Help! A Transit Visa Qn!

[blah]

may sound silly but really need your help...

how is the transit area like in bkk? i know travellers can usu take other international flight(s) within transit areas of many airports but is that also the case in bkk airport?

does one still need a transit visa for thailand if he is NOT going out of transit area but just taking a different international flight within 12 hours?

thanks a lot!

[Maestro]

how is the transit area like in bkk? i know travellers can usu take other international flight(s) within transit areas of many airports but is that also the case in bkk airport?

does one still need a transit visa for thailand if he is NOT going out of transit area but just taking a different international flight within 12 hours?

Remaining in the transit area of Bangkok airport you will not have your passport checked by any immigration officer. I am not aware of a transit visa having been ever needed for Bangkok if the transit area is not left.

The transit area is spacious, with plenty of seats for waiting passengers, shops, restaurants and bars.

You do not say on what country’s passport you are travelling. Here is a list of countries that require no visa for a maximum stay of 30 days. If your country is on this list and if you feel like it, you may leave the transit are, i.e. enter Thailand and then go through immigration again to board your connecting flight. I have done that on a number of occasions, on a Swiss passport, most recently on 1 April 2000. In the attached picture, the stamp on the right is the arrival stamp, the one on the left the departure stamp.

Outside the transit area, after going through immigration, you will find more restaurants and shops on the departure level and the floor above it. There is also a pedestrian overpass across the motorway to an airport hotel with restaurants and a spacious and comfortable lobby for a meal or just a drink. If you go there, just don’t get so comfortable as to miss your connecting flight

Edited September 9, 2005 by maestro

[blah]

thanks for your quick reply. you put my mind at ease. holding burmese pp...was worried esp 'cos thai officials notoriously dont like burmese...(perhaps, for good reason too..what with illegal immigration into thailand across the borders and the historic enmity btwn thais and burmese..)

i am not intending to leave airport...been to thailand a few times...but for this trip, i'd be taking a flight from bangkok to burma...just transitting in bkk...

once again, thanks!

>Remaining in the transit area of Bangkok airport you will not have your passport >checked by any immigration officer. I am not aware of a transit visa having been ever >needed for Bangkok if the transit area is not left.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Up to 12 hours in transit is permitted by Thai Immigration.