Visa On Arrival For Chinese Citizen

[jstumbo]

They should really remove China from the list of countries that can get a visa on arrival.

My wife just came down from China to meet up with me for a vacation. She is a Chinese citizen with a US greencard. Since they say on the site that Chinese people can get a visa on arrival, we planned on her to get one at the airport since it was a last minute type of decision.

She got her round trip ticket from Guangzhou to BKK. She showed up at the Thai Airways counter and was told by the supervisor that she could not check-in because she did not have a Thai visa. She explained that she could get one at the airport in BKK and Thai Airways said that it would not matter because Chinese Exit immigration would not let her leave without a visa.

Then the guy said he had a friend that could get her a visa to Cambodia very quickly so that she could take the later flight that day. With the visa to Cambodia he said that he could allow her to check in. Why a visa to Cambodia would make a difference when flying to Thailand, I have no idea. Probably a fake visa and a scam for him to make some money.

The guy said she could verify it with immigration, but without checking in, she could not get to immigration.

She had to go to the Thai consulate and apply for a tourist visa, delaying her trip by two days. Problem is that we had already prepaid our flights on airasia to Phuket and our hotel in Phuket. Since she was delayed by two days, those tickets and reservations went away without any kind of money back. Trying to get the money out of Thai Airways, since it was their screwup and not following their own rules that caused the problems.

After getting her visa and going to Exit immigration, exit immigration said that since she had a US greencard, she was not required to have a visa to exit. She showed Thai airways the greencard two days before, but they did not say anything about this. Even Thai airways rules say that for a Chinese citizen, they do not require a visa to board, dont know why they did not follow their own rules.

So bottom line, a Chinese citizen flying from China to Thailand better either have a US greencard, or a Thai Tourist Visa, otherwise they will not be able to get out of China. Or I guess they could buy the visa from the guy at Thai Airways for Cambodia and then get a visa on arrival.

Jim

[lopburi3]

Good information for Chinese travelers to be aware of but in fact VOA is clearly outlined in the IATA regulations as available to Chinese travelers - traveler must have outbound ticket in 15 days and money for visit as normal. That China exit immigration imposes restrictions for there citizens is a local matter - had she been in another country she would not have been subject to that restriction.

The valid visa to Cambodia would have allowed travel, although it may have also required a new ticket out of Thailand to Cambodia within 12 hours. A visa would not be required for Thailand in that case as it would appear to be a transit stopover.

[LaoPo]

I think the supervisor of Thai Airways made a big mistake here and didn't know the rules

It's quite possible to fly to Thailand from (Guangzhou) China with a return ticket (max 14 days) without a visa since Chinese can get a visa upon arrival in BKK.

That guy didn't know the rules and that he said the Exit Immigration wouldn't let her pass without a visa is nonsense. My wife did it and the Lady of a friend of mine did it 2 times recently and they're now in Thailand again.

The point is that not many Chinese follow this route since most travelers are Group-tourists so the OP's wife was probably an exception that flight or day and met the wrong guy at the wrong moment on the wrong Airline and if you're not an experienced traveler (who doesn't 'buy' that sh_t) and don't know where to go or handle the situation your fate is in the hands of an unexperienced 'supervisor'...

The OP should file a complaint with Thai Airways but I doubt if it will help.

LaoPo