Can I fly to Thailand without a visa if I have a Laos visa as proof of onward travel?

@Leo ********

wrong. They must ensure you comply with the immigration rules (valid passport, visa, onward tickets etc). If not they get fined and responsible to return you home. Try boarding an international flight with your drivers license as ID.

@Susan ***

It certainly is not only 2 airlines asking for visa or onward ticket.

I already experienced it for other airlines, and that is OK.

All airlines should do it, but most only do incidentally to save time.

The British passport, your skin color and the class you fly have nothing to do with these requirements. You choose not to buy a visa, that means you decide to use the Thai visa exempt program for tourists, so you have to comply with the requirements for this program, and one of those requirements is that you have an onward ticket within the period you are allowed to stay, which is checked at chek-in desk of airline and on arrival (sometimes) at immigration.

What you get on arrival is not a visa at all, but visa exempt, you are granted to stay 60 days without visa.

And when you think Qatar is bad, what is a strange thought, nobody forces you to fly with them.

@Luit ****************

I always have a legal onward flight because my travel is planned and paid for 6 months in advance

What you don't seem to understand is that only 2 airlines do this and they don't ask everyone for an onward ticket.

I am always asked no matter what class I fly and despite having a British passport.

If everyone was asked by every airline then fine.

But they aren't.

Oddly it's usually us non white folk always asked

I know many white folk who have never been asked once.

So yeah I'm entitled to call Qatar (in particular) bad.

PS I have a British passport. I don't need to buy any visa for Thailand. I get 60 days visa on arrival.

@Susan ***

There are no fake onward tickets, it are just tickets bought on your name and cancelled afterwards by the company you buy from.

The airlines are just performing checks they are required to do by Thai government.

When you as a tourist choose for not buying a visa, these rules apply.

That a lot of people try to fool Thai government by cancelling their flight tickets afterwards is not a concern of the airline.

You should not call an airline bad if they just follow the rules.

If you have time to buy a one way ticket, you also have time to buy a return ticket, so urgent bussiness is not a good excuse here.

@Leo ********

Many countries do fine airlines for bringing passengers who don't have the right entry documentation. But that is in country's which check such things like the UK, USA etc.

Thailand immigration never does but I guess in theory they could check. But then if you showed the airline a fake onward ticket surely they would be fined anyway, so why don't they check??

Plus not all airlines to Thailand do this. I've flown to Thailand many times. Only Qatar have this policy, and in SE Asia only Air Asia and Vietnam Airlines have asked.

@Susan ***

I agree that it’s not the business of the company if you get refused at the immigration in the arrival country.

Their job is to fly a plane. Not to care about immigration rules.