There’s a lot of bad info floating around about this. Having a connecting international flight does NOT automatically stop you from entering Thailand. If you meet the visa on arrival or visa free conditions for your passport, you can usually clear immigration, leave the airport, and come back for your next flight.
The only real blockers are airline rules, your nationality, and whether your ticket is on one itinerary with baggage checked through. If your bags are checked all the way to Melbourne and you don’t want to collect them, then yeah, you might be stuck airside. But immigration wise, Thailand doesn’t care that you’re transiting.
For an 11 hour layover in Bangkok, tons of people enter the city, grab food, maybe a hotel, then head back. Just make sure you have enough time and the right visa status.
Always double check with your airline, but the blanket “you can’t enter because it’s a connection” advice is mostly nonsense.
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