1 hour ago, shy coconut said:

I didn't think that you had officially entered a country until clearing immigration.

It has been stated that they, the IO's, have the power to refuse entry, which is

different to deporting as the refusee hasn't yet entered the country.

 

I may well be wrong as a poster above states that immigration work on the

precise moment that the wheels hit the runway.

Entering the country and being given permission to enter the country are two different things.

 

Technically you enter the country as soon as you pass in to Thai air space; however, you receive formal permission to enter the country when passing through passport control.

 

Immigration do not work on the precise  time the plane lands. At some point after midnight they change their date stamps and once changed everyone gets stamped in based on the new day regardless of when their plane actually arrived.

 

People claiming that those refused entry are not deported are just arguing semantics. You’re issued an expulsion notice if denied entry, and being expelled from a country is deportation. However, it is not recorded as a deportation in the same way as someone being deported because of criminality or being in the country illegally.

Edited July 17, 20196 yr by elviajero

10 hours ago, Gustomucho said:

My problem is that they can outright refuse entrance to the country if I do not have the return flight ticket (or outbound ticket) within 30 days.  Depending on the flight I catch, I could leave BKK at 1:15 in the morning on Dec 1st (could easily check my baggage before midnight) but the immigration agent could just outright say NO, it is 31 days...  I guess it depends on how friendly the agent will be.

Immigration are rarely interested in seeing onward flights. If they’re enquiring about onward flights it’s because they are considering denying entry for other reasons.

 

It is airlines that sometimes insist on an onward flight, and I doubt they would be concerned if it was 31 days. 

6 hours ago, elviajero said:

Immigration do not work on the precise  time the plane lands. At some point after midnight they change their date stamps and once changed everyone gets stamped in based on the new day regardless of when their plane actually arrived.

If that's true, the OP would have nothing to lose by leaving entry through immigration to as close to 1am as possible. In my case though, she was quite clear it was the landing time of the plane that denoted the date that needed stamping. So I had a scheduled arrival 0010 on a ticket showing 5th May, plus I was processed through immigration on 5th May (around 0030), but because the actual landing came in slightly before midnight I got a 4th May stamp. Still not convinced she was right, or what date she'd have given me if I'd stalled for a while and gone through after 1am or so.