Police catch Kazakhstani overstayer with fake passport stamps in Phuket

Immigration police caught a Kazakhstani overstayer with fake passport stamps at Phuket International Airport. The woman was identified as 27 year old Xeniya Kopeikina.

An officer stated that authorities are now charging Kopeikina for using counterfeit documents, as well as overstaying her visa in the country for 89 days, The Phuket Express reported.

Kopeikina was arrested and will be facing legal proceedings for her offences.

A Facebook post by Phuket Immigration Checkpoint says the officers caught Kopeikina with fake stamps, with no information about extending her stay in Thailand. Photos show officers going through documents.

Last year, Thai authorities said they wanted more tourists from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to visit the kingdom. Between November 1 and December 23, Kazakhstani tourists made up the sixth largest tourist group of Phuket’s total of 475,654 international travellers. The island province saw 19,515 Kazakhstani tourists during that period.

However, Thai authorities are still on the prowl for overstayers, after the country started cracking down on overstayers in the country late last year.

Just last week, Phuket police busted Nigerian overstayers in at least two areas. Officers from Phuket Immigration and the Phuket Tourist Police caught the group of four men in Chalong and Rawai.

Phuket Tourist Police Deputy Chief Lieutenant Colonel Ekachai Siri said that “good citizens” had alerted police that the men were involved in illegal activities such as romance scams.

On December 27, Thai police busted seven Chinese overstayers in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district. Police didn’t say how long they had the five had overstayed in the kingdom.

On December 21, police busted a British overstayer on Thailand’s island paradise of Koh Samui. The man, 74 year old Dennis Robert Desmond, overstayed his visa by 38 days. Officers arrested Desmond in front of a hotel in Koh Samui’s Bo Phut sub-district, on Choeng Mon-Chaweng Road.

On December 11, police busted a Norwegian man on Koh Samui. The man, 43 year old Jan Banan Thalmann, was caught at a house in the Mae Nam sub-district. Police said Thalmann overstayed his visa by 15 days.