Can thais leave Thailand ?

[HerbyJFlash]

I know flights are few and far between at the moment. But if you can get one , can a Thai citizen actually leave the country ?

 

[tribalfusion001]

Yes.

[drbeach]

5 hours ago, tribalfusion001 said:

Yes.

If they're permitted to enter the country of destination.

[RichardColeman]

Yes, and suggest if your stuck in the UK - like me - you think about a tourist visa for the wife or g/f if you want see her this year if we open up to them and them not to us !

[pixelaoffy]

Thais can leave thailand and return to it with quarantine! Not surprisingly most foreigners cannot

[HerbyJFlash]

Are there actually available tickets  ? Or are  seats impossible to find ?

 

Can you trust companies selling tickets at the moment ?

 

 

[dddave]

8 minutes ago, HerbyJFlash said:

Are there actually available tickets  ? Or are  seats impossible to find ?

 

Can you trust companies selling tickets at the moment ?

 

 

Fairly safe if you buy directly from the airline BUT flights could be cancelled and getting refunds, even on supposed refundable tickets has become very difficult as airlines often try to stonewall customers into accepting credits, even when they are entitled to cash.  This is happening everywhere, not just Thailand.

[Kerryd]

Hotel Thailand - You can check out any time you like, but you can't ever leave.

Seriously. There have been NO restrictions on anyone flying out - as long as your destination is still allowing arrivals.

There are half a dozen airlines with flights out weekly. Probably going to start seeing more as more arrivals are allowed in.

Right now, Qatar Air, KLM and Lufthansa have flights heading West (to the EU at least) and ANA, Korean and Eva Air have flights going the other way. 
There may be others as well. Check the Departure Board at Suvarnabhumi and note which flights are departing.
https://aot-portal.kdlab.dev/bkk

There are other sites that show similar results. Search for Suvarnabhumi Departures and you'll get a whack of sites showing the departures and arrivals still going on.

(Note: all those that say "Cancelled" are not really "cancelled". Those are the flights that are booked into those slots and they keep them there to "hold" that slot so that when they start flying again they don't have to redo the entire board from scratch and start shuffling every airline's schedule around.
For example, all the slots for "Emirates" that are currently showing as cancelled. When Emirates starts flying again, they will depart (wherever) at the same times they used to and arrive in Bangkok at the same times they used to, into the slots currently showing as "cancelled".)


It seems that so far today (since 11am) the following flights have left -  China Air to Taipei, KLM to Manila, Eva Air also to Taipei and Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong is in final call. Looks like an Etihad flight to Abu Dhabi left earlier and a Vietnam Airlines flight to HCMC also flew out.
That's in the last 4 hours.

Oh look, FlightRadar24 seems to think that a British Airways flight (BA-10) left Bangkok at 11:45 and is halfway to London, but the other departure boards don't show any BA flights.
 

[ronaldo0]

Yes. Eva flight to uk was full of Thais 

[Jaxxper]

Yes, as long as they are going somewhere that will let them in and they have all of the right credentials.

[KhaoYai]

Yes they can leave but with regard to the UK, they will have to join a queue that is currently reported to be over 3000 waiting to come back to Thailand.

 

They cannot simply turn up at Heathrow airport and board a flight back to Thailand - they will not be allowed to board.  Thai nationals must apply to the Thai Embassy in London for permission to join a repatriation flight. Any Thai national booking a flight to the UK would be well advised to only book a one way flight as at the moment, they will only be allowed to return on repatriation flights with designated airlines.

 

At the moment EVA are operating repatriation flights and I believe Thai are too - I wouldn't be booking with the latter though!  It may be possible that if you book 2 way with EVA for example, that your return will be allowed but possibly not on the date booked.

 

So for example if you book a return flight on Lufthansa, under current rules you will not be able to use the return leg back to Thailand - you will have to scrap it and apply to join a repatriation flight.

 

There are of course financial penalties to this, at the moment I can book a 2 way flight for my wife on Lufthansa for around £500 leaving in August and returning in September. The price on Eva is £950!! The dates on EVA are fully changeable for 12 months but at the moment it is not clear if the return portion will be allowed as a 'repatriation'. One thing for sure is that even if the embassy allow it to be used, the booked date for return is unlikely to be the actual date.

 

Foreigners (us) must also enter Thailand on a repatriation flight.

 

Thai's must register for repatriation here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdrCWXBJUjhZy_km2-vXlyekM2X-SCMFdcqs3F3pqPqRLSPpg/viewform

 

Foreigners in the eligible categories must follow these steps to travel form the UK to Thailand: http://www.thaiembassy.org/london/en/services/7742/119247-Requirements-for-Certificate-of-Entry-during-trave.html

Edited July 3, 2020 by KhaoYai

[HerbyJFlash]

There are a couple of destinations that I think maybe easy enough to get into. I am probably wrong though I know. 
 

When the Thai person wants to return however they will have to contact the Thai embassy to ask for permission to return ? Is that the case even if there isn’t a back log of passengers waiting for repatriation flights ?

 

Apologies if these questions sound stupid , I have used up so much energy in trying to get myself back to Thailand I am out of the loop in terms of rules for thais.

[KhaoYai]

3 minutes ago, HerbyJFlash said:

When the Thai person wants to return however they will have to contact the Thai embassy to ask for permission to return ? Is that the case even if there isn’t a back log of passengers waiting for repatriation flights ?

Yes, the purpose of the repatriation flights is to manage quarantine availability - it must be remembered that there are Thai's wishing to return from many countries - not only the UK.  I have my own views on that - there is a far easier (and much cheaper) way but that's how it is at the moment.

[KhaoYai]

31 minutes ago, HerbyJFlash said:

Apologies if these questions sound stupid , I have used up so much energy in trying to get myself back to Thailand I am out of the loop in terms of rules for thais.

In terms of yourself - it is possible that your wait could be longer or shorter (probably shorter) than that of a Thai. As you know, foreigners must use ASQ quarantine - I have no idea if there is a waiting list for ASQ and/or how long that is.

[kno77]

In theory yes but stories are getting  confused. Thais with a long term visa or a working permit can. What I hear is (yet unconfirmed) that thai tourists are blocked when they try to check in to one of the Schengen states that put Thailand on a list permitting non essential flights. The reason Thai government doesn't want to do more repatriation flights. Right now nothing is clear so my advice better wait until 15th of July. I hope other readers can confirm or debunk these rumors. My thai GF has a tourist visa but right now we don't take the risk. 

[KhaoYai]

10 hours ago, kno77 said:

What I hear is (yet unconfirmed) that thai tourists are blocked when they try to check in to one of the Schengen states that put Thailand on a list permitting non essential flights.

I haven't heard that but a Thai girl that I know arrived here last week (UK).  If that's true its shameful.

Edited July 4, 2020 by KhaoYai

[superal]

16 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

Yes they can leave but with regard to the UK, they will have to join a queue that is currently reported to be over 3000 waiting to come back to Thailand.

 

They cannot simply turn up at Heathrow airport and board a flight back to Thailand - they will not be allowed to board.  Thai nationals must apply to the Thai Embassy in London for permission to join a repatriation flight. Any Thai national booking a flight to the UK would be well advised to only book a one way flight as at the moment, they will only be allowed to return on repatriation flights with designated airlines.

 

At the moment EVA are operating repatriation flights and I believe Thai are too - I wouldn't be booking with the latter though!  It may be possible that if you book 2 way with EVA for example, that your return will be allowed but possibly not on the date booked.

 

So for example if you book a return flight on Lufthansa, under current rules you will not be able to use the return leg back to Thailand - you will have to scrap it and apply to join a repatriation flight.

 

There are of course financial penalties to this, at the moment I can book a 2 way flight for my wife on Lufthansa for around £500 leaving in August and returning in September. The price on Eva is £950!! The dates on EVA are fully changeable for 12 months but at the moment it is not clear if the return portion will be allowed as a 'repatriation'. One thing for sure is that even if the embassy allow it to be used, the booked date for return is unlikely to be the actual date.

 

Foreigners (us) must also enter Thailand on a repatriation flight.

 

Thai's must register for repatriation here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdrCWXBJUjhZy_km2-vXlyekM2X-SCMFdcqs3F3pqPqRLSPpg/viewform

 

Foreigners in the eligible categories must follow these steps to travel form the UK to Thailand: http://www.thaiembassy.org/london/en/services/7742/119247-Requirements-for-Certificate-of-Entry-during-trave.html

A friend from the UK arrived in Thailand late last year for 5 months stay but unable to return to the UK in April because EVA changed the dates / cancelled the flight . He has had a total of 6 flight cancellations and for what reason he does not know and the flights did fly back to the UK . Is there any redress ?

[KhaoYai]

14 hours ago, superal said:

He has had a total of 6 flight cancellations and for what reason he does not know and the flights did fly back to the UK . Is there any redress ?

I don't work for EVA - he'd need to ask them about that.

[DangManUSA]

On 7/3/2020 at 10:34 AM, kno77 said:

In theory yes but stories are getting  confused. Thais with a long term visa or a working permit can. What I hear is (yet unconfirmed) that thai tourists are blocked when they try to check in to one of the Schengen states that put Thailand on a list permitting non essential flights. The reason Thai government doesn't want to do more repatriation flights. Right now nothing is clear so my advice better wait until 15th of July. I hope other readers can confirm or debunk these rumors. My thai GF has a tourist visa but right now we don't take the risk. 

My Thai friend is in Thailand now.  Has a valid US visa. Is there currently a lockdown preventing him from leaving Thailand to fly to the US?  As far as the US is concerned he can come if he's healthy. 

[Crossy]

5 hours ago, DangManUSA said:

My Thai friend is in Thailand now.  Has a valid US visa. Is there currently a lockdown preventing him from leaving Thailand to fly to the US?  As far as the US is concerned he can come if he's healthy. 

 

If he can get a flight and meet any US entry or airline requirements for testing then I'm not aware of any restrictions on leaving. Coming back is a whole different ball game.

 

[Jumbo1968]

On 7/4/2020 at 2:09 AM, KhaoYai said:

I haven't heard that but a Thai girl that I know arrived here last week (UK).  If that's true its shameful.

Thai people can enter the U.K., they do not require to quarantine on arrival as Thailand is seen as a safe country re Covid.

[Bender Rodriguez]

so thais can leave for pleasure than enjoy 14 days free hotel & 3 meals on return

[muffy653]

My Thai wife is flying back to the UK today.

 

Thai Smile from Chiang Rai, then connecting Thai Airways flight to Heathrow.

 

She is already airbourne.

 

I should add – she is a British citizen.

Edited December 27, 2020 by muffy653

[Jaxxper]

Yes, if they can get entry to their destination country.

[hotchilli]

On 7/3/2020 at 6:20 AM, HerbyJFlash said:

I know flights are few and far between at the moment. But if you can get one , can a Thai citizen actually leave the country ?

 

Depends on the destination country.