All being well with my house sale which is going through legal procedures at the moment, I hope to return to Thailand permanently by the end of September by which time a deposit of well over 1 million baht will have been in my Siam Commercial account for over 2 months.

Thankfully I will now get 60 days visa exempt when I arrive, after which I will apply for a Non Immigrant O visa at Khon Kaen immigration, followed by an application for a retirement extension of stay.

 

My question is will I be able to travel out on a one way ticket on Emirates Airline who I will be using as I have a lot of air miles to use, or will I be expected to get a return ticket given that I will not have a visa stamped in my passport before I leave.

 

If anyone has an answer to this I would be much obliged.

 

50/50.  Why not simply get the single non-O e-visa before you leave?  Saves a trip to immigration and avoids any potential issue with the airline.

23 hours ago, Issanraider said:

If anyone has an answer to this I would be much obliged.

Not really.

It can be hit and miss. BTW does not need to be a return ticket. Any onward flight would suit. 

You can book a throwaway flight for approx 2000b 

You could "rent a ticket" with companies such as "rentaticket.com" 

Or book a fully refundable flight. 

 

Since you already have the funds in Thai bank account then you could obtain the non O retirement (eVisa) in the UK 

Thanks for the replies.

Will my connecting flight to Khon Kaen count as the onward flight.

The monies will not be sent to SCB until next week so do they need to have been in there for 2 months before I get an eVisa in the UK.

(Sorry for lack of question marks but for some reason my laptop wont type them!)

4 minutes ago, Issanraider said:

Thanks for the replies.

Will my connecting flight to Khon Kaen count as the onward flight.

 

Surely you can work that out for yourself :

You need ticket out of Thailand .

Is Khon Kaen out of Thailand ?

6 minutes ago, Issanraider said:

Thanks for the replies.

Will my connecting flight to Khon Kaen count as the onward flight.

The monies will not be sent to SCB until next week so do they need to have been in there for 2 months before I get an eVisa in the UK.

(Sorry for lack of question marks but for some reason my laptop wont type them!)

For single entry non O retirement the funds do not have to be in bank for 2 months.

Flight to KK doesn't help. Needs to be out of Thailand. 

42 minutes ago, Issanraider said:

My question is will I be able to travel out on a one way ticket on Emirates Airline

I’ve read reports that Emirates Air asks for onward. 

5 minutes ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

just got done posting 2x about this on another thread from those claiming it cant be done.......

 

so maybe 3 is the charm....sigh

 

going on year 16 here...flying from LAX....always ONE way..carry on..NO visa...ever......16 yrs...annually....

 

maybe been asked less than 5 times ab out it...signal my carry on and say im leaving after the 30....done and done

 

results may vary!!!...for me...never been an issue...even have 4k on me cash..never been asked to show it...

 

came back during the covid mess and all that paperwork...bought a fake onward tix just to be safe...no one asked to see it

 

16 years.....never been an issue....if it aint broke......maybe being hansum is the reason 🙂

 

   Yes, it ca be done .

Also it cannot be done . 

It can be done sometimes, other times it cannot be done .

It depends on the airline .

Your airline might not require it, other airlines do require it 

"Emirates Airline who I will be using as I have a lot of air miles to use"

 

If so, use your miles to buy on-ward ticket. Then cancel and get points back to your account.

You only loose small booking fee. Works for me on One World account.

2 hours ago, Issanraider said:

Thanks for the replies.

Will my connecting flight to Khon Kaen count as the onward flight.

The monies will not be sent to SCB until next week so do they need to have been in there for 2 months before I get an eVisa in the UK.

(Sorry for lack of question marks but for some reason my laptop wont type them!)

It really is a no brainer.  Just get the O visa before you leave.  No the money doesn't need to be in your account for any length of time.  You'll get the visa within 3 or 4 days.  I did exactly this earlier this year.

Thanks to all for the replies.

 

I will pursue the Non O eVisa before I leave

3 hours ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

just got done posting 2x about this on another thread from those claiming it cant be done.......

 

so maybe 3 is the charm....sigh

 

going on year 16 here...flying from LAX....always ONE way..carry on..NO visa...ever......16 yrs...annually....

 

maybe been asked less than 5 times ab out it...signal my carry on and say im leaving after the 30....done and done

 

results may vary!!!...for me...never been an issue...even have 4k on me cash..never been asked to show it...

 

came back during the covid mess and all that paperwork...bought a fake onward tix just to be safe...no one asked to see it

 

16 years.....never been an issue....if it aint broke......maybe being hansum is the reason 🙂

 

Do not extrapolate your experience to mean that is the norm. The airline rules state they should check for onward travel of you do not have a visa or extension.

I've flown one-way DXB-BKK with Emirates and they asked for a return ticket. 

They didn't ask at check-in, but when sitting at the gate they called me up to the counter. 

I was prepared and showed them a printout of my disposable ticket. 

March 2024.

17 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

Yes, it can be done .

Also it cannot be done . 

It can be done sometimes, other times it cannot be done .

It depends on the airline .

Your airline might not require it, other airlines do require it 

 

This sounds like Schrödinger's ticket.

Most airlines ask for an onward or return ticket

On 7/18/2024 at 8:35 PM, Upnotover said:

50/50.  Why not simply get the single non-O e-visa before you leave?  Saves a trip to immigration and avoids any potential issue with the airline.

You can buy a cheap ticket to Cambodia, covers you when you leave your country to board the aircraft, I have traveled with one way and had no problems, only once with quantas, they can be pedantic 

As noted in this thread (where IMHO you are obtaining good advice) one can 'rent' a ticket in the sites mentioned in this thread.  If that causes one concern, then there are some amazing cheap prices if one wants to buy a 'real' oneway ticket.  

 

I just looked at Kayak for flights and some example cheap one way flights are:

 

Krabi to KL : 1273 THB (Air Asia) 14:25 to 16:55 (~$35 US$)

 

Bangkok to KL : 1318 THB (Air Asia) (~$36.25 US$)

 

Bangkok to Phnom Penh :  1434 THB (Air Asia) (~ $39.50 US$)

 

One does have to try different dates to get the cheapest flight. 

 

Given one does not plan to use the flight, it doesn't really matter what city one is flying out of in Thailand (as long as the ticket is to depart from a Thailand international airport) and it doesn't really matter what city airport outside of Thailand one is flying into (as long as the ticket price is 'dirt cheap'). 

a few years ago I came here on an one way ticket no problem. 

We were trapped in the US during covid, by the time we made it back once the 7 day quarantine was allowed (remember those days?) I had to start my extensions to say from the beginning. 

   My Non O and extension to stay is based on Marriage, but i think the same would apply for retirement. 

So I  got a Non O based on marriage visa  before we left the US, at the Thai embassy (was done on line, easy and fast )

And  both me and my wife only got one way tickets, obviously we did not need a return ticket since we were not returning any time soon. 

  The airline asked why we did not have a return ticket, we pointed out that our visa was a long stay visa based on marriage and we will not be coming back any time soon,  and that was the end of the story. Came here, got my extension, and did not go back to the US for two years. 

Hope this helps 

8 minutes ago, sirineou said:

The airline asked why we did not have a return ticket,.......

With a visa they should not have mentioned a return flight and you had a non O visa

On 7/18/2024 at 4:14 PM, novacova said:

I’ve read reports that Emirates Air asks for onward. 

Emirates has ask me every time. I always buy a $12 ticket from onward ticket to save the hassle. 

Another option is to arrive early & only buy your ticket onto Cambodia at the airport, if you really have to.   

 

Incidentally, my last trip with Lufthansa had a return flight about 3 months later & I had no Thai visa.   I told them I had a flight to Cambodia (which I had, as I was going there).  They just accepted that without asking to see proof.      But there's no guarantee a different airline, or even different counter staff do the same thing.