2 Passports

[dgrohl]

I will take a trip to laos at the start of October for a Visa. My problem is my Australian passport is basically full and I won't have the time to get a new one before then. I also have a british passport. My question is can I leave thailand using my Australian passport then use my British passport to obtain a Visa then enter thailand using the British passport? Has anyone done this ? Can you see any problems doing this? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[Soutpeel]

I will take a trip to laos at the start of October for a Visa. My problem is my Australian passport is basically full and I won't have the time to get a new one before then. I also have a british passport. My question is can I leave thailand using my Australian passport then use my British passport to obtain a Visa then enter thailand using the British passport? Has anyone done this ? Can you see any problems doing this? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Dont think there would be any problem with that, passport is valid, and have a reason why you are doing it

[Mario2008]

Should be no problem, as immigration is familiar with the concept of dual nationality.

[Crossy]

Yup ^^^

I can see no issues, got a proper visa so you're not attempting to circumvent the visa exemption limits which IMHO would be the only reason for causing you a problem

[jamesjdaly]

I don't think this can be done at a land crossing. Airports only, chai mai?

[dgrohl]

I am sorry to pose the question again but has anyone attempted to to this at a land crossing not at the airport.

[Bejabers]

Begorah & Bejabers [it means by God & by Jesus for you 'foreigners']

What a question ! [NOTE: this answer refers mostly to the Original Question - ie. is it worth being Irish/British]

How could any son of Ireland wish to use a British Passport, the very idea, to be sure

OK - enough 'racial stereotyping' - actually 'old fruit' I am a bit of a Mongrel myself, part Brit, part Irish, even part French - so I have ready made excuses for all my strange thoughts & actions.

I use two passports, one British 'cos it means that for example I can stay longer in Malaysia [Commonwealth country], plus one Irish which I took up about 10 years ago, for a variety of reasons; Mum was born in Belfast. Most pressing at the time was that as an EU Citizen I could take my Thai girlfriend in and out of England just as I pleased, and not ask/beg any upstart Brit Immigration folk for anything.

I did however take great pleasure in going to the British Embassy in Bangkok and 'demanding' Visa's for my wife and whichever of her family wanted to go along. It is my right as an EU citizen, Hee Hee Hee ! So while my less fortunate Brit friends were having to 'prove' themselves and virtually beg for every visit, as well as paying money for the privilege, I was able to go and come exactly as it suited us.

Some years later [Note. the rules have changed a bit since], my Thai/Chinese wife got her very own Irish Passport and is now a full Irish/EU Citizen in her own right. Meaning she can travel virtually anywhere in the world, live anywhere in the EU, etc etc.

SO, back to the question - YES I personally believe there are major advantages. For example I have my Passports 'out of sequence' Expiry wise so I always have a valid one to hand. I use them pretty much interchangeably as it suits my circumstances, and YES very very occasionally some Computer queries if I am Legitimate. Actually it has only ever happened in Turkey, and my explanation was accepted with a big smile

I have used more than one Passport in the past as well, I once 'bought' a Passport from a certain Commonwealth Country, as well as having a pair of British ones - this was decades ago, and it was so that I could work in both Chinas [China & Taiwan] since at that time neither was happy about seeing the others Entry stamps - ditto certain middle eastern countries & Israel, ditto the USA & Cuba .. etc etc etc ...

Getting back to the point, ar at least another aspect - I have a son, married to a Turkish lady, and he went through years of 'grovelling' at 'Lunar House' [the Immigration Office in London] just so that his Turkish girlfriend, who later became his wife, could visit, then live in the UK. I simply refused to do that, I am a Brit CITIZEN, not a Subject ! The Brit Government is there to serve ME, not the other way around. Well that is my viewpoint, others may have another outlook.

SO these days I live in Thailand & Eastern Europe 'cos they are both cheap & friendly.

So far as the 'crossing land borders' part of the chat, I have done it to & from Malaysia - once by accident, and once on purpose - nobody noticed, or cared - BUT there is the potential for having to explain, so be wary.

My Thai wife's passport once failed to get stamped coming back into Thailand [back in the old days] and that went unnoticed by everybody for almost 6 months, during which time we criss crossed the region every 30 days exploring every open border crossing we could find, then one day a sharp eyed Thai spotted it and demanded it be rectified. My wife had to re-visit the 'scene of the crime' and 'apologize' for her mistake [when of course it was the Thai Border officers mistake, not hers, but such is life], she got fined a few hundred baht and had her old Thai Passport endorsed. That endorsement [ie. they wrote that she was a 'naughty careless girl'] got read and reread [with considerable amusement mostly] at every subsequent crossing for months to follow.

Back in those heady days [Diesel was 11 Baht I think] we drove just for the fun of it, covered over 120,000 km in just over a year. Ah those were the days .. now we live in Phuket and things are different, I am on an NonImmO - married to a Thai - and only get the excuse of leaving every 90 days.

PS - any sharp eyed folk who spotted 'Mum was born in Belfast' and who know it is 'in the North', ie. not part of the Irish Republic [Yet at least] - well that is the beauty of having the Irish Government Constitution lay claim to 'all the island or Ireland' - they are obliged to offer Citizenship to one and all, Whoopee ! Actually my ancestry in Ireland goes back over 200 years, but who is counting.

Hope my blather helps somebody - no offence to anybody is intended - Ciao