Originally Posted by dpham4

Not to belabor the point, but I high doubt that I am the first, nor will I be the last, person to wonder if a "third country" could be taken to mean the originating country. There are ample assertions that the 72 hour transit does apply in this case--incorrect as it may be, this shows the misinterpretation is quite prevalent, and I believe my desire to clarify reasonable. That I missed the half line which explicitly answered my question, fine, I made a mistake and missed it.

And yes YuropFlyer, being new to international travel in general, I wanted to also find out if staying airside was possible to avoid needing a visa, in case the 72 hour transit rule didn't apply in my case.

In general, the fact that all passengers required passport checks, even for connections, was lost on me (and I'm sure others).

Anyway, thank you those who were patient and helpful.