Held at BKK immigration
Hi all,
Does anyone have experience being stopped at immigration at BKK and refused entry? I have a friend who tried to re-enter Thailand today. He had been home in the UK for a few months, but had done the visa-free stamp twice in the past 12 months. He’d planned to come back on a tourist visa (in keeping with new rules), however the visa was delayed and the flight came around before the visa was fully processed. He hoped because it was a new year he might be allowed entry anyway on another stamp. Unfortunately he couldn’t change his flight, so it was the only option other than cancel the trip entirely.
I realise the situation is a little silly and he should probably just have cancelled the trip. But does anyone have any experience in this situation or being detained at immigration? He’s currently held in transfer area at BKK. They’re saying the only option is to be deported back to UK on Monday (and sleep on a bench until then), but I was wondering if maybe its possible they would allow him to book a flight to another country (Vietnam, Malaysia etc) rather than be sent back to the UK?
Any help would be appreciated.
EDIT: Update
Thanks for everyone's input - the conclusion is that he is being returned to the UK, no option to travel elsewhere. The return flight is provided by his original airline, but he does not have to pay for it. To clarify, he had entered twice on the exemption stamp and extended the extra 30 days on both. I think this was the main caveat. Also, he had travelled to Thailand a lot over the last few years - although always with legit entry stamps/extensions/tourist visas etc, but I think this generally counted against him as they were able to suggest he looks like he is not acting as a genuine tourist. He also got a particularly badly-mannered immigration agent, so I think in some cases he probably could have gotten through even with these circumstances. For those travelling soon bear in mind the visa application process seems to be extra long at the moment, probably due to these new rules, and beware for extra scrutiny coming in if you travel to Thailand frequently.