I am looking to book a Thai Airways (for baggage allowance) return flight online for my Cambodian girlfriend coming to Chiang Mai from Phnom Penh. She will have a 60 day permission to stay to be extended at Chiang Mai Immigration after which we will do a trip to Laos for a dual entry visa to allow for the possibility of her staying six months. Does anybody know the ropes well enough to advise what to do about initial ticketing. That is Immigration may want to see proof of her return flight compatible with the permission to stay expiry they stamp her initial entry. But then the ticket will have to be rebooked several times in step with changes in her permission to stay? There are various classes of tickets with varying durations of validity:

THAI SAVER PLUS Economy Class, Flight/Date Change with Fee, refundable with fee, Mileage Accrual, Valid 3 months more details $376.10

THAI SAVER ADVANTAGE Economy Class, Flight/Date Changeable, refundable with fee, Mileage Accrual, Valid 3 months more details $406.10

THAI FLEXI PLUS Economy Class, Flight/Date Changeable,refundable with fee, Mileage Accrual, Valid 6 months more details $437.10

ROYAL FLEXI PLUS Economy Class, Flexible Flight/Date, Refundable with fee, Mileage Accrual, Valid 12 months more details $550.00

Seems the airlines know this issue well and take full advantage of it in their pricing!!

"THAI SAVER ADVANTAGE Economy Class, Flight/Date Changeable, refundable with fee, Mileage Accrual, Valid 3 months more details $406.10"

I would go with this one. I have had many occasions to change flights for my Australian partner. Now the Immigration MAY or may not want to see return flights. It is up to the actual officer on the day.

TO BE SAFE I would have a return flight booked WITHIN the original visa timeframe to show if requested.

THEN change the return ticket when you go to LAOS . Otherwise it will cost you about $100 to make the change so the second airfare is really cheaper considering you will need to change it.

Make sense? I hope this helps.

Thank you for your reply MarcusD,

I have been given to understand that when you rebook the flight that you are responsible for both the change fee and any increase in the cost of the newly booked flight. Does this ring true? Logically, one could book a low cost return flight and rebook on a much higher cost flight without paying more if the airlines did not do this. But it is outside my previous experience.

When you say the return flight booked WITHIN the original visa timeframe to show if requested, I assume you mean the "60 day permission to stay", which may well be days or weeks after the visa is issued?

But then there is the 30 day extension to the "60 day permission to stay" that can be had at Chiang Mai immigration and maybe they want to see a return flight before the 30 days expire. The Laos for a dual entry visa with the whole issue of return flights starts all over again?

With your suggested selection of options the return ticket, valid for only 3 months will have expired with no refund as far as I know? So to maintain validity through 3x60+3x30=270 days of potential permission stay IF Chiang Mai Immigration will approve three 30 day extensions and IF Laos' Thai Consulate will issure her a dual entry on the heels of a 60 day tourist "permission to stay" that has been extended 30 days already!!

I understand that one is at the mercy of the individual officer's inclination though I feel such things should be ruled by policy.