There were some old posts about whether it's permitted for a Thai citizen to leave Thailand for a short trip with a passport expiring in less than 6 month, but I cannot find any updated info. We have travel plans arranged, and were supposed to renew kiddo's passport before departure, but due to some new / archaic rules, my ex-wife has to be present at the passport office, which she cannot do due to her work overseas (no Thai Embassy where she works). 

 

Has anyone had recent experience with this? Our only option (apart from cancelling the trip) is to try and check in anyway.. Wondering whether it's an official rule or some pre-cautionary measure airlines take... 

ps. Our son has 2 more passports to enter another country, but to leave Thailand he gotta use his Thai one. 

Providing the children have a valid passport for their destination country, there shouldn't be a problem at the airline check-in here in Thailand, and certainly not when clearing immigration when leaving Thailand, they will need to exit using their Thai Passports.

 

How long will they be away for?

 

Returning to Thailand they should use their Thai Passports, as Thai Nationals they enter Thailand as a matter of right and are not subject to any immigrations controls, so it doesn't matter if they have less than six months validity when they return, they could even enter on an expired passport, though the carriers might need to be persuaded in that event.

Thanks for response, @theoldgit, 
It's just a short 5 days leisure trip. We checked with the airline, they confirmed our predicament is not a problem for them, so fingers crossed everything goes smoothly on departure. Will update here. 

On 7/13/2022 at 7:57 AM, theoldgit said:

Providing the children have a valid passport for their destination country, there shouldn't be a problem at the airline check-in here in Thailand, and certainly not when clearing immigration when leaving Thailand, they will need to exit using their Thai Passports.

 

How long will they be away for?

 

Returning to Thailand they should use their Thai Passports, as Thai Nationals they enter Thailand as a matter of right and are not subject to any immigrations controls, so it doesn't matter if they have less than six months validity when they return, they could even enter on an expired passport, though the carriers might need to be persuaded in that event.

 

 

I agree entirely with the comment but would the carrier see the Thai passport other than at the initial check in? I imagine that the Thai passport will not be produced again until arrival in Thailand.

1 hour ago, hotandsticky said:

I agree entirely with the comment but would the carrier see the Thai passport other than at the initial check in? I imagine that the Thai passport will not be produced again until arrival in Thailand.

 

That's what I was getting at when I said the carriers might need to be persueded.

 

So yes once the passenger has boarded the relevant passport would no longer have to be produced, unless they have a stopover, in which case the validity may be questioned by somebody who doesn't understand the rules.

 

My wife an I were travelling to the UK via Malaysia, her visa was in her previous passport, no problem at check-in in BKK as they understood the rules, but a guy at KLIA tried to deny her boarding as he was adamant that she wasn't compliant, I had to demand a manager who let her board without further ado.