Losing your passport between land borders

[blackcab]

Out of idle curiosity, what happens if you lose your passport between land borders? Let's assume you were between the borders of Thailand and Cambodia, and your passport was lost or stolen.

What happens next? Will either country let you in without a passport? How would you apply for a new passport or emergency travel document if you were refused entry to both countries? Are there any public telephones or ATMs in no man's land?

At some point, this must have happened to someone.

[technologybytes]

If it happened to me I'd walk back to Thailand, ignoring immigration and customs. If you just walk by nobody will question you. Then I'd go to my consulate in Thailand and they would issue me with a travel permit to allow me to travel back to my country of origin... simple enough if it happened between Thailand and Cambodia.

If it happened elsewhere it may be more of a problem.

[Mario2008]

You would return to the country you had just left. In the case of Thailand they would probably put you in the immigration detention centre till your passport has been sorted out and you have a ticket home.

[rct99q]

Actually this has happened more than once on the friendship bridge between nong khai and vientiane. More than one person has lost it either on the bus, in their bag, or stolen. In all the cases i know of (3) the person was taken back to the the country they departed from. So not sure if this is standard or not. However had one guest who claimed they lost their passport but could produce their second one (dual national) but the Laos officials would not accept him and refused him entry. The Thai officials were on the verge of detainig him when his lost passport magically reappeared.

Recently had a cyclist who after clearing customs rode about halfway and stopped to take a photo put his camera bag down and had his passport fall out. Arrived at Laos checkpoint could not find his passport. Told his story, border guard drove him back to spot and there was his travel wallet with his passport. So sh!t happens.

[Spock]

In Cambodia Forum, a poster did lose his passport in no man's land. He went to Cambodia immigration and shortly after his passport was 'found' after payment of a finder's fee. More money was then paid out when Cambodian immigration suddenly discovered some irregularities with the passport stamps.

[Liquorice]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwx2ce_AyOE

[steve73]

It actually happenned to me when doing a border run a few years ago at Ban Packard (Chantaburi) with a minibus from Pattaya...

I came out of the Cambodian duty free shops to pick up my passport and they gave me the wrong one...I complained and was told that my PP must have given to the guy who's PP I'd been given, and that he'd already crossed back into T/L. Blooming insulting as he was about 15 years older than me.

Anyway, the agent simply told me to return using the other guys passport.. No problem except the address on the entry form was obviously wrong, so he simply tippex'd it out and corrected it. Fortunately Immigration didn't check too closely, and there were no problems the next time...

But I was a bit concerned since the other guy was from another minibus and was totally oblivious to the error, but fortunately they hadn't left by the time I got out....

[PeCeDe]

I have lost 4 passports in my working career, in my defence I crossed borders 100's if not thousands of times, which maybe made me safer with a passport than any normal tourist who loses one. However at one time the Canadian Government informed me I had 2 valid passports that had "gone south, " and I had better not lose another one or they would only issue travel documents for each trip.. That would have crippled my career. I understand that at that time a valid Canadian passport was worth $40,000 on the black market, (not so much now ) and I think they wondered if I was selling them, which of course I was not. Since those incidents, I have basically when travelling stapled my passport to my chest. I am so sensitive to losing valuable documents, that I constantly have failsafe plans as to what to do if I lose a valuable document (e.g. passport) in any given situation. We all know these rules, but to repeat, have copies of everything C.C,s Passport, Visas, Birth Certificate if possible, and keep them elsewhere from your original documents or passport,(but with you) and maybe another CC, or some cash. As in the Op's example "No Man land" Cambodia, which I do believe is actually Cambodia and not a No Mans land, like the DMZ in Korea. If you lose something, just go to "in this case to a Casino" and call your respective Embassy in Cambodia. Armed with all of your photocopies etc. at the very least you will get a travel document, and be able to enter back into Thailand on a 30 day exempt.

[Maestro]

Removed a of of troll posts and the replies to them. Topic closed.