Do I need a transit visa for a layover of 5 hours at Suvarnavumi airport in Bangkok?
My itinerary is as follows:
Kolkata => Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (on Thai Airways)
Layover for 5.10 hours at BKK Suvarnabhumi
Bangkok Suvarnabhumi => Viantiane (on Thai Smile)
Return:
Viantiane (Wattay International Airport) => Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (Thai Airways)
Layover 2.10 hours
Bangkok Suvarnabhumi => Kolkata (Thai Airways)
So, I would like to know if I need to apply for a transit visa for Thailand.
Best Answer
I'll assume your passport requires a visa to visit Thailand.
Per TIMATIC, the database used by airlines:
TWOV (Transit Without Visa): Passengers transiting through Bangkok (BKK) with a confirmed onward ticket for a flight to a third country within 12 hours. They must stay in the international transit area of the airport and have documents required for the next destination.
This TWOV facility does not apply to passengers traveling on Angkor Air (K6), Beijing Capital Airlines (JD), Business Air (8B), Cebu Pacific (5J), Eaststar Jet (ZE), Golden Myanmar Airlines (Y5), Indigo (6E), Jeju Air (7C), Jet Asia Airways (JF), Jetstar (JQ), Jetstar Pacific (BL), Jin Air (LJ), JuneYao Airlines (HO), Lao Central Airlines (LF), Mandara Airlines (RI), Norwegian Air (DY), Okay Airways BK), Orient Thai Airlines (OX), Regent Air (RX), Shandong Airlines (SC), Shanghai Airlines (FM), Shenzhen Airlines (ZH), Siberia Airlines (S7), Sichuan Airlines (3U), South East Asian Airlines (DG), Spice Jet (SG), Thai Smile Airlines (WE), Tianjin Airlines (GS), Tiger Air (TR), Trans Aero (UN), Turkmenistan Airlines (T5), T'way Airlines (TW), Ural Airlines (U6) and VietJet Air (VJ).
However, for entering Thailand:
Visa required, except for Nationals of India with a normal passport traveling as tourists can obtain a visa on arrival at Bangkok (BKK and DMK) [...] for a maximum stay of 15 days. They must have a confirmed return/onward ticket with a departure within 15 days from arrival date, 1 recent passport photo and at least THB 10,000.- per person (or THB 20,000.- per family). Their passport must contain at least 1 unused visa page.
This means you don't need a visa in advance; should you need to clear immigration at any point (which TIMATIC suggests you have to do), get a visa at the airport before doing so.
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Answer 2
Since it is at the same airport (BKK), I don't see the need to pass through immigration unless the terminal you need to get through is such that you are forced to do so in order to get there. My understanding is that you can switch terminals in transient without having to pass through immigration.
Unless you must actually go through Thai arrival immigration (and subsequently Thai departure immigration), you do not need a visa. So the central question is, do you need to pass through immigration to catch your connecting flight? It doesn't appear so based on the information you provided so far.
In case you determine you must pass through immigration before you can get to the next plane, you have 2 options:
1) [only before departing] Obtain a Single Entry Tourist Visa (SETV) from the Thai Embassy in India or country in which you are a local resident.
2) Obtain a Visa on Arrival (VoA) at the airport. But you can obtain a Visa On Arrival which is 2,000 Baht (increased from 1,000 Baht effective Sept 2017). You may also need passport size photos which can be done on site for additional fee. I recommend you bring your own photos.
Keep in mind that to obtain VoA may take an hour 2-3 hours (read post #16). You claim that there is a 5 hour layover. Assuming the plane is on time, should be no worries.
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