Urgent Help Needed pls

[Petergreet]

Hi guys,

I am in an awful mess here and hope someone can give me clear uptodate guidance and the best solution.

I arrived in Thailand on 8 january with my thai wife, as per usual i arrived with my british passport and my wife with her thai one, although she has a british passport also.

Last week, we were going off on a jolly to singapore when wife was refused boarding. Her thai passport expired on 22 january! Yes I know that was stupid and yes i know we could not use british passport to leave as entered on thai passport.

She went straight down to passport office not unduly concerned but was met with a mass of others trying to get a passport renewal and she was not even seen, so the following day went down at 4am and got seen, but because of the civil unrest around thai government offices at the moment they had stopped issuing on the spot passports and insisted on posting out passports quoting 7-10 days.

Now this was 7 days ago, and she still has not had her passport renewed.

Now the problem is we leave to return to the UK early Friday morning, so basically if passport does not arrive tomorrow we are stuffed and she will not be able to return to UK.

A thought occurred to me, that is it not true that thai nationals can leave thailand for the casinos at polpet? if thats the case could she not go to polpet tomorrow show her id card and then return showing her british passport thus validating that as a document by which she could leave thailand? Is that a better option than banging on the passport office door pleading for a passport? a third option would be to travel to her home thai and apply there where she may get one immediately,,,,,not an attractive option as she is from sisaket and has already applied and waiting for a passport from bangkok.

Polpet sounds a good option, is this possible? surely if thai's can really leave with an id card then its sure to work.....after all once she is clear of thai immigration the problem is solved. Any thoughts please?

oh while it may not be relevant, we are travelling with our 4 year old son who is travelling with an uptodate thai passport

[ubonjoe]

In order to enter Thailand she would a departure stamp from Thailand and entry/departure stamps for Cambodia to get stamped into Thailand. Meaning your idea will not work.

If passport does not arrive early tomorrow I would be back at passport office. You could try calling them to get find out if it was sent and get the EMS numbersSo you could check tracking to see it's status.

[Petergreet]

In order to enter Thailand she would a departure stamp from Thailand and entry/departure stamps for Cambodia to get stamped into Thailand. Meaning your idea will not work.

If passport does not arrive early tomorrow I would be back at passport office. You could try calling them to get find out if it was sent and get the EMS numbersSo you could check tracking to see it's status.

thanks very much for that early reply, but to be predantic, when i first entered thailand with my british passport it had no departure stamp in it.

True enough it ought to have cambodian visa stamps in passport if arriving overland, but will the thai authorities worry about that, I mean why should they?

What do you think would happen?

a. she would be refused exit from thailand? why? if others are allowed to visit casino on id card?

b. as a british citizen she would be refused entry cos she did not have the cambodian stamps in passport? Why would the thai immigration worry about cambodian, vietnam, the moon or even mars stamps in her british passport.

I would only do that though if it was about 90% certain to work as it would make it impossible to go down the other route of tracking down her in transit thai passport. So please try explain what it is that would prevent this idea from working

[ubonjoe]

They check for them at border crossings to keep people from just passing immigration and turning around and coming back without entering the other country.

Same for Thai departure stamps to keep somebody with an overstay or such from sneaking past immigration and returning again.

Cambodia also checks for Thai departure stamps for the same reason.

[Petergreet]

They check for them at border crossings to keep people from just passing immigration and turning around and coming back without entering the other country.

Same for Thai departure stamps to keep somebody with an overstay or such from sneaking past immigration and returning again.

Cambodia also checks for Thai departure stamps for the same reason.

Hmm, that last sentence is the killer as she clearly will not have a thai departure stamp in her passport. What would the cambodian officials do about that? do you think they would refuse her a visa, don't mind paying for a visa if thats all that they wanted. If she were allowed into cambodia with british passport, problem solved.....otoh if she turned round short of cambodia and tried to re-enter thailand on her british passport without the relevant cambodian stamps what would they do? somebody would have to do something surely.....what do you think would happen? Would a bit of tea money oil the wheels?

It will probably be irrelevant anyhow, sounds much too iffy to try, maybe better hammering at the passport office door if we can dodge all the demos.

[ubonjoe]

Skipping Thai immigration would probably be the biggest problem. Best to not even try.

[Tomtomtom69]

Why not fly to Cambodia (one way is fine) and then switch passports for the entry into Cambodia? Note that only the British passport should be presented at check-in. Similarly, this procedure should work for England too so probably no need to bother with going to Cambodia at all.

[ubonjoe]

Why not fly to Cambodia (one way is fine) and then switch passports for the entry into Cambodia? Note that only the British passport should be presented at check-in. Similarly, this procedure should work for England too so probably no need to bother with going to Cambodia at all.

How would she do that. She does not have a valid passport to leave on. She has no entry stamp in her UK passport so she cannot leave on it because she used her Thai passport for entry.

[Tomtomtom69]

checkin wouldn't care about her Thai passport andd at immigration both passports could be shown.

[ubonjoe]

checkin wouldn't care about her Thai passport andd at immigration both passports could be shown.

I can assure the airline will be much more diligent than you think.

I can also assure you immigration would not accept a expired Thai passport on departure even with her UK passport.

I certainly would not buy a ticket hoping that it would work the way you think it would.

[Mario2008]

You can enter Thailand on an expired paspsort, but not leave on one. In addition you must leave Thailand on a passport of the country you entered on.

Immigration will not allow her to leave on her Thai passport, nor on her UK-passport.

[Petergreet]

Tomtom, I am afraid that mario is correct. This is when the problem was first identified. she had an airline ticket to singapore and a valid british passport but the thai passport on which she originally entered thailand had expired. Immigration would not let her through to the departure lounge. Interestingly though, against my advise she bought a later ticket and showed her british passport at check in and this was accepted and boarding card issued,,,,,so maybe airline staff not as viligant as has been suggested.....of course it was all in vain as immigration refused her passage.

Having taken advice from ubonjoe, we decided to forego polpet and headed for the passport office for 8am to enquire as to its whereabouts. There were many people there, but there were officials directing queues. On approaching one, the lady kindly took my wife's receipt and went to check on it. She returned 5 minutes later advising her that she needs to wait one more week. We explained that we need to board a flight to uk in the morning, but got no joy. A second official overheard this and spoke to my now very distressed wife and said she would check again for us. She returned in 5 minutes to tell us the passport had been issued and gave us a tracking number advising us to go to some out of town sorting office. We called the sorting office on the way in the taxi and they confirmed they had the package! When we got there they then told us the package had been forwarded to the local sorting office for delivery tomorrow. Like a shot, off we went again, and finally.....result! the package was there she was given it and out popped a brand new shiny passport!

Now, I know the law, but most laws and procedures are there for a purpose, such as security checks at the airport, to prevent firearms being smuggled onto aircraft, even the 7 kilo limit on hand baggage has a purpose, a flimsy one but nevertheless a purpose, but I cannot for the life of me see any purpose in this law, other than to cause maximum distress and inconvenience to travellers who slip up a bit and make an honest mistake....I mean its not like she was trying to dodge an overstay fine, it was clearly marked in her thai passport the date she arrived, I am happy that we now have it sorted, but it has spoilt a good portion of our trip......and for what purpose? I would be genuinely interested in anybody putting forth a valid reason for this crazy law.

Thanks again to Ubon who helped us to choose the right option, but again i wonder what would have happenned had we gone to polpet.

[ubonjoe]

The most important thing is that you got it.

[moe666]

Tomtom, I am afraid that mario is correct. This is when the problem was first identified. she had an airline ticket to singapore and a valid british passport but the thai passport on which she originally entered thailand had expired. Immigration would not let her through to the departure lounge. Interestingly though, against my advise she bought a later ticket and showed her british passport at check in and this was accepted and boarding card issued,,,,,so maybe airline staff not as viligant as has been suggested.....of course it was all in vain as immigration refused her passage.

Having taken advice from ubonjoe, we decided to forego polpet and headed for the passport office for 8am to enquire as to its whereabouts. There were many people there, but there were officials directing queues. On approaching one, the lady kindly took my wife's receipt and went to check on it. She returned 5 minutes later advising her that she needs to wait one more week. We explained that we need to board a flight to uk in the morning, but got no joy. A second official overheard this and spoke to my now very distressed wife and said she would check again for us. She returned in 5 minutes to tell us the passport had been issued and gave us a tracking number advising us to go to some out of town sorting office. We called the sorting office on the way in the taxi and they confirmed they had the package! When we got there they then told us the package had been forwarded to the local sorting office for delivery tomorrow. Like a shot, off we went again, and finally.....result! the package was there she was given it and out popped a brand new shiny passport!

Now, I know the law, but most laws and procedures are there for a purpose, such as security checks at the airport, to prevent firearms being smuggled onto aircraft, even the 7 kilo limit on hand baggage has a purpose, a flimsy one but nevertheless a purpose, but I cannot for the life of me see any purpose in this law, other than to cause maximum distress and inconvenience to travellers who slip up a bit and make an honest mistake....I mean its not like she was trying to dodge an overstay fine, it was clearly marked in her thai passport the date she arrived, I am happy that we now have it sorted, but it has spoilt a good portion of our trip......and for what purpose? I would be genuinely interested in anybody putting forth a valid reason for this crazy law.

Thanks again to Ubon who helped us to choose the right option, but again i wonder what would have happenned had we gone to polpet.

Stop, the problem happen to be you and the wife why would they ignore the rules for one person talk about opening a flood gate, count your lucky stars and have a nice trip home.

[kevc]

May be of help to you but my wife has UK pasport as well a couple of years ago we were in the check in line to go to KL whe she realised she had only one month on her Thai passport. They let her leave on her Thai and when we entered KL she used her UK passport to arrive and depart no problem. She had no exit stamp when she arrived in KL and they didnt ask why. If you can cross to the casinos cant see why cant get a Cambodian visa on the UK and enter again for a 30 day V.O.A.

But I know when we went to Poipet a few years ago she had to use her Thai passport I.D. card was no good maybe different for the casinos as their really in no mans land in between the borders. Another idea would be to contact on of the visa runs and maybe they can sort it for you thet advertise in the Bangkok Post.

Good luck.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[ubonjoe]

May be of help to you but my wife has UK pasport as well a couple of years ago we were in the check in line to go to KL whe she realised she had only one month on her Thai passport. They let her leave on her Thai and when we entered KL she used her UK passport to arrive and depart no problem. She had no exit stamp when she arrived in KL and they didnt ask why. If you can cross to the casinos cant see why cant get a Cambodian visa on the UK and enter again for a 30 day V.O.A.

But I know when we went to Poipet a few years ago she had to use her Thai passport I.D. card was no good maybe different for the casinos as their really in no mans land in between the borders. Another idea would be to contact on of the visa runs and maybe they can sort it for you thet advertise in the Bangkok Post.

Good luck.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

You are late with your post. They have already gotten the passport.

It is not possible to do what you suggest because she did not have a valid passport. Even trying to do a passport swap at a border crossing is not possible because immigration on both sides of the border check for stamps in the passport from the opposite country when entering.

[Petergreet]

Stop, the problem happen to be you and the wife why would they ignore the rules for one person talk about opening a flood gate, count your lucky stars and have a nice trip home.

hmmm, laws evolve over time by being challenged and rewritten/abolished....if everyone thought like you, women would still not be allowed to vote and homosexuality would still be illegal.

I was simply suggesting that this law has no merits and only penalises innocent travellers who make a mistake by using wrong passport. Should they really be punished by losing their holiday and not being allowed the fundamental human right to travel? or should the law be challenged?

[dabhand]

May be of help to you but my wife has UK pasport as well a couple of years ago we were in the check in line to go to KL whe she realised she had only one month on her Thai passport. They let her leave on her Thai and when we entered KL she used her UK passport to arrive and depart no problem. She had no exit stamp when she arrived in KL and they didnt ask why. If you can cross to the casinos cant see why cant get a Cambodian visa on the UK and enter again for a 30 day V.O.A.

But I know when we went to Poipet a few years ago she had to use her Thai passport I.D. card was no good maybe different for the casinos as their really in no mans land in between the borders. Another idea would be to contact on of the visa runs and maybe they can sort it for you thet advertise in the Bangkok Post.

Good luck.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

You are late with your post. They have already gotten the passport.

It is not possible to do what you suggest because she did not have a valid passport. Even trying to do a passport swap at a border crossing is not possible because immigration on both sides of the border check for stamps in the passport from the opposite country when entering.

it may be more than 20yrs ago but I can certainly backup the assertion by ubonjoe about the checking of passports for stamps.

I was crossing from Rantau Panjang to Sungai Golok in the South and had 2no UK passports. One passport was nearly full (this was the old 96 pager) whilst my 2nd passport was fairly empty. So I thought, why not switch passports.

Filled in the immigration card and handed that over to the officer.

Thought I was in for some hassle after the officer had spent a minute or two looking through my passport. He then asked me where I had come from. Given that I could only have come over the bridge from Malaysia, there was little else I could say!!!

I then blurted out that I had this other passport in my bag, fully expecting to be taken away for 'interview' and quizzed on my true intentions!

Luckily the officer didn't create a fuss and I was allowed to fill in a fresh form based on my 1st passport, from which the officer was able to confirm that I had, indeed, arrived from Malaysia and not by other, unheard of, means.

Needless to say, I have not tried that again at any land border.

[matt111]

Indeed immigration are more diligent than they seem, I wouldnt of been worth a try in my opinion.

I had some significant overstay in thailand, but a new UK passport had just arrived in my possession via HK, not wanting to prejudice future entry or visa I was eager to bury the overstay. I exited at a land border on the old passport, paid the fine, and had the red stamp and overstay notes scribbled in this, I then tried to enter Malaysia on the new passport (incase of being refused entry due to closeness of old passport expiration date), Malaysia immigration noticed and marched me back to Thai immigration where I was quizzed and given a real bollocking and the notes transferred over to the new passport. Perhaps I would of got away with it had I made switched at a later point, but whilst they might look half a sleep anything a foul quickly wakes them up.

[kevc]

I did say if she could cross to the casino's on her Thai I. D. card (maybe you can do that without a passport) she then may be able to enter Cambodia on the UK passport as I stated previously when we went to Kl a few years ago my wife used her UK passport to check in and used her Thai passport to clear immigration, she then used her UK passport to enter Malaysia with no questions asked from Malaysian immigration.

Sent from my GT-P5100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Tomtomtom69]

Changing passports at land borders in the region is likely to cause some issues. Nobody cares when you fly between countries but at land borders generally this is not a good idea since immigration on either side may not be willing to stamp a traveller's passport in such case. Some countries don't care about exit stamps from their neighbors (such as China) but Thailand/Laos/Cambodia definitely do.

[F4UCorsair]

Sounds like you travel a bit. Every time the date is written on arrival/departure cards should be a reminder. Mine's indelibly in my memory as a result, as well as the number. Then if it's lost, it is far easier to replace, and even easier if you have a pic of the photo page, which I also carry.

Not criticizing, just noting what I do.

[Mario2008]

1 flame post removed

[ubonjoe]

Since this topic is continuing to attract off topic and derogatory posts ignoring the fact that the OP got his wife's passport and is back home now this topic is now closed.