If I enter Thailand one week with my Irish passport and a few weeks later with my British one, will immigration know I am the same person?

My issue is that on a recent scuba trip there I entered on my Irish passport. Whilst there I lost it and when I went to police to report it - it had already been handed in. Unfortunately they had already informed immigration to bar the passport for travel. As I had urgent need to travel back for work they gave me a court letter that explained to immigration the situation and that I was in fact allowed to travel. However it took almost an hour at the airport - as no officer had a clue what to do - before I could leave and missed my original flight.

So, as I need to return in a week's time for work, can I avoid all the hassle at the airport and enter with my UK passport - or will they know it's the same person? Regarding the Irish passport I've been advised to get a new one - but that will take 4 weeks as I'm resident abroad.

  • 1
    Why would it be a problem to return even if they do realize it's the same person? – jpatokal Mar 17 '15 at 4:46
  • jpatokal, because my irish passport is barred. Entering using it will take an hour at immigration as they are clueless "computer say no" but court letter says yes. I assume if i enter with my UK one and they know its the same person "computer will say no". – mark Mar 18 '15 at 7:14
  • I think you are over-estimating the IT capability of the immigration services. I would be surprised if they had any way to tie your two passports together. Still, it may be advisable to carry your Irish document and the appropriate letter with you. – Calchas Jul 8 '15 at 18:04

It is hard to know what sort of cross checking the Thai Immigration computers do when your passport is scanned. My guess is that they only look to see if your passport has entered Thailand in recent years/months and they look to see if you are on any criminal watch lists. But that is just a guess.

If your UK passport number was recorded when you reported the Irish passport being lost, then perhaps they will tie the two together. This should not be an issue though, as your police report will show what happened and you have your official letter.

There is no rule that prohibits using different passports when entering. The only issue that may concern them will be if you are using two passports to stay in Thailand for extended periods using visa waiver entries. But as your Irish passport has only a week stay recorded and I assume your UK passport has none, then this won't be a problem.

  • Tom, no i didnt give them any details of my UK passport when i reported my missing irish one. I'm basically trying to avoid the one hour + of hassle i had leaving last time. My irish passport is basically junk now as the police scribbled all over it and stabled something to the front when it was handed in. My worry using my british one to enter is that it is linked on the computer somehow to my irish one (which is techinically barred) and then i'll have even more hassle at immigration. My hope is that they are not linked and i can go through as normal. – mark Mar 18 '15 at 7:08
  • I can't think of any way the passports would be tied together otherwise, unless either the UK or Ireland asked you for that data when you applied. My daughter holds dual citizenship and in applying for her two passports, there was never any mention or query about any other nationalities she may hold (even though the potential was pretty obvious). – user13044 Mar 18 '15 at 14:05

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