Visas and border crossings forum

Posted from within Vietnam.

If you arrive on a tourist visa,which you have previously obtained from a Thai Embassy/Consulate,they won't ask to see proof of onward travel,since in theory you should already have shown it when you got the visa.If you simply arrive and get a 30 day permission to enter stamp,again in theory they could ask to see proof of onward travel.I have flown into Thailand many times and not once have been asked for any such proof,but that doesn't mean it won't happen,and Thai Immigration are constantly tightening the rules.What you could do to cover yourself is book but not pay for a flight out and print off the reservation, or book a very cheap flight with a carrier such as Air Asia which you aren't going to use. Similarly traveling to Cambodia or Vietnam I have never once been asked for proof of onward travel

Hi Siddy,

What captian bob says is correct it's not the immigration but the airlines -apparently the Arab airlines do sometimes ask for proof of return or onward travel.
I myself have never had any trouble and since my company pays for flights i have been asked in BKK for proof of being a bona fida seaman and have had to produce documents (seamans book) but this is all recent - i think you would have to be very unlucky to get checked

Eva Air required an outbound ticket to allow me to fly into BKK from London expecting Visa on arrival.

They seemed to have an established process in place - sending me to the ticket desk before letting me check in, buying me the cheapest outbound international ticket available within 28 days and advising me that I could easily cancel the ticket at the other end for an approx GBP 20 administration fee. Inevitably, their ticket desk at the other end was closed and the check-in girl simply gave me a reservations number, which leaves me with a bit of a challenge cancelling an amusingly overpriced ticket to Vientiane.

Getting the visa in advance could have saved a lot of hassle.

Thai immigration, needless to say, wasn't in the slightest bit interested in whether I had an outbound ticket or not.

Also worth noting: if you're a Brit picking up a visa on arrival you can safely ignore the "Visa on Arrival" signs at the airport (which appear to be for a designated list of countries where you have to fill in extra forms) and head straight for the main immigration queues.

Hi Guys,
I am a UK national and in May I am flying to Bangkok, my onwards ticket is flying from Singapore. Is this a problem?

Thanks for the quick response Lother.

From reading around, it appears the safest option to do is to just pay for a £25ish tourist visa. As the last thing I want is for Qantas to end my holiday early at Heathrow!