What will happen if I overstay in Thailand with an expired passport but get a new passport months later?

Question

I am currently living in the north of Thailand.

I have an inquiry about any latest updates about Thailand immigration and overstay: I would like to find out on certain issues on overstaying:

1. I have been overstaying for 9 months now (I entered Thailand in October 2013 with a tourist visa). My passport validity was 6 months at the time of entry and has expired in March 2014. I was able to get a new passport from my home country in July 2014.

   This means I was in Thailand without a valid travel document in addition to not having a valid visa for almost 4 months, making it now 9 months of overstaying in Thailand.

   I just got a job to teach English in a school, so I need to exit from Don Muang airport for a non-immigrant visa to Malaysia if possible and as soon as possible.

   Is it still possible to pay the maximum fine of 20.000 baht for overstaying as recommended by immigration law at my exit at the Don Muang airport, or is there something else I may need to do before I can exit for a non-immigrant visa back to Thailand?

2. In this situation, is it possible to pay for the overstay at the immigration counter at Don Muang international airport before exiting? I have to take an AirAsia flight for exiting.

Normally overstaying is not good, but due to some circumstances it had to happen in this way.

Answer 1

The overstay might or might not be a big deal in Thailand but I don't think the passport thing makes any difference. It could have been a problem when entering the country – if the validity was shorter than 6 months – and you obviously need a new one to leave the country and enter Malaysia but that's it. You might want to hold on to your old passport to be able to document your date of entry (stamp/visa-on-arrival).