Reader Submission: My Thai girlfriend was not allowed on the bus

I find this a very strange story. I travel a lot by bus in Thailand with my Thai girlfriend and have never experienced anything like this. Were perhaps too many seats sold for the bus and were you the last to get on the bus? Like the others here, I'm very curious as to why.

I also experienced a few years ago, also Krabi to Bangkok. My wife (Thai) was also not allowed to come because it was the VIP bus and for Thai people there was another Bush, they said. However, we just got on because we had tickets with my wife at the window and I next to it and then just pretend nothing was wrong and just take that bus to BKK….

Now my in-laws live in Krabi and come to the capital by bus almost every month, (Sai ​​Tai bus station). I always pick up and drop off, and I know the ins and outs of bus tickets fairly well.

And the explanation that your girlfriend was not allowed to come is very unlikely. If you have a valid ticket, you will never be refused boarding on a bus, because your seat number is stated on this ticket, just like a boarding pass on an airplane.

But, you told that you paid 600 Baht pp for a ticket Krabi-Bangkok at your hotel. Well, that is not possible, because that is less than my parents-in-law pay. Because they pay 620 THB for a ticket in a 48 seat bus. A ticket on a VIP bus costs more than 1000 THB.

So I fear a scam from the seller of your ticket, or tour company. This ticket was printed out, on which your passport number or identity card was printed.

Chiel, VIP buses are mainly taken by Thai, the westerners are usually in the minority there is what I see on Sai Tai.

I can only advise everyone to always take a government bus, recognizable by the Garuda on the sides, and to buy your tickets online at the bus station or in Tesco Lotus, where you can even choose your seat.

to clarify the whole story.
on Friday I book 2 tickets from Krabi to Bangkok in my guesthouse. 2×600 bath.
I get a note that says I paid.
Saturday afternoon at 15:30 we are picked up by a minibus and taken to an office of a tour company. Only my girlfriend is Thai there, the rest are foreigners.
There we have to show our note and we get a sticker. As soon as the lady behind the counter sees my girlfriend, she says that they are not allowed to transport Thai people. She is willing to arrange tickets from Surat to Bangkok with a government bus. surcharge 350 bath per person.
When I ask why she can't come along, she says that this is Thai law.
At 16:30 everyone goes in 2 minibuses and we are taken to Surat Thani. The farangs get off at an office of the tour company. Someone is waiting with 2 bus tickets for us.
We are taken to the bus station (only the 2 of us) and there we take a “governments bus”.
Now I am the only farang.
The police officers confirmed to my girlfriend that she was indeed not allowed to come along and that this was a problem with the law.
So I don't think this was corruption. That 350 bath extra per person was a bit too much, but it was pay or not get to Bangkok.
Regards Phillip

I experienced the same thing in 2013, when my girlfriend and I wanted to go from Krabi to Hua Hin. But we didn't make a big deal out of it. My girlfriend told me that only foreigners were allowed on certain buses. Those were some VIP buses. I can't remember why that was – something about insurance – I don't remember. We then booked another bus, which we both could ride on.