Entering the Kingdom
01/28/2023 AD arrived
We arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport, just before midnight (1/28). which was just about 30 hours since we woke up in Escondido to begin the trip.
As I noted a couple of days ago, our driver was cool with us either staying the night in Bangkok, or pushing straight through to our house in Ban Rung. We opted for the latter, mostly because we were so excited to "get home."
But first, we had to deal with claiming our luggage, and passing thru customs and immigration.
Muu found a Asiana airlines liaison who was key in accomplishing all three steps:
- He got us two dollies large enough to hold our five bags, two boxes, and the guitar
- He literally pulled the bags and boxes off the baggage conveyor belt and loaded them on the dollies
- He walked us to the oversize baggage area to claim the guitar — he pushed one dolly, I pushed the other, and Muu pushed the boys in the stroller.
- My guitar was nowhere to be seen, so he called the baggage handlers on the plane and they sent a picture of my guitar in the hold, then hand carried it to us.
- He then walked us to customs where he got us to the front of the line and we were waived through in about 60 seconds after only one bag was x-rayed.
- Finally, he walked us to immigration
At immigration, the line for foreigners was "a mile long." With toddlers, you pretty much have to let everybody else deplane ahead of you, and even with the time we made up at customs, I still dreaded waiting in a long line with two irritable toddlers in a stroller that cannot hold them for long when they are determined to get out.
Not to mention the two dollies with 350 pounds luggage! I was beginning to think about how I wished I got the boys Thai passports before we left Thailand so they could skate thru the line for Thai citizens — which was three people deep — including Muu!
I suggested that Muu ask the Thai-line immigration officer if the kids could just enter as Thai citizens without Thai passports, but with their birth certificates.
Of course the answer was no — They would enter as US citizens and furthermore would have a 45-day visa on entry, at which point they would need to exit the country. They could then reenter on Thai passports, but for now they were tourists in their country of birth.
The exceedingly good news was that the officer processed all four of us. She stamped Muu in and issued 45-day tourist visas to me and the twins. Another stroke of luck!
