Must Read Thailand starts checking foreigners' passports on domestic flights

[Neeranam]

4 minutes ago, sandyf said:

It is considered a  mismatch by the airlines.

I have just paid this morning 2852 baht to deal with exactly that issue.

Can't you show your pink foreigner card? 

[Neeranam]

6 hours ago, dinsdale said:

It is an official Thai ID card as is a Thai drivers licence. No banging on just a plain and simple fact.

Not really, these pink cards are really for migrant workers, who can travel domestically only if they have written authorisation from local amphur. 

Actually, the non thai card says on the back that you can't travel to other provinces. 

It is bizarre how some think they have elevated their status in Thailand with this card which actually is the opposite. 

 

5 hours ago, dinsdale said:

It's called thought bubble policy. Maybe they'll demand passports for a while and maybe not but Thai ID is still accepted. 

 

Thai ID has a readable chip in it. 

[sandyf]

4 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

The middle name could be an issue,  last time I booked a domestic flight  with air asia there was no opportunity to enter my middle name on the website,  has that been addressed ?    I just looked, and it has not !

No it is not an issue.

If you look at an airline ticket first and middle names are not separated so if there is no box for the middle name you should include it as part of first name.

I have just done a name change and it asked for first and middle names but when I put them in it wasn't accepted. It wasn't until I omitted the space between that I could move forward.

 

[sambum]

"A foreign passenger must hold the original passport with the name matching that on the boarding pass in order to board a domestic flight, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand said........... "

 

I thought this was always the case? Every time I have flown ANYWHERE I have had to show my passport!

 

[khunjeff]

7 hours ago, KhunLA said:

So nothing has really changed.

 

Correct. This is yet another in a long series of pointless press releases by CAAT that stir up lots of controversy, but seem to have been created only to remind people that the agency exists.

 

6 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

So does this mean that airlines are really going to check visa/permission to stay status and forward every foreign passenger's travel to immigration police?

 

No. The CAAT announcement never mentioned overstay, and the "new" policy has nothing to do with immigration or visas. The overstay angle appears to have been dreamed up by Nikkei and the outlets that have quoted their article. It obviously wouldn't make sense for the bored contract screeners at the airport - who somehow take several minutes to confirm that the name on the boarding pass matches that on the ID - to also be flipping through passports pretending to understand what the stamps mean.

 

6 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

This is more of a worry for those of us that have middle names. I can't remember ever using middle names on a flight ticket booking. Yet, of course my passport and Thai DL/ID have my middle names. If ticket is only first & last name, will they start denying boarding as with middle names missing it will considered a "mismatch"?

 

Airlines have been urging passengers to include middle names on flight bookings for over 20 years now, and have been serious about it for at least ten years. And yes, they can and do deny boarding if there's a middle name on the ID but not on the reservation. You've been lucky if it hasn't happened to you yet, but people in that situation are regularly forced to pay a name change fee or even buy a completely new ticket at a result of the mismatch.

 

And to answer the posters who complained that Air Asia doesn't have a middle name field in its reservation system, well, lots of airlines don't - you're supposed to just enter all of your first and middle names in the "given name(s)" field. Some airlines will keep the spaces between names, others will delete the spaces and push the names together, and still others will tell you to enter the names with no spaces. Unfortunately, many carriers don't explain all this very well on their websites.

 

[Neeranam]

7 hours ago, dinsdale said:

I can't remember the last time I SHOWED my passport. I use my pink ID card. Sometimes this has been a problem only because some of the staff don't know what it is. This misunderstanding (on their part) is quickly sorted out.

I thought to travel your name must be in English letters. 

All aliens should have a certificate by law, but this is not enforced for farang. To much work for the amphur staff. 

Some bright spark thought to introduce the migrant labourer card for farang but forgot to erase the back writing. 

No wonder staff are confused when a farang shows one of these cards. 

 

 

[Will B Good]

If I show my Thai driving licence how will that prevent an overstay?

[bkk6060]

5 hours ago, sungod said:

You'd need your passport anyway if checking into a hotel.

False.  I just checked into a Marriott in Bangkok with my Thai Drivers license. 

[sandyf]

21 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Can't you show your pink foreigner card? 

The point had nothing to do with pink  cards.

It was about exact name matching.

[hotandsticky]

37 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

You are wrong. This clearly states it's an ID card for Non-Thais. Of course you need to qualify for one. Those of us with these ID Cards know this to be the case.

 

 

You clearly can't read Thai. Of course I am right.

 

Even though the overrated pink card is ONLY for non-Thais, they print it in Thai.

[Neeranam]

A few years ago, I flew Air Asia and showed my newly minted Thai ID card to board. 

I was the only white guy and after the safety procedure talk, the hostess came up to me and started saying it in English. I said I had already heard it and she said by law she had to repeat it in English as I was a foreigner. She was very embarrassed when I whipped out my ID card. Maybe she just wanted to speak to me but first I've ever heard about such a law. 

[DjSilver]

lol, I'm happy to say, I have nwver shown my Swedish passport when doing domestic flying in Thailand. First, I tried with my Swedish drivers license to Phuket, Chang Mai and Chang Rai, and it worked, and nobody said anything. And now, if I fly domestic, I simply use my pink Thai ID 😎

[BusyB]

 

''The tighter rules are intended to prevent unlawful overstays by foreign nationals.''

 

Dunno if someone else has already said this but that will only work if check-in staff are also checking visas. That will require a major round of training and lengthy lead times under immigration  supervision. Or an immigration officer at the check in desks.

 

And will be of no use in that respect if the Thai driver's license or similar is used for ID.

 

Sounds more like another liquid lunch inspiration or a 'journalist's' sensationalist take than a workable policy.

[Neeranam]

58 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

You seem very sure about this. Did you actually see this ........

 

I work as a translator. On the back of the card it says - 

 

Code of conduct for ID card holders

1. This card is not an identification card.

2. Carry this card with you at all times for inspection.

3. The person named on the card is prohibited from leaving the card issuing area. Except for those who have an alien identification card or Person who has received written permission

[sandyf]

5 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

If I show my Thai driving licence how will that prevent an overstay?

The implication is you would need along with the driving licence some document to indicate why you have no passport.

I would assume that something like a police report would be accepted as legal presence in the country.

[dinsdale]

13 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

You clearly can't read Thai. Of course I am right.

 

Even though the overrated pink card is ONLY for non-Thais, they print it in Thai.

You said it is not an ID card. It is that's why it says ID card. It really doesn't get any simpler.

[Will B Good]

2 minutes ago, sandyf said:

The implication is you would need along with the driving licence some document to indicate why you have no passport.

I would assume that something like a police report would be accepted as legal presence in the country.

I understand what you are saying, but......

 

I certainly wouldn't realise that to be the case based on this post....????

 

It just tells me to have a driving license .

[flexomike]

7 hours ago, jacko45k said:

What is it about these pink ID cards that make people bang on about them. It seems odd to depend on something that may or may not be recognized?

Over the last ten days I stayed at three hotels, all asked for passport, I had it but told them I didn't, showed them my pink card and no problem.

[dinsdale]

13 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

I work as a translator. On the back of the card it says - 

 

Code of conduct for ID card holders

1. This card is not an identification card.

2. Carry this card with you at all times for inspection.

3. The person named on the card is prohibited from leaving the card issuing area. Except for those who have an alien identification card or Person who has received written permission

I have also translated this and it just isn't used this way. As I and others have said and why it is stated as such in the OP it can be used as ID. P.S. I don't work as a translator but my phone does.

[sandyf]

6 minutes ago, BusyB said:

Sounds more like another liquid lunch inspiration or a 'journalist's' sensationalist take than a workable policy.

No government should be criticised for moves to try and reduce illegal activity but as far as this forum is concerned the Thai government can do no right.

I suppose the next winge will be the traffic fines. My wife received a speeding ticket yesterday and in the text there was an indication that fine defaulters will have to settle all outstanding fines before they will be allowed to leave the country.

[wensiensheng]

7 hours ago, jacko45k said:

What is it about these pink ID cards that make people bang on about them. It seems odd to depend on something that may or may not be recognized?

Not sure that people bang on about them. I do have one. It was refused as ID for a flight from Udon to Phuket, thai driving licence, no problem. Maybe because the pink card has my name written in Thai and the boarding pass in English.

[sandyf]

7 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

It just tells me to have a driving license .

If you get denied boarding feel free to come along and complain about it.

I have always travelled with passport so do not need to look for an interpretation that suits.

 

[dinsdale]

5 minutes ago, flexomike said:

Over the last ten days I stayed at three hotels, all asked for passport, I had it but told them I didn't, showed them my pink card and no problem.

I too have used my pink card at hotels. Flights I've used it for years. Doctor's clinic no problem. Post Office not a problem. Bank not a problem. All accepted the card as legitimate ID.

[wensiensheng]

3 minutes ago, sandyf said:

No government should be criticised for moves to try and reduce illegal activity but as far as this forum is concerned the Thai government can do no right.

I suppose the next winge will be the traffic fines. My wife received a speeding ticket yesterday and in the text there was an indication that fine defaulters will have to settle all outstanding fines before they will be allowed to leave the country.

Yeah, just like they announced you couldn’t renew your motor tax till all fines were paid. And then it was you wouldn’t be able to renew your drivers licence before all fines were paid.

 

the biggest surprise is that any of those cameras are still working. Most don’t seem to do so. At least I haven’t had any speeding tickets for the last 5 years.

[Red Forever]

7 hours ago, dinsdale said:

They always check your boarding pass against your ID before customs and at the gate. 

Don't recall going through customs before boarding an internal flight. Security yes and at the gate but customs no. 

 

7 hours ago, dinsdale said:

They always check your boarding pass against your ID before customs and at the gate. 

 

[dinsdale]

3 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

Not sure that people bang on about them. I do have one. It was refused as ID for a flight from Udon to Phuket, thai driving licence, no problem. Maybe because the pink card has my name written in Thai and the boarding pass in English.

Pink card has your photo. Seems like you lucked out. 

[wensiensheng]

14 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

I understand what you are saying, but......

 

I certainly wouldn't realise that to be the case based on this post....????

 

It just tells me to have a driving license .

Can’t see how a drivers licence or pink id card will help catch overstayers, but oh well.

[sirineou]

8 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

You're right of course, just less chance of discussion with the passport.

You are correct and a passport should be a document every foreigner in Thailand has . But the article states "or other valid identification "  so a thai drivers licence should be adequate, as it has for me do far. But if I was them I would insist in passport , a valid Thai licence in no way guaranties no overstay, my drivers licence is valid for five years and my extension to stay for one year, so it is conceivable that my extension has expired, I am overstayed close to 4 years and my drivers licence is still valid.   

[dinsdale]

1 minute ago, Red Forever said:

Don't recall going through customs before boarding an internal flight. Security yes and at the gate but customs no. 

 

 

If you scroll through you'll notice I've corrected this. I should've said TSA.

[dinsdale]

Just now, sirineou said:

You are correct and a passport should be a document every foreigner in Thailand has . But the article states "or other valid identification "  so a thai drivers licence should be adequate, as it has for me do far. But if I was them I would insist in passport , a valid Thai licence in no way guaranties no overstay, my drivers licence is valid for five years and my extension to stay for one year, so it is conceivable that my extension has expired, I am overstayed close to 4 years and my drivers licence is still valid.   

It is just another "well thought out" bubble policy by the empty heads that run the show. Bit like the tax they wanted airlines to collect.