An unnamed foreigner was arrested at Phuket Airport on Saturday (Nov 4) for an 80-day overstay, Phuket Immigration announced on its dedicated Facebook page for airport division updates.
No further information was provided regarding the circumstances of the arrest, except that the man was apprehended at 12.30pm and handed over to Sakhu Police for processing. The name and nationality of the suspect were withheld.
CRIME FREE PHUKET
The arrest on Nov 4 was the first one announced by Phuket Immigration after Col Thanet Sukchai concluded the first year of the "Crime-Free Phuket" campaign. The island-wide effort aims to counter various tourism-related violations, yet a specific focus on the Immigration Act and the Emergency Decree on Foreign Labor.
Col Thanet, who continues to serve Phuket Immigration Chief, made his statement during a meeting with relevant officials on Oct 30. The information was then updated in a separate news release on Phuket Immigration’s Facebook page.
The statistics cover the 12-month period from Nov 1, 2022 (Thailand’s reopening date) through Oct 31, 2023.
Phuket Immigration’s activities during this period included:
- Visiting 6,077 target locations for visa checks.
- Checking 5,609 foreign nationals for visa violations.
- Arresting 188 suspects on immigration-related charges.
The top five nationalities for visa checks were:
- Russia – 1,167 people
- Myanmar – 931
- China – 542
- UK – 179
- France – 143
The 188 immigration-related arrests included:
- Immigration Act breaches – 146 people
- Overstay – 66
- Illegal entry – 14
- Other violations – 66
- Decree on Foreign Labor breaches – 11
- Tourist Business and Guides Act breaches – 6
- Other criminal offenses – 11
- Arrests on outstanding warrants – 14
Additionally, 50 suspects were arrested and charged for breaching Section 38 of the Immigration Act, which mandates that every foreigner should be registered by an accommodation provider within 24 hours of moving into a hotel, rental villa, or other temporary residence. Another 8,070 people received warnings regarding Section 38 and avoided fines.
Geografically the "Crime-Free Phuket" campaign was centered around Patong (high season) and Chalong, Rawai, and Wichit (low season).
PHUKET FOREIGN RESIDENTS
At the Oct 30 meeting, Col Thanet presented statistics regarding the number of foreigners residing in Phuket as expatriate residents. While exact data was not provided, one screenshot from Phuket Immigration’s internal database showed the number of applications for visa extensions.
According to the screenshot from “Phuket Immigration Dashboard”, a total of 31,222 foreigners had applied for visa extensions as of Oct 30.
The top five nationalities of applicants were:
- Russia – 9.65k (30.9%)
- UK – 2.41k (7.7%)
- China – N/A
- France – 1.84k (5.91%)
- USA – 1.34k (4.3%)
The top five visas to be extended were:
- Student – 7.34k (23.52%)
- Work/Business – 7.31k (23.43%)
- Retirement – 4.72k (15.13%)
- Tourist – 3.14k (10%)
- Family – 2.39k (7.64%)
Regarding tourism, Phuket Immigration recorded 295,622 direct arrivals at Phuket Airport on international flights in October, marking a 21.8% increase from September’s 242,780 visitors.
The top five nationalities among October arrivals were:
- Russia – 62,086 (40,210 in September)
- China – 36,406 (37,343 in September )
- Australia – 22,692 (21,108 in September)
- India – 19,828 (18,990 in September)
- Germany – 13,553 (13,086 from Malaysia in September)
The total number of address notifications in October reached 411,312, showing a 42.6% increase compared to September’s 288,522 registrations.
The significant difference is partly due to Thailand Immigration relocating its online notification service to new servers, requiring house owners to re-register.