HUA HIN, Thailand – Immigration police in Prachuap Khiri Khan have arrested a 27-year-old British man who overstayed his permission to remain in Thailand by 140 days and allegedly used a photograph of a friend’s passport to rent a motorcycle and check into hotels. The man was arrested at a residence in Thap Tai subdistrict, Hua Hin district, on November 3.
Immigration officers began investigating after a motorcycle rental operator reported that a foreign customer had failed to return a rented motorcycle on time. When the operator tracked down the vehicle and recovered it, the customer’s behavior raised suspicions because he had presented only a photograph of a passport information page as identification.
Officers checked the details against immigration records and found that the person named in the passport photograph had already left Thailand. Further checks of the British man’s own passport showed that he had entered Thailand under the visa exemption scheme and had been permitted to stay until June 16, 2026. His authorized stay had expired 140 days before his arrest.
The man reportedly admitted that he had knowingly overstayed because he enjoyed Thailand and did not want to return to the United Kingdom. He said he had continued travelling around the country while concealing his immigration status by using a photograph of his friend’s passport, after the friend had flown home. He allegedly used the image to check into hotels and rent motorcycles, hoping to avoid detection.
Immigration police charged him with staying in the Kingdom after his permission had expired. He was handed over to investigators for legal proceedings and will face deportation in accordance with immigration law.
