Tulsi joins the party of Common Sense

[ThaiBrat]

I have lost my tn6 departure card, due to fly out of BKK early tomorrow morning, I am up north and won,t have time to go to immigration in BKK b4 I fly, anyway they will be closed.

Do I just go to the airport and sort it out there, if so do i do it after check in ?

All advice please

Thanks in advance for your help

TB

Edited August 2, 2011 by ThaiBrat

[Semper]

Do I just go to the airport and sort it out there

Seems to be your only option. Happend to me once in CM, it took me about a half hour to get a new . So I would recommend you to check in first. Good luck.

[tfc]

My girlfriend lost hers about a year ago. The guy at immigration just asked for "tip for boss" and it was all sorted out in 5 minutes.

[jamora]

I have lost mine several times, and have never had any problems when flying out of BKK. Last time it happened was in May, and the officer asked me where it was, and I said I was very sorry, but unfortunately I had lost it. They did not ask any further questions, stamped my passport and let me pass.

I am not saying that there cant be problems, but the times I have lost mine (think around 5 times), I never had any problems, or had to pay anything.

[transam]

How can folk lose a card that is STAPLED to a passport page ?.

[teflonjon]

The agent at the check in desk took my stapled card out of my passport once. Didn't realize until I got to immigration that she had kept it.

[transam]

The agent at the check in desk took my stapled card out of my passport once. Didn't realize until I got to immigration that she had kept it.

ooooooooooop's, we all must be focused at the desks eh.

[kimamey]

How can folk lose a card that is STAPLED to a passport page ?.

ine has never been stapled coming into BKK. Caused me a problem in January when I went to Lao with my gf. have always put it a pocket of the bag I take as hand luggage as I don't normally need it until I fly out again and I'm bound to have the the bag with me. The passport I carry in a belt with my money whilst I'm in Thailand. I used the bag when we went to Lao but when we got to the border at Chong Mek I couldn't find the departure card. Turns out when I was sorting out what to take it got pulled out with some other stuff and left behind. I was fortunate in having a Thai speaker with me plus she works in local government so I think she's used to speaking to people in authority. We went into an office and apparently the first 2 people she spoke to said nothing could be done but she ended up speaking to some guy who looked quite important judging by his uniform who made a phone call presumably to immigration at BKK and gave me another and I didn't have to pay anything. Hugely embarrassing. I made sure I thanked him in my best Thai at least twice.

On the way back it was stapled into my passport. I may have to do that myself next time.

Immigration entering and leaving Lao on the other hand is a complete nightmare.

[MTH]

How can folk lose a card that is STAPLED to a passport page ?.

Beats me, If it’s stapled to your passport, it’ll take a bit of force to get lost.

Been here for close to 15 years, and still haven’t lost one

[KunMatt]

You can just get another departure card from your check-in desk.

Beats me how I lost mine last time but it was missing when I came to go into the immigration area, the girl there who lets you enter told me to go back to the Thai Air check in desk where I had just checked in and get a new departure card. Easy.

[Mario2008]

You can just get another departure card from your check-in desk.

Beats me how I lost mine last time but it was missing when I came to go into the immigration area, the girl there who lets you enter told me to go back to the Thai Air check in desk where I had just checked in and get a new departure card. Easy.

That is not the correct way to do it and messes up the immigration database and can cause problems in the future when you return.

Losing your TM-card is no big deal. Just report it, and with your passport details and entry date they can quickly sort it out. Always best to do it before you go to the airport. In 99% it is no problem, but entry card details are being processed into a computer and if a mistake was made during entry of the details it can take longer than you like and the plane is not going to wait for you.

[sueaaronson]

The airline check in clerk gave me another one to fill out when I checked in for my flight out of BKK. It didn't even take 30 seconds, and there were no questions asked.

[Mario2008]

The airline check in clerk gave me another one to fill out when I checked in for my flight out of BKK. It didn't even take 30 seconds, and there were no questions asked.

Yes, you can do it. But you make it more difficult for immigration to sort things out, as your arrival and departure card don't match. They have the same unique number, so you can't just use another tm-6 card.

[NancyL]

ThaiBrat -- did you make a copy of the departure card by any chance? The important item on that card is the number.

When we arrived in Thailand in November 2008 to begin our retirement, I left the departure card on the plane, figuring it didn't apply to me because I was arriving in Thailand, not departing. The clerk at the immigration counter at the airport rolled her eyes and pulled out a blank departure card and wrote my arrival card number on it. It's that number that's important and that makeshift departure card is what's been in my passport ever since. Sometimes it earns me a raised eyebrow at the local immigration office.

It would help if you knew the date and flight number of your incoming arrival. They can go back to their records and find your arrival card number, which will match the number on the departure card you lost. Don't know about Swampy, but in Chiang Mai this is a manual process that involves someone scanning big ledger books with handwritten entries. I know because a friend of mine lost her departure card and fortunately she entered the country in CM. They said she'd have to go back to Swampy if she had last entered the country there.

Arrive very, very early at the airport for your flight out of Thailand.

[lopburi3]

They do not have to search any stacks of records for departure on a lost card and never have. That would have been for an immigration function such as extension of stay or such. You just fill out a replacement for departure. Should not take more than an extra five minutes.