dirty passport/ have outbound ticket/ visa valid/ stressed out

[highlander4000]

Hi guys

I fell in the mud at the Poipet/cambodian border. My passport got muddy, but i got through cambodian authorities and then thailand immigration looked closely at my passport and stamped it with a 30 day visa. I am getting worried that the Don Mueng airport might not be as leniant though with my dirty passport. The thai immigration official stapled the departure card into my passport but there's no way i can prove that my passport didn't get muddy in Thailand. I feel my case would be stronger for being aloud to leave if i could prove i was let into the country with the passport in this condition.

 

I have a ticket out of Thailand leaving on the 2nd August, my visa expires on the 4th of August. The ticket takes me to Singapore but i will remain in the transit lounge, so im expecting that i wont have to show my passport in Singapore. Then i fly to the gold coast in Australia which is where home is. Im Australian. Im thinking that the fact that im transitting in Singapore could be a problem though, if the airline is worried about me being returned from singapore at their own expense. 

 

I cant get to Bangkok until the 26th from there i will go to the australian embassy to see what they say. Im just really worried about thailand immigration.

 

Because my visa doesnt run out until the 4th, do you think i should try leaving on the 2nd, then if immigration says it too dirty, they will tell me to go and extend my visa?, can it be extended? and even more importantly can it be extended with a dirty passport. 

OR

Am i looking at a situation where ill get to the airport and they'll see my dirty passport and there is a possibility of them taking it because its too dirty and taking me to immigration detention to wait in the cells while my new passport gets processed. ( im guessing in this situation an australian embassy official would have to come and help me get a new passport.). Ive heard immigration police run things their own way and it can depend on what mood the officer is in and paying bribes and so forth. YUCK, i dont want anything to do with going to a prison cell because of this situation, so thats why im stressing out so much, because ive been reading too many bad stories online. 

 

Im low on funds, so i have to wait til the 26th to go to Bangkok, ive been at aranyaprathet since arriving, because im waiting for my next payment to arrive on the 26th. 

 

Im also worried that i wont have time to get an emergency passport if the australian embassy says ill need a new one to leave, because ill have to find a way to get my birth certificate and so forth worked out and signed by my parents in Australia at a post office then faxed, all that application time will definately see me missing that flight.

 

Do you have any tips for me, to settle my worries. 

any help is greatly appreciated, cheers.

Edited July 23, 2017 by highlander4000

[jeab1980]

When you say dirty is it readable? Must be if they stamped you in i wouldnt worry to much if i was you.

[ubonjoe]

If both Cambodian and Thai immigration did not have a problem with the condition of your passport it does not seem it is all that bad.

If the photo page is still in good condition I don't think you will have a problem leaving since your final destination is your home country.

Immigration certainly would not take away your passport and put you in detention. They would just not allow you to depart the country and tell you to get a new passport.

[highlander4000]

Thats the common sense ive been going with since i bought my ticket a week or so ago. 

Jead1980 and UbonJoe,  its readable to the eye, all the numbers are readable and theres no dirt on the photo, but it has that look of possible tampering because i guess the water has made the top layer of the photo page distinct from the bottom part of the photo page, theres a brown line going around that makes them distinguishable from each other about 2mm in from the outside of the passport.  Im not a passport expert so i dont know,  Its got dirt on every outside corner of exery page and then along the sides of pages, the back empty pages are better than the front ones, im about half way through my passport. I know Australian passports have a computer chip page, that chip would be fine. But i think i might have trouble with the computer passport scanners in Australia. Im not worried about Australia though, that will be easy to sort out, Its here and singapore that would be the problem. 

[highlander4000]

It is nice to hear you say they wouldnt put me in detention though. But at the same time i read about a woman entering Malaysia at Kuala Lumpur from Taiwan and she had a tear from when Japanese officials pulled out the departure card, she spent 36 hours in lockup in horrid conditions at the airport before being deported. I guess she was coming into their country, not trying to go home. Maybe im too much of a stresser, its just i had a bad situation with corrupt police in the phillipines once and im pretty worried when it comes to authorities in this part of the world. thanks for putting my mind a little bit at ease until i can get to Bangkok. Any other opinions are welcomed still too!!.

[ubonjoe]

12 minutes ago, highlander4000 said:

 its readable to the eye, all the numbers are readable and theres no dirt on the photo, but it has that look of possible tampering because i guess the water has made the top layer of the photo page distinct from the bottom part of the photo page, theres a brown line going around that makes them distinguishable from each other about 2mm in from the outside of the passport.

That is because the photo page is laminated with plastic to keep it dry and to prevent tampering. The discoloration is because the dirty water stained the edges of the page.

I think I can safely say you will not have a problem.

Transiting through Singapore will not be a problem since you will not be staying there.

[highlander4000]

Thanks mate, very much appreciated!!

[Evilbaz]

Another good reason to keep your passport in the plastic holder supplied when not using it.

 

 

[jeab1980]

1 hour ago, Evilbaz said:

Another good reason to keep your passport in the plastic holder supplied when not using it.

 

 

Is that an OZ thing?

Edited July 23, 2017 by jeab1980

[berybert]

I had problems with an old passport of mine getting damaged some years ago. I was warned about it several times. I.E. they told me it wouldn't be usable for much longer.

In the end when I got home to Heathrow the guy there told me 'get a new one you wont be able to travel on this one anymore'

I don't think you will have any problems until you get back to Oz then they will make you get a new passport.

[shaurene]

Go to tye nearest Thai imegration office have a word with them. 

[Kabula]

Your probably o.k., but you might want to stop my the U.S. Embassy and show them the passport and perhaps they can make a recommendation.  There is not enough time for a new one, but perhaps they have a form they can fill out for Immigration confirming all information.

[Grusa]

10 minutes ago, Kabula said:

Your probably o.k., but you might want to stop my the U.S. Embassy and show them the passport and perhaps they can make a recommendation.  There is not enough time for a new one, but perhaps they have a form they can fill out for Immigration confirming all information.

Why would an Australian go to the US embassy?

[coppywriter]

13 minutes ago, Kabula said:

Your probably o.k., but you might want to stop my the U.S. Embassy and show them the passport and perhaps they can make a recommendation.  There is not enough time for a new one, but perhaps they have a form they can fill out for Immigration confirming all information.

The OP is Australian 

[jeab1980]

36 minutes ago, Kabula said:

Your probably o.k., but you might want to stop my the U.S. Embassy and show them the passport and perhaps they can make a recommendation.  There is not enough time for a new one, but perhaps they have a form they can fill out for Immigration confirming all information.

Got to love guys who belive the good old US of A can fix anything for any nationality.

[jeab1980]

1 hour ago, shaurene said:

Go to tye nearest Thai imegration office have a word with them. 

He already has immigration saw his passport and let him in.

[novo58]

when will people learn to READ the OP before making a comment. To the OP ...you should NOT have an issue at Singapore as you will not actually go thru passport control there...if you are only in transit and stay within the airport. I dont think  you will have any problems leaving Thailand...as you are leaving they will not care.........in Australia they cannot refuse you entry and will probably advise you to get a new passport ---thats if you actually see or talk to an immigration officer there...I havent been to gold coast airport for a long time ...but Brisbane is virtually all automatic gates these days.

[Eff1n2ret]

17 hours ago, Evilbaz said:

Another good reason to keep your passport in the plastic holder supplied when not using it.

 

 

I don't know what plastic holder you are referring to, presumably it's better quality than one I once used. This was from an agency in Pattaya more than 7 years ago when I used them for a visa run. The holder was a soft clear plastic, which over a period stuck to the cover and completely removed the gold blocking from the front. Now it's impossible to tell the nationality of the passport from the outside. I've never had a problem because of that, but I would never use such a holder again.

[novo58]

Australian passports are issued with a two pocket plastic cover. the passport slides into one pocket , the other on issue has info for travellers. When I returned to Thailand in May 2017 with my new passport, I had my old passport in one of the pockets and the new passport in the other ....as my re-entry stamp and permission to stay stamp were in the old passport and I knew that I would need to show both upon arrival in Thailand.

[YetAnother]

19 hours ago, highlander4000 said:

I feel my case would be stronger for being aloud to leave if i could prove i was let into the country with the passport in this condition.

western thinking; all the immigration offices are their own little silos

[Evilbaz]

10 minutes ago, novo58 said:

Australian passports are issued with a two pocket plastic cover. the passport slides into one pocket , the other on issue has info for travellers. When I returned to Thailand in May 2017 with my new passport, I had my old passport in one of the pockets and the new passport in the other ....as my re-entry stamp and permission to stay stamp were in the old passport and I knew that I would need to show both upon arrival in Thailand.

 

Precisely - they also suggest you use it to take care of their  passport as after all it belongs to them.

 

Surely your country does something similar - if not they are really cheap!

 

 

[xerostar]

On my last trip out of Australia to Bangkok I was the proud owner of a brand new Oz passport !

At check-in the lady placed the baggage claim sticker on the front of my passport.

I didn't give it a thought until several weeks later preparing for my return flight, I removed the sticker only to find a sticky, gooey mess of adhesive.

I tried cleaning with a wet tissue but that made it worse with paper fiber sticking to the glue. and smearing the glue further. across the cover.

I  tried some alcohol but that didn't work. In desperation I got some nail polish remover and cleaned  most of the glue off with that  but it also removed a lot of the gold lettering and the blue dye of the cover.

Originally it was a semi -gloss dark blue cover. Now it was a mat finish with indistinct lettering. 

I've got all my old passports as far back as the early 60's but they all look "new" in comparison to my now dilapidated  new passport.

I reported the problem to the airline and immigration.

Both took the matter seriously and sent directives to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Edited July 24, 2017 by xerostar

[csabo]

"A picture is worth a thousand words" has never been more true. 

[BritTim]

I assume it is a biometric passport, and the mishap did not damage the passport's chip. If so, I would anticipate plenty of tut tutting, but recognition that no tampering has occurred.If you must get an emergency travel document, I do not think your birth certificate will ne necessary. The damaged passport should be sufficient.

[Evilbaz]

Yes but he'll have to start anew when back in OZ if they determine it is a damaged passport.

 

 

[Gumballl]

14 minutes ago, BritTim said:

I assume it is a biometric passport, and the mishap did not damage the passport's chip. If so, I would anticipate plenty of tut tutting, but recognition that no tampering has occurred.If you must get an emergency travel document, I do not think your birth certificate will ne necessary. The damaged passport should be sufficient.

Finally a post (in this thread) from someone who realizes that were in the 21st century.  It's the chip (or RFID) baby!

[midzo]

3 hours ago, jeab1980 said:

Got to love guys who belive the good old US of A can fix anything for any nationality.

 

 

No, the US State Department cannot fix everything for every nationality.

 

What they can do, however, is produce a passport that will survive a momentary dunk in a puddle.

 

I went swimming while wearing my money belt once. Passport had zero issues once dried.

 

 

[zzidenn]

The latest version of the german passport actually sports a fancy ID page made from polycarbonate it's apparently very hard to tamper with, it doesn't come with any plastic cover...

[oldlakey]

19 minutes ago, midzo said:

 

 

No, the US State Department cannot fix everything for every nationality.

 

What they can do, however, is produce a passport that will survive a momentary dunk in a puddle.

 

I went swimming while wearing my money belt once. Passport had zero issues once dried.

 

 

Actually they cant fix anything, except for their own citizens

Mind you they make plenty of problems for other nationalities

Have a nice day

[Lancelot01]

When you are transiting Singapore do you have a straight through ticket i.e the same airline from Bangkok?

If not I think that you will find you have to clear SIN immigration then go to check in with the continuing airline before re-entering immigration again.

I had this problem last year. I flew to SIN with Air Asia then on to  a the Gold Coast with Scoot. I thought that I could stay in the transit area but Scoot would not allow me to board without a stamp from check in even though I had a boarding pass.

I hope that this makes sense.