howerde

According to Thai embassy London the STV visa ends in sep

Special Tourist Visa (STV) : for stay up to 90 days with possible extension of 90 days twice)

**STV cannot be extended after 30 September 2021. Please DO NOT apply for STV after 30 June 2021 and applicants must arrive in Thailand before 3 July 2021 if they wish to extend their stay after 90 days. Application to extend their stay in Thailand must be submitted before 30 September 2021.**

seems strange. the Thai embassy in Sweden says no visa required    http://thaiembassy.se/en/guide-for-travelling-to-thailand-during-covid-19-situation/

The Thai  embassy in london says from 6 May, all non Thai arrivals needs 15 nights ASQ, including those who have been vaccinated   https://london.thaiembassy.org/en/publicservice/requirements-for-foreigners-travelling-to-thailand-during-covid-19-tra?page=5d6636cd15e39c3bd00072dd&menu=5f4b6eb3f6ae4b236972c562

From the airlines website,

Passengers entering or transiting through Abu Dhabi (AUH) from the United Kingdom must have a printed negative COVID-19 PCR test taken at most 72 hours before departure of the last direct flight to United Arab Emirates. The test result must be in Arabic or English and must be issued by an approved laboratory listed on https://screening.purehealth.ae or a laboratory accredited by the United Kingdom.

how ever, it also seems to say otherwise

https://www.qatarairways.com/en-gb/visa-and-passport-requirements.html?iid=ALL88789980

I would contact the airline by email or web chat, the unknown is always what rules will change tomorrow

i would check first, as boots state PCR test there is no mention of RT-PCR which Thailand requires

This from Swedish embassy,  no mention of vaccine   http://thaiembassy.se/wp-content/uploads/new-policy-eng.jpg

Thailand requires a covid test RT-PCR method, i had an NHS TEST,  last year and the email just stated covid negative no mention of the method, so i imagine you would be refused boarding with it

IT says British nationals, but on website concerned it seems for anyone

List of care homes for British nationals in Thailand - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

8 minutes ago, songmaew said:

Sorry do not follow you re. ins. My 100% perfectly rule-abiding (and expensive) Thai insurance coverage (Dec'20 - Dec'21) cannot be of any issue here.  As stated, stamped in Dec 16, '20 and written after the words 'valid to' :  March 12, 2021.

Does your passport expire march 12 2021 by any chance

The Thai embassy in Ireland closed a few years ago, everything is done through the London embassy

6 hours ago, bear9 said:

Any reason why some of the hotels do a test on arrival and others do not?  If they do a test on arrival you have to pay extra for that?

My ASQ did 3 covid tests, 1st on arrival, there was no extra charge, the price was included in the original quote and they did state that a test on arrival was needed.

2 hours ago, bluebanana said:

@howerde would u be able to tell me if ( knock wood ) if covid treatment is needed , do we need to pay anyhting out from our pocket ?

 

or is it directly the insurance co will handle it : ? /  

You do not have to pay anything (excess), at least when i bought my policy in November

https://www.tipinsure.com/CovidRegional/product_detail

odd i get this     

For covid insurance try https://covid19.tgia.org  there is no waiting period

10 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

Good for you.  But I wonder...

When the O-X Visa provides you with a 5 year permission to stay stamped in your passport on entry, and there is NO need to report yearly how and when are Immigration gonna check that you did meet the requirements, i.e.

- at least 1.5 million THB permanently parked on your Thai personal bank-account;

- a Thai IO-approved health-insurance policy that meets the Non Imm O-X requirements.

If there is no obligation for annual reporting, you might as well ignore those rules once you got that 5-year permission to stay stamp in your passport, and at the end of the 5 years you then simply exit Thailand and apply abroad for a new Visa.  If it would be as simple as that, then the Non Imm O-X would be a very attractive option, so I doubt that you would never have to visit your local IO during that 5-year period to verify whether you meet the Non Imm O-X conditions of stay.

Another way of looking at it, if you  obtained the visa and after 1 year in Thailand. left for  2 years, how would you show immigration  your second year documents, that would mean your visa lapsing,  i guess time will tell

19 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

You wrote earlier 'They told me i was the first O-X they had seen...'

So Chang Wattana - by far the largest IO in Thailand - has not seen any O-X before.  Interesting...

Also and especially in this case I would not be very confident that an oral statement by an Imm Officer that is in contradiction with what the O-X requirements/conditions stipulate, might not be challenged later by a different officer.

I would NOT recommend the O-X Visa option to anyone wanting to stay long-term in Thailand, but if you can afford it and it meets your needs then of course that''s OK.   I can only repeat that there are other well-established options to stay long-term in Thailand that do not require permanently parking 1.5 million THB on your personal Thai bank-account nor subscribing to an IO-approved Thai health-insurance policy issued by a TGIA-associated insurer. 

I was referring to immigration at the airport not seeing an 0-X visa, i have phoned  immigration and also had a Thai phone for me and on borh occasions was told there is no need to report  yearly, i would believe them more than an embassy website, i am happy with what i have and i earn more interest here than i would earn in the UK. My Thai  approved insurance is cheap, though i am still in my 50s

I would say once you get to your mid 60s  or have any medical conditions, then this is not the visa to go for

16 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

The requirements/conditions on the Thai Embassy website when applying for the O-X Visa clearly state as one of the conditions for the Non Imm O-A Visa that

'Foreigners must report, in person, to the immigration officer every 1 year for the examination of the qualifications and supporting documents.'

This is Thailand with each local IO a fiefdom interpreting, adding or voiding the rules.  So it looks like you are lucky that YOUR local IO waves that requirement, but other IOs that do follow the regulations will normally impose it

Thai embassy websites do not always show the correct information, the London embassy shows you can apply for a 0=X  in Thailand and you can't,  And i deal with Chang Wattana who i am sure are up to date

5 minutes ago, crowned said:

When I entered , BKK immigration only stamped me in for 1 year on O-X. This was later amended at my local IO. I think, again pointing to some confusion amongst Thai officialdom

They told me i was the first O-X they had seen, there were 3 of them in  the booth

15 hours ago, George36 said:

One more question please.

 

My understanding is that you get Passport stamped for one year upon entry.  It is multi entry visa.  I may never be in Thailand for a full year.  Maximum would be nine months with three month in United States.

 

This trip, I plan to stay from mid-Jan until mid-Aug.  My wife will join me for last three months on Tourist Visa and then get an extension.

 

Under retirement, I need to extend yearly even if not in Thailand.  Under O - X, no need to extend.  
 

Hope this computes.  
 

Question:

 

If never in Thailand for a year, would I still need to visit Immigration yearly?  I suppose the year requirement could be based on date of issuance of visa and not entry stamp.

 

Thanks

On a O-X you are stamped in for 5 years or til your passport expires, yes multi entry. no need to report to immigration yearly

I have an O-X visa and have been told by immigration there is no need to report yearly with documents, only need to report when your passport expires or the initial 5 years is up, only need to do the 90 day report. ( i guess you need to keep your yearly health insurance  and bank statements)

Read the small print  see item 9 on the Thai luma policies 

9/ The Company reserves the right to refuse coverage to applicants who are already infected with Coronavirus and/or applicants who are in quarantine state.

4 minutes ago, durhamboy said:

Hi Howerde, thanks. Yes I managed to get a PDF file from them and it is pretty much as you said. Just got to get the COE now. Cheers.

Good stuff, don't forget to click on the link in the covering letter to confirm and verify 

 Thank you for your trust in Dhipaya Insurance Public Company Limited. Your policy number: 14048-151-205931426

According to the regulation enacted by Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) regarding
e-insurance, the insured has to verify and confirm his/her insurance policy.

Therefore, we would grateful if you please do so within 7 days following the receipt date of the insurance policy.

Click here to verify and confirm your insurance policy

The policyholder may terminate the insurance policy within 15 days free look cancellation period from the policy received date without paying any surrender charges
and receive a full premium refund by calling Dhipaya Insurance Public Company Limited at 1736. The policy shall be deemed no coverage since the effective date
stated in the policy schedule.

19 hours ago, durhamboy said:

I have just purchased the covid insurance at https://covid19.tgia.org. Eventually I got an email from a company called Dhipaya Insurance. It has an attachment with the suffix .bin which is a format I have never heard of. Tried to open it but couldn't. Sent it to my wife's nephew in Thailand but he couldn't open it either. I'm hoping it contains my Certificate of Insurance which I need for my COE registration.

 

I clicked on another part of the email and some details of my insurance came up in Thai but doesn't seem to be the certificate. It also has the sum insured as THB6,400,000 but doesn't specifically mention covid. I thought I was getting the required THB3,200,000 (ie US$100k) of covid cover.

 

Anyone had these problems with this company and how did you resolve them. Thanks.

The comany Dhipaya is the company, you will need to contact them, use the reply on the email you got, mine came as a PDF,   was about 13 pages, and cover states 3 .200.00

for death and the same for treatment,  the .bin is used in dvd back ups or similar files

There is no actual ban, but a restriction, there are plenty of flights daily to Thailand no one has been stopped from going if they have the correct documents(easy to get)      https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand       

For entry to Thailand   https://london.thaiembassy.org/en/publicservice/119247-requirements-for-certificate-of-entry-during-travel-restriction?page=5d6636cd15e39c3bd00072dd&menu=5f4b6eb3f6ae4b236972c562