Thai Pass

[orson]

One of the surprises that came up on my trip was the airline requires an exit ticket before being allowed to check in. This seems like a new regulation. 

[stijntje]

1 hour ago, orson said:

One of the surprises that came up on my trip was the airline requires an exit ticket before being allowed to check in. This seems like a new regulation. 

What do you mean with "exit ticket"? 

[orson]

3 hours ago, stijntje said:

What do you mean with "exit ticket"? 

Ticket going out of Thailand. 

[PeterRS]

The requirement for anyone arriving in Thailand by air to have an air ticket out of the country has been the law for decades. It is rarely enforced once you arrive at Immigration but some airlines do check this before they allow you to board your flight to Thailand. As a frequent traveller and living in Thailand, I have been stopped twice - in Sydney by British Airways and in Hong Kong by Cathay Pacific. In both cases I was very close to being prevented from being given a boarding pass because I could not show an onward ticket out of the country.

The reason given in Sydney was that if the Immigration Department discovered I did not have an onward ticket, I would be sent back to Sydney at my expense and the airline would be fined by the Thai authorities. In order to get on that BA flight, I had to give the check-in manager a signed credit card slip (it was about 15 years ago).

I was told Singapore has the same requirement but I have no idea how true that is.

[macaroni21]

I think mnay countries have a similar requirement for entry -- to be able to demonstrate that one has a ticket for departure before visa-expiry date. Alternatively, to be able to demonstrate that  you have the financial resources to purchase such a ticket if you do not yet have one. Enforcement however is patchy, or it comes in waves, such as when overstayers hit the news and the government has to be seen to be doing something.

Another possibility is that those of us holding Western (or richer Asian)  passports tend not to be asked to show departure tickets (so, we forget the rule may exist)  whereas visitors originating from poorer countries are more likely to be asked this question. Such "racial profiling" (if you wish to call it that) happens just as often at Western airports (maybe even more often) than Bangkok or Asian cities. Some years ago, I saw a long slow-moving immigration queue at Heathrow comprising passengers just off a New Delhi flight and, as I was in a parallel (fortunately, faster-moving) queue, I overheard the mostly-Indian passengers passing a message down their line saying, "take out your departure ticket to show the officer when you get to the counter". 

[Londoner]

Mine has been checked only once in eighty visits. I think macaroni is correct....and about UK Immigration too. Much the same at Customs. I've never been checked in Thailand and only once in the UK. 

[10tazione]

11 hours ago, PeterRS said:

The requirement for anyone arriving in Thailand by air to have an air ticket out of the country has been the law for decades.

There must be some exceptions.

When I applied for the turist visa about 2 years ago, I asked if I must have a return flight within 2 months or within 3 months if I plan to extend the visa from 2 to 3 months anyway. And the answer was that I don't need a return flight at all and that I can buy it in Thailand.

[vinapu]

7 minutes ago, 10tazione said:

 

When I applied for the turist visa about 2 years ago, I asked if I must have a return flight within 2 months or within 3 months if I plan to extend the visa from 2 to 3 months anyway. And the answer was that I don't need a return flight at all and that I can buy it in Thailand.

it could be a case of 'who wakes up first , is in charge"

[thaiophilus]

The nearest I've been to having anything checked was when checking in, the airline staff noticed that the dates of my arrival and departure flights were more than 30 days apart but I had no visa. I explained that I was planning to visit a neighbouring country (using a different airline) so I would be making two visits of less than 30 days. They took my word without proof and that was the end of the matter.

[reader]

The Thai Enquirer reports that "Thailand’s government is aiming to remove the remaining travel restrictions and travel pass requirements by the end of July in a bid to further boost tourism, a source in the health ministry told Thai Enquirer on Monday."

[macaroni21]

End of July? Wasn't there some sort of master plan announced a couple of months ago aiming for 1st of July for full opening, i.e. abolishing the Thai Pass, etc?

[gerefan]

Another day, another date. TIT, 

[jason1975]

I applied for Thai Pass last night. This morning before noon, I received approval of my application. That's really quick and efficient! 🥰

[Londoner]

Yes; I'm pleased for you...and for me, since my application will be made soon.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, jason1975 said:

I applied for Thai Pass last night. This morning before noon, I received approval of my application. That's really quick and efficient! 🥰

Did you use a non-Thai insurance policy ?

[pong2]

re ticket OUT: its in the TIM-that was once an overly thick ´manual´=loose leaf folder with all the ever changeing requirements that govts put on arrivals-most often also subdivided into a few 100 different categories. Its now of course all-electronic and will cost a whopping few 100 GBP/€ yearly to maintain it-any airline has to. Airlines do not decide this-in fact all that ground handling @ airports is done by a few 100 private enterprises, who all make up their own minds-and even on the very same comp. it may mean its different in LGW as it would be in BRU or PAR. Quite often the rules applied reflect those of the country one is in: hence OZ=Australia down yunda is famous for being ultra-strict.

(f.e. an arriving prospective sea-man, even from India (Kerala has thousands of such guys) who is rostered to go on duty on a tanker from Southampton or Liverpool is exempt for it arriving UK.

NOw for TH-land of blighty and always smiling; its NOT and+and but its OR: EITHer you have a valid visa OR you must be able to show (´ticket´=can easily be just a screen on fone) OUT. AND-as airlines cannot believe anyone would ever use any other means as flying in a plane: they insist on a plane booking. Though technically a train ticket from BKK to Penang would serve the purpose.

Its widely known that THAI airw does never insist on seeing it. They know how their own country works. IF needed-many have been known to search for the cheapest AirAsia flite OUT -it will always have the 700THB tax in it-but they refund this less adm. fee.

About ThaiPass; from other mainstream fora here I understand the idea is now (but as its TH can change by the whim of any minute) to drop it completely first for Thai citizens returning and then later/maybe for the pesky farang.

LAOS has already dropped all of such rules-today or very recent.

Meanwhile here in EUR the EU has advised that wearing masks in planes is also not needed anymore from 15/5-I flew today (on Ryan, yes, for 14€) and it was enforced.

[gerefan]

21 hours ago, pong2 said:

flew today (on Ryan, yes, for 14€)

About all any Ryanair flight is worth! 

[Guest]

22 hours ago, pong2 said:

Meanwhile here in EUR the EU has advised that wearing masks in planes is also not needed anymore from 15/5-I flew today (on Ryan, yes, for 14€) and it was enforced.

I needed a mask on a flight into one EU country last week.   That country also required people to wear masks on buses and trains.

The second and third EU countries didn't seem to require masks anywhere, including on buses and trains.   There was also no need to wear a mask in the airport or on the flight out of the third EU country.

The latter examples are exactly how it should be in 2022.  

I'm no anti-masker and I was wearing a FFP2 mask in the UK in March 2020, long before they were recommended in Europe.   The key difference is those were the pre-vaccine days. 

Governments cannot expect people to wear masks for ever and if we don't make them optional when everyone has had access to mRNA vaccines, when will we stop ?

 

The Thai rules effectively require me to wear a mask when walking around the almost uninhabited wastelands of North Pattaya, but of course I don't need to wear one in a confined space with lots of people, such as when in a coffee shop, bar or restaurant.  

 

Incidentally, for the EU & UK travel, the only paperwork I needed was passenger locator forms for 2 out of the 4 countries.    These were filled in on line, WITH INSTANT CONFIRMATION OF ACCEPTANCE.   

[reader]

The Pattaya News is reporting that the Thailand Health Ministry plans to propose lowering the national Covid alert level from 3 to 2 at the next meeting of the Center for Covid Administration on May 20. Level 2 means that the public can mostly resume life almost as normal to the pre-Covid period. More preventive measures will be relaxed and more businesses will be reopened or fully operated. This may include the (legal) return of entertainment venues and some relaxed measures at outside venues like parks and beaches, such as mask mandates in certain settings.

 

[vinapu]

about time

[Travellerdave]

Good but I will really applaud when gay gogos open with boys dancing in their whities on the inside stages, wanting to be called down to join customers for a possible off.

[paulsf]

Just curious as to what wearing whities on stage has to do with guys being offed.  I admit I’m in Bangkok, but the off rate for last few weeks has been very good.   

[Guest]

1 hour ago, paulsf said:

Just curious as to what wearing whities on stage has to do with guys being offed.  I admit I’m in Bangkok, but the off rate for last few weeks has been very good.   

 

We need to visit the gogo bars in order to off people.

So, lets consider the reasons why we might visit.   

Now as a baseline, I'm getting very good results on the phone apps and by asking the right questions, I get far better service than from the gogo bars and it's far cheaper.    So going to meet boys is no longer a good enough reason to visit gogo bars.   They need to offer something additional.

 

1  Entertainment would be one reason to visit.  Boys in whities are very easy on the eye and I would pay up to see cute twinks in thin white underwear.   For example, as I did in Fresh Boys when they were briefly open in December 2020.

I don't consider watching boys in jeans to be entertainment.   So when I walked into Fresh Boys various times in early 2022, I swiftly left.   They had boys in jeans and compounded the problem with larger lads than previously.

 

2   Another advantage of gogo bars is you see what you get.   Covering up 50% weakens that proposition.    

 

3   Once the gogo boys put jeans on, as far as I'm concerned, they are competing with host bars.    Compared with gogo bars, host bars have more interaction between hosts and customers, combined with far lower drink prices.  The gogo bars are supposed to have the advantages #1 & #2 that I already identified.     

Once a gogo bar puts out boys in jeans, they have lost those advantages over apps and host bars.  

 

[Meanwhile, for comparison, the very few girlie bars in Patpong still have their gogo dancers in something approximating to swimwear.   As is visible when walking past.   I can't comment on the offer inside. ] 

[reader]

I think you've made a strong case why you shouldn't go to the bars where the guys on stage are wearing pants. You're evidently doing quite well on the apps.

For me--and a fair number of others--the bars remain attractive options even if the young men aren't scampering around in their underwear. Not unlike the boys in massage shops, they wouldn't be there if they didn't want to meet those of us who come through the door.

I find men in jeans a perfectly acceptable arrangement. It's not my first rodeo so I have a fairly reliable idea of what looms underneath. And if I don't find out for sure until I take the guy back to my room, that's fine, too. Sort of akin to the excitement of unwrapping a gift.

Not that I'd walk out of a place where those on stage were in briefs--or less, but there's a hell of lot you can't determine just by looking at a guy in his underwear.  To determine whether he has a playful approach to his job, or brings passion to the meeting, or satisfies your individual needs, you need to sit down with him. Sure, it will probably cost you 350 baht (50 of which goes to the boy) but that's what help covers the overhead.

As for Fresh Boys, I'd be pleased to find that they're fielding a crew that represents a cross section of Asian men of different ethnicity, size and appearance. It's that great diversity that I'm looking for in any bar.

 

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, reader said:

I find men in jeans a perfectly acceptable arrangement.

Fair enough.     In the case of Pattaya, I take the view that guys in trousers are also available in Jomtien complex, with more mingling and less cost than at the gogo bars.

If the gogo bars carry on fobbing us off with guys in jeans, I guess their survival depends on how many people are in your camp and how many people are in mine.  

There is no right or wrong answer to this debate.

However, if a bar has cute guys in thin white underwear, I easily understand what value I'm getting in return for the inflated drinks prices.

Whilst respecting that others have different perspectives, I see going into a gogo bar with lads in jeans as equivalent to paying for a Ferrari and getting a Toyota.   

 

1 hour ago, reader said:

It's that great diversity that I'm looking for in any bar.

There are various ways of arranging the diversity.  

Traditionally, some bars might specialize in larger more muscular guys and other bars in smaller twinks.    A few large bars might manage to have some of everything.

When the bars that specialize in muscular guys carry on doing so and the ones that used to have smaller twinks are serving up the larger guys, the diversity has gone from the gogo scene.    

I hope it's temporary, whilst Fresh Boys etc are struggling to get lads from Myanmar, Cambodia etc.  

If it's permanent, well I can carry on finding what I need on Grindr.