dear all,

i am an indian official/ diplomatic passport holder. i am working with the united nations. i plan to visit thailand from 11 jan 09 to 15 jan 09 as a tourist with my family. i have finalised tour and taken onward and return tickets from  bangkok to india.

however my official passport is valid till 31 may 09 and i come to know that person entering thailand should have 6 months  valid passport from the date of entry. 

can somebody help me to know if the validity ofpassport will be a problem. i dont want to cancel my trip, so in case of problem is there any solution that i can avail after reaching bangkok.

regards.                                                                             

You are required to have 6 months remaining on your passport when you enter Thailand.

It will be the airline that will most likely not allow you to board your flight.

This from a IATA website via Delta.

National India (IN) /Destination Thailand (TH)

Thailand (TH)

Passport required.

- Passport and/or passport replacing documents must be valid

for at least 6 months upon arrival.

Source: http://www.timaticweb.com/cgi-bin/tim_webs...ubuser=DELTAB2C

The only solution that I know of is to get a new passport.

I did note that you are allowed to enter with a diplomatic passport and stay for 90 days without a visa.

But unless the other members in the family travel on diplomatic passports they will have to get the visa on arrival at the airport, where they will be allowed to stay for 15 days.

Alternatively they could get tourist visa's issued at a Thai embassy/consulate, which will give them 30 days of stay.

Immigration is not bothered too much by the validity of your passport as long as your visa doesn't allow you to stay in Thailand longer then the validity of your passport. It is however a law so you stand a good chance that the check in staff of your airline will refuse you to board.

thank you very much. my family is on normal passport and have already obtained visa of thailand.

as i dont require a visa what are the chances that airlines staff will overlook the issue?

thank you very much. my family is on normal passport and have already obtained visa of thailand.

as i dont require a visa what are the chances that airlines staff will overlook the issue?

Suggest you ask the airline in advance.

A question from me.

What is your understanding of the length of stay Indian Passport holders get on a Tourist Visa?

It always was 30 days but there have been reports of it being changed to 60.

Can you please let us know what your family get. Thanks.

You should contact the airlinee in advance and ask. Some airlines will allow you to sign a waiver that states that you will be responsible if you are denied entry and then allow you to board the flight.

You shouldn't have a problem with immigration here when you arrive.