Thank you for this. My experience on 4 november at Toulouse ticket counter with french passport was as I earlier described. A supervisor for Qatar checked me in and confirmed that for boarding without visa, I needed to show a departure ticket under 30 days. I had one and was allowed to board. She said had I not, I would have been denied boarding.
I can confirm one week ago that Qatar ticket counter in france asked to see my ticket out of Thailand before 30 day visa exempt deadline. (My 60 day visa request did not arrive in time.) Without departure ticket, they do not let you board.
thank you for your reply. According to the Thai Embassy in Paris today, they will not approve/issue the E-visa when they see, based on the flight info you downloaded when applying, that you have already departed for Thailand. Lesson learned.