Hi all I have just got back from Swammpy airport I had a flight booked with Laos Airways for this afternoon went to check in and was refused boarding as I have a 1 year overstay. The lady said this is new policy to refuse passengers with more than 1 month overstay. i told her the new rules don't start until 20th March, but she still wouldn't let me board the flight

Perhaps in her eyes you are in LOS illegally.............Just doing her job...

That sounds like a Lao airways policy not a immigration one. Perhaps you should of asked for a supervisor.

Interesting.

Are you sure the passport is valid for international travel.

Some how can you pay your overstay if they won't let you through?

Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk

Thats new! I suspect there will be many refusals over the next few weeks if 1 month is the bench mark.

Suggest you try a different airline but call them first to check their policy.

That sounds like a Lao airways policy not a immigration one. Perhaps you should of asked for a supervisor.

yes Joe I did ask to speak to a supervisor and he told me i had to go to my home country to clear the fine. So I will take a bus tonight to Nongkhai and hope i don't get stopped by the police

Some how can you pay your overstay if they won't let you through?

Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk

That is the general idea of the new rules. They want and may force an overstayer to go to immigration first.

Not sure that I follow Transam, after he checked in to fly out of the Kingdom his next contact with officialdom would be a Thai Immigration Officer who would have picked up that he was an over stayer and taken any appropriate action.

She prevented the guy going to the IO, how is that doing her job?

Maybe he had a return ticket and she was thinking that as an over stayer he wouldn't be allowed back in, which I don't think is the case.

I can see many of these instances coming along during the next few weeks.

Interesting.

Are you sure the passport is valid for international travel.

Yes it doesn't expire until 2018

Who refused you? The check-in desk clerk? Could you have gone to the airport Immigration office and cleared the overstay?

Not sure that I follow Transam, after he checked in to fly out of the Kingdom his next contact with officialdom would be a Thai Immigration Officer who would have picked up that he was an over stayer and taken any appropriate action.

She prevented the guy going to the IO, how is that doing her job?

Maybe he had a return ticket and she was thinking that as an over stayer he wouldn't be allowed back in, which I don't think is the case.

I can see many of these instances coming along during the next few weeks.

No I didn't have a return ticket she was saying I would get refused at the airport in Laos

Not sure that I follow Transam, after he checked in to fly out of the Kingdom his next contact with officialdom would be a Thai Immigration Officer who would have picked up that he was an over stayer and taken any appropriate action.

She prevented the guy going to the IO, how is that doing her job?

Maybe he had a return ticket and she was thinking that as an over stayer he wouldn't be allowed back in, which I don't think is the case.

I can see many of these instances coming along during the next few weeks.

No I didn't have a return ticket she was saying I would get refused at the airport in Laos

Surely you asked why right?

Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk

Not sure that I follow Transam, after he checked in to fly out of the Kingdom his next contact with officialdom would be a Thai Immigration Officer who would have picked up that he was an over stayer and taken any appropriate action.

She prevented the guy going to the IO, how is that doing her job?

Maybe he had a return ticket and she was thinking that as an over stayer he wouldn't be allowed back in, which I don't think is the case.

I can see many of these instances coming along during the next few weeks.

No I didn't have a return ticket she was saying I would get refused at the airport in Laos

So you were refused on other than the overstay issue?

Did you ask to speak to the check-in Supervisor ?

I do not know about Laos but some countries are very reluctant about allowing entry to those with overstay stamps the their passports.

Not sure that I follow Transam, after he checked in to fly out of the Kingdom his next contact with officialdom would be a Thai Immigration Officer who would have picked up that he was an over stayer and taken any appropriate action.

She prevented the guy going to the IO, how is that doing her job?

Maybe he had a return ticket and she was thinking that as an over stayer he wouldn't be allowed back in, which I don't think is the case.

I can see many of these instances coming along during the next few weeks.

No I didn't have a return ticket she was saying I would get refused at the airport in Laos

So you were refused on other than the overstay issue?

Did you ask to speak to the check-in Supervisor ?

I booked a one way ticket to Laos to clear my overstay, but was refused boarding because of my overstay

I guess you lost your ticket as we. It's off to immigration, they have an overstay counter.

Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk

Not sure that I follow Transam, after he checked in to fly out of the Kingdom his next contact with officialdom would be a Thai Immigration Officer who would have picked up that he was an over stayer and taken any appropriate action.

She prevented the guy going to the IO, how is that doing her job?

Maybe he had a return ticket and she was thinking that as an over stayer he wouldn't be allowed back in, which I don't think is the case.

I can see many of these instances coming along during the next few weeks.

No I didn't have a return ticket she was saying I would get refused at the airport in Laos

So you were refused on other than the overstay issue?

Did you ask to speak to the check-in Supervisor ?

I booked a one way ticket to Laos to clear my overstay, but was refused boarding because of my overstay

OK !

What is your plan "B"? You have a max of 17 days remaining before the new rules kick in.

It reads confusing to say the least. Were you refused check in for the flight or actual boarding of the aircraft?

Generally speaking, you are required to have an outbound flight, not just a one way, but this is often ignored other than those traveling to the Philippines or Brazil.

Refusing to check in a person who is in Thailand illegally is certainly withing the airlines right and in fact their duty.

same thing, same airline happened to my friend last month and he had a member of immigration from where he lives in thailand with him (came in the taxi with him to the airport for a fee of course)

he booked a flight to Singapore instead and got a thai visa there

It reads confusing to say the least. Were you refused check in for the flight or actual boarding of the aircraft?

Generally speaking, you are required to have an outbound flight, not just a one way, but this is often ignored other than those traveling to the Philippines or Brazil.

Refusing to check in a person who is in Thailand illegally is certainly withing the airlines right and in fact their duty.

Sorry, your post makes no sense at all.

Catch 22?

It is well comprehensible that the airline refuses to check-in a foreigner who is on overstay (illegal stay) and expects you to clear the situation first.

They might check-in an overstayer (with baggage) and immigration refuses him to board.

Unnecessary hassle for the airline.

But how does it work practically?

First approach immigration police (from the terminal building), clear overstay and then be escorted by immigration to airline check-in and led through checkpoint?

Im still failing to get a clear picture.

Where is the overstay counter where you pay the fine, is it not somewhere behind Immigration?

So to get to Immigration you have to get past Security and they will not allow you to go in unless you have a boarding pass.

Obviously, if you are not allowed check in, you can't make it to that overstay counter.

Or am I mistaken?

Or am I mistaken?

No, that's the known procedure and why I ask in my previous post.

I don't know how it is handled.

If I understand correctly, the issue is Laos immigration policy. What check in is saying is that Laos will not let someone enter if they have just left a country after a long overstay. Because of this, the OP is not allowed to check in. Even clearing the overstay and then going to check in would not resolve the problem.

If so, the solution is to fly to a different country.

If I understand correctly, the issue is Laos immigration policy. What check in is saying is that Laos will not let someone enter if they have just left a country after a long overstay. Because of this, the OP is not allowed to check in. Even clearing the overstay and then going to check in would not resolve the problem.

If so, the solution is to fly to a different country.

Until I see a report that people go into Laos via a land border, clear their overstay and then enter "no man's land" (between countries), try to apply for a Laos visa on arrival (which in this scenario would be refused), where would they send them because there's only one place (Thailand). Where they behaved like bad boys cause they overstayed.

I do also tend to believe it's more likely to do with an airline specific policy.

It sounds to me like Lao Airlines took the position (maybe general policy) that anyone having overstayed in Thailand would also be a risk of overstaying in Laos. Not an unreasonable position, especially since the OP was flying in on a one way ticket and therefore not demonstrating intention of leaving Laos again within the allotted time.

And remember, Lao airlines is the national airline of Laos so they might be expected to police Lao immigration requirements beyond what is normal for a commercial airline.

Sophon

If I understand correctly, the issue is Laos immigration policy. What check in is saying is that Laos will not let someone enter if they have just left a country after a long overstay. Because of this, the OP is not allowed to check in. Even clearing the overstay and then going to check in would not resolve the problem.

If so, the solution is to fly to a different country.

Until I see a report that people go into Laos via a land border, clear their overstay and then enter "no man's land" (between countries), try to apply for a Laos visa on arrival (which in this scenario would be refused), where would they send them because there's only one place (Thailand). Where they behaved like bad boys cause they overstayed.

I do also tend to believe it's more likely to do with an airline specific policy.

Thai immigration at a land border is quite likely to refuse to clear a long overstay. Usually, they will tell the traveler to exit through an airport, though arrest and deportation is an option for them.

I agree, though, that there are many uncertainties. My post above is only an educated guess.

It sounds to me like Lao Airlines took the position (maybe general policy) that anyone having overstayed in Thailand would also be a risk of overstaying in Laos. Not an unreasonable position, especially since the OP was flying in on a one way ticket and therefore not demonstrating intention of leaving Laos again within the allotted time.

And remember, Lao airlines is the national airline of Laos so they might be expected to police Lao immigration requirements beyond what is normal for a commercial airline.

Sophon

Looking at that reasoning, I agree. Could be that the thinking might be on the lines of ' long overstay in Thailand means ban on returning for a year' Perhaps being wrongly interpreted they don't want to get stuck with 'overstayers' in Laos.

Is it not the case that Laos, like Thailand, requires visitors to have a return or onward ticket? The OP did say he had a one way ticket.

Thai immigration at a land border is quite likely to refuse to clear a long overstay. Usually, they will tell the traveler to exit through an airport, though arrest and deportation is an option for them.

I agree, though, that there are many uncertainties. My post above is only an educated guess.

Although it does not affect me, I find the possible implications of that logic worrying to say the least.

Then again, I only overstayed 3 days in 7 years by mistake. Perhaps people overstaying years did not calculate this risk or cost to begin with when they thought it was cheaper to live on 20K for years.

Even so, flying to their own countries and changing the passport in case of a long overstay will probably work out cheaper than anyone on all sorts of visa variations that did not want to overstay.