1 hour ago, Old Croc said:

They would say cooperate with local authorities.

I think you would find The Immigration Act of the country you're in, as well as their courts, will out-trump your country's passport regulations.

 

Is it part of the Thai Immigration Act at that one must carry their passport at all times... or is that a police thing ?

18 hours ago, Will B Good said:

Missed my Emirates connecting flight a couple of weeks ago.......faced with a 12 hour delay from 9am to 9pm.

 

Bussed straight away to a very nice hotel (10mins), massive room, free food and soft drinks. Bussed back 6pm.

 

I think it might have even been run/managed by Emirates. All very professional.

Emirates consistently show flights from Dublin to BKK with a 70 minute transfer in Dubai. They insist it’s doable for you and your luggage. Only thrill seekers need apply ! 

1 minute ago, terryofcrete said:

Emirates consistently show flights from Dublin to BKK with a 70 minute transfer in Dubai. They insist it’s doable for you and your luggage. Only thrill seekers need apply ! 

 

 

To be perfectly honest.....if I knew my delay was (I think it has to be over six hours?) going to give a room and free food every time.....I'd happily live with that.

18 hours ago, Will B Good said:

Missed my Emirates connecting flight a couple of weeks ago.......faced with a 12 hour delay from 9am to 9pm.

 

Bussed straight away to a very nice hotel (10mins), massive room, free food and soft drinks. Bussed back 6pm.

 

I think it might have even been run/managed by Emirates. All very professional.

Missed an Air Asia connecting flight in Malaysia some years ago. Sitting with a group of 30 on the floor in empty terminal at night for hours. They took us to a one star hotel eventually. Next day said we could buy a hamburger and chips at the airport on them. All very crappy. 

4 minutes ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

Missed an Air Asia connecting flight in Malaysia some years ago. Sitting with a group of 30 on the floor in empty terminal at night for hours. They took us to a one star hotel eventually. Next day said we could buy a hamburger and chips at the airport on them. All very crappy. 

 

Oh dear....bit of a bu99er.

This happened to me at Suvarabhumi several years ago becasue my connecting flight was late, I had already been through immigration, it is the airline that keeps your passport, the airline accompanied me to the hotel with passport for check-in.  It is standard procedure.

 

I managed to get on the next flight 24 hours later, the problem is your bag is airside.  I made a fuss about wearing the same clothes for 40 hours and they gave me a voucher for a pair of shorts and casual shirt from the hotel shop.

4 hours ago, Lucky Bones said:

Double Duh!🙃🙃

What about the police? I have read that it is common for Thai police to ask for and check personal passports.

If all foreign passengers were already stamped out of the country then how about  just letting them stamp back in  and then have Qantas staff deal with the details of the delay.  

I am surprised the airport did not have photocopy machines. Passengers can keep a copy of the picture page as I.D. (or Qantas could keep the copy just for identification).

I guess the fear was that passengers would escape and go shopping. 🤣

31 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

 

Is it part of the Thai Immigration Act at that one must carry their passport at all times... or is that a police thing ?

Some authorities say that one must carry their passport at all times, and some say they don't.

This is Thailand.

14 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

What about the police? I have read that it is common for Thai police to ask for and check personal passports.

Don't believe all you read. Do you reckon every tourist wanders around, (including getting blotto in bars), every day complete with their passport? Highly unlikely.🙃🙃

2 hours ago, bamnutsak said:

Hard to believe that they - Imm, Qantas - don't have a standard procedure for dealing with IRROPs - but maybe this disarray is the 'standard procedure.

 

I get that that Imm needs to verify who did not board.depart, and make sure they eventually depart the country.

Qantas doesn't have a standard procedure for anything. They would be the worst airline in the world. Their planes are on average 20+ years old , the cabin crew are lazy and arrogent and the food is sh@t . I only fly with them when I have to but the worst thing about them is the planes are nearly always late or they cancel them at short notice  and there is no communication what so ever and you are on your own so what happened at bkk airport does not surprise me one bit.

6 minutes ago, wavodavo said:

Qantas doesn't have a standard procedure for anything. They would be the worst airline in the world. Their planes are on average 20+ years old , the cabin crew are lazy and arrogent and the food is sh@t . I only fly with them when I have to but the worst thing about them is the planes are nearly always late or they cancel them at short notice  and there is no communication what so ever and you are on your own so what happened at bkk airport does not surprise me one bit.

 

Made the mistake of booking the Q-Suite......boarded.....oh sorry sir, we don't have Q-Suites on this flight.......hello Emirates.

8 minutes ago, Lucky Bones said:

Don't believe all you read. Do you reckon every tourist wanders around, (including getting blotto in bars), every day complete with their passport? Highly unlikely.🙃🙃

I was sitting in a mini bus going to Bangkok as the only farang and the bus was stopped at a police stop, and I was asked for my passport. Should I have refused? I don't think so this being Thailand, but any nonsense from any authority back in the UK, I will immediately jump down their throats.

3 hours ago, boloaf said:

 

I loved the time I spent in Australia working on a two year contract, but I did pick up on two things. Most Aussies knew nothing about cricket and never stopped whinging. 

Did you have your weekly bath while you were there or just a pommy shower......a p#ss in front of the electric fan ??

This happened to me back in April on an Eva air flight to London, we had actually took off but turned back a couple of hours into the flight due to a technical issue.

 

Same process, had to hand in our passports and shipped off to hotel. Some did question handing over the passports and were told they can go through arrivals immigration again but they would also have to go through check in procedure also, but the issue with this was they could not tell you when the rescheduled flight would be so how to know when to come back to airport?

 

I thought it was no big deal, just get to the hotel and have a couple of beers. Ended up being transported back to the airport at 3 am the following morning, walked through a side entrance at immigration and picked up our passports.

6 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

In my passport is stated that it is a state property and is not allowed to give others...So immigration can never claim to hand over your passport for whatever reason and not only immigration but also rentals, hotels, or anyone else.. State property.... 

I'm not sure if they still have it but if you had a long stopover in transit  at Changi Airport you could take  a a free city bus tour for about 2 hours and you stayed on the bus. Before you went the immigration collected everybody's passport and you got it back when you returned.

It sounds like the airport (or flight) staff took the passports so they could fill out an Immigration form to allow those passengers to leave the airport without having to go through Immigration ("re-entering" Thailand) and then having to go through Immigration again (to "depart" Thailand) again.

The passports would have accompanied the forms to an Immigration desk to be verified.

Immigration probably kept the passports otherwise they'd have to stamp everyone back into the country and then back out again and that could cause problems with some travellers (i.e. those who don't qualify for the Visa exemption stamp).

And they couldn't just hand the passports back and let those people out of the terminal - because most of them would probably be on "over-stay" and could be arrested even though it's not their fault.

And note the story says all those passengers did make it to Sidney - but does NOT say when they were given their passports back.

Pretty large gap in that story. For all we know, those passengers were given their passports back an hour later.

20 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Screenshots from @ ramyatheaussie TikTok video

 

A group of Australian travellers found themselves in a bind at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport after their Qantas flight to Sydney was suddenly cancelled. Initially delayed for six hours, the flight was called off late Monday night, July 21, leaving passengers uncertain and weary.

 

Amid the confusion, a video surfaced showing a cardboard box on the terminal floor, filled with Australian passports. Stranded passengers surrounded it, while airport staff completed paperwork similarly seated on the ground.

 

 

Adding to their woes, passengers said they were required to surrender their passports to leave the airport for hotel accommodation arranged by Qantas. The unusual request sparked alarm online, with many questioning its validity.

 

A Qantas spokesperson clarified, "Local border authorities require passengers’ passports during significant delays as part of immigration regulations." Qantas stressed that this demand wasn’t part of their usual policy, but rather a necessity imposed by Thai immigration.

 

The situation ignited a flurry of incredulous reactions on social media. "Is it normal to take away your passports? Never heard of such a thing!" exclaimed one user. Another added, "I would never let them take my passport; that's not standard practice."

 

 

Qantas has since apologised for the turmoil. "We sincerely apologise for the disruption and understand the inconvenience caused," the spokesperson said. The airline assured all passengers have now safely arrived in Sydney, offering some relief.

 

Despite the resolution, the incident has left many uneasy and questioning the rules that led to this scenario. The viral footage remains a talking point, casting a spotlight on airport protocols during unexpected delays.

 

 

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Bangkok International Airport for additional comment on the matter, as travellers and observers alike seek further clarity.

 

In the world of aviation travel, where every minute counts and passport security is paramount, this incident raises important questions about balancing procedure and passenger peace of mind.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from The Thaiger 2025-07-23

 

 

It would have been very useful and common sense if Thaiger had added full substantiated information about who can legally hold anybody's passport.  

1 hour ago, Mises said:

This happened to me at Suvarabhumi several years ago becasue my connecting flight was late, I had already been through immigration, it is the airline that keeps your passport, the airline accompanied me to the hotel with passport for check-in.  It is standard procedure.

 

I managed to get on the next flight 24 hours later, the problem is your bag is airside.  I made a fuss about wearing the same clothes for 40 hours and they gave me a voucher for a pair of shorts and casual shirt from the hotel shop.

 

"...it is the airline that keeps your passport..."

 

How does that work?

 

After check-in is completed the passsport is immediately handed back to the passenger who needs the passsport to get through outbound immigration. And needs it again at the departure gate.

 

When / at what stage in the process, does the airline take/hold the passport?

4 hours ago, blaze master said:

 

My dad had his passport copied a number of years back in Bangkok. He gave it to immigration who took it away and came back. Then sometime after in a different airport he was questioned as to why he had made some trips to Afghanistan. 

 

True story. 

Why did your dad go to Afghanistan? 

5 hours ago, blaze master said:

 

My dad had his passport copied a number of years back in Bangkok. He gave it to immigration who took it away and came back. Then sometime after in a different airport he was questioned as to why he had made some trips to Afghanistan. 

 

True story. 

A French friend on his trip from France to Bangkok, was stamped in. Only once at home he realised his photo was missing ! He went back to the airport, no result. Later he was questioned about trips from Hong Kong which he obviously never did. He warned me at the time, check your photo and the stamp before leaving the immigration desk.This was in the 90s. As he said, it could only have happened at the immigration desk. 

2 hours ago, Mises said:

This happened to me at Suvarabhumi several years ago becasue my connecting flight was late, I had already been through immigration, it is the airline that keeps your passport, the airline accompanied me to the hotel with passport for check-in.  It is standard procedure.

 

I managed to get on the next flight 24 hours later, the problem is your bag is airside.  I made a fuss about wearing the same clothes for 40 hours and they gave me a voucher for a pair of shorts and casual shirt from the hotel shop.

 

This, and the Op is strange.

 

A few years back, my flight was cancelled, all passengers were air-side waiting in the departure lounge.

It was rather chaotic - along with an Airline Representative, everyone queued up and was 'stamped out' through a dedicated Immigration Channel, then bussed to hotels (no passports were taken off anybody) - the same passengers returned to the Airport the next day for the flight at the same-time (new boarding passes were issued).

 

The same happened in Turkey (in Transit) I was refused boarding in IST (overbooked flight) - I was taken to a hotel and caught the same flight 24 hours later.

Those who needed Visas were processed through a dedicated desk and we were taken to a waiting area, when our name was called we were taken to a bus (about 100 ppl from different flights were there) - (compensation of €250 was offered, I refused, and successfully claimed €600 later through ADR).

 

 

Thus: It seems very strange to me that the Passports would be 'Kept' - and I would be uncomfortable with this situation.. however, as Kerryd mentions below -  maintaining simplicity seems to be the most logical reasoning for this even if it seems very unconventional and highly alarming... 

 

Perhaps a lot of time was saved to avoid stamping everyone back out.

 

It seems like one of those - "we have an easy solution to this mess" solutions - but it may have been explained poorly. 

 

Having been at airports when there is a delay or a cancelled flight - trying to explain something to a mob of annoyed people is not an enjoyable task for airline staff.

 

1 hour ago, Kerryd said:

It sounds like the airport (or flight) staff took the passports so they could fill out an Immigration form to allow those passengers to leave the airport without having to go through Immigration ("re-entering" Thailand) and then having to go through Immigration again (to "depart" Thailand) again.

The passports would have accompanied the forms to an Immigration desk to be verified.

Immigration probably kept the passports otherwise they'd have to stamp everyone back into the country and then back out again and that could cause problems with some travellers (i.e. those who don't qualify for the Visa exemption stamp).

And they couldn't just hand the passports back and let those people out of the terminal - because most of them would probably be on "over-stay" and could be arrested even though it's not their fault.

And note the story says all those passengers did make it to Sidney - but does NOT say when they were given their passports back.

Pretty large gap in that story. For all we know, those passengers were given their passports back an hour later.

 

 

 

 

 

8 hours ago, baansgr said:

Probably all whinging £10 poms 😁 

They were not. They were convicts. 🤷🏼

9 hours ago, baansgr said:

Probably all whinging £10 poms 😁 

 

<< Comment deleted - Poster was joking >>

 

 

 

1 minute ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Way to go !!!...   how to announce to a whole forum that you're a halfwit who can't read !!!! 

 

 

It was a lighthearted joke...I have family that were £10 poms...have some fun 😊 

9 hours ago, baansgr said:

Probably all whinging £10 poms 😁 

Nah, just your usual loud mouth bogun SABs. 

7 minutes ago, baansgr said:

It was a lighthearted joke...I have family that were £10 poms...have some fun 😊 

 

Fair enough - I deleted my comment...  

 

 

This has happened to me twice coming out of Perth where the flight has been delayed overnight.

We had to reenter Oz again as we had been waiting to board both times.

We got a big blue stamp across the Oz departure stamp "Did Not Depart"

Got our passports back & taken by bus to accommodation.

Maybe Thai Immigration did not want the job of  checking back in & out &  making it quicker to get through & on their way when plane became available.

It would be Immigration that had the say, not the airline,,,, methinks

22 hours ago, Will B Good said:

Missed my Emirates connecting flight a couple of weeks ago.......faced with a 12 hour delay from 9am to 9pm.

 

Bussed straight away to a very nice hotel (10mins), massive room, free food and soft drinks. Bussed back 6pm.

 

I think it might have even been run/managed by Emirates. All very professional.

 

It’s wonderful to hear you had a good experience.

Delays or cancellations can be really frustrating.

Which airport left you stuck?

 

This story from a few days ago, same airline, different outcome: https://uaestories.com/dubai-bound-emirates-passengers-stranded/