radjag

#1 get an aircon bus from Morchit, definitely cheapest and (amazingly!) probably lowest risk.

#2 If your partner is from the area of your destination, contact someone local with a van or SUV and pay them to drive to BKK, rest up, meet you and drive back.

Excellent responses, thank you all so much.

I already wasted about $100 applying to the "background check" agencies in UK as required by the Thai Embassy - that "rabbit hole" just leads to further document SNAFU's if you are not actually resident in the UK - lesson learned.

Great, I will just fly back to Thailand and follow the route described above - excellent!

No doubt this question has been asked many times previously - I apologise for my inability to find it via a search.

I am a UK passport holder, 67, but when not in Thailand I am in the USA.

I had a Retirement visa for several years, then the double whammy of COVID and the sudden, unrelated passing of my Thai missus, and I was not able to get back to Thailand in order to renew my Retired Visa before it expired.

Thai consulates seem to have changed the rules, only USA Nationals can apply for an O-A visa from a USA Consul. I am told that I must apply in my country of origin, UK. Not lived there for over 40 years, only visited once, briefly, in more that 20 years. I started the application process, but the online document verification system is difficult. I am working on it, but it would be much less tedious if I could simply go to Thailand, visa on arrival and then "convert" that to a Retirement pass.

Is that possible?

On 9/19/2021 at 5:51 AM, geisha said:

Hi, am very interested in taking Singapore airlines Paris phuket via Singapore , Is this ok as I heard only direct flights to Phuket ? Where did you fly from please  ? Thanks for any info.

I did the "normal" ASQ last December at a small hotel in Pattaya, it was OK, balcony with a nice sea view, but obviously gets really boring the second week. The Phuket Sandbox is much, much better. The very nice hotel I'm using in Kamala is great and ridiculously cheap at THB800/night. The three mandatory C19 tests had to be pre-paid for THB8,000 - almost as much as the hotel, but still much cheaper than the cost of (less efficient) tests in USA.

I flew SQ from SFO to SIN (on an older A350 with very few passengers and VERY expensive), couple of hours in the almost eerily quiet Changi airport, then SQ to Phuket. As long as you have got all of the paperwork in order and have already loaded MorChana App in your phone the processing at Phuket Airport was remarkably efficient and well organised - no problem. I got the result of my C19 test (swabbed on exit of Airport at about noon) that same evening and was then free to go out and about in Phuket every day since. In the small town of Kamala there are several "restaurants" that are open. The excellent Lillo seafood place on the beach and the Aussie Pub being two notable examples.

Had to visit Patong the other day to get my second swab. The whole of Patong area looks like a ghost town with the majority of places along the "golden mile" shuttered and depressing. I would not choose to stay in that area before or now!

All of the golf courses are open for business, but generally very quiet. Some are offering very attractive rates, others must have a lot of rich members, or the management are just dumb, possibly both, and have not lowered rates to attract current visitors. Ho hum.

Most of the "tourist" attractions are shuttered.

Now I have a red face! nd I have wasted 4 working days.

I did not realise that I had to click the "upload" button under each file to be attached to the application. Because I had not done that it kept telling me that my vaccination certificate is not uploaded - because that is the first file required by the form.

OK, my fault, I just did not read the instructions carefully enough.

So I got no response from the LA Consulate to my polite email. I called them this morning and actually got to speak to an Operator - she then told me that the Visa Section Officer was not at his desk - please call back after 4pm (which is a bit strange, given that their "customer" office hours end at 4pm). I tried again just now at 16.30 and this time dialed 230 to jump straight to the Visa Section. A real person then answered, but the line was so crackly and distorted I could not make out what was said, then the line jumped to a ringing tone and to the voice mail system again. Voice mail box still full, not possible to leave a voice message.

I have tried starting the CoE Application over using both the Washington DC portal and the LA portal. I have tried several different picture formats. The system will just not accept my Vaccination Record. This is very, very frustrating. 

Wow! OK. I have to try again. Very pleasantly surprised. Thanks.

OK, but I cannot complete the online application, it will not accept the official Vaccine Record (with QR Code) or the Certificate issued by the Health Agency. Wait and see if I get a response from the Consulate tomorrow I guess.

The online CoE Application system requires that you upload a copy of a valid Vaccination Certificate, but in USA the only thing that is normally available is a Vaccination Record which, if you register online through the Pharmacy Portal where you got the vaccination (in my case Walmart), you can download a record card which states your name, date of shots, name and batch number of shots.

The CoE form wants a Certificate that indicates passport number and Nationality. I went to my Primary Health Care Provider (Doctor's Clinic) and the Receptionist tried her best - took 3 days - but after she uploaded my Vaccination Record into the CDC VAMS System she was then directed to the State of Oregon Health Agency who she had to call to get them to issue a Certificate - it is useless - even less information than is on the Record Card.

I've now sent an email to the LAX Consulate. 

Has anyone found a solution - especially for Oregon.

HELP..........!!!!!!

I need to return to Thailand by the end of September. I did ASQ in Pattaya (where I have a home) last year, then travelled again in March. This time I would prefer the relative freedom of the Sandbox for the mandatory 2 weeks. I am double vaccinated and am hoping (not confident) that I might even be able to get a booster before I travel.

I have read that it is mandatory to arrive Phuket via direct International flight (from Singapore for example) - is that true? My current ticket is to BKK.

I have also read that, currently, most domestic flights are suspended and it is not easy to fly from Phuket to BKK (and then Limo down to Pattaya at the end of the 2 weeks. Is that the case?

Where can I go to check the rules online?

OK, guys, thanks for the comments.

I am departing BKK for USA on Saturday with Japan Airlines. They have no real offices open any more - the English speaker I got through to was obviously a call center worker in India - I don't have a problem with that, except that he could not answer my question - Arrrrgggghhhh!

I just went and got swabbed for the COVID PCR test. Result promised for tomorrow morning, but it is difficult for me to go and pick up the test certificate. They will email it to me.

Is an email copy of the test report OK, or do I have to present the original test report at the check in counter at BKK?

Ah! So it is the drug companies who want to deal directly with Government. Not certain representatives who insist that the Drug Companies deal through them? Right! 

According to a second CCTV clip I caught on Thai TV, and explained by my missus, the same "feisty" young woman got drunk/high and staggered around a hotel/condo parking lot bashing cars with a club. Police were called and it took a while to get her under control.

Weirdo!

I understand that one of the reasons for no checkpoints is the scandal of senior officers ripping off all of the funds allocated by the Govt for extra "COVID Duty" by the rank and file police.

No money, no Stopee!

Do you need to book ahead at Pattaya CC, or just show up?

I very much doubt that acquiring a fresh passport with the same name and other details will "cover your tracks".

It is quite hard for me to meet all of the requirements for an O-A or O-X here in USA. I am a UK passport older and because of COVID have become a "documented illegal" so asking a Federal Bureau to give me documentation is problematic.

So, I will submit an application for a TR visa as soon as I get my ALQ hotel confirmation, I've now got everything else in hand. Fingers crossed.

I will try to renew/replace my Retirement Extension as soon as I clear Quarantine. If that turns out to be impossible, so be it, I will extend as long as I can beyond 90 days then, hopefully, return to USA. Once I am "legal" again in USA I could then apply for an O-X in due course.

OK, Peter, thanks for that clarification.

If that is the case then I shall just apply for a TR Visa and COE. Once I get all of the papers together I shall submit and see how it goes from there.

From what I've read this morning, it appears that my current Retirement Extension is still valid and I only need a CoE, but that remains to be proven. I'm waiting for confirmation of flights, ASQ hotel and, most importantly, Insurance from LMG in BKK. Once I get all of that I will submit the application online for a CoE and will then see whether I actually need a fresh visa or not. 

If I have to get a fresh TR visa and that automatically invalidates my existing Retirement Extension that is still OK. As UbonJoe has stated, I will then just have to start again at IO Jomtien, get 90 days then extend. A PITA, but not outrageous.

My pal in BKK also just warned me to be careful about potentially booking an ASQ in Pattaya (there are now 3 listed on one of the latest ASQ lists I've seen) because TAT stated last week (reported in the BKK Post) that only ASQ hotels in BKK are permitted. I'm trying to verify that now.