jc24

At the end of my vacation, I will be flying Bangkok Airways from Siem Reap to Bangkok and then taking a flight three hours later on Thai Airways to JFK. I have a couple of quick questions:

1. Do I have to clear customs and then pay a departure tax when I arrive in Bangkok from Siem Reap before I leave on a flight to the US or can I just transit to my US flight.

2. If I can just transit to my US flight, what about my bag? Can I just check it in Siem Reap and give them my Thai Airways flight details? Or, do I have to pick up my bag from baggage claim in Bangkok and check it with Thai Airways?

Thanks in advance.

John

Craig

I would call Bangkok Airways and see if they can check you all the way through - if so, there is a transit desk at BKK where you can bypass customs and immigration. If not, then you would have to go through immigration, clear customs and pay the departure tax. Even if they say you can check all the way through, keep in mind that when you check in at Siem Reap, that might not be the case for you. We have found that we have had to go with the flow on this so just anticipate that you might have to be flexible. As for timing, 3 hours is a good enough comfort zone in my opinion even if you have to retrieve bags, go through customs and check in again.

KimJapan

Bangkok Air and Thai Air have an interline agreement so you should be able to check your bags through. A call to Thai Air should give you confirmation of procedure. Departure tax is likely already included in your ticket.

MichaelBKK

Being able to check bags through often depends a lot on how you ticket the flights. If you book online direct with the airlines, then you essentially have separate tickets, and it will be hard to check your bags through. However, if you book through an agency and have your flights all on one ticket (even if it's an e-ticket) then it's more likely you'll be able to check through.

Kathie

I've been able to check my bags through even when I had separate tickets. You will need to present all of the tickets and they will have to add some data to your file, but it is do-able.