The following applies to Thailand. Other countries probably treat this issue similarly.

In the land of Thai, it depends on the reason you're being deported and your nationality. I only know about deportations due to visa overstays for folks from the USA, Britain, Canada, Australia, and NZ.

If you're from one of these countries and you've overstayed on a visa for longer than about a week, you'll be arrested and be sent immediately to the immigration jail. But hold on--it gets better.

If you are arrested for running on a dead visa, the immigration police won't make a side trip to your hotel room/flat to allow you to collect your shit while carting you off to the immigration 'hotel'. Nope, you get arrested and then taken straight to the hole.

After you arrive in the can, the immigration police here will arrange a government official from your embassy to visit you. I've heard it takes only a day or two after that meeting, if you get arrested during the week, to get you on the plane that takes you outta here. If you get busted on a Friday evening you're gonna be sitting in the Hilton for a few days.

The day of your flight, you will be taken from the jail directly to the airport--no stops at your hotel room/flat to collect your stuff. You say you need to make a run to your hotel room to get your wallet/atm cards/thousand-dollar watch your dad gave you for your 15th birthday? Well, you'd better have someone who can go get that for you. If not, you'll be SOL. Maybe the embassy official can help you out there. Maybe not. I suspect that the official WILL, as how else are you going to pay for the flight? Youre embassy won't be picking up the tab, nor will the Thai government.

So if you're gonna run on dead documents, again, be sure you have all your stuff with you. If your overstay is only a few days, you won't be arrested, but you'll be paying a fine of 500 baht (effective March 15) per day. Anything over a week and you'll probably find yourself in handcuffs.

One final great benefit of being deported from Thailand: you won't be allowed back EVER.

Remember, this is what I've READ. I don't personally know anyone who was kicked out of Thailand, so maybe there are creative ways to avoid deportation. If you're on your 20th YEAR overstaying your visa, and you get stopped by an immigration cop, perhaps a rather large bribe and a smile will get you through to your 21st year. Then again.........

How does it work, exactly? Does anyone really know who pays, and how long it takes to be deported?

Hello!

I felt that I had to respond to this post about 20 teachers deported from Korea.
I can understand, that some of them are not genuine and probably deserved it. However, there are some innocent people who get caught up in the cross fire, they go to these countries, naive and unaware.
It is all very well for you to say: "do your research". Yet, how much research must one do?
I am in Asia and I am having similar problems. I did not realise, before I came to this country.
I have done nothing wrong, but if I annoyed the wrong people, I could get into trouble. This worries me as they hold all the cards and I do not!
It is my boss who is at fault, not me, so why should I pay the penalty for their disregard of their own countries laws?
I do realise, that when in Rome do as the Romans do, but it is not easy when you are worrying day in, day out.
This is a warning to other naive, young teachers out there.
Please, please be careful and do think hard before coming to these foreign countries. I can't stress that point enough. I went in with a fairly open mind, knowing it was going to be hard. Yet, I wasn't prepared for the other side of the coin.
Go in with an open mind and respect for the culture, but also realise that they have all the power and you have none!
They can turn it around to suit their own ends, to hell with the foreign teacher. Please be careful and good luck to you all.

"It is your responsibility to understand local laws and to obey them."

People with a BA "supposedly" know this