The belt stops and your suitcase is still missing. Before heading to the car, establish whether the bag is arriving elsewhere or needs a baggage report. This guide concerns checked baggage; an item left in a terminal follows a different route.

Check the flight and collection point

Compare the display with your operating flight. Ask staff about oversized items or a pushchair returned separately. Keep your baggage receipt available and describe exactly which item has not appeared. A photograph helps distinguish similar suitcases, but the tag identifies the checked bag.

Speak to the flight's baggage staff

THAI instructs passengers whose bags are missing to approach its ground staff immediately and provide a description, contact details and delivery address. For another carrier, ask which airline or handling desk deals with your flight. Do this before leaving the reclaim area where possible.

Have the itinerary, boarding pass and baggage receipt ready. Explain any connection and whether other bags from the same booking arrived. Ask for a copy or reference for the report and the correct follow-up channel. An airport lost-property enquiry is a different process from tracing a bag checked with an airline.

Make the next contact easy

Before walking away, use this practical checklist:

  • Can you open the report on your phone?
  • Is the telephone number reachable during your stay?
  • Does the delivery address identify the actual hotel?
  • Have you told staff when you leave that address?
  • Do you know how to report an address change?

Do not assume a bag will be delivered before a ferry or another flight. Ask what arrangements are available for your case. Keep a brief record of updates so that a travelling companion can follow the same information.

Tell the driver what has happened

Send a factual message: “One suitcase has not arrived. We are at baggage services and cannot yet confirm our exit time.” Ask how the transport booking handles the wait. If airport assistance was arranged, update that contact separately.

The assistant can help coordinate the agreed airport route. Baggage tracing and delivery remain with the airline and its handling arrangements. See the BKK arrival guide for the surrounding arrival stages.

Sources and verification

Checked 4 November 2026. Confirm the current process with your operating airline.