Originally Posted by The_Editor

Hi all,

I wasn't sure where best to post this, so Mods please move as appropriate!

TL;DR:
Flying on a British passport and checking in to a Bangkok Airways flight from Vientiane to Bangkok, I provided when requested proof of onward travel (the return portion of a CX LHR-HKG/BKK-HKG-LHR ticket departing after 10 days in Thailand), but the agent demanded to see proof of my bank balance 'in case of overstay'.

Are they allowed to do this?!

Longer version:
I was shocked by how insistent she was, and not having mobile banking I was pretty stuck until I remembered that I get weekly text statements for one of my accounts. Until then, she was insisting that we go to an ATM to print a statement. At first I resisted showing her as she had proof of onward travel and it's none of her business but she insisted and wouldn't check us in without it. Fortunately there was a decent amount in there, just shy of five figures and several multiples of the average annual salary in Laos, but I object to such nosiness on principle.

She called her supervisor over to show him the proof of onward travel and bank balance, and he clearly thought she was making a fuss over nothing - I know enough Thai to understand that he kept repeating 'It's fine, it doesn't matter' to each of her objections to completing the check in process.

Is this normal? I have been travelling to Thailand every couple of years for the last couple of decades and have never come across this before, but I did notice that there is now a question about annual income on the landing cards in Thailand.

Full disclosure - I did once overstay my visa, entirely unwittingly, but this was 20 years and three passports ago so I doubt it would have been flagged up at check in. Prior to travel, I got what I understood to be a six month visa, but which actually only allowed for stays of up to two months within a six month period, so I overstayed by about a week without realising it. It clearly happened a lot - when I paid my fine upon departure the officials processing said so - and I had no problem re-entering Thailand a couple of weeks later.

Any thoughts welcome!