Swede dreams turned sour: Swedish man arrested for overstaying visa in northern Thailand

The Immigration Police arrested a Swedish man for overstaying his visa by over three years in the Isaan province of Sakon Nakhon.

Following an ongoing effort to thwart foreign criminals seeking refuge in Thailand, officers from the Sakon Nakhoh Immigration Office discovered a 49 year old Swedish man, Toerner John Alexander, overstaying his visa.

According to the police report, Alexander entered Thailand via Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok on March 14 of 2020. His primary purpose was to reunite with his Thai wife and children. According to regulations, his permissible stay duration amounted to three months, with his visa slated to expire on June 11 of 2020. However, Alexander did not follow the regulations and stayed a further 1,161 days. Immigration Police also discovered that he had already divorced his Thai wife.

The immigration police managed to track down Alexander and arrested him at a rental house on Rat Bamrung Road in the Tart Cheng Chum sub-district, Mueang district, Sakon Nakhon province.

Alexander was charged with staying in the kingdom with an expired visa which will result in imprisonment of up to two years and a fine of 20,000 baht. Alexander will be deported later after sentencing.

The Immigration Police also issued a warning against Thai citizens who provide shelter to foreigners overstaying their visas. The accommodation owners must report the stay of a foreigner to the immigration office to prevent a legal charge or fine.

This month alone, there have been three reports of individuals who have exceeded their visa periods. Just last week Immigration Police in the central province of Kanchanaburi arrested an Iraqi man who overstayed his visa for nearly 15 years. Comparatively, the Iraqi man might mark one of the most prolonged overstays on record in the country.

During the same week, officers arrested a Nigerian man in Phuket. He was found violating Thai law by both overstaying his visa for four years and possessing cocaine.