Take a copy of the book and stick it under the nose of the I/O. That should work and put him/her straight.

@Ali *****

if they had had already done 2 visa exempt land crossings and never had a visa.

@Ali *****

we know that.

I answered my own question. They can. SA is not on the list. May want to check though that they don't have a visa issued in Pretoria with the writing on it stating they need to return to SA in order to get another visa.

@Julandi ********

if they have done 2 land border crossings this year, using the visa exempt entry, another isn't possible. They have to fly into Thailand.

I see the OP is South African. If her friends are South African, can they get visas in Laos? I have no idea without looking.

@Ivan ***********

i never said they did. I simply stated the fact that if they did. Many people are unaware of that situation regarding Laos airways.

And i have said, until they are released and immigration have made a decision regarding there visa history, it's hypothetical where they are going.

You do realise that with an Overstay stamp in your passport, Laos airways at least, will refuse to carry you? To keep preaching this being able to go back to where you came from, is misleading. I guess people don't like the fact, this playing games with immigration, is coming to an end.

These people weren't simply stopped over the lack of 20,000 baht. They obviously have a history that even having 20,000 baht was not going to sway off.

@Ivan ***********

it isn't standard practice at all. In the last 2 weeks we've had the guy on ME visa held until he bought a ticket back to the US and then only stamped in for 30 days, passport marked and given a letter to that effect.

The lady held for 2 days, with a visa and only released on the next available flight to the UK. It's not a foregone conclusion your going back to where you came from to attempt a porous land border entry.

They are well aware of what's going on thanks to social media.

Until they are released, where they go is hypothetical. Immigration and the airline will make the decision where they go depending on there visa history.