My girlfriend and I are both Canadian citizens. We will be traveling in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia later this year. I know that as Canadian citizens, we can obtain a 30-day tourist visa for Thailand on arrival at the airport. Our air itinerary is:

- Date of arrival in Bangkok (by air) : October 12, 2013
- Date of departure from Bangkok (by air) : November 24, 2013

Therefore, the total length of our trip will be over 30 days. But we won't be staying 30 days in Thailand. We will stay in Thailand for about 7-8 days after arrival, then cross by land to Laos for about 15 days, then cross by land to Cambodia for about 15 days, then back to Thailand by land for the rest of the trip (5-6 days).

My question is: when we arrive in Bangkok airport on October 12, will the immigration officer give us a 30-day tourist visa, even if our plane ticket shows that we will be staying in Asia for more than 30 days? Will we be able to explain that we do not need a 60-day visa because we will be exiting Thailand before the 30-day visa expires?

OK, firstly let's get the terminology right, the '30 day stamp' is not a visa, it's a visa exemption, Visa on Arrival is something quite different to which you are not entitled.

Official requirement is a FLIGHT out of Thailand within 30 days, immigration themselves rarely if ever check this requirement.

Your issue will be getting on your initial flight to Thailand, the airline check for either a visa or a flight out of Thailand within 30 days, you have neither. Since your return flight is actually fairly close you may get away with it with a word to the check-in supervisor, probably best to call the airline and ask what their policy is.

Have you considered flying into Laos which would then provide the flight out within 30 days?

Many will claim to never have had a problem, is it worth the risk of being denied boarding your first flight?

Do you have some kind of proof for your onward travel (visas?, reservations?).

http://www.staralliance.com/en/services/visa-and-health/

- Visitors who are visa exempt are required to hold documents for their next destination.

Some airlines are fussy about that.

Very very unlikely that you will have a problem at the Thai immigration.

Have you thought about getting an ACMECS visa (joint visa for Thailand and Cambodia) in advance at the Thai consulate?

You need a visa for Laos and Cambodia anyway (even if it is an "on arrival" visa).

(must admit: I have no idea how and where to get such an ACMECS visa in Canada)

Edited July 15, 201312 yr by KhunBENQ

All that is required is a round trip ticket. You have that. Also you are going to Thailand visa exempt which means no visa just an entry stamp. You have 30 days if you arrive by air and 15 days if you cross at a border crossing using the visa exempt status.. So based on this you will have no problems.

Contact the airline by email with your intinerary and ask if is OK with them. That way you will have it in writing from them.

All that is required is a round trip ticket. You have that. Also you are going to Thailand visa exempt which means no visa just an entry stamp. You have 30 days if you arrive by air and 15 days if you cross at a border crossing using the visa exempt status.. So based on this you will have no problems.

The requirement is holding documents for next destination and visa exempt is only 30 days and ticket is outside that time period so airline could refuse boarding. He should either have a visa or a ticket out within that allowed 30 day stay.

All that is required is a round trip ticket. You have that. Also you are going to Thailand visa exempt which means no visa just an entry stamp. You have 30 days if you arrive by air and 15 days if you cross at a border crossing using the visa exempt status.. So based on this you will have no problems.

The requirement is holding documents for next destination and visa exempt is only 30 days and ticket is outside that time period so airline could refuse boarding. He should either have a visa or a ticket out within that allowed 30 day stay.

That is just scaremongering. Just being in possession of a return ticket will be good enough for the airline. I have never heard of an airline refusing to board a passenger bound for Thailand because their ticket is outside of the 30 day period, especially if it is just slightly outside. Absolute nonsense. In any case they could always request that the passenger change his/her outbound ticket just to be safe. Hundreds, if not thousands of travelers that arrive in Thailand have similar travel itineraries to the OP. If airlines were actually silly enough to check itineraries that carefully, a lot of travel to Thailand would suddenly grind to a halt and travelers would probably decide to fly into Vietnam, Malaysia or Singapore instead, perhaps making side trips overland to Thailand.

Also OP, no need to talk to Thai immigration officers - they are usually pretty surly and don't talk to arriving travelers (except if you can speak Thai, in which case a friendly conversation might ensue). Just hand over your documents, maybe give them a "sawatdee krap/ka" and then once you get your documents handed back, say thank you "khob kun krap/ka". Thai immigration officers aren't chatty - this ain't Canada, Australia or the USA. You won't have any problems and don't need to explain anything to them as they won't ask you anything anyway.

Edited July 15, 201312 yr by Tomtomtom69

I do have heard of people who were refused boarding because they didn't have a flight out within 30 days of arrival and no visa.

It greatly depends on the airlines, some check very strictly others not at all.

often a return ticket will be fine, but agian it greatly depends on the airline.

Besides that, airlines always overbook a flight as there are always some passngers that do not show up. If a flight is full and more passengers show up than expected they will first bounce the passengers without the required paperwork as they don't have to compensate them.

Indeed - I had that happen myself even with a re-entry permit - airline flight was overbooked from starting point and they refused to issue me a boarding pass until the flight arrived and they had actual count of seats and all others checked in due to re-entry permit not being specifically listed as a visa on IATA database in spite of being one of the earliest at check-in (and all used airport check-in at that time).

Indeed - I had that happen myself even with a re-entry permit - airline flight was overbooked from starting point and they refused to issue me a boarding pass until the flight arrived and they had actual count of seats and all others checked in due to re-entry permit not being specifically listed as a visa on IATA database in spite of being one of the earliest at check-in (and all used airport check-in at that time).

I know I would never fly again with that airline again. You were refused because of ignorance of the airlines, not because you were in violation of any immigration rules.