Originally Posted by
sbm12
That's not what is published in TIMATIC.
Assuming a US citizen, departing China headed to Thailand for tourist reasons the passport need only be valid for the intended duration of the stay:
Sounds like the OP was unduly denied boarding.
As posted elsewhere, requirements given at the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs includes a passport with validity of six months beyond the date of entry. I would take that to be the most authoritative.
I have travelled to a some countries when my passport's remaining validity was less than 6 months. I always check if the country requires a minimum six month validity of the passport.
I dont like the 6 month validity requirement, as it renders your passport worthless during the last 6 months. Take into account the time needed to get your passport, you maybe losing as much as 8 months from your passport. That can mean 13 percent of the life of the passport.