Switching passport at Vientiane airport to get visa on arrival ?

by Chris
(Bangkok)

Does anyone know if Laos immigration at Vientiane airport cares or not that you have a Thai stamp out of Thailand in your passport when you ask to make the Tourist visa at the Laos immigration?

Is it possible to switch passport without any problem?
I mean can I go out of Thailand stamping out one passport and getting in Laos stamping in with another passport without having problem ?
Is it better to fly from Suvarnabhumi in case so you can say you were in transit in Bangkok from another country so you don't have any Thai stamp?
Or is it OK to fly from Don Mueang because Laos doesn't care to have the stamp out?
Thanks for your advice/answers.
Chris

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Aug 02, 2017
 Sounds complicated
by: Duangpy

Hi Chris,
Yes, Lao immigration officials do care to check your Thai stamp out if you travel from Thailand.

I witnessed a similar case once, but it was at the Thai-Lao border crossing point when my brother who holds Canadian passport came to visit. He arrived through Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge. The Thai immigration officer must have missed his passport I guess. When he arrived at Lao side trying to get visa on arrival, the officer looked for the Thai stamp out first thing, and couldn't find one so he made my brother to go back to get the stamp out at Thai side. It wasn't a big deal because it was just a three minutes bus ride to the other side of the bridge, and it cost him a round-trip bus ticket of around 20 Baht at the time and spent about five minutes in the line. It could have been worse if he arrived by air and had to go back to Thailand to get the stamp-out. It would cost him an air ticket and many hours of time waste, not to mention a hassle trying to explain the situation to the immigration officer in Thailand.

Anyway, your case is different, but I just try to point out the consequences when/if things don't go as planned.

What you try to do (transit thing) seems to be logically possible, but I think it's too risky.

If you were in transit in Bangkok from another country, When did you have that country's stamp-out? Is the date you were stamped-out reasonable e.g not too long before. Anyway, if you really want to switch the passports, think long and hard, and make things reasonable and make sure you can answer questions that you might be asked or you can unnecessarily get into trouble.

... I'll spare myself from commenting further on this.

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