Visa on ENTRY

[maump]

I did a search for answers to my questions... but I did not see them. rather than contaminate someone else's thread I started an new.


I'm retired and was hoping on a more extended winter tour around the SE Asia. start in Thailand, hang out for a month go to Laos over land to visit, maybe Cambodia, down to Penang.... The current Visa on Entry requirement you "must have return flight booked", or be denied entry ...is a problem. I was not planning on booking that until I grew tired of touring, and flights that allow changes are very expensive.... Any insights here? Buy a cheap ticket to Siam reap before i go? or do I need apply for an extended tourist visa?

any advice is appreciated. I was in Thailand in 2016, 2 visits 15 and 28 days.

Current Visa on entry requirements:
The visit is strictly for tourism purposes.

They must have a confirmed return ticket to show that they are flying out of Thailand within 30 days of entry, as appropriate. Open tickets do not qualify. Traveling overland out of Thailand by train, bus, etc to Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia (including en route to Singapore), Myanmar, etc may be accepted as proof of exiting Thailand. You may be asked to show your flight ticket on entering Thailand. If you do not possess a flight ticket to show you will be exiting Thailand within 30 days of entry you will be most likely refused entry.

It will also be necessary to prove that you have funds of at least 10,000 THB per person during your stay in Thailand.

[2lz2p]

It is actually a "Visa Exempt" entry which allows a 30 day permitted stay upon arrival and is available for citizens of around 42 countries including most western countries, e.g., USA, UK, Australia.

The requirement to show onward transportation has been in existence for many years. But, Thai Immigration at entry points have been reported to rarely ask for such proof. The problem arises with the airline you wish to travel with as many will require you to show such proof and not allow you to board the flight if you do not have it.

One solution is to obtain a cheap throw away ticket to a neighboring country which can be quite cheap depending on how far in advance you get the ticket. The Visa Exempt entry permitted stay allows a one time 30 day extension at Thai Immigration for a fee of 1,900 baht. If you get a Tourist Visa, the permitted stay on entry is 60 days and it too can be extended once for 30 days.

[cdnmatt]

File->Save Page As, open it up in a text editor, modify some details for an onward ticket, and print it out again. You now have your onward flight to present to immigration.

Everyone seems to be doing it for Covid tests and vaccine certificates, so don't see what the problem doing it for onward travel itineray is.

[Armando]

The current Visa on Entry requirement you "must have return flight booked", or be denied entry ...is a problem.
The onward ticket requirement has been law for decades. Some other countries have the same requirement - e.g. Singapore. There is one additional issue that you might have to be slightly concerned about. Having visited frequently I was twice stopped at different departure airports, Sydney and Hong Kong, and told I could not board for Bangkok because I could not show an onward ticket. Since I used to purchase return tickets in Bangkok, I rarely had any proof of an outward ticket. Yet having managed to argue my way on to the flights, there was absolutely no problem on arrival!

The chances of this happening are extremely small. Just please be aware of it.

[DoubleDutch]

30 days entry with visa exempt requires ticket out of Thailand, if you intend to stay longer, buy a cheapest throwaway ticket to anywhere, Singapore is currently about 49€.
Thai immigration never asks for ticket out, but flying to Thailand, airline check-in nearly always has asked me for ticket out.
Or like cdnmatt said, take some old ticket, open it with PDF editor, 'tune' it a bit, change dates, and you have a ticket.

[goji]

I've entered on the 30 day exemption several times, with a return ticket over 30 days. I've never been asked to show a ticket out of Thailand within the 30 days, although I often had one for travel to Phnom Penh, Yangon etc.

Last year I also entered on a 60 day visa, with a return flight nearer to 90 days later. No one asked to see a ticket out within the 60 days. Of course, the risk remains.

Maump might also consider that land borders to Laos and possibly Cambodia are closed at present. To counter the risk of them remaining closed, £60 on a 90 day visa could be money well spent.

[christianpfc]

Are you talking about visa on arrival or visa exempt entry? What's your nationality?

One would assume that knowing how quickly things can change at these times, airlines and immigration would not insist on a flight out of Thailand.

In general it's not an issue. On my recent flight from Phnom Penh to Bangkok I was asked at check-in for a flight out of Thailand, and not having one was not an issue at check-in, but the staff told me immigration might ask for a flight out of Thailand (they didn't).

I was once asked at check-in (Taipei to Bangkok) for a flight out of Thailand within 30 days. I had a flight out within 60 days and was going to stay visa-exempt with extension, but their rules said 30 days. I booked a fully refundable flight with the same airline at their office at the airport (thinking this would be the fastest way, so I don't miss my flight). Once in Thailand, I got the flight refunded, but the cancellation fee was higher than a cheap ticket would cost.

I was once asked at immigration to show a flight out of Thailand (because I have a year-long history of tourist visas) and was allowed to book a flight on the spot and show flight confirmation on my mobile phone. I suggest you just research flights and do the booking process on your phone until you get to payment, so you know how it works and can do it in the improbably case it should be required.

[pong]

IF asked for at all-it will be the airline, and some are far more notorious as others for this. Notable the Gulf-based ones, like EY, EK, GF etc. You may even be denied boarding on the 2nd flite in transit.
Before covid generally cheapest low-budget tix were to KUL or sometimes PnPn, on airasia or thailionair. Just check their sites for prices now. NOTE that its not really cheap as in EUr here (I just saw ads for 2 eur tickets to Italy next winter), as they all include the 700 THB airporttax. AirAsia will reimburs this, less 200 bt fee, if not flown at all.
Also note that in general one way tix out of TH to either EUR or USA are not that cheap-in fact its most often best to buy a higher priced return with flexible return date, in case you are sure to return anyway.
And as reported above, currently the before so populair overland backpack trail is definitely completely closed-as are most other neighboring countries for casual visitors.

[maump]

Thank you all for the advice!.

I plan on flying Etihad since i have 2000$ of credit on account from covid cancellations (I worked 2020 in UAE) .

I am from the USA. I think a throw away ticket is best. I do want to go to Vietnam and Cambodia/Laos or if open go on to the Philippines. I made friends from there in the UAE. Philippines are still closed last I checked.

thanks again!

[christianpfc]

As a US citizen, you qualify for 30 days visa exempt stay, which requires a flight out of the country (but rarely checked or enforced).

You can get a tourist visa for 60 days, no flight out of the country required by Thai immigration (however some embassies require it, airline might require it, and I had one entry where immigration officer wanted a flight out of the country because of my history of long stays on tourist visas).

There is no visa on arrival for US citizens.