woodey

Hi,

My wife will be travelling from LHR to BKK on TG in F and connecting with a TG flight from BKK and HKT in C. Can you tell me if her luggage will be checked through to HKT and where she clears Thai customs and immigration (BKK or HKT?). Also can she use the F lounge in BKK or will she have to go over to the domestic terminal and use the C lounge.

Thanks very much for your help with this.

W

JackR

On check-in in LHR make sure the bags are tagged to HKT. You will receive the 2 boarding passes for LHR-BKK and BKK-HKT.
Immigration and customs is in HKT.
Upon arrival in BKK you stay in the international terminal and have access to TG C lounges. You will have a bus gate from the international terminal to your domestic flight.
Do not go through immigration in BKK
Enjoy your flight

pekko

Two options you can do are either
1. Clear immigration & custom in BKK, and re-checkin at Domestic terminal.
2. Remain unclear and do everything in HKT.

I also recommend #2. A couple reasons. Clearing Immigration/Custom in BKK requires you to haul all your luggages and walk to Domestic terminal yourself through a hot walk-way (about 0.5kms). And immigration/custom line in HKT will be a lot shorter than in BKK.

Get your luggage tag to HKT, and when you are in BKK terminal, go to domestic transfer area. They will give you a sticker you have to put on the BKK-HKT section. Once plane arrives in HKT, there will be a ground agent directing you to international arrival hall, instead of domestic arrival hall.

Have fun in HKT

glorialf

Can I do the same thing when I fly from NY? I'm connecting two hours later to Chiang Mai. So you're saying I can check my bags to chiang mai, stay in the international area and they will transfer me to the domestic flight? Then I go through immigration in CM? Cool! I'm flying business.

pekko

Yeap. CNX has the immigration/custom unit. So you can check your luggages through to CNX and do all imm/cus there. It works the same way on the CNX-departure flight too. You can check your luggages through, and then do all immigration at CNX.

Steve Fenton

this has been reported on here about a zillion times

Check in to your final destination, it makes no odds whether you are eco, biz or first or even private jet, your luggage will be tagged to final destination.

Why would they want you pick up your luggage and re check it ???


This would be really stupid and I cant imagine anyone daft enough to introduce such a system.

Stay airside and go and use the new Thai lounge, its great.

The link to domestic is Gate 77 next to the Lufthansa lounge and they will bus you to the plane.

woodey

Thanks for that, so she checks all the way through, that's what I thought.

During the transit should she wait in the International terminal or move over to the domestic? Since she won't be using the limo or normal F conceirge services will she get access to the F lounge during transit?

Thanks.

Morrissey

Lots of countries make you clear customs and immigration at your first port of entry before you take a connecting domestic flight. Why is this considered daft?

Steve Fenton

Frankly speaking its a load of B******X what is the purpose of standing around for aes to take your luggage off the belt and hump it 20 yards to give it to a guy to sling it back down a chute to put back onto another plane - yeah that makes loads of sense.

WELCOME TO AMERICA

Steve Fenton

Woodey

Better stay in INternational, it takes about 3 or 4 minutes to walk from the Thai lounge to gate 77 and then they will check the passport and bus her over to the plane. There is nothing at the gate once you go down the steps to gate 77.

The Thai lounge is one of the best in the world IMHO

Morrissey

Is there a reason that you can't respond like a mature adult?

Are you really thinking this through, or are you just trying to be obnoxious? We are talking about clearing immigration and customs here. American airports are simply not designed this way, nor should they be. How would you possibly do this? It would require that every single airport terminal in the country have immigration and customs facilities. Every single person who gets off a domestic flight would have to checked to see whether he/she had cleared immigration previously or not. Yeah, THAT sounds like a great idea!

JackR

Yes she should wait in the International terminal.
She can try to use the F lounge they 'might' allow her in although her next flight is in C.
She will have access to the C international TG lounge befor boarding for her domestic flight from the International terminal.

There is no way to go from International to domestic terminal airside as there are no customs facilities unless you claim your baggage and clear customs and immigration in BKK

Michael

It may be stupid, but it may also be required if you're heading to a destination that doesn't have immigration and customs facilities.

While there's no problem to check your luggage through to HKT or CNX, there are other destinations in Thailand that lack customs and immigration facilities, and so travelers to those destinations will have to go through immigration and customs in BKK, and then go over to the domestic terminal.

- Michael

bertheike

NOPE,
in Thailand all airports have an immigration ! Even the small Koh Samui, Surat Thani or Chiang Rai ! ( At least all which are served from BKK ) . As far as I know the only having no imigration is far north west Mae Sot, and this is only served from Chiang Mai

Morrissey

In Thailand it is possible that one enters the Kingdom without immigration.
If you are coming from an international lets say transit to Phuket , and you leave the Hall in Phuket to the right you enter Thailand without immigration ( You get a sticker which you have to wear).
But you will have a problem when you try to leave the Kingdom. Because if you dont have a stamp coming in, you are illegal ( and for this in Thailand you can go into prison ). I heard of some who managed it also to leave the kingdom in the same way. They took a flight from Phuket to Bangkok which is as well a international conection may be to HKG and only a domestik.
In Phuket they checked in domestik, so the passport/visa is not controlled. Then they put the sticker on their clothes in the plane. and in BKK they take the bus to the international building, now they are airside. There they go to the transferdesk and check in for their international flight which must be on a seperate PNR. The only hint is, the immigration normaly clips one part of the form together with the international boarding pass, which the airline collect.
And shure this does not work with checked luggage.
But the men I know, who did it this way just wanted to stay 8 month there without every 30days leaving or paying an expensive 1 year visa.
not my idea and this is absolutly illegal just want explain what is possible and not.

JackR

NO NOT TRUE

Many domestic destinations out of BKK do not have immigration
Only Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Koh Samui, Hatyai have got immigration

PHS, Udon Thani, Ranong, Surat tani, etc do NOT