Security has nothing got to do with it.. almost all countries with visa free entry require proof of onward travel before boarding to prevent people being denied entry at the destination and the destination country having to foot the bill to send the traveler home

Proof of onward travel is only required for visa on arrival or visa exempt entry

Reentry shouldn't take more than 20 mins but if there are other people running late they will process them first.

@Tod ********

, the last time my girlfriend passed through she had the form already completed in her passport with 1k and they didn't charge her the service charge but they told her that next time she didn't have to fill out the form beforehand. I'm surprised that immigration there is getting away with pushing people into paying for the service?

Strange that your new job didn't tell you anything about the visa arrangements? If your new job is a Thai government, private or language school then don't count on actually having a job let alone a visa, they're all very good at offering jobs to people overseas but there word usually means very little..