donx

My wife called the immigration office and they said no matter what she's going to have to pay the overstay fine. Since the immigration office is far from where she's staying in Bangkok, she decided to see if she can renew her Thai passport and only show this to immigration on her way out of Thailand. She paid 3,500 baht for an expedited Thai passport delivered on the same day. It's good for 10 years. I don't know if she will only have to show her Thai passport or not, so I told her to plan on having to pay the 7,000 baht overstay fee. If she's lucky enough to exit Thailand with only the Thai passport, then the fee to get an expedited Thai passport will be well worth it. She leaves 7:10 AM February 10 so I should know soon if her strategy to avoid the overstay fee worked. I personally have my doubts.

I don't. There was always a requirement to get a second PCR test which was free of charge if performed at a government hospital. There were many problems with this second test including people not doing it, government hospitals in remote provinces not understanding the process, and difficulties in providing proof of the test and the results through the MorChana App.

Thank you for that advice. Take Songkhla province for example where there are several SHA++ hotels. If I were to arrive in Bangkok, get a ride and PCR test for day 1 from a Bangkok hotel and after a negative result head to Hat Yai, do I simply show up in the lobby of my SHA++ hotel on the 5th day at 4:00 PM to check in and get the 2nd PCR test? Am I just charged for the PCR test and a one night stay? Is that how hotels that offer the 5th day PCR test and one night stay doing it?

Yes he can. My family entered Thailand from the US with US passports entering visa exempt for 30 days.

Thank you for that website link. Although there currently aren't any SHA Extra+ (a.k.a. SHA Plus+) hotels in Phatthalung listed, there are now a few available in Nakhon Si Thammarat and several available in Songkhla. They are provinces that border Phatthalung to the North and South respectively.

Are you both traveling from outside of Thailand and applying for the Test & Go program? If yes, then she should be allowed.

I’m sure the 2nd PCR test will work similar to the way the 1st one does. You take the 2nd PCR test (where and how depends upon the hotel you choose). Once you are swabbed, you will be escorted to your room where you must stay until the test result is received. If the test result is negative, then you can leave your room. And if it is positive, you will be taken somewhere to quarantine for something like 10 days. You can eat food that you bring with you, order food from the hotel, or just wait for the results. My family didn’t pre-pay for any meals when they did the Test & Go in December. They settled into their rooms at 2:00 AM. By 7:30 AM, their test results were all negative so they all went out for breakfast soon after.

In the early days of Test & Go version 1, none of the applications I submitted had a vaccine record that included a passport number. The CDC vaccination cards from the US of A only include name and birthdate. All of those applications were approved.

My wife is Thai so she doesn't know about the immigration issues even though she arrived on a US passport. I'm wondering if having a Thai ID will help her in getting the extension approved without an overstay fee or not. She didn't realize that she needs to contact immigration before she leaves quarantine. I would have told her earlier to contact them, but I assumed when she said she was tested at immigration, that she actually received the extension - or at least alerted them to the situation - at that time. She didn't tell me until today that she was stopped before being allowed to enter the building. She's spent 4 days now in a government provided quarantine hotel. I hope she can sort all of this out. I have her booked to return to the US 14 days after her original flight. They won't let her out of quarantine until she's been there 10 days. I hope she won't be required to wait 5 days after she's out because then I'd have to change her travel plans yet again.

I'm in a similar boat as you although I'm not living in Thailand as I assume you are, so my access to the "bamboo telegraph" is nonexistent. And just this month my wife purchased another piece of undeveloped land. She is actually a co-owner with her cousin which they plan on dividing it the next time my wife returns to Thailand. Maybe her cousin will receive information on paying this tax on undeveloped land.

I just talked to my wife. She told me she was checked for COVID before entering the immigration building so she never received an extension. I told her she needs to call immigration ASAP.

Unless the rules have changed since my children received their Thai passports, children can obtain a Thai passport in the US without being registered in a house book. All three of my children received their Thai passports without a Thai ID or being registered in a house book. That was several years ago so perhaps the rules have changed. As for entering Thailand, my wife was told that she couldn't arrive on an expired Thai passport because of the current situation with COVID-19. She could have entered with a temporary travel document, but there wasn't enough time to receive it before she travelled, so she entered on her US passport. She wasn't planning on staying more than 30 days since she was travelling with my daughter and son. My daughter has a Thai ID and is registered in a house book, but my son is not because my wife doesn't want him drafted into the Thai military. We decided it was better to wait until she returns to the US to renew her Thai passport since she won't be needing it anytime soon.

Here's my wife's story: She used ATK tests multiple times before getting an official test to fly back to the US one day before her flight. All self-tests were negative. However, the official antigen test result was positive. This was the last day of her 30 day visa exemption. Although she's Thai, she entered as a US citizen so she knew she needed to extend her stay. She decided to go to immigration that day. She was planning on keeping the test result secret and just self-quarantine, but they tested her at immigration and provided a phone number for her to schedule to be picked up and driven somewhere to be quarantined. Fortunately for my wife, since she is Thai she is quarantining for 10 days without a fee. I assume she received an extension of some sort at immigration, but I don't know for sure or for how long.

My understanding is that you only need the insurance coverage for the duration of your stay. Having it for longer may be a good idea, but that isn't necessarily the case. I bought AXA insurance for my family for 30 days. My wife tested positive the day before she was scheduled to return to the US. Her insurance expired midnight on the day she tested positive. She called the insurance company and they said she was covered. However, according to their documents, my understanding is that the insurance would expire before the next day and that she would be responsible for any expenses thereafter. The insurance company told her to contact one of the hospitals on the insurance company's list. Unfortunately, every hospital she contacted told her they were booked up and unable to accept her as a patient. I only purchased this insurance because it was a requirement for my family to travel to Thailand, so I wasn't surprised or upset that the insurance wasn't going to help in my wife's situation. Fortunately, my wife is Thai, and she has a niece who is a medical intern working in Bangkok and her niece arranged for my wife to be treated at a quarantine hotel - all expenses paid by the Thai government. My wife told me only people with a relationship to the doctor overseeing that quarantine hotel know to request access to it.

They flew leaving Bangkok at 7:10 arriving in Narita Tokyo at 3:05 PM (Tokyo time). Boarded at 5:00 PM direct to Washington Dulles to arrive here at 3:30 PM EST. Only one stop of less than 2 hours. Enough time to get some nice Japanese food.

My wife is fine - just bored. My kids arrive at 3:30 PM into Washington Dulles so they're still in the air.

I think most of the Thais willing to give you a 30 year lease see that, for them, the 30 years amounts to no longer owning the land. Yes, their heirs will inherit the land, but that doesn't help the current owner. And most of them want the money now and would probably be happy selling it to you. But since you can't own it, they can't sell it to you. However, they can lease it to you for 30 years and still receive the money now that they need. I have a proposal for the OP. My wife and children are Thai. Find a piece of land that you want. Give my family member the money to buy the property with the condition that they lease the property to you for 30 years.

My son and daughter completed this document and ANA accepted it. The onus is on the airlines to provide this proof to the CDC. Whether the airlines send these to the CDC or simply retain them in case they are requested, I don't really know. The CDC provided this form as an example. It covers so many possible situations. The 1 pager you signed probably stripped out most of them.

I tried to make sure that everything I booked and prepaid for could be refunded without cancellation fees. I know that isn't always possible and in the case of the flights, if they were cancelled, then I would receive flight credits for future travel (with United Airlines). I also had existing flight credits that I applied to the flights to Thailand. I confirmed with the hotel that I could receive refunds (up to something like 2 or 3 days prior to arrival) with the exception of possible bank fees. I also know that the AXA insurance was refundable up to a certain point prior to departure. It is a risk, so the best advice I can give is mitigate that risk as much as possible by choosing refundable reservations.

A word of warning to those getting tested at the airport before your flight. As stated above, my wife, son, and daughter got tested on January 26 and my wife's results were positive while my son and daughter were negative. My wife is now in a quarantine hotel and my son and daughter are on their flight to Washington Dulles. I don't know what would have happened if my wife found out she was positive 2 hours before her flight. As it was, the next day my son and daughter went to the airport as expected while my wife waited in the hotel for someone to pick her up and transport her to a place to quarantine. She had the AXA insurance, but that expired on midnight of January 26. Even though they said she could use the insurance (since she talked to someone on the 26th), they told her she needed to go to one of the hospitals on their list of approved hospitals. My wife said that every one of them that she called said they were full. Since my wife is Thai, she's able to stay for free at the quarantine hotel unless she wants a private room which will cost her 2,000 baht per night. At the moment, she is in a "holding room" until her test results taken at 6:00 PM (Thailand time) are returned. After that, she can decide if she wants a private room or not. All meals are free, but the food is Bangkok style and since she's from Southern Thailand, she says the food isn't very good. My wife self-tested herself multiple times during her trip with the last self-test done on January 24. I suspect the self-tests she bought were not adequate for detecting the virus. She said she's had a dry cough since about January 19, testing herself often since then. Because January 26 was day 30 of her trip, she went to immigration to extend her stay. She didn't realize that at immigration they would test her for COVID. So although she has extended her stay, immigration has recorded that she tested positive and won't allow her to self-quarantine. They gave her a phone number to call to have someone pick her up and take her to the quarantine hotel the following day. The hotel she is in is the Vince Hotel Pratunam. She says the room is very nice, but she still feels like a prisoner. I was fortunately able to change her flights to return on February 10 with the same flight schedule and without having to pay anything. At this time, she doesn't know how long she will need to stay at the quarantine hotel or what the criteria is for releasing her. Once she is released, she has a place to stay at a friend's house in Bangkok. If she is release soon, she wants me to see if I can reschedule her flight again to return home earlier that February 10. So Test & Go for her has become, Test & Go and in 30 days Go to Jail!

Well my wife didn’t get the discount because she bought the land on January 13 which was before this came into effect.

My wife was going to do the test at the airport, but their flight is at 7:10 AM which means they’d have to arrive at the airport 30 minutes earlier than normal. They’re staying near Silom and will get tested near their hotel. She’s scheduled the test for 11:00 AM today (January 26). They fly out early tomorrow morning.

Although no one asked to see your test upon landing, I assume you needed to show the test results at the check-in counter in Thailand. Did you also need to show it when you transferred through Tokyo? I'm guessing not and that they only checked it before your initial boarding. My wife is planning on going to a hospital or clinic. She said there was an additional fee for a "doctor certificate". I explained that she needs a certificate of the results but that it doesn't have to be from a doctor - it can be a certificate from the facility. I also explained that it needs to have her name and either birth date or passport on the test results. I found this on the CDC website where they list what needs to appear on the test results. I also called ANA and the representative guided me to something called the Combined Passenger Disclosure and Attestation to the U.S. of A. form. Airlines are required to collect this form where my family will attest to the fact that they test negative for COVID-19 and that they are fully vaccinated. I downloaded it from ANA's website while on the call with the representative. This form, along with an antigen test result are to be provided at check-in. I don't know if you had to complete one of these Attestation forms when you returned to the US, but it now appears to be mandatory from ANA's perspective. Attestation-Testing-Order-12-02-2021-p.pdf

Where I live in the US, any branches hanging over my property are fair game for me to cut off. I suspect there is a similar law in Thailand. If so, I would contract someone experienced with tree trimming to remove all of the branches hanging over your property.

Does it apply to land purchases as well? If so, when did this come into effect? I'm curious because my wife recently bought a plot of land. She's still in Thailand and hasn't discussed the details of her transaction yet.