I just got off the phone with Bumdog from the jail in Nong Khai, Thailand. First of all, he sounds okay. Hes being treated fine and finds himself in better circumstances than anyone could have hoped for because: 1. His case has already been adjudicated. There was some confusion about his fine. The standard fine for overstaying a Thai visa is 500 baht per day, up to a limit of 20,000 baht. For some reason, the judge gave him a 2000 baht fine. That has been paid. The embassy says that that should be that - that because of a previous visa violation he somehow is not chargeable for the 20K fine, which on a first violation would allow him to re-enter. Personally, it sounds like the kind of mistake an immigration court could make and that could then be changed later, but thats what the embassy verified with the court. So that obstacle has been cleared. 2. Bumdog will have no choice about returning to the United States. He says that its going to have to be LA, whether the embassy foots the bill or we do. Itll mean a little more time if the embassy pays for it, though not much, a day or two. If people want to discuss ways to put some money in Bumdogs pocket for his return to the States, thats going to be another issue. I suppose it also enters into the question of paying for his ticket. Is it better to pay for the ticket and have less money left over to raise for his personal expenses? 3. Money can be sent to him via Western Union or through the State Department. Through State its more expensive and slower ($30 fee and takes 24-48 hours, as opposed to WU which is right away, and which we can do individually, without needing to start a fundraising page or something like that). He can not collect that money until he gets to Bangkok. 4. He should be transferred to Bangkok in a couple of days. 5. Once there, an officer will accompany him to WU to pick up money. He can then buy a phone card that he will be able to use from jail, It wont be easy, but there will be some ability to coordinate. 6. It is now up to us to decide whether to help him keep his passport, at the cost of buying his ticket home. If we dont pay for it, the embassy will pay for it. 7. If people send him money individually to Western Union, I dont know how we would coordinate to know the amount to know if he got enough to do whats necessary. Also, whether someone else buys the ticket, or he does at the Immigration Center - more than I can handle. Someone else will have to step in. Thats all I have for now. Though he didnt say so, and our call was conferenced with the embassy employee, I think Bumdog was glad to know weve got his back.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 03:24:52 +0000
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