Thailand Visa question

"Sjoerd" wrote in message ...
"SPIDER" schreef in bericht
lkabouttravelling.com...
HI TOM,
YES YOU CAN GET A VISA ON ARRIVAL BUT ON THE ENTRY FORM YOU WILL NEED TO
PUT AN ADDRESS OF WHERE YOU ARE STAYING UNLESS YOU ARE ON A PACKAGE
TOUR.I'M NOT SURE HOW MANY DAYS/WEEKS YOU WILL GET.WITH ME IT VARIED EVERY
TIME(PROBABLY TO DO WITH IF THE GUY ON DUTY IS HAVING A BAD DAY OR NOT)(NO
JOKE!!)ONCE YOU HAVE GOT YOUR ENTRY VISA YOU WILL HAVE TO RENEW IT IF YOU
INTEND TO STAY LONGER BECAUSE IF YOU LET IT LAPSE YOU WILL BE FINED FOR
EVERY DAY YOU OVERSTAY I THINK IT WAS ABOUT £1.60 PER DAY AT IMMIGRATION
IN BANGKOK OR DOUBLE ON DEPARTURE AT THE AIRPORT OR BORDER POST.IF YOU ARE
IN BANGKOK THE IMMIGRATION DEPARTMENT IS IN WIRELESS RD.GO A FEW DAYS
BEFORE AND PICK UP A FORM,GET YOUR PHOTOS DONE,AND THEN PICK A 'DAY'!!
WHEN YOU HAV'NT PLANNED TO ANYTHING!!BECAUSE,UNLESS YOU ARE VERY LUCKY,OR
YOUR GOD HAS SMILED UPON YOU,THIS IS HOW LONG YOU WILL WAIT 'MINIMUM' FOR
THE PRIVILEGE TO STAY IN THAILAND AND SPEND YOUR MONEY THERE.I HAVE HEARD
OF PEOPLE HAVING TO GO BACK THE NEXT DAY AND LINE UP AND WAIT TO PICK UP
THEIR VISA RENEWAL ONLY TO DISCOVER THAT THEY HAVE ONLY BEEN GIVEN 14 DAYS
EXTRA.IF YOU HAVE THE TIME/MONEY YOU WOULD BE BETTER TO GO BORDER
HOPPING,WHICH IS WHAT I ENDED UP DOING,AND GOING AND HAVING A LOOK AT SOME
OTHER PARTS OF SOUTH EAST ASIA,AND GETTING ANOTHER VISA ON ARRIVAL,BUT
AGAIN,IF YOU ONLY HAVE A TICKET INTO THAILAND AND NOT A RETURN TICKET OUT
WHO KNOWS HOW LONG YOU'LL GET?GOOD LUCK!!

1) On 30+ entries to Thailand, they have never asked to see my return ticket
at immigration, nor have they ever asked a single question.

Immigration virtually never checks, as you say. But the airline does.

2) on all these entries I have been given the max. number of days. (15 days
until the mid -1990's or so, 30 days thereafter)

True.

3) just put any hotel on your entry form.

Only becomes an issue if they try to contact you for one reason or
another. Which they probably do one time in a million.

4) the OP already told us that he will be travelling to Cambodia, Vietnam
and Laos before his 30 days are up.
5) reading your message is easier if you don't use ALL CAPS.

Sjoerd

"Miguel Cruz" wrote in message
...
EAC wrote:
Anyway. For this kind of stuff, it's better to ask the Thailand
embassy directly, their standing is probably more valid than the
comments from most posters of rec.travel.asia, unless most posters in
rec.travel.asia worked in Thailand embassies and represent their
embassies official stand when they write in rec.travel.asia.

This is a question about how the rules get bent. The embassy is a useless
place to ask that kind of thing. Their job is to tell you about the rules.

There are two categories of people who can tell you about how rules get
bent:

1) The people who apply the rules (i.e., the immigration inspectors at Don
Muang airport)

2) The people who have (or have not) had the rules bent for them.

One of these groups is represented here in this newsgroup. The other, I'd
hazard a guess, are pretty hard to come by online.

What about there is no agreement between the two groups ? The latter group
has no mandate whatsoever on the rules. About an year ago a chap ask in a
Finnish group whether Finnair penalize those by hefty fees who arrive from
Asia in Helsinki and do not use their ticket to Stockholm/Tallinn (such a
composition is typically a lot cheaper than a return ticket from Helsinki).
I said that folks in Finnair should know better than anyone else (naturally)
but the policy has been that extra fees truly are rigorous (your baggage
serving as a pawn). He was reluctant to ask because he thought the company
personnel wouldn't tell him or would tell lies. It is just hard to convince
some folks to use sources of robust and reliable information.

On 15 Jun 2004 16:04:50 GMT, (Queequak) wrote:

The reality of the situation is that Thai immigration will almost
certainly not ask you about your ticket, and will just give you 30
days on arrival. There is a slight risk that when you check-in the
airline might raise a question about the dates of your return ticket.
I fly into Bangkok holding only a one-way ticket several times a year,
and on the rare occasions when I've been asked about it, they've been
happy with my explanation that I have an onward ticket waiting to be
picked-up from a travel agent in Bangkok. If you have a printed
itinerary for your Cambodia/Vietnam/Laos flights, even one produced by
yourself, it may be helpful to have that with you when you check-in.

Well I'm flying into BK from Sydney - are they likely to question me about the
visa when I check-in in Sydney? The other problem is that I don't have flights
booked/an itinery for my Cam, Nam, Laos route - I'm going overland so there's
really no way to prove I'll leave Thailand anytime within the 30 day visa
requirement. Maybe I could just make a printout of my prospective route so they
can see I intend to travel about?

Sydney was one of the few places where I was asked, but I wasn't
holding any return ticket, whereas you are. That's a good idea about
detailing in writing what you intend to do. I think that, together
with the ticket you are holding will be enough to satisfy them.

If you are really unlucky, the very worst that can happen is the
airline will require you to purchase an additional onward ticket to
take you out of Thailand. If that happens, make sure you get a *fully
refundable* ticket. It will be expensive, but you can apply for the
refund as soon as you get to Thailand.

"SPIDER" wrote in message alkabouttravelling.com...
SJOERD,
IF YOU REQUIRE MORE THAN 30 DAYS ie:90 DAYS AS I DID BECAUSE I WAS LIVING
IN BANGKOK AND PAYING THE RENT ON A CONDO,YOU HAVE TO GO TO IMMIGRATION.
I USE CAPS LOCK WHEN I email BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN ASKED BY MANY OF MY
FRIENDS IN SE ASIA TO DO SO AS THEY FIND IT EASIER TO UNDERSTAND.MAJORITY
RULES!
THANK YOU,
SPIDER.

You're not doing e-mail to your friend in SE Asia, you're posting on
Usenet. So follow the rules here.

If you're going to be in Thailand 90 days, get a 90 day visa or a
multi-entry before you come.

Hello Tom,
I have always found Thai immigration officers reasonable.
Your ticket out of Bangkok should satisfy airline requirements but you may
choose to check that with the airline.
You will require visas for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. I recommend you
obtain these in England before departure to save time on your trip and to
verify your intentions in the unlikely event that any questions arise.
I am planning a similar trip in August and will not seek a 60 day Thai visa.
Good luck, Jim

On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 21:28:04 +1000, "Viviane"
wrote:

I think Qantas will view your immigration status in Thailand as an issue for
the Thais, particularly as you are carrying a ticket out of Thailand at a
later date.

It is an issue for the Thais, and as such they require that airlines
bringing passengers into Thailand ensure that they meet basic
immigration requirements. If the airline fails to do so they can have
heavy fines imposed on them and be required to return passengers to
their point of departure at the airline's expense.

In Tom's case, he's not fully meeting immigrations regulations, but
his breach of them is so minor that it probably won't be a problem.


"Sjoerd" wrote in message
.. .

"Queequak" schreef in bericht
...
First thing you need to do is tell us what passport you carry. If
you're American or Brit or Aussie you don't even need a 30 day visa.
Just show up. Thai Immigration will not check your plane ticket.

However, the airline that flies you in might check. If they do, they
will want to see a visa that applies from the arrival date to
departure date on your ticket.

If the airline realizes that the 60 day visa isn't enough, they might
still refuse you.

I'm on a British passport, so figured that I could get a 30 day when
landing in
BK. I'm flying out of Sydney on Quantas, and that sounds like the only
place
where I could come unstuck. Just how likely is it that they will check
for
visa
requirments prior to flight? Is this standard airline procedure, or is
it
simply a case of it being 'thai immigration's' problem, rather than
their
lookout?

Normally the airline should check, but if you have a good story +
preferably
supporting evidence (do you have a Vietnamese visa in your passport?),
they
will let you travel to Thailand. Don't worry, you won't have a problem.

Sjoerd

Viviane wrote:
I think Qantas will view your immigration status in Thailand as an issue
for the Thais

The reason that airlines check is that they are fined thousands of dollars
if they bring someone into a country who is then denied entry for
insufficient documentation. So Qantas very much cares. It's just that in the
case of Thailand everyone knows that there is no bother if you come from a
rich country, so the airlines don't bother either in that case.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu

jimstitfall wrote:
I have always found Thai immigration officers reasonable.
Your ticket out of Bangkok should satisfy airline requirements but you may
choose to check that with the airline.
You will require visas for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. I recommend you
obtain these in England before departure to save time on your trip and to
verify your intentions in the unlikely event that any questions arise.

Cambodia visa is no hassle at the airport.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu

It is an issue for the Thais, and as such they require that airlines
bringing passengers into Thailand ensure that they meet basic
immigration requirements. If the airline fails to do so they can have
heavy fines imposed on them and be required to return passengers to
their point of departure at the airline's expense.

In Tom's case, he's not fully meeting immigrations regulations, but
his breach of them is so minor that it probably won't be a problem.

Thanks for all your advice guys.. much appreciated. What I think I'm going to
do is ask Quantas when I check-in for my flight to Perth and if they tell me I
need a visa I'll either sort one out in Sydney or just bring forward my return
ticket date from BK (so it's less than 30 days) and change it back once I get
to BK. Seems the onyl way to do things since I'm flying out on Tuesday - no
time to apply for a visa now.

Just crossing my fingers it isn't going to be a problem.. like everyone has
said, I don't think I'm the only person flying into Thailand without a visa
intending to move overland throughour SE asia.

Cheers
Tom

Hi,

recently did exactly what you plan to do, from Sydney, too. Technically
Thai immigration can ask for return tickets - it seems this has never
happened before, though. I think they should be happy with your
explanation - you're leaving overland, coming back later. Innumerable
other tourists do this, too - should be fine.

If you're really worried, get a cheap Air Asia ticket to somewhere
not-Thai, just to show if asked. Maybe you can even find a way so you
can actually use it?