Ms.Kirsten, it is not a simple answer to this thing, sometimes, you can easily get a Chinese visa in a third country without return flight ticket or ticket out of China, sometimes,the visa officer will ask you to provide hotel reservation, flight ticket to the next destination (out of China), financial certificate, etc. There is not steady rules for it, which vary from person to person, greatly depends on your nationality. you can have a try to apply for Chinese visa in Bangkok without the flight ticket, Good Luck!