I'd say your experience is pretty much par for the course, especially at airports where the rulebook appears to be less a document than a challenge to circumnavigate. Thailand is particularly adept at this, but it's hardly alone. I've entered the UK with my Thai wife and, depending on which official happened to be on duty, been given completely contradictory instructions about whether she could accompany me through the UK/EU lane or had to join the "everyone else" queue. I've even pointed out that we'd done the exact opposite at the same airport a month earlier, only to be told, in effect, "Well... today it's different" I've been told it's my right as a British citizen to bring my wife through with me. I've been told I have no such right whatsoever. Same country. Same airports. Same circumstances. Entirely different interpretations. My conclusion? Don't overthink it. These are rules that many frontline officers don't seem entirely certain about themselves, so they're often applied according to individual interpretation, local practice, or whoever happened to brief the morning shift. That's true in both the UK and Thailand. Thailand, in particular, has been "reviewing" immigration procedures after the rather creative fast-track schemes where enterprising middlemen, allegedly with a friendly immigration contact or two, discovered that queue-jumping could become quite a profitable cottage industry. If there's one country where someone will spot an opportunity for a harmless little side hustle before the ink on the regulations has dried, Thailand is certainly in the running. Then, inevitably, someone gets caught, a scandal hits the headlines, a crackdown follows, everyone suddenly becomes a model civil servant... ... at least until everyone's forgotten about it again a few weeks later - lets see what happens on your next trip - besides - someone will be along shortly to tell you that you had to wait for your baggage anyway, so its all moot !!!!!
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