Hello,

My parents are flying into Suvarnabhumi from the UK with Emirates airlines, 7 hours later they will be flying to Saigon with AirAsia.

Firstly; if they wanted to spend a few hours in BKK, should they enter Thailand using the 30 visa exemption (they are from the UK) or do they need to get a transit visa? if they need a trasnit visa, how much is it and is it simple to obtain etc?

Secondly; as the 2 airlines are not associated in any way, will their baggage be automatically taken from the Emirates plane and put on the Airasia plane or will they have to go to baggage reclaim etc? if possible how can they ensure that their bags are transferred/ do they tell Emirates in the UK or someone else?

Many thanks for any advice.

Hi I cannot answer your Visa question, but: Your parents will definitely have to claim their luggage, leave the area, go upstairs and check in at Air Asia with their luggage and get back into the international departure area. That is the same run I do every time I come here by Emirates for connecting with Air Asia :-( ...

Dont need to apply for a transit visa. They can use 30 day visa-exempt arrival stamp to exit the airport and clear immigration again on departure. However, not sure that they can do much in 7 hours except meeting friends / relatives of course.

Air Asia are strictly point-to-point so there is no means for them to get baggage checked through as there would be with a full service airline.

They must clear immigration, collect their bags and then check-in for the AA flight.

I'm not sure how early Air Asia start accepting check-in luggage. You might find that they can't check their luggage in for the Air Asia flight until three hours before departure or thereabouts, so they may need to pay left luggage charges or keep their luggage with them...

SC

Thanks for all the responses guys. This changes things slightly!

Cheers.

Thanks for all the responses guys. This changes things slightly!

Cheers.

And don't forget it will be the same on the way back.

Will they have enough time to clear immigration and check in to Emirates for their flight back to UK?