I’m relatively inexperienced with Thai visa’s but I wanted to give a heads up in case what happened to me yesterday isn’t common knowledge.

Yesterday we were returning from Vietnam after successfully getting an ED visa for both my wife and I. We didn’t apply for anything for our kids because we were missing their birth certificate, but the consulate didn’t seem to care because kids can’t be turned away at the border.

We flew from Saigon to Da Nang for a little holiday before returning to Bangkok. Upon arrival to check in to our VietJet Air flight in Danang, they wouldn’t let us check-in because the kids didn’t have a valid visa, and no ongoing flight. They made me stand there in the queue and book a flight out of Thailand for my kids within 30 days, before they would issue a boarding pass. They mentioned that this is the direction of the airline. What made it even more strange is that a guy stood next to us was also being prevented from getting a boarding pass without an outbound flight, and he was planning on entering on a VOA.

We booked our flight and I immediately cancelled, and when we entered Bangkok the immigration had no issues whatsoever. They issues my kids 30 days, and stamped our ED visas for 90 days, with no proof of an outbound flight required.

Not sure if this is useful information, or if anybody knows of times where another airline make you book an outbound flight before issuing a boarding pass?

If this is completely normal, I apologise for wasting your time.