my wife is under the impression she can return to thailand
using her expired (2 years ago) thai passport.
She also has a uk passport ....
She wants to renew her thai passport once back in LOS
Where traveling in 2 weeks....
I was lead to believe that it was ok for her to use her UK passport
and because she was born in Thailand the 30 days didnt apply...
Just some of her friends(thai) in the UK are giving conflicting advice...
Im starting to get confused also...
Whats the best plan?
Hope yous can help
Regards to all
Fach
The only Geordie in sleepy Cha am since 2009 :cheers:
I'm no expert in this but here's my 2 penneth anyway:
my wife is under the impression she can return to Thailand
using her expired (2 years ago) thai passport.
Expired means expired. It is no longer a valid travel document. I was under the impression that a passport had to have 6 months validity before travelling to/from the UK/Thailand.
I was lead to believe that it was ok for her to use her UK passport
and because she was born in Thailand the 30 days didnt apply...
My wife is in exactly the situation. I obtained a visa for her a couple of weeks ago - it's free anyway, so why take the chance? On the other hand, as long as she's re-newing her passport in Thailand, she can return to the UK using her Thai passport (old one with visa plus new one together).
Whats the best plan?
Check with the Airline/Thai Embassy/UK Immigration. This is important stuff - if you're not sure, get official advice. Don't leave it to an Internet Forum where you are likely to get even more conflicting advice.
I'm with Big Boy on this one. Expired means expired so I think she will have to enter using the UK passport. If you are staying longer than 30 days (reads like you are), then I don't know what happens. She could get the new Thai passport here, but then her UK passport would indicate Thailand overstay after 30 days.
Better check with the proper authorities before you leave the UK. I know you can get an expedited U.S. passport with a turnaround of 24 hours if you are willing to pay a high fee. Maybe the Thai Embassy in the U.K. will do the same.
My brain is like an Internet browser; 12 tabs are open and 5 of them are not responding, there's a GIF playing in an endless loop,... and where is that annoying music coming from?
Yes it's a strange situation.
I suppose they wouldn't refuse entry to a Thai citizen, even with an expired passport but the airline wouldn't let you board with one anyway.
Refering to the GDS (booking system) and the TIMATIC details used by, amongst others, checkin to check what visa etc are required it gives the following information.
TIMATIC-3 / 12NOV09 / 1126 UTC
NATIONAL THAILAND (TH)
RESIDENCE UNITED KINGDOM (GREAT BRITAIN) (GB)
DESTINATION THAILAND (TH)
VISA DESTINATION THAILAND (TH)
...... NORMAL PASSPORTS ONLY ......
PASSPORT REQUIRED.
- EXPIRED PASSPORTS ISSUED TO NATIONALS OF THAILAND ARE
ACCEPTED.
PASSPORT EXEMPTIONS:
- NATIONALS OF THAILAND HOLDING A CERTIFICATE OF IDENTITY.
VISA NOT REQUIRED.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
- ALL PASSPORTS MUST BE IN GOOD CONDITION.
STEVE G wrote:Yes it's a strange situation.
I suppose they wouldn't refuse entry to a Thai citizen, even with an expired passport but the airline wouldn't let you board with one anyway.
One of my wife's relatives had an almost identical situation to this a few months ago.
The correct procuedure is to depart the UK using the UK passport and arrive in BKK on the expired Thai passport. As stated in another post, Thailand allows its nationals to re-enter on an expried passport.
whenever we have been overseas my daughter uses the thai passport to leave thailand, uk passport to enter other country, uk passport to leave other country and thai passport to enter thailand.
That way, you never get any mis-match on entry/exit stamps.
My sister-in-law had a similar situation some years ago. Because she was going to stay longer than 30 days, she decided to enter Thailand on her, still valid Thai passport and of course no problems at that time.
But when she wanted to go back to the Netherlands, the airline refused to take her, because she did not have a visa in her Thai passport. So when she showed her Netherlands passport, the airline staff called immigration, because she had no proof in this passport that she legally entered the country.
She ended up paying a large fine, which was a lot more than the cost of a visa extension.
If for some reason the Thai immigration official doesn't let her enter on her expired Thai passport, she would then just get a 30 day visa waiver with her UK passport. Imagine then after she gets a new Thai passport, she would have to do a border run exit with the UK passport within that 30 days, and re-enter on the new Thai passport. Just me thinking out loud on how I think it would work. Pete
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
Thanks for that Pete...
Play it by ear then
Were going to HH to live in 2 weeks
Its my fault for not sorting her thai passport out
Just something i overlooked...
Just 4 flat out days to go at work!
anymore advice is appreciated.
Hope everyone is well
The only Geordie in sleepy Cha am since 2009 :cheers:
Thanks...Its been 4 years of dreaming
Been living like a nomad for 6 weeks
between parents....im really looking
forward to our future and watching
my son grow up in a great country...
Hopefully after 2 weeks of roaming
around seeing the family etc we will
land in HH...Still looking for a place
to rent....but worry about that later!!
Counting down these final days!
thanks again everyone...
The only Geordie in sleepy Cha am since 2009 :cheers:
also...
Pete