Folks,

Flying from out of country to BKK and then transiting to HKT. I assume I'll need to clear customs in BKK and transfer to the domestic terminal for TG to Phuket.

Does anyone know, on the immigration forms, do you need to specify the destination hotel? What if you don't have one booked or chosen yet?

Thanks...

You can put anything for "Address in Thailand"

"Hotel, Phuket" would be fine.

Really? No risk at all here? Do they ever ask questions verbally?

No, especially if your passport is First World. Just find the name of a famous hotel in Phuket and use that on the form. Immigration doesn't normally do bed-checks to see if you're really there. Your true hotel/hostel will take your passport and entry information for registration records, not to worry that it doesn't match.

No worries, you can basically put anything there. I sometimes travel to countries for a day only and don't stay overnight. Every once in a while a very eager immigration official asks me to complete the form indicating my hotel regardless.

I have for many years entered many Asian countries and stayed at my favourite hotel, the "International Hotel".

Other posters have chimed in with your answer and I'll concur.

Just one clarification: You'll need to clear immigration in BKK however if your bags are checked through to HKT you'll clear customs there.

Yes, and to clarify further if this is your situation, there is a separate immigration area for connecting/transfer passengers to HKT, CNX, USM, and a couple of other places...so look for the signs once you get into the terminal airside and don't go for the main normal BKK immigration queues.

Yup, and to further elaborate on this, you'll clear immigration at the confluence of A,B and C concourses.

The domestic destinations that have customs are: HKT, CNX, CEI, USM, KBV and HDY. All other domestic connections require bags to be picked up in BKK and re-checked in on the fourth floor.

Wow thanks folks, this is indeed the case with checked bags and I appreciate the heads up. If I am meeting someone coming in from a different international location connecting to the same HKT leg, where would you recommend I meet them? I was hoping for some place other than the departure gate since it may not be assigned yet (long layover) and they aren't as savvy traveling. I'll be there 5 hours before them though, so probably coming from whichever C lounge you all would recommend.

The TG domestic lounge in concourse A, across from gate A2 (?), is nothing much. No showers, no booze. 5 hours is a direly long time to spend there.

You could attempt to access the international lounges by heading upstairs through transfer security and using your arriving BP. It may or may not work, but you can just tell them you to want a shower. NB: do not under any circumstances allow the person working the bottom of the escalator to see your domestic BP or in any way catch on you have a domestic connection. Simply tell him/her you are going to the transfer desk. The international transfer desk was moved upstairs, to the other side of transfer security, last year allowing this attempt. I'm not claiming it will work, but for 5 hours it's definitely worth a try.

If you do make it upstairs you have a bunch of restaurants and some massage places upstairs.

If it doesn't work then you may want to go out through normal immigration so that you have more options with regards to restaurants and shops. With 5 hours you could hop the Airport Express train to the city, have a nice meal and a massage or catch a movie and then take the train back and meet them in the domestic lounge.

Folks, when do I "go upstairs through transfer security"? Is that after clearing immigration having followed the signs for HKT? Or is it just a set of stairs / escalators from the domestic terminal?

Thanks!

You would go upstairs only if you're attempting to access the international lounges. If you have no intention of doing this then stay on level 2 (arrival level) and go through transfer immigration on the same level.

If you go through immigration and are stamped into the country it is too late to attempt for international lounge access.

Well, thanks again to everyone, due to this thread and your advice, I've successfully made it upstairs to the international lounge.

Avoiding the transfer area to HKT, I walked up the escalator and confidently told the security clerk that I was going to the transfer desk. He nodded and all was good.

When I arrived at the lounge itself, they as usual demanded to see my outbound BP. I hesitated for a moment wondering if they'd banish me to the domestic terminal once they saw I was en route to HKT and had no business where I was, but they didn't blink an eye and waved me in.

All is good.

Nice work. ^^ I'll be in the terminal around 1:30 this afternoon. If you'll still be around send me a message and I'll track you down once I arrive.