Thailand Actually Enforcing Onward Ticket Requirement. World Stunned.
May 29, 2007, 4:31 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 210
Thailand Actually Enforcing Onward Ticket Requirement. World Stunned.
From my travel blog (www.knifetricks.blogspot.com):
Breaking: Thailand Actually Enforcing Onward Ticket Requirement! Forty Below In Hades!
Bangkok, Thailand
Hell is freezing over.
Pigs are flying.
Thailand is enforcing the onward ticket requirement.
The End Days must be nigh.
* * * * *
Thai law contains an "onward ticket requirement," a rule which states that travelers entering Thailand without a pre-issued visa must have in their possession an airline or other ticket which they will use to leave the country within 30 days. Without the onward ticket (sometimes called a return ticket), travelers can be denied entry into Thailand.
Thailand has not enforced the onward ticket requirement in years. For as long as I have been traveling, citizens of the United States and many other industrialized nations could walk unquestioned through any immigration checkpoint, at land crossings or airports. (The Thai government does not enforce all laws on the books; each administration determines which laws will be enforced.)
Due to its non-enforcement, the onward ticket requirement became a running joke. People who posted nervous questions about the rule to travel bulletin boards outed themselves as first-timers. One night, some expats and I in Chiang Mai tried to guess how suspicious someone would have to look to be denied entry into Thailand. We came up with a bug-eyed 19-year-old guy with the surname Bin Laden flying in from Islamabad on Pakistan International Airlines with a pristine Egyptian passport and without any hand luggage other than a Koran. That guy might get stopped by Thai Immigration. (Yes, I know that Egyptian nationals do not qualify for the Kingdom's Tourist Visa Exemption program. It was a joke.)
Joke's on us now. Thailand has started to enforce the onward ticket requirement.
Since at least early April, immigration inspectors have begun to request and review onward tickets before issuing an entry stamp. No public announcement was made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as far as I have been able to discern. This being Thailand, the change in policy was not implemented uniformly. Rather, according to anecdotal reports, enforcement began at the land crossings regularly used for "visa runs" by long-term expats who, lacking formal residency permits, leave the country every 30 days in order to receive a new 30-day tourist entrance stamp when they come back in.
Long-term travelers dislike onward ticket requirements, because the rules hamper spontaneity and often force people to buy tickets which they don't use when plans change. Actually, "dislike" understates the matter; long-term travelers hate, despise and abhor onward ticket requirements, and that's on a good day.
There are two principal ways around the requirement. The most obvious is to apply for a formal visa at the embassy or consulate of the country you plan to visit. Sometimes the visa application requires the submission of an onward ticket, but often it does not. Once the formal visa is glued into your passport, the need to present an onward ticket at Immigration should be obviated.
A second, and increasingly common method, of satisfying the onward ticket requirement is to purchase the cheapest possible one-way international ticket for presentation to Immigration. Some air fares on the Asian low cost carriers are so inexpensive that people buy the ticket and throw it out after passing through Passport Control. For example, some travelers comply with Indonesia's (unenforced) onward ticket requirement by purchasing a Lion Air Ticket from Medan, Indonesia, to Padang, Malaysia, which can cost less than $40.
* * * * *
I learned about Thailand's new policy while standing in the Immigration line at Bangkok airport Sunday night. I had just rebuffed a Kazakh woman from cutting in front of me when I noticed that every Immigration kiosk had a piece of pink paper taped to the wall above the officers' heads which required each traveler to produce a passport, a completed Arrival Card, a boarding pass and "an onward/return ticket."
"What madness is this?" I thought. If you had asked me to list the bureaucratic snafus which could have slowed my way through Thai immigration, lack of an onward ticket would not have made the top five. Since I didn't have a return ticket, the Immigration officer could in theory order me to take the next plane out of the country.
The officer, about 28, looked at my travel documents. "Onward ticket please," he said. I explained that I did not have one, because Immigration had never asked for one on the many previous occasions that I had entered the country. I explained that my visits to Thailand were usually short and that, the one time I stayed for several months, I obtained a proper visa, which was duly extended by the Royal Thai Police.
The officer said something in Thai to a more senior female officer sitting at one of the other kiosks. She asked a question. "America," the officer said, holding up my blue passport for her to see. "OK," she said.
The officer stamped my passport and gave me the customary 30 days. "Thank God for Thailand," I thought, not for the first time. The practical, accommodating Thais waived a legal requirement in an appropriate situation. In China, I'd have been shown the door.
"Next time, you need return ticket," the officer said.
"Thank you," I said. Now I know.
Breaking: Thailand Actually Enforcing Onward Ticket Requirement! Forty Below In Hades!
Bangkok, Thailand
Hell is freezing over.
Pigs are flying.
Thailand is enforcing the onward ticket requirement.
The End Days must be nigh.
* * * * *
Thai law contains an "onward ticket requirement," a rule which states that travelers entering Thailand without a pre-issued visa must have in their possession an airline or other ticket which they will use to leave the country within 30 days. Without the onward ticket (sometimes called a return ticket), travelers can be denied entry into Thailand.
Thailand has not enforced the onward ticket requirement in years. For as long as I have been traveling, citizens of the United States and many other industrialized nations could walk unquestioned through any immigration checkpoint, at land crossings or airports. (The Thai government does not enforce all laws on the books; each administration determines which laws will be enforced.)
Due to its non-enforcement, the onward ticket requirement became a running joke. People who posted nervous questions about the rule to travel bulletin boards outed themselves as first-timers. One night, some expats and I in Chiang Mai tried to guess how suspicious someone would have to look to be denied entry into Thailand. We came up with a bug-eyed 19-year-old guy with the surname Bin Laden flying in from Islamabad on Pakistan International Airlines with a pristine Egyptian passport and without any hand luggage other than a Koran. That guy might get stopped by Thai Immigration. (Yes, I know that Egyptian nationals do not qualify for the Kingdom's Tourist Visa Exemption program. It was a joke.)
Joke's on us now. Thailand has started to enforce the onward ticket requirement.
Since at least early April, immigration inspectors have begun to request and review onward tickets before issuing an entry stamp. No public announcement was made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as far as I have been able to discern. This being Thailand, the change in policy was not implemented uniformly. Rather, according to anecdotal reports, enforcement began at the land crossings regularly used for "visa runs" by long-term expats who, lacking formal residency permits, leave the country every 30 days in order to receive a new 30-day tourist entrance stamp when they come back in.
Long-term travelers dislike onward ticket requirements, because the rules hamper spontaneity and often force people to buy tickets which they don't use when plans change. Actually, "dislike" understates the matter; long-term travelers hate, despise and abhor onward ticket requirements, and that's on a good day.
There are two principal ways around the requirement. The most obvious is to apply for a formal visa at the embassy or consulate of the country you plan to visit. Sometimes the visa application requires the submission of an onward ticket, but often it does not. Once the formal visa is glued into your passport, the need to present an onward ticket at Immigration should be obviated.
A second, and increasingly common method, of satisfying the onward ticket requirement is to purchase the cheapest possible one-way international ticket for presentation to Immigration. Some air fares on the Asian low cost carriers are so inexpensive that people buy the ticket and throw it out after passing through Passport Control. For example, some travelers comply with Indonesia's (unenforced) onward ticket requirement by purchasing a Lion Air Ticket from Medan, Indonesia, to Padang, Malaysia, which can cost less than $40.
* * * * *
I learned about Thailand's new policy while standing in the Immigration line at Bangkok airport Sunday night. I had just rebuffed a Kazakh woman from cutting in front of me when I noticed that every Immigration kiosk had a piece of pink paper taped to the wall above the officers' heads which required each traveler to produce a passport, a completed Arrival Card, a boarding pass and "an onward/return ticket."
"What madness is this?" I thought. If you had asked me to list the bureaucratic snafus which could have slowed my way through Thai immigration, lack of an onward ticket would not have made the top five. Since I didn't have a return ticket, the Immigration officer could in theory order me to take the next plane out of the country.
The officer, about 28, looked at my travel documents. "Onward ticket please," he said. I explained that I did not have one, because Immigration had never asked for one on the many previous occasions that I had entered the country. I explained that my visits to Thailand were usually short and that, the one time I stayed for several months, I obtained a proper visa, which was duly extended by the Royal Thai Police.
The officer said something in Thai to a more senior female officer sitting at one of the other kiosks. She asked a question. "America," the officer said, holding up my blue passport for her to see. "OK," she said.
The officer stamped my passport and gave me the customary 30 days. "Thank God for Thailand," I thought, not for the first time. The practical, accommodating Thais waived a legal requirement in an appropriate situation. In China, I'd have been shown the door.
"Next time, you need return ticket," the officer said.
"Thank you," I said. Now I know.
May 29, 2007, 4:42 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 1999
Posts: 12,375
Random comments:
This thread might be better off in the "Thailand" sub-forum.
I haven't read a lot of reports on ThaiVisa re: this rule being more stringently enforced of late.
Note that entry "can" and/or "may" be denied, not that it absolutely will be denied.
Airlines, especially UA and NW, are paying closer scrutiny to the 30-day rule and visa details in general, and are denying boarding without an onward ticket (doesn't have to be a return, could be a one-way ticket for BKK-SIN) within 30 days. Last week I had to spend a little time educating a UA check-in agent in the U.S. on my "Re-entry Permit".
I've known some UA travelers on one-way tickets to BKK who have been encouraged by check-in agents to purchase a one-way, full-fare, fully-refundable ticket ex-BKK for travel within 30 days. I'm not sure if those actually get used?
I always recommend that people get a tourist visa if they have unconventional travel plans to/within Thailand.
This thread might be better off in the "Thailand" sub-forum.
I haven't read a lot of reports on ThaiVisa re: this rule being more stringently enforced of late.
Note that entry "can" and/or "may" be denied, not that it absolutely will be denied.
Airlines, especially UA and NW, are paying closer scrutiny to the 30-day rule and visa details in general, and are denying boarding without an onward ticket (doesn't have to be a return, could be a one-way ticket for BKK-SIN) within 30 days. Last week I had to spend a little time educating a UA check-in agent in the U.S. on my "Re-entry Permit".
I've known some UA travelers on one-way tickets to BKK who have been encouraged by check-in agents to purchase a one-way, full-fare, fully-refundable ticket ex-BKK for travel within 30 days. I'm not sure if those actually get used?
I always recommend that people get a tourist visa if they have unconventional travel plans to/within Thailand.
May 29, 2007, 8:02 am
#4
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 2,347
For instance, SQ has caught onto this loophole (apparently some passengers would buy a F ticket just to use SQ's SKL F lounge, then cancel the ticket before traveling) and imposed a US$50 cancellation fees for all tickets (even full fare F tickets). Also, they don't process the refund right away, so you may not see the credit on your credit card till the following month, meaning you'd have forgone interest on the tied-up funds for a month or more.
May 30, 2007, 10:18 am
#5
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Seoul, Korea
Programs: ROP Gold, BD Gold, Asiana Club Silver
Posts: 678
I've never been asked to show an onward ticket at BKK or anyplace else in Thailand, including my most recent entries this week. I have been asked for as long as I can remember to show an onward ticket when checking in for flights to Thailand from certain destinations and/or certain airlines though.
I don't always have a print out of the itinerary with me ...
May 30, 2007, 9:11 pm
#8
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 2,347
I always carry my return or onward ticket with me, paper or e-ticket printout, wherever I go, just in case, ever since last year, while trying to enter CGK, I was harrassed by the immigration officers for not having a ticket out of Indonesia. I was led into an interrogation room and made to pay a bribe to get out of the situation.
May 30, 2007, 9:20 pm
#9
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Living in SIN™
Programs: TK/SQ Gold, QR Plat, Marriott/Accor Plat, IC Dia Amb, HH Gold, Hertz PC
Posts: 6,706
That line didn't work with the immigration agent at EWR who refused to let me into the US a few years ago even though I had a valid visa. Since then, I always carry a printout of the eticket with me. So much for saving the trees.
May 31, 2007, 2:01 am
#10
Join Date: Jan 2006
Programs: TG*G, SQ*G, PAL Premier Elite
Posts: 170
airline of other ticket
Hi,
Why dont you just get a bus/elephant ticket to Laos/Cambodia? If these can be bought online or sent to you then it should be ok? No need for expensive airline ticket?
Cheers!
Why dont you just get a bus/elephant ticket to Laos/Cambodia? If these can be bought online or sent to you then it should be ok? No need for expensive airline ticket?
Cheers!
May 31, 2007, 7:06 am
#11
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Diemen, NL
Posts: 303
it seems to me to, that thaivisa.com is THE forum re thiese matters. It is quite prominently posted on their site that since a few monthes overland travellers entering from Cambodia needed to show such, which very soon started a ''racket ticket out'' offer on the streets just before.
In fact on airasia.com MUCH cheaper tix as 40US$ can be found... a pity that since short the 700 bt airpt tax is now included...........
In fact I've done a kind of ''sport colecting;; these lowcost airlines here in Europe...Ive used over 30 different and on >25 Ive simply scribbled dowbn the ''secret code'' you get on some paper..would that work?
We all know that officially since 1/1/07 IATA has required airlines to go paperless...has that effected or reached thai immigration?
In fact on airasia.com MUCH cheaper tix as 40US$ can be found... a pity that since short the 700 bt airpt tax is now included...........
In fact I've done a kind of ''sport colecting;; these lowcost airlines here in Europe...Ive used over 30 different and on >25 Ive simply scribbled dowbn the ''secret code'' you get on some paper..would that work?
We all know that officially since 1/1/07 IATA has required airlines to go paperless...has that effected or reached thai immigration?
May 31, 2007, 8:14 am
#12
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: KKC/TPA
Programs: All statuses lapsed; now I'm just a free-agent, and loving it!
Posts: 1,245
I've been obtaining 60-Day tourist visas for my last few trips to Thailand, utilizing the consulates in New York, Los Angeles, and most recently Chicago in February.
Reading the web sites and carefully filling out the form and including the other things requested (money and photos), I had no problems the first two times. Most recently in February, I sent my application into the Chicago consulate, and waited two weeks with no contact and no passport returned to me. I called them, and they responded that they needed a copy of my flight itinerary. This is something that had never been requested before, nor was specified as required with the application.
I emailed it to them and my visa was processed the next day. Most annoying about this experience was that they seemed to have just been sitting on my passport and visa application for more than a week, without ever contacting me to say they needed a copy of the itinerary.
Nothing happened until I waited a reasonable amount of time and made inquiry about why I hadn't received anything back.
Thinking about the process now, the itinerary request was probably due to the onward travel enforcement.
Reading the web sites and carefully filling out the form and including the other things requested (money and photos), I had no problems the first two times. Most recently in February, I sent my application into the Chicago consulate, and waited two weeks with no contact and no passport returned to me. I called them, and they responded that they needed a copy of my flight itinerary. This is something that had never been requested before, nor was specified as required with the application.
I emailed it to them and my visa was processed the next day. Most annoying about this experience was that they seemed to have just been sitting on my passport and visa application for more than a week, without ever contacting me to say they needed a copy of the itinerary.
Nothing happened until I waited a reasonable amount of time and made inquiry about why I hadn't received anything back.Thinking about the process now, the itinerary request was probably due to the onward travel enforcement.
May 31, 2007, 2:23 pm
#13
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: London; Bangkok; Las Vegas
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Posts: 8,745
Jun 3, 2007, 9:17 am
#14
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Bangkok, Paris
Programs: Thai Airways - Star Alliance Silver
Posts: 402
Paperless BUT you still have to take with you some sorte of an itinerary receipt which shows the details of your flights and the booking reference/ticket number. I'm very certain 98%+ of all e-ticket users have itinerary receipts with them when they travel.
Jun 3, 2007, 10:01 am
#15
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Tokyo, Khun Han (Thailand) & Brussels
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Posts: 1,280
Paperless ONLY for the airlines NOT for the passenger