wasabi

My wife and I recently came to Thailand using the Thailand Pass Test & Go system. While the initial versions of the website were far from perfect; I have to say the rest of the process has been smooth up to now. We already got our RT PCR nasal swab test and did our SHA+ hotel stay until that came back negative and now staying in our condo. However there is another step remaining. We each received the Covid self test packet below which states the Mo Chana app will alert us when to do this test. However it says day 6-7. Is it day 6 or 7? It can't be 2 more tests because only one test is included in the kit. We both registered for the app and it is running on our phones but if the app fails to alert us I'm not sure what I would need to do? Did anyone do this? What day did it alert you? Was it easy to upload? What happens after that? 

I am also flying out of Orlando. About an hour ago my wife and I both got covid rt-pcr tests that were done in 30 minutes. The place was in the airport and called Advent health clinic. I think such places are in most major airports. I did book a few weeks in advance but they were accepting walk-ins as well.

I had a similar problem. The hotel was willing to give me a different booking confirmation document reflecting my early a.m. arrival even though I was actually staying the next day.

My wife and I just received our Thailand Pass QR codes a few minutes ago. I applied for us both on the evening (USA) of Thursday November 4th.

Here are a few details

• We are both US citizens.
• We were vaccinated with Pfizer in California. They provided  proprietary SMART Health QR codes which I included in our application but I somewhat doubt they were able to read these. I uploaded our CDC Cards which included both vaccination dates for both the 1st and 2nd shot required on the website. I manually added our Passport numbers, but no idea if that helped.
• We got Tune Insurance through the official ASQ Thai website. I only sent the first page of the PDF as a .jpg.
• We booked our hotel through the official ASQ Thai website.
• Our flight leaves near midnight on November 20th and arrives the morning of November 22nd. I used the 2nd leg of the flight for the flight #.
• I emailed the Thai and NYC Thai consulates last night asking for a status update. I have no idea if that helped or they even read the email.
• I only applied once.

The entire process was much more stressful than necessary. They should allow you to check where you are in the process online but at least it is over for us now.

3 hours ago, BoroBoy said:

Just been rejected because they said I did not provide USD$50k health Insurance.  I actually provided details of £10m cover (c$12m).  Has any one else had the same problem, or been accepted quoting currency other than USD$?

Were you rejected immediately or did it take them a few days to tell you this?

2 minutes ago, sm152 said:

Got my QR code this morning, and travelling tomorrow - phew! 

When did you apply?

13 minutes ago, sirineou said:

Where in FL are you? we got ours in Orlando . had the test done in the morning and the results by noon. Even if you are not near Orlando they might have an office near you. You need Rc PCR test

https://www.passporthealthusa.com/orlando/

 

At 6 months you are nearing the end of the effectiveness   of your vaccine and you will soon need a Booster. Get it in the US, even if you have to pay. We also got our vaccines last spring and we find it near impossible to get booster shot here in LOS, we might have to come back to the States or go to Europe. 

 

I am 40 minutes outside of Orlando so the place you suggested is a possibility.

Thanks for the information so far. I agree it would be very helpful to hear some real-world stories about what type of health insurance and other experiences is related to getting the Thailand pass.

My wife and I both have Thailand Elite visas. We are in Florida, in the USA but want to come back to Thailand in the next few weeks.

We were both fully vaccinated almost 6 months and have CDC cards with 2 stamps.

Here are my questions:

1. As far as Covid $50,000 insurance since we will be stamped in for a full year do we need to get 1 year's worth of Covid insurance or if we bought an ongoing ticket a month later could the insurance be shortened to one month?

2. Where do get the Covid tests in Florida? Is there a resource that tells me which places are approved by Thai immigration?

3. We are interested in getting a 3rd, booster shot which is available to us but I am concerned Thailand may see this 3rd stamp and get confused if it was not more than 14 days ago and we depart sooner than that. Should we skip getting the booster for this reason or try to get it on a separate card?

If the premiums are not reduced than the insurance is indeed a scam. I'm not saying they need to drop by 50% exactly but any insurance company that lasts has many algorithms and mortality tables that calculate how much they are liable and how likely they are to pay. These factors equate your premium. So if they are less liable then the premium SHOULD go down. I am well aware that This is Thailand but I'm just saying in the world of actuaries they should go down.

Any update on the new 50k Insurance coverage costs? Any suggested websites to purchase it?

The insurance requirement has been lowered from 100k to 50k so is the cost now 50% off?

Serious question.

Would be great if they get rid of the Covid scam insurance.

57 minutes ago, srowndedbyh2o said:

Thanks for the feedback. I took a look at postscanmail but there were a few things I was not sure about them. Like some other services, scanning fees can be substantial when going over the plan limit, and their basic ‘Starter’ plan is fairly limited (5 content scans/month). The big thing that kind of worries me about the service is that they have a huge list of address locations to choose from. At first glance that would appear to be an advantage, but when a company has that many locations, it leads me to believe they just contract out to local postal service companies in these different areas with no real oversight as to how those companies operate, with privacy and security being somewhat questionable.

I used to use virtualpostmail.com like you. I liked them a lot but they didn't have Florida addresses at the time. I too was worried about Postscanmail excessively outsourcing and getting poor service, but I think most of these mailbox companies do this and it is somewhat luck of the draw that you get a good postal service that contracts with them. So your concern is likely valid but you might just have to try and find out. I have a mid tier plan that covers my wife and I and all the scanning and other services we need. For what I get the cost seems fair to me. Also I like Postscanmail website. Well designed and easy to use.

I have been using Postscanmail.com for a few years now and am happy with them. In the US I am based out of Florida and they have offices there as well as most states. They are also adept at forwarding mail to Thailand and I've never had an issue with customs or were forced to pay other fees as sometimes happens with other services. The only issue is some banking and government services know this is not a real address and force me to use another address in addition to this one. In that case I use a relatives address for the physical address but all mail always goes to my virtual mailbox so it's not an issue. Even when I am in the USA like now I continue to use this service as I find I want to get as little mail delivered to my home address as possible in the event I am on the road.

They know the 90 day reporting is unnecessary as a routine requirement. If you move reporting would be more understandable, but if not just get rid of it. The fact they dangle it as an incentive for well healed investors shows they know it serves no real purpose. Either way I hope they get rid of it for everyone. But This is Thailand so they will do what they want.

On 9/5/2021 at 6:52 PM, Leveraged said:

It’s hard to get the USA companies to issue a letter because the Thai gov wants it to be stupidly specific and use pointed wording. It’s also worth noting that USA insurance will probably not cover you for asymptomatic hospitalization so it’s almost better to get “covid insurance” 

 

I got mine through AXA and they’ve got a proven track record of actually covering people with covid both asymptomatic and symptomatic. 
 

You could always get a higher fare return ticket for say 60 days after arrival, then cancel and get a refund for the return leg, thereby only needing 2-3 months worth of insurance. I think mine when I did it like this was around 7k baht for 3 months with AXA. 
 

It’s actually not a bad idea to get this insurance considering all the tests you’ve got to take and the fact that they WILL put you in a private hospital for at least 2 full weeks if you fail one. 

This is my plan. I have the same problem as the OP. While I feel Thailand's required wording is overbearing it's not that complicated but apparently too difficult for my insurance company to do.

I was in Rawai in the midst of the pandemic. It was my first trip so I can't compare it to prior times but it did seem there was a lot of recent development and it was very popular with expats. More affordable and peaceful than Phuket. However it is basically a one horse town with just a single road that has any significant commerce. For me one negative is that there were way too many long tail boats in the water which was an eyesore in my opinion.