Switching passports between borders?

[gilo]

I just wanted to confirm whether I okay with leaving on my UK passport (on which I was stamped into Thailand) and fly to Laos and enter there on a new passport issued by another EU state or do I have to also present my UK passport to show from where I have exited, and was just wondering if anyone had experience of switching passports issued by different jurisdictions while in transit? Many thanks. 

[wotsdermatter]

Last year, I flew from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur exiting Thailand and entering Malaysia on my British passport thus receiving an exit stamp from Thailand and received an entry stamp to Malaysia.  No visa is required using a British passport to enter Malaysia.  Then I exited Malaysia on the next available flight using my Canadian passport, after showing my ticket and British passport to confirm my entry with the exit stamp going into my Canadian passport and entered Thailand on my new Canadian passport.  No problem except at Thai Immigration where the attending official had difficulty with my new passport because it was not on their computer system, until I showed my old British passport.  That cleared everything right aways and he was grateful as he had never experienced that situation before. 

 

However, it could well be a different story for you because you say two things.  First, you say you will enter Laos, which implies going through their immigration system which requires you to have a visa.  Then say you are going into transit.  That is a completely different thing because you do not normally go through immigration at the airport if you are going into transit and which does not require a visa.  Therefore, with the first scenario you get a stamp into and out of Laos in the old passport and can enter Thailand but may have a problem as there are no stamps in the new passport which can cause a problem.  With the second scenario, you could have trouble entering Thailand because you have no enter or exit stamps for Laos .

 

'nuf sed

Edited August 26, 2018 by wotsdermatter

[stevenl]

4 hours ago, wotsdermatter said:

Last year, I flew from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur exiting Thailand and entering Malaysia on my British passport thus receiving an exit stamp from Thailand and received an entry stamp to Malaysia.  No visa is required using a British passport to enter Malaysia.  Then I exited Malaysia on the next available flight using my Canadian passport, after showing my ticket and British passport to confirm my entry with the exit stamp going into my Canadian passport and entered Thailand on my new Canadian passport.  No problem except at Thai Immigration where the attending official had difficulty with my new passport because it was not on their computer system, until I showed my old British passport.  That cleared everything right aways and he was grateful as he had never experienced that situation before. 

 

However, it could well be a different story for you because you say two things.  First, you say you will enter Laos, which implies going through their immigration system which requires you to have a visa.  Then say you are going into transit.  That is a completely different thing because you do not normally go through immigration at the airport if you are going into transit and which does not require a visa.  Therefore, with the first scenario you get a stamp into and out of Laos in the old passport and can enter Thailand but may have a problem as there are no stamps in the new passport which can cause a problem.  With the second scenario, you could have trouble entering Thailand because you have no enter or exit stamps for Laos .

 

'nuf sed

Always exit a country on the same passport you entered it.

 

If by air you can change in mid air, but may need to show both at checkin. At immigration this is no problem.

[ubonjoe]

Laos may not be a good choice. I can recall reports of Lao immigration at the airport checking for departure stamps for Thailand and not allowing a person entry until they used the other passport.

At others it will not be a problem since they are larger and busier airports.

[Sydebolle]

To answer your question, NO, IT DOES NOT WORK. The Lao immigration will be going through your passport to see, where you came from. Happened to me, they asked to see the passport with which I had left Thailand, stamped it in, stamped it out and on the Thai side same procedure. It seems that the immigration boys at the Thai-Lao border know the trade.

I subsequently did a Singapore run and there it worked flawlessly. Left Thailand with one passport and entered/left Singapore with the second passport. On arrival in Thailand I produced the second passport and was stamped in without questions. 

[Stanthenomad]

Last week switched to second UK passport when entering Luang Prabang, Laos. Immigration asked for passport with Thailand exit stamp. No problems and second UK passport was stamped with Laos visa. Immigration told it's possible to switch passports with same nationality. If using different nationality passport then only passport with Thailand exit cab be used. Dual nationality not accepted.

[KamnanT]

3 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Laos may not be a good choice. I can recall reports of Lao immigration at the airport checking for departure stamps for Thailand and not allowing a person entry until they used the other passport.

At others it will not be a problem since they are larger and busier airports.

So the Lao immigration officer is assuming that because you are arriving on a flight from Thailand that you must have exited Thai immigration.  Couldn't you just say, "I only transited Bangkok on the airside from (insert home country here) - I never entered Thailand."?  Of course, their next move might be, "Show us your flight tickets" but somehow I doubt it.  I have never tried this myself but I have always wondered if it could be done, as I often have more empty visa pages in my "other" passport when I arrive in Vientiane.

[gilo]

Thanks very much for that, your advice has saved me a wasted trip - so doing this via Penang is possible?

[ubonjoe]

5 minutes ago, gilo said:

Thanks very much for that, your advice has saved me a wasted trip - so doing this via Penang is possible?

Yes you could to it by air to Penang.

[gilo]

Am going to go through Phnom Penh and will report back (as easier for visas still I believe) ....unless anyone knows that swapping national passports might also be an issue at the PP immigration desk?

[4evermaat]

I had a friend just do this the other day.  EU passport was full of visa exempts and extensions and switched to a clean G20 passport.  Some tips:

 

- You leave the country on the same passport that you enter.  So you only have to worry about making the switch mid-air when you enter Thailand. 

- When you buy ticket or check in to your flight, make sure that you use the correct passport #.  That might require that you buy your Thai departure and arrival tickets on separate itineraries (vs buying 1 round-trip ticket on same itinerary).  

- Do it via air borders.  Land borders they will check to see exit stamp from previous country.  Maybe certain countries like Laos may discourage even air trip swaps. 

- Use Malaysia or Singapore.  Penang has only 2 cheap direct flights daily from Bangkok.  KL has 13 direct low cost flights DMK << >> KUL.   I can't speak for the other airports (e.g. Phuket, Chiang Mai, Surat Thani, etc), but I imagine Malaysia will have the most [economical] daily flights + no visa fee, especially if you book even a few days in advance.

Of course you could layover if the flight is too late.  Again, Malaysia (Penang or KL) would be good choices.

 

1 hour ago, gilo said:

Am going to go through Phnom Penh and will report back (as easier for visas still I believe) ....unless anyone knows that swapping national passports might also be an issue at the PP immigration desk?

 

You can swap it either when arriving to PP or when you arrive to Thailand.  Any particular reason/advantage why you need to swap it when arriving to PP?

[gilo]

33 minutes ago, 4evermaat said:

I had a friend just do this the other day.  EU passport was full of visa exempts and extensions and switched to a clean G20 passport.  Some tips:

 

- You leave the country on the same passport that you enter.  So you only have to worry about making the switch mid-air when you enter Thailand. 

- When you buy ticket or check in to your flight, make sure that you use the correct passport #.  That might require that you buy your Thai departure and arrival tickets on separate itineraries (vs buying 1 round-trip ticket on same itinerary).  

- Do it via air borders.  Land borders they will check to see exit stamp from previous country.  Maybe certain countries like Laos may discourage even air trip swaps. 

- Use Malaysia or Singapore.  Penang has only 2 cheap direct flights daily from Bangkok.  KL has 13 direct low cost flights DMK << >> KUL.   I can't speak for the other airports (e.g. Phuket, Chiang Mai, Surat Thani, etc), but I imagine Malaysia will have the most [economical] daily flights + no visa fee, especially if you book even a few days in advance.

Of course you could layover if the flight is too late.  Again, Malaysia (Penang or KL) would be good choices.

 

 

You can swap it either when arriving to PP or when you arrive to Thailand.  Any particular reason/advantage why you need to swap it when arriving to PP?

I intend to obtain a new tourist visa so need to have the Cambodian arrival and visa stamp in the new passport to use it to apply (via an agent) for a 60-day Thai tourist visa. The agent has quoted 113 USD for a next day turn around. 

[ryanqqq]

Additional confirmation it was not allowed on Thai-Laos border. I have a passort from France and the Philippines. 

I always use my  FR passport to enter Thailand as I need it to get back Europe where I live to avoid scrutiny. I wanted to use my PH passport to ditch the Visa on arrival fee in Laos for a short visit coming from Thailand. Not accepted. I had to purchase the visa despite having a valid passport that allows a 30 day stay in Laos!

I've done passport switch previously in Vietnam and Myanmar with no issues.

Vietnam recently added visa exemption for France and a few other countries recently. It wasn't so the last time I went there.

[gilo]

The switch went fine in Cambodia. However, some miscommunication was evidently the case with the agent as took 4 days to get the passport back for 60 USD - needed to show bank balance and flights. Used Lucky Motorcycle and it was fine, they clearly handle a lot. As I travelled back through Suvarnabuhmi and just out of curiosity tried the Kasikorn Bureau de Change before immigration to see if I could withdraw money as I had done in Don Mueang to be told that they could not (or would not) do it. 

[JackThompson]

On 8/31/2018 at 10:16 PM, gilo said:

Am going to go through Phnom Penh and will report back (as easier for visas still I believe)

No.

On 9/1/2018 at 12:00 AM, gilo said:

I intend to obtain a new tourist visa so need to have the Cambodian arrival and visa stamp in the new passport to use it to apply (via an agent) for a 60-day Thai tourist visa. The agent has quoted 113 USD for a next day turn around. 

...

19 hours ago, gilo said:

The switch went fine in Cambodia. However, some miscommunication was evidently the case with the agent as took 4 days to get the passport back for 60 USD - needed to show bank balance and flights. Used Lucky Motorcycle and it was fine, they clearly handle a lot.

Yes - sorry I didn't see your post sooner - no quick TR-Visas in PP any more at any price.  Thanks for getting back to this thread with confirmation - would be nice for many if a faster option was available, again.

 

19 hours ago, gilo said:

As I travelled back through Suvarnabuhmi and just out of curiosity tried the Kasikorn Bureau de Change before immigration to see if I could withdraw money as I had done in Don Mueang to be told that they could not (or would not) do it. 

Probably told by immigration to stop, so they can pull the "not enough cash" excuse for denial of entry - though no one need travel with much cash, anymore, thanks to world-wide electronic-banking.  Entering Thailand is just about the only reason Travelers Checks still serve any useful function.