No exit stamp in passport, kept departure card when leaving Thailand.

[KaiXriz]

29 minutes ago, jeab1980 said:

Very difficult when i go back to UK i usualy get in to Manchester after midnight. Not once in the many trips back has UK has immigration looked or asked for my passport. In fact the last two times only people in evidence were cleaners even the passport reader lanes were open. 

Another security breach, now the smuglers will go to Manchester after midnight :-)

[ubonjoe]

4 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

His mistake?

It is was his mistake for not realizing that he had to clear immigration in order to leave the country. It cannot be blamed entirely on the authorities at the airport although it should not be possible.

[tonray]

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

It is was his mistake for not realizing that he had to clear immigration in order to leave the country. It cannot be blamed entirely on the authorities at the airport although it should not be possible.

There are a few security holes in any system. I recall once entering Thailand at Mukdahan and a massive storm hit as we are waiting in line to get reviewed. I stepped aside to avoid the rain, which was horizontal, and some local guy, don't know if he worked for Immigration or not, pulled me bag for me to assist. Next thing I knew, exhausted and wet I was sending my bag thru the conveyer and walking into Thailand...I got a jolt from my brain that told me something was not right and immediately told the guy I had to go back to the queue. 

 

Not routine but can easily happen.

[melvinmelvin]

19 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

 

His mistake? Surely the mistake was made by Immigration or airport security, whose job it is to ensure that all people leaving and entering the country do so correctly and in accordance with the law? Why should a passenger even know that he is supposed to get an exit stamp or hand over his departure card before leaving?

This is like blaming someone for getting food poisoning in a restaurant.

 

Well, this particular passenger knew and still knows that he should have been stamped out and that the card should have been collected. That is why he is writing about the issue in this thread.

 

Surely a good idea to contact the relevant airline, and asking for documentation that you left on that and that flight

on that and that date.

 

If you arrive at Swampy when coming back I would not be surprised if they would not let you in before this issue

is properly sorted. That can take time, significant time and several brass bearers would be involved, I'd guess.

Might be a long and boring wait.

 

Maybe the handling of this could be initiated before you go back.

The Embassy may be willing to assist. Alerting Immigration on your behalf, maybe.

Or maybe you could alert Immigration yourself using post or e-mail.

 

The advantage with the Embassy is that they would probably be considered as a thrusted 3rd party,

and they can do it in Thai.

 

 

 

[JohnThailandJohn]

I suspect Thai authorities, like myself, will not believe your story.

[BritTim]

Just now, JohnThailandJohn said:

I suspect Thai authorities, like myself, will not believe your story.

If he provides the flight number and date on which he allegedly left Thailand, it will soon be proven or disproved. Immigration will simply check the passenger list.

 

Unless the OP's story is a complete wind up, he is outside Thailand without an exit stamp. That happened in some manner.

[tonray]

2 minutes ago, JohnThailandJohn said:

I suspect Thai authorities, like myself, will not believe your story.

Really ? What's their alternative explanation ? He used a Star Trek transporter to evade the IOs ? or that he burrowed under the carpet whilst nobody was watching and emerged in his plane seat ?

 

There actually is no way not to believe it. If he arrived at the airport on a domestic flight, which he has proof of, and then he flew out on an International flight, which again he has proof of, there is no other explanation.

[melvinmelvin]

 

Personally I don't think I would have gone back to Thailand without communicating

with Thai Immigration about this.

 

I once did something similar at the old airport in Hamburg, Germany.

I managed to get out of the secured departure lounge without passing security and document control.

(I had been to the toilet one or two floors down, took some wrong doors, couldn't get back in and ended

 up outside the secured area.)

 

Passing security for the 2nd time without they having noticed me leaving met with some really severe problems.

(I was easy to spot at that time, very tall, very long dark hair and lots of hair in my face.)

 

I explained what happened. They would of course not believe me, said that it is impossible to do what I claim.

I insisted. No way they would take that. All this taking place with two sub machine guns trained on me.

(this was during the height of the Baader Meinhoff escapades)

It ended with us going to the bogs together I managed to lead them to the wrong doors that should not open.

 

This took long time and was very unpleasant.

 

WIth that experience I would have tried to contact Immigration before travelling, but thats just me.

 

[Pilotman]

My advice is to go to your homer embassy and apply for a METV there before you return. .  That's a start point,  Also ask their advice before you  travel, they may be able to help.  

[Pilotman]

That ;s the Thai embassy in your home country of course, poor phrasing on my part. 

[dundas]

2 hours ago, Thailand J said:

Next bet is the airline, I guess. I would try to contact the airline to see if they can produce any document to show your flight.  I have an AirAsia account where i can print my previous travels.

I have used my frequent flyer account with Thai Airways to show when I've been in and out of my own country. Don't know if Thai Immigration would be interested, though. 

[KittenKong]

1 hour ago, melvinmelvin said:

Well, this particular passenger knew and still knows that he should have been stamped out and that the card should have been collected. That is why he is writing about the issue in this thread.

 

To me it seems more as though he discovered it (or realised it) later:

 

" Then traveled and when I wanted to leave Thailand again in March I took a domestic flight back to Suvarnabhumi, arrived there, went straight from domestic arrival to international departure as I didn't have checked baggage, only carry on. I even asked a lady of the airport staff and showed her my ticket for my international flight to make sure that was okay. She sent me straight to passenger and carry on screening, I got through there and then moved on to my departure gate without thinking about it further. "

 

When I fly from somewhere my attention is mostly on getting to the gate on time, and not losing my luggage and documents. I expect the airport and immigration to ensure that I dont skip any security checks or exit procedures etc. Particularly anyone from Europe would be accustomed to never getting entry or exit stamps, or filling in departure or arrival forms, when travelling to dozens of other countries in Europe and nearby, and so might not be expecting to do it here. I visited the US this year and I got no entry or exit stamps in my UK passport (no visa stamp either for that matter as I had paid for the pre-arranged E-visa thing), and I dont remember completing a departure card though I think I did have an electronic entry card created by a machine at the port of entry. The requirements in Thailand are way more than average.

[melvinmelvin]

1 hour ago, tonray said:

Really ? What's their alternative explanation ? He used a Star Trek transporter to evade the IOs ? or that he burrowed under the carpet whilst nobody was watching and emerged in his plane seat ?

 

There actually is no way not to believe it. If he arrived at the airport on a domestic flight, which he has proof of, and then he flew out on an International flight, which again he has proof of, there is no other explanation.

 

I am not a fan of Thai bashing,

but I think you will find that it is a very small challenge for any average Thai civil servant to come up with a whole range

of alternatives rather than admitting a security glitch at the airport.

 

[jeab1980]

We all at times just wander and follow along. Or your in a world of your own and do something without realising what you do part of life. Show me someone who has never made a mistake in life and i would call them a liar. I travel into laos a lot with the car i know the procedure off by heart. Last time i came back into thailand got my passport stamped jumped back in the car and whoosh gone straight passed where i should have stopped to get xar passport stamped. 20 mins down the road and realization clicked in. Back to the bridge wandered over to booth with paper work and car passport. A little chuckle from IO with the words "not first to do but at least you come back." So easy small lapse of concenteation and its done. Im pretty sure OP and Airline and IO's here can sort his problem out.

[NanLaew]

2 hours ago, KittenKong said:

 

His mistake? Surely the mistake was made by Immigration or airport security, whose job it is to ensure that all people leaving and entering the country do so correctly and in accordance with the law? Why should a passenger even know that he is supposed to get an exit stamp or hand over his departure card before leaving?

This is like blaming someone for getting food poisoning in a restaurant.

Like someone who erroneously receives (say) a 90-day stay stamp instead of the 30-day visa exempt stay stamp which was all he was entitled to? Yes, it is the IO's mistake but woe betide the person that abuses that error. Knowingly or unknowingly abuse seldom matters at the outset. There's plenty threads about the importance of checking that date stamp as soon as you get the passport back as the IO will correct any errors right there. Otherwise one has a bureaucratic hill to climb getting any other Immigration office to even consider correcting the airport IO's mistake and eventually a trip to the airport Immigration Office is required.. It's the same in the US where (in older times) the onus was on you to surrender the stub of the landing card to the check-in staff on departure and in turn the onus is on them to turn the stubs over to Immigration; no exit stamps.

 

I see your subsequent post mentions the online e-visa and stamp-less entry to the US and pretty much contactless 'self processing'. They were rolling that out at west coast airports the last time I passed through. Thanks for the heads-up as I already have a headache with US Immigration and showing stamps was part of "my onus" when having the dreaded secondary inspection. Now I will need to make sure that I do keep the boarding pass stubs.

[NanLaew]

3 hours ago, YetAnother said:

wouldnt the fact that he will arrive on an international flight be evidence that he left ? wouldnt indicate the date he left thailand,but must be some way that the time he spent in the other country can be verified, letter from their immigration indicating arrival date ?

Yes, it is obvious that he left but it is WHEN he left that needs clarification. Otherwise he could easily have overstayed and could easily be accused of having just done a border hop.

 

The IO's have access to flight passenger lists so as others have said, in lieu of the boarding pass stub, if the OP gets together as much proof that he was on that flight as possible such as receipts either for the international flight or the domestic hop before it. Also try and get anything that proves that he was NOT in Thailand, receipts, bus tickets, date-stamped selfies or pictures that clearly show he was elsewhere, social media chats or anything with a date stamp,  it may make the inevitable delays on arrival a bit less harrowing.

[jeab1980]

5 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Yes, it is obvious that he left but it is WHEN he left that needs clarification. Otherwise he could easily have overstayed and could easily be accused of having just done a border hop.

 

The IO's have access to flight passenger lists so as others have said, in lieu of the boarding pass stub, if the OP gets together as much proof that he was on that flight as possible such as receipts either for the international flight or the domestic hop before it. Also try and get anything that proves that he was NOT in Thailand, receipts, bus tickets, date-stamped selfies or pictures that clearly show he was elsewhere, social media chats or anything with a date stamp,  it may make the inevitable delays on arrival a bit less harrowing.

If he had just done a border hop he would have stamps in his passport with dates. So that probably is in his favour presuming he has none. He has an entry stamp no exit stamp. I agree with the rest of your post.

[Satcommlee]

Read this story

 

http://www.roadjunky.com/1108/immigration-jail-in-bangkok-thailand/

 

A guy entered Thailand without exit stamp and got locked up..

 

I dont how you could have been allowed to skip immigration procedures.. This is thier mix up.

 

You need to be careful you may be accused of illegally exiting thailand and depending on thier mood the fact you can prove you did leave thailand is irrelevant.. But why did you evade immigration? What were you hiding etc? May be the thing on thier mind..

 

Dont mean to scaremonger but the quoted story teaches you one lesson remain calm and polite.

Edited August 20, 2017 by Satcommlee
Clarification

[Belzybob]

4 hours ago, Thailand J said:

The entry stamp on your passport at the airport where you went from Suvarnabhum will proof that you were out of the country.

Only if the country you go to uses entry stamps. Australia, as one example, has electronic passport readers on entry and no stamp is entered in the passport.

[steve73]

It's easy to leave Thailand without proof by making a land/river crossing to an adjoining country.  The difficulty will be leaving that country without a valid entry stamp in your passport.  I once inadvertently drove into Laos across an unofficial border crossing, and only realized after I spotted a Lao military chasing after me and waving his rifle..  Apologies were accepted, although it was a bit more difficult returning to the Thai checkpoint (where they'd all been asleep and with the barrier raised).

 

But in the OP's case, there surely will be a record of him on the flight, and possibly on arrival to his home country (even though not actually marked as such in his passport).  

[JackThompson]

I would have an atty contact the immigration-head at the place you plan to enter Thailand and work things out in advance.   That contact would include providing anything you can get from the airlines proving you took the flight out of Thailand, as well as the domestic-flight prior.

 

You should get a letter written by your Thai lawyer (written in Thai) addressed to the Thai IO-official (the one the Lawyer made arrangements with) apologizing for your error, which should be presented to the first IO you encounter.  

I suspect you will then be taken to that official, briefly interviewed, then the appropriate stamps placed in your passport to 'fix' the situation.

The hard part is finding a good Thai lawyer, who will not take advantage of your situation (excessively), and has the contacts to make this all go down relatively painlessly for you.  Hopefully, someone here can suggest one.

[Satcommlee]

Proof of leaving Thailand is not the only thing...  He needs to convince them he had nothing to hide by evading immigration control... No criminal intent etc..  I'm sure it may have happened a dozen times if security was so lax and hopefully quickly rectified... but it also could go a very bad way.

[mstevens]

26 minutes ago, Satcommlee said:

Read this story

 

http://www.roadjunky.com/1108/immigration-jail-in-bangkok-thailand/

 

A guy entered Thailand without exit stamp and got locked up..

That's a great story but honestly, if I was the OP and I read that I would think very, very hard about whether I returned to Thailand!

[Satcommlee]

7 minutes ago, mstevens said:

That's a great story but honestly, if I was the OP and I read that I would think very, very hard about whether I returned to Thailand!

The moral was a lesson in being polite, patient and not annoying or disrespecting the officers.

 

Also it was a long time ago 2004, when computers were not as integrated as they are now..

Edited August 20, 2017 by Satcommlee

[mstevens]

1 minute ago, Satcommlee said:

The moral was a lesson in being polite, patient and not annoying or disrespecting the officers.

That may be true, but who's to say that an IO having a bad day doesn't decide to throw the book at you?  I'd try and get it cleared up before returning.  Call me a coward, but I would not want to risk spending any time behind bars in Thailand or find myself embroiled in the Thailand "justice" system.

[pby92]

4 hours ago, thexit said:

Yes, it will prove I left Thailand at some point but it doesn't prove I left it in time. I could have left the country yesterday and they wouldn't know. That's what I have a bad feeling about, they might think (and the immigration facts kinda suggest it) I stayed in Thailand longer than I should have been allowed to.

 

Do you think that will not be an issue?

you can prove with your bank statement that you were outside the country when you first withdraw money at ATM after you come back 

[Satcommlee]

Hopefully someone with real experience can put this guys mind at ease.

 

You can prove you left Thailand easy enough but can you prove you didnt commit some crime and dodge immigration to avoid arrest.. only to return after you learn you was not a suspect...

 

This is one question the IO will be asking himself..

 

[Stefanix]

I recently left Thailand from Phuket via BKK. If you don't have any luggage to check in and checked in via Internet (self printed boarding pass), you probably have the choice to use the domestic or international terminal to board the flight to BKK. Using the international terminal you obviously have to pass immigration. You also get a CIQ sticker which should help to separate international and domestic travellers at BKK. In my case those sticker where carefully checked when passing to the international departure section. Passengers  who lost their sticker had to show their boarding passes. The domestic boarding pass from HKT to BKK had a stamp "international" on it. Not sure how a "lost sticker" case would be handled with a self printed or electronic boarding pass. I can imagine that it is possible to slip through.

[al007]

5 hours ago, thexit said:

 

I went back to my home country and the entry stamp to Thailand is the latest stamp in my passport.

 

As someone who's self employed I could write said letter myself. I doubt it will do anything for that reason. The check in confirmation and online ticket receipt are really the only pieces of evidence I could think of right now.

Credit card statements, or ATMs on bank statements will verify where you were

[Lantern]

This was my experience.

My first trip was 2006 to Phuket.

I simply didn't notice I that I didn't get an exit stamp on the way out. (luckily I kept the boarding pass, more on this later)

Second trip arriving in BKK, immigration lady was thumbing backwards and forwards through my passport over and over again. She then led me to a room off to the side.

"Problem" I enquired.

"Big problem" she replied and left the room, with my passport,  only to return, a short time later, with a fellow with loads of scrambled egg on his shoulders, and a serious frown on his face, who also thumbed through the passport backwards and forwards a couple of times. 

"You not leave Thailand" he eventually said.

I pointed out the window to a plane and said, in total desperation, "I just got off that"

Not knowing where this was going I was getting worried, thinking they were going to put me back on it.

It was then I spotted the boarding pass from the previous years flight out, in my passport wallet. 

When I showed them both this it all suddenly changed to big smiles all around, non bigger than the one I was spouting.

I guess my first ever experience of seeing a Thai save face.

I was then escorted out of the immigration area to commence my second holiday.

 

Keep those boarding passes guys I always do now.