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I have never dated a Cambodian and my partner is from Myanmar having had a good education and now working legally in Thailand with a very good employer. So my comments need to be taken with a pinch of salt! First, as @jimmie50 may not be aware, it is the law in Thailand that formal identification (usually through a valid passport) be carried at all times. Naturally there are ways around this as who wants their passport stolen from them. The most common form is a photocopy with the personal details and, importantly, the date of expiry of the visa or permit to stay. Reading this forum, I cannot recall any foreigner having been asked for his identification. After 25 years of living here, I certainly have never had anyone ask. On the other hand, a foreigner needs his passport for a number of transactions. Opening a bank account (if that is actually possible - and often it is not), any bank transactions, applying for a Rabit travel card, changing money at registered money changers, registering at hotels, picking up items from a post office . . . etc. There was a huge fuss made when the British Embassies stopped issuing passports in Asia more than a decade ago. The Thai Embassy did a deal with some private enterprise which now does all the passport transactions. But passports have to be sent to the UK Passport Office in Liverpool to be officially cancelled and then renewed. So a compromise was reached whereby a UK citizen submits a copy of each page of his passport to the enterprise and an inflated fee to cover the cost of sending the copies and the appication form to the UK and a courier to send the new passport back! The estiimated time was between 10 and 12 weeks! Thanks to a lawyer friend in London, when I had to renew two years ago, I learned that if you actually reside in the UK there is also a one-day and one-week process - at extra fees - at Issuing offices in London and Glasgow. Although not living in the UK for more than four decades, I decided to take my chance. I paid for a one week passport, was treated at the office with the utmost courtesy, told there was no problem with my not residing in the UK as long as I provided a UK address. End result. The new passport was delivered to that UK address by courier 48 hours later! I have no idea about the process for US citizens, but an American friend regularly swears blue murder about it. Hopefully that information might help UK citizens living in Thailand. I raise it only because it highights an issue @jimmie50 might face unless he has several free pages in his current passport. If not, it might be advisable to get a new one before the first long stay in Thailand. And with all respect to previous contributors, if a young man with no valid papers is found by the police, whereas a decent amount of cash can usually get them to look the other way, there is no guarantee. Official overstay fees are Bt. 500 per day up to a maximum of Bt. 20,000. But - there are always 'buts' - anyone overstaying by 90+ days will also be banned from entering Thailand for one year. The ban increases by the amount of the overstay. If the overstay is five years, the ban is for ten years.

I know guys that have done this, also slapping and getting hit/choked in Brasil, seems more common there vs Asia..... be careful what you ask for 😝

He has a Cambodian passport which also includes the appropriate Thai work visa from when he first entered Thailand.  Since he hasn't been able to make a visa run, I don't know that the passport would do much good other than to possibly raise questions.  I really don't know all the particulars around the issue.  And when I say 'old ID', I think from Cam said is that as people age the Cambodian government doesn't necessarily update the photo or issue new ID's every so many years.  So the photo on his ID is quite old and doesn't really look like his appearance today.  

+1  

Thank you. I have several typos I'm seeing but can no longer edit. 😭 Let's just pretend English isn't my first language so I can feel better.   Let the best John win! Kidding, please leave some hotties for the rest of us!