moocherx

I was quite disappointed yesterday, when I passed by the departure tax counter at Check-in Area 1 of Suvarnhabumi airport... the little lectern is still there, but no more do I have to pay 500 baht for a square piece of paper with a hole punched through it... just to immediately throw it away for no purpose whatsoever.

I hope they've found alternative employment for all the hole-punchers... And I'll miss the days at Don Muang where european layabouts with greasy dreadlocks somehow managed to buy air tickets, accomodation, transport and food for a long holiday in Thailand, yet couldn't afford 500baht to leave the country and so begged to the nearest gullible passer-by.

transpac

As of 1 Feb 2007 the airlines are responsible for the collection of the 700 THB international passenger service charge, and for payment ownards to AoT.

If your ticket already includes this PSC, likely (but not absolutely) on tickets purchased ~ Nov 2006 and later, then no worries. If your ticket was purchased earlier then be preapred to pay the 700 THB at check-in.

I have four international departures ticketed, and three have the PSC. (One of these is an award and the PSC was included in the taxes and fees.) One was purchased ~ 8 months ago so I expect to have to pay 700 THB to UA when I check in.

Phoenician Aviator

Thanks for this information. If asked at check-in to pay the tax, will the airline accept credit cards? Or will it be cash only, as the previous system was?

AMRivlin

I had to pay TG for a flight purchased 25/12/06 700 baht at the check in in BKK.

I paid a BKK official and the TG rep checked my name off a list. It was cash only. ATMs are all over.

KIXman

Just wondering, is there any way to know if the departure tax has been included by just looking at the ticket?

jonu

On my e-ticket receipt (ticket purchased in January 2007 for a March 2007 flight), I think the designation "26.40TS" covers the international departure tax (now 700 Baht) plus a few domestic segments on the same ticket.

clifford

A bit like TG's policy of only accepting cash for airline tickets.

sfvoyage

My upcoming travel will consist of 2 separate r/t tickets with 2 carriers. On the last day of travel, there'll be flights involving both carriers in and out of BKK: GF into BKK, connecting to SQ out of BKK. If I explain this to SQ, will it waive my 700-baht BKK departure tax? (And if so, I won't be able to book online, as the departure tax would be automatically added to the fare.)

AMRivlin

not sure what you are saying, but the departure tax is not levied for transits. If you dont go through customs you will not pay it on departure. If you do go out to the city, you will have to pay it in some method.

Thai-Kiwi

sfvoyage, SQ won't 'know' about your incoming flight on GF if it has been completely separately ticketed. In this case you'll very likely have the THB 700 included. Certainly if you book online, and very likely even if you do it manually with a TA - unless you buy both tix with the TA and have a single 'booking' - but this might all be more expensive than the USD 20 you're trying to save!

Not sure if it'll be possible to get the money 'back' from SQ, since how do they really know that your a transit pax. I guess you can only try at the airport - but that seems a bit of a hassle for USD 20.

I guess you should be calling SQ now, to make arrangements to seek a erfund either in BKK (unlikely IMHO) or after your travel is complete.

sfvoyage

In the 'old' days, that's true. However, I thought as of this month, BKK has joined most other modern airports in having the airlines pre-collect departure tax at ticket issuance.

Thai-Kiwi

That is correct
The trick is how to get a pre-paid departure tax back, in the circumstances described by sfvoyager above...

sfvoyage

You're right, I'll be booking my GF ticket with a TA in Bangkok, and the SQ ticket directly with SQ in Jakarta. I'll mention my BKK transit to SQ staff when ticketing it and see what they say. Or as you suggest, I can try at BKK, but agree that it'll probably be too much hassle.

Soju

I'm wondering if some of the check-in staff are making a little extra money by being dishonest. On my last domestic flight, 50 baht extra was asked of me until I refused to pay on the grounds that I had recently bought the ticket after the increase had already gone into effect. If you purchased your ticket in late December, TG was already collecting the tax at that time. I'd be very careful about giving anyone any extra money for the departure tax unless you're sure it wasn't included in your ticket. If you think it was included in your ticket and they still ask for it, write down the name of the person demanding the money and get a receipt, then check up later to see if you were double charged or not. If so, report the person who scammed you out of paying the tax twice. I'm sure there's a lot of honest mistakes being made, but I wouldn't at all be surprised if there are a number of less-than-honest airport workers pocketing a very tidy sum every day.

Yoshi DUS

Scince my tickets were issued in October 2006 I ended up paying 50 THB in HKT and again 700 THB in BKK. The 700 THB at BKK were collected during C-Class check in in row 1 from some airport rep while I was seated at the otoman. For the 50 THB in HKT I had to que up for 15 minutes at the ticket office. This really pissed me off. In both cases I got a receipt.