Couple denied flight to Thailand because of smudged stamp... sheesh

I understand that there are laws regarding immigration to any country. I also understand that there is a real difference between a law and the reasonable application of that law.

In this particular situation the reputation of Thai Immigration being unreasonable encouraged an airline to deny a man a flight to Thailand because the passport was water-damaged. Was a stamp smudged? Yes it was. Was it still readable and obviously genuine? Also yes. Was she traveling with his wife who had exactly the same stamps? Yes. Are they able to look up in the database as to whether or not the stamp is real? Still yes.

Thailand has always been talking about how they want "the right tourists" meaning that they want tourists that are going to spend a bunch of money over a short period of time and then fuck off, but in this particular situation, which is surprisingly making the rounds in local news, shines a light on how arrogant and just downright mean immigration officials are slowly ruining the impression that people have of this country and therefore they are deciding to go elsewhere.

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now to be fair to Thailand, they were not directly responsible for this one. The smudged stamp was flagged by Etihad airlines in Manchester. So the folly lies on that airline, not on Thai immigration but the reason WHY they denied this stamp sheds light on how Thailand just has a "black eye" as far as global opinion is concerned. The reason that Etihad provided for rejecting the man was because of repeated "turnbacks" that they have experienced with people traveling to Thailand. Meaning that in the past the airline approved people's travel only to have them arrive in Bangkok and have Thai Immigration have serious problems with their visas, turn them away, and then the customers sue the airline. Something like that.

The airline said it had consulted Thai immigration authorities, who advised that the passport did not meet entry requirements.

The thing is, this couple was on their honeymoon so they weren't just going to go home at this point. They had a 2-week, rather expensive and all-inclusive vacation planned for Phuket and well, I think that they probably ended up getting the better end of the deal in the end because Phuket is just awful in my mind.

The couple secured a last-minute vacation to Cypress instead and are now seeking compensation from the Thailand tourism organization that sold them the package, as well as Etihad airlines

The couple stated and it was confirmed by simply looking at it, that they have successfully traveled over 10 times to other countries without issues despite the "damaged passport."

The really stupid thing about this smudged visa stamp is that it wasn't even the stamp for this particular journey it was for one that happened in the past, over 5 years in the past. What the hell does this have to do with the here and now?

This sort of attitude that Thai Immigration has had in the past and perhaps still has to this day is something that the entire world already knows about. They are aware that the Thai Immigration are for lack of a better word, kind of jerks about anything and everything that they possibly can be.

I know that I personally have experienced this attitude every single time that re-enter the country. I have a valid visa, I have a work permit, all of my paperwork is legitimate yet I am still treated as though I am a criminal every time I come back into the country. Why?

Thailand simultaneously wants to be a world-leader in vacations while also being really mean to everyone that walks through their doors and honestly folks, you can't have it both way. It isn't special enough here for people to endure abuse the moment they have to interact with a government official.

While a lot of the blame lies on the airline for denying the couple the ability to fly to Thailand, the fact remains that airlines are hesitant to allow people entry that have even the slightest chance of being rejected once they arrive in Thailand. Since immigration in Thailand has such a nasty reputation of looking for reason to deny people entry, the airlines really have no choice but to take it to an extreme on their end because if they are wrong, they could be held financially liable.

Thailand is scrambling to overhaul their global image and reinvigorate their tourism since it is 20% of the nation's economy. I think that the people in charge are rather blind to the fact that one of the major issues facing this bad reputation is the gatekeepers themselves. Until they do something about that, I don't think they can possibly correct this situation.

Unfortunately the arrogance of Immigration in Thailand is very strong, and I don't think that they would even listen if the government ordered them to be friendly and more reasonable.

I haven't ever had any issues with immigration in any country in the world other than Thailand. Have you?