A French man became the first overstay arrest of the year when Immigration Police captured him in front of his South Pattaya home.
Guillaume Lucien Shetta Wagner, 29, had started acting nervously when he spotted patrol police Jan. 3. The visa in his passport was found to have expired 200 days ago.
Wagner told police he had overstayed because his friend told him he could stay as long as he liked and then just pay the 20,000-baht fine at the airport when he left.
He was informed that overstaying is a criminal offense and he will now be deported and banned from the kingdom for five years.