skatewash

Of the three vaccines you listed only the first two are mRNA vaccines, AstraZeneca is an adenovirus vector vaccine.

Interesting. What country requires the back of passport photos to be stamped with the date? EDIT: Oh, Canada!

The requirements for a US Passport: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-apply/photos.html

Insurance is required only for the initial period of permission to stay granted by the visa or re-entry permit used. In your friend's example that would be 60 days only. If he applies for a 30 day extension of stay he will not be questioned about health insurance. This is checked at entry, when applying for the Certificate of Entry or nowadays the Thailand Pass, he will need to demonstration 60 days of coverage commensurate with his SETV. It may also be checked at arrival in Thailand. There are no insurance checks on departure from Thailand.

Actually, it would make for a great trivia question: what are the five dread diseases in Thailand that you must be certified as not having in order to obtain a driving license?"

Taking that as a general question: The medical certificate for a driver's license is obtained from any small clinic in Phuket. It's a certification that the applicant does not have any of the five "prohibitive diseases (Leprosy, Tuberculosis, drug addiction, Elephantiasis, third phase of Syphilis) as indicated in the Ministerial Regulation No. 14 B.E. 2535 [1992]." The cost is around 100 to 150 baht, there is no examination or testing (in my experience). The change is that the medical certificate is now wanted for renewing a 5-year driving license rather than just getting your initial 5-year license or the 2-year license given to applicants as their first license.

Although I have not done it myself (obtained my 5 year license renewal before I found about the policy change) I have seen a handout that came from the Phuket LTO that clearly indicated the yellow book was accepted as fulfilling the requirement for address confirmation. Can't find it now, but I've also read reports online of people using the Yellow Book in Phuket. Years ago I (and many others) were routinely rejected trying to use the Yellow Book. I am as sure as I am about anything in Thailand that the Phuket LTO now recognizes the yellow book.

In Phuket: go the hospital that was associated with your vaccination. If you got the vaccination at a hospital then go to that hospital. If you went to a Vaccination Center try to find out which hospital staffed your vaccination center. The hospital should be able to sell you for 50 baht a Thailand National Vaccination Certificate. You will need to provide the hospital all the documentation you get from your hospital/vaccination center. With this Thailand National Vaccination Certificate which has a QR code on it you should be able to scan that with your phone and open up the Ministry of Public Health website which has your vaccination information. I believe with this Thailand National Vaccination Certificate and the online access to your vaccination information provided by Mor Prom APP you should be able to travel internationally. If you want the yellow vaccination booklet you can get that by taking a copy of your Thailand National Vaccination Certificate and a copy of your passport ID page and for 50 baht you can obtain from the Phuket Provincial Public Health building in Phuket Town (southeast corner of the intersection of Narisson and Surin Roads): https://goo.gl/maps/TpuTqZSq4nMRVvw38 Some pictures of the building and outdoor waiting area: The blue arrow marks the spot. https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1s0x3050321da5cba45f%3A0xeb96f6c67d3d5cfe!3m1!7e115!4shttps%3A%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMe0aFjY7S4A6tD2BixUq6cyDevQCQGD0mT9YsV%3Dw255-h192-k-no!5sministry of public health phuket - Google Search!15sCgIgAQ&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipMe0aFjY7S4A6tD2BixUq6cyDevQCQGD0mT9YsV&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjt4ZfcpI30AhWt7nMBHWviCT0Qoip6BAhUEAM I believe the place opens at 8:30 AM during the week. You need a passport copy of your ID page and a copy of your Thailand National Vaccine Certificate. It takes about 5 days from when you apply. You come back to pick up your completed Yellow Book and pay the 50 baht. Attached are redacted versions of my vaccination center receipt, Thailand National Vaccine Certificate, and cover of the Yellow Covid Vaccination Passport Booklet. In my opinion the Thailand National Vaccine Certificate (which is in English and Thai) and the ability to check the QR Code online should be sufficient, but if you want the Yellow Covid Vaccination Passport get that too. Yellow Covid Vaccination Passport bookle cover: Redacted Yellow Covid Vaccination Passport 1 of 6.pdf

It's not OK, meaning you can be fined for driving on an expired license if you happen to be stopped, but if you renew within a year you don't have to retake the written or do the practical driving test, just take the normal physical tests for vision and reaction time. Also, because your license is expired you will be renewed for nearly 6 years (expiring on your birthday), rather than just 5.

Also, unless you can get the online DLT queue to work for you (I couldn't and don't know any foreigner who has) you will likely have to visit the LTO in person to get an appointment to renew your driver's license. To get an appointment you can show up at anytime they're open, doesn't need to be early in the morning as it's very likely you will just be given an appointment time to return on another day. You can try it online here, but as I said didn't work for me: https://gecc.dlt.go.th:4449/2020-12-29/web_booking/page/

Just to mention it because it is a fairly recent change in policy: Phuket Land Transport Office now alternatively accepts a yellow house registration book in lieu of a Certificate of Residence from Immigration (adopting the policy of many LTOs across Thailand).

There's no grace period but you will get an almost 6 year validity (expiring in your birthday) when you apply for a 5 year license after the previous one has expired. There was a covid amnesty earlier in the year but I think that's been over for a while now. Also, Phuket Land Transport Office now accepts the yellow house registration book, so if you have one of those not need for the Certificate of Residence from Immigration to prove your address.

I should mention that I'm not sure all of the 70 some different immigration offices in Thailand do provide the Non-O visa. My office in Phuket does. I believe it can also be obtained in Bangkok and Pattaya. For example: http://piv-phuket.com/long-stay-extensions/non-o-visa/ You might want to enquire from your local immigration office whether they do provide the Non-O visa. I should also mention that most immigration offices want you to get your extension of stay from the same office that issues the Non-O visa.

I used to use the Buy Now Pharmacy, about a block west (toward the beach) of Patong Hospital on Sainamyen Road but I see that it seems to be marked as closed on Google Maps (not sure closed for the evening or closed on a more permanent basis.) It was a fairly small shop at any rate. Outside of Patong but in Phuket, I would echo the recommendation of KL regarding the pharmacies in Supercheap. In particular, I recommend the big main Supercheap on Thepkrasatree Road near the regional bus station just north of Phuket Town. After that, I recommend the Supercheap Pharmacy near the Naka Weekend Market. Finally, closer to Patong I recommend the big Supercheap near Chalong Circle in Rawai. I also recommend the Fascino Pharmacy on Phoonpon Road in Phuket Town. But I recently started using a pharmacy with a presence on facebook by the name of Medisafe (located in Bangkok): https://www.facebook.com/Medisafe.Pharmacy.Rama4 I'm not used to doing business on facebook so it all seemed a little dodgy to me, but I asked for a price quote of my medications using the chat feature on the site. I got within an hour a very good price quote for the medications I asked for. They also mentioned I could get a quote for generic versions of the medications I asked for. I went with the generic versions, saving about 1,400 baht. I transferred the money from my Thai bank account to their bank account to pay for the order plus 40 baht for shipping via Flash Express. Within a week I had received exactly what I ordered. Some of my medications are not easily obtained in Phuket so I will be using Medisafe as my pharmacy from here on.

Arrive in Thailand and enter on a visa-exempt entry (which you are eligible for based on being a UK citizen) which will get you stamped in for 30 days only. You only have to demonstrate health insurance coverage of $50,000 USD to include covid for those 30 days. As soon as possible but definitely before there are 15 days remaining in your permission to stay in Thailand apply for a Non-O visa for purpose of marriage. The Non-O visa for purpose of marriage does not come with a health insurance mandate of its own. Thirty days before the end of the 90 day permission to stay gained by the Non-O visa for purpose of marriage, apply for a marriage extension of stay. The marriage extension does not come with a health insurance mandate of its own. This allows you to enter Thailand and only need 30 days of health insurance coverage to cover your initial 30 day permission to stay. You can apply for a Non-O for purpose of marriage in Thailand and get an extension of stay based on marriage to a Thai.

Good to know. Thanks for the correction.

The longer I read this thread the less I understand. As near as I can tell you had a Thai driver's license that expired years ago. You want to get a new Thai driver's license. You need to start from scratch (you can renew an expired license up to a year after it expires, beyond that you start from scratch). Go to the Land Transport Office (LTO) and apply for a Thai license. If you have valid foreign driver's license you may use that to skip the written and practical driving tests. If you don't you'll have to do all the tests. If in the process of doing the above they mention that there's a record of you having a previous Thai driver's license, if you no longer have it in your possession (as in on your person) then tell them it is lost. If they want you to go to the police station to report it was lost, do that and tell the police officer that you lost the driver's license in Thailand (that's very important, it was lost in Thailand). They will write you a report of a lost license, which you take back to the LTO and continue the process of applying for a new Thai driver's license. If you tell them any other story about your former Thai driver's license you are going down a path you don't want to go down. The license was lost in Thailand, you filed a report with the Thai police, that's the end of it. The license is not still maybe in England, it wasn't lost in England, it has nothing to do with England. It was lost in Thailand. The police can write you a report if the license was lost in Thailand. They can't and won't do squat for you if you tell them it's maybe in England or it was lost in England. Keep it simple. Enjoy the rest of your life.

Yep, I forgot that exemption.

Depends on what basis you return to Thailand. If you arrive visa-exempt you will need 30 days coverage of $50,000 USD health insurance including covid. If you arrive on a re-entry permit you will need coverage up until the expiration of the re-entry permit (which can be up to a year plus). If you arrive on a new Non-O visa you will need 90 days coverage. Under the current rules the only way you can re-enter Thailand and not have to have health insurance coverage is if you become a Thai citizen.

A workaround to the insurance mandate: Minimize the period of time for which you will granted initial permission to stay, because it is this permission to stay that determines how long your mandated insurance must be in place. Instead of re-entering Thailand with a re-entry permit and being stamped in for permission to stay up until the expiry of the re-entry permit (which can be a year away), enter Thailand visa-exempt. To do this you must first make sure your current extension of stay will end when you exit Thailand. The simplest way to do this is NOT to have a re-entry permit, that is, don't purchase one. Leave Thailand without a re-entry permit. When applying for a Thailand Pass to return to Thailand choose the visa-exempt entry. You will be stamped in for 30 days permission to stay during which you must be covered by the Thai Immigration health insurance mandate of $50,000 USD coverage (to include covid) for the 30 day period. As early as you can but at least before you have 15 days remaining on your permission to stay apply for a Non-O visa at your local immigration office, cost 2,000 baht. You will be given a permission to stay of 90 days. As early as possible (30-45 days remaining in your permission to stay) apply for your retirement extension for 1,900 baht. None of the things in this paragraph require you to have the Thai Immigration mandated health insurance coverage. You would need to do the same whenever you leave and re-enter Thailand. Obviously, this doesn't make leaving Thailand very desirable, except perhaps once a year.

Agree. You can buy insurance for a motorcycle but whether you will actually be able to claim successfully may depend on your being legally licensed for motorcycles. If not you're just giving your insurance company an out if they don't want to pay.

Yes, when you apply for your re-entry permit they require a copy of your extension of stay stamp. The date of your permission to stay on that stamp (stay until date) is the date on which your re-entry permit expires. Put another way, your re-entry permit is always valid from when you apply for it (actually when they grant the request, but that's usually the same date) till when your current permission to stay expires. It might be a good strategy to plan a trip that would end before your extension of stay expires as that allows you to re-enter Thailand on a re-entry permit and only have to obtain insurance coverage for the short period before your extension of stay expires. Then since there is no health insurance requirement currently for getting an extension of stay based on a Non-O visa you could minimize the time you do need to be covered.

Yes, correct your personal 40K/400K coverage is not sufficient to the $50,000 USD coverage including covid required now for entry into Thailand. I would call this entry insurance as it only needs to cover your initial permission to stay granted. If you use a re-entry permit you will be stamped in for a permission to stay until your "until" date on your re-entry permit (which could be almost a year away). Then there is the insurance required for Non-OA holders or extensions thereof. This is what you are NOT required to have (as you are a holder of a Non-O visa/extension). So when your permission to stay in Thailand is about to expire you can go get another extension of stay from your local immigration office and because you are on a Non-O (note the absence of the A) you are not required to have insurance. Put in other words, a holder of a non-O visa/extension is only ever required to have health insurance when they enter Thailand and it only needs to cover the period of their initial permission to stay which in the case of a re-entry permit will be until the "until" date on the permit.

Two separate issues that cause understandable confusion, so let me separate them. General health insurance that one as a holder of a Non-OA Visa or re-entry permit for an extension of stay based on a Non-OA must have to enter Thailand or apply for a new extension of stay. In the case of a valid Non-OA visa you will be stamped into Thailand for the shorter period of one year (to which you are entitled by the Non-OA) or the coverage period of your health insurance. In the case of a re-entry permit you will be stamped into Thailand for the permission to stay until the expiration of the re-entry permit or the coverage period of your health insurance, whichever is shorter. This does not apply to you as a holder of an extension of stay from a Non-O visa. General health insurance that one must have when you enter Thailand to cover the initial period of your permission of stay. All must have this insurance (except for Thais). The coverage is $50,000 USD and must include covid. How this effects you is determined by how you enter Thailand: visa-exempt entry means you are given 30 day permission to stay and must have this period covered by your insurance tourist visa entry means you are given 60 day permission to stay and must have this period covered by your insurance non-O visa means you are given 90 day permission to stay and must have this period covered by your insurance re-entry permit means you are given permission to stay equal to the "until" date on your re-entry permit and must have this period covered by your insurance. Once in Thailand you will be able to apply for a new extension of stay based on your Non-O visa without needing health insurance coverage. Someone in Thailand who applies for a new extension of stay based on a Non-OA visa WILL need health insurance coverage.

It has to be valid until the expiry date of your extension.