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[Travel2003]

I recently (about 2 weeks ago) travelled outside Thailand.

When checking in with Philippine Air (Thai Air do their check in), I was told by the lady she would not give me my boarding pass, since I had all the pages in the passport used.
She told me I could not have more than 3 stamps per page in my passport.
WTF???
I told her to look and she would see there were probably space enough for 30 more stamps in the passport.
As we all know, Immigration around the world normally dont care where they stamp in the passports, thus the pages are used up fast.
But maximum 3 stamps per page?

I argued this, and finally got a supervisor to give me the boarding card.

No problem with Thai Immigration upon arrival. He just found space on one of the already usd pages.

Anyone heard about this moronic rule before?

[PattayaParent]

Never heard of that before.

I've got pages with 8 stamps on them, all neatly arranged by VN immigration with entry and exit matching up.

[sbk]

Lucky you PP, I wish I could get someone to do that! Jeez, they love to put the stamp right in the middle of the page don't they?

I've never heard of it either, and have some pages with four stamps (felt lucky!) But I do know some countries are weird if the passport looks full, perhaps they couldn't be bothered to look that there were blank spots for stamps?

[Travel2003]

This was the Thai Air girl at the check in.

Never heard about it before.

[Crossy]

It's a new one on me too. My PP is very full, some pages have 10 stamps but apart from immigration officers having trouble finding previous entry stamps I've never had a problem. Once they've found a space they're pretty good at shoehorning stamps into the last available spot.

[RabC]

There are some countries that insist on a fully empty page for their stamp.

[Crossy]

RabC, on 2011-12-06 13:01:28, said:

There are some countries that insist on a fully empty page for their stamp.

Don't suppose you have an example? A list would actually be useful for those of us who travel regularly around the region, I've not come across one yet, but there's always a first time

Certainly neither Thailand nor Philippines are on that list.

[phaethon]

It's usually visas that take up a whole page (India, Laos and LOS). Cambodia e-visa is best - zero passport space (but entry/exit stamps about the same size as LOS)

I have two pages with the theoretical maximum eight (full-house - four entry, four exit stamps).

I notice the two extension stamps together take up a whole page though
(actually on review, one of the stamps might be just for the one day overstay, so maybe a half-page per extension..?)

Edited by phaethon, 2011-12-06 14:24:23.

[PattayaParent]

^the Thai extensions in my passport take up half a page and then immigration (Map Ta Phut)  neatly stamp the exit / re-entry visa sideways at the bottom half of that page so as not to take up a whole new page.

[Travel2003]

At least I got the boarding card after she talked to her (female) supervisor.

They talked in Thai, and I can only pressume the girl was told something like, "See, you stupid little girl? You can't learn all by only screwing the Boss".
Reason for my presumption is based upon a lot of stories like that, given to me by friends and people I know, who work for Thai Air.
But that is for another topic.

I got my boarding card, which was the most important.
And heading for the embassy for a new passport soon.
:-)

[sparebox2]

I travel alot. When ask nicely, most staff will try to save paes for you.
I had 10 stamp in 1 page before.

[phaethon]

sparebox2, on 2011-12-06 17:20:29, said:

I travel alot. When ask nicely, most staff will try to save paes for you.
I had 10 stamp in 1 page before.

I see a new Thai Visa Competition looming.

Next time I'm going to ask for an A4 passport....

[bprinceuk]

phaethon, on 2011-12-06 18:54:31, said:

sparebox2, on 2011-12-06 17:20:29, said:

I travel alot. When ask nicely, most staff will try to save paes for you.
I had 10 stamp in 1 page before.

I see a new Thai Visa Competition looming.

Next time I'm going to ask for an A4 passport....

Some Countries in West Africa insist that you must have a least six pages left in your passport or they will not issue the visa

[londoedan]

phaethon, on 2011-12-06 18:54:31, said:

sparebox2, on 2011-12-06 17:20:29, said:

I travel alot. When ask nicely, most staff will try to save paes for you.
I had 10 stamp in 1 page before.

I see a new Thai Visa Competition looming.

Next time I'm going to ask for an A4 passport....

I was counting the stamps / visa's in my passport during a recent long wait at Thai immigration:

UK 46 page passport - 156 stamps / stickers. I am now very polite when showing the officer where to stamp

Edited by londoedan, 2011-12-11 20:47:39.

[hehehoho]

More than likely just a bitter, resentful Asian who thought thought had power.

Glad you got it sorted. There is certainly no rule with either Thailand or the Philippines with regards to what they were pitifully attempting.

Edited by hehehoho, 2011-12-11 21:12:43.

[wales01]

bprinceuk, on 2011-12-06 19:07:52, said:

phaethon, on 2011-12-06 18:54:31, said:

sparebox2, on 2011-12-06 17:20:29, said:

I travel alot. When ask nicely, most staff will try to save paes for you.
I had 10 stamp in 1 page before.

I see a new Thai Visa Competition looming.

Next time I'm going to ask for an A4 passport....

Some Countries in West Africa insist that you must have a least six pages left in your passport or they will not issue the visa

This is correct. allot of countries require 1 or 3 blank pages.

[Furbie]

My passport is loaded with stamps from frequent travel.  When I had only had one page left, my HR lady was adamant that I could not leave Thailand as I needed a blank page to come back (she had been checking on transferring my visa to a new passport and said she was told this by immigration).  I said thank you and promptly left on my trip.  No problems getting back in, but it MAY be a requirement no one really checks - like an onward ticket.

[cigar7]

I have never heard of such a rule for visiting Philippines.

I recommend the OP write the airline customer service department and ask the question, if what was encountered, is proper procedure.

Edited by cigar7, 2011-12-29 04:35:02.