filipinos and other foreign nationals in case of having legal problems: Always notify your Embassy or Consulate Office as they will always be there to help.