2 minutes ago, Laza 45 said:

28 minutes ago, elviajero said:

Have they been around that long?

 

Proving your financial situation when when applying for any visa doesn't exempt anyone from the 20K rule. It's not going to happen, but an IO could insist that a 'O-A' visa holder has 20K in cash/travellers cheques, and could deny entry if they don't have it.

I don't believe it...  I have never been asked... in and out of the country many times..

Just stating facts. Immigration, usually, only ask to see 10K/20K if they looking for reasons to deny entry, which is why you have never been asked.

23 hours ago, elviajero said:

I doubt many check-in staff would know the difference.

Yes, superficially 1 visa looks pretty much like another. But, in the highly unlikely event of his being challenged, the OP could simply draw the check-in assistant's attention to the specific expiry date of his OA visa and, if the assistant still refused to back down, summon their supervisor as already said.

 

In any event, is it really possible to book a cheap throwaway flight ticket to a nearby destination in SE Asia outside Thailand a whole year in advance? Unlikely, I would have thought.

 

Based on my experience, though, the OP is more likely to encounter boarding difficulties during the second year with a re-entry permit. It took a lot of persuading on my part in 2010 to convince the Emirates check-in assistant at LGW that the re-entry permit trumped the now-expired OA visa, but, fortunately, she eventually relented and allowed me to board the initial flight to DXB.