husky

No problem, they also deal with some foreign coins, but mostly Thai coinage.  You can see further in the catalog,    

Most of the valuable flat coinage is from Rama 4 or 5 reign (like in the 1800's).  I have been to the eurseree auctions and the staff is quite friendly and will meet and talk with you.  Vituun (as I recall) is the owner/operator, quite friendly, the auctions are also enjoyable and not a rip off.  Most recent catalog is here:  http://sale60.eurseree.com/

I agree with the folks saying to sell in your home country and buy it back here.  Had some gem dealer friends who used to have some African contacts bring some gold in for them, they would make these like 2 1/2 ounce (5 baht) or heavier simple bracelets because that is jewelry but with 1/2 kilo it just isn't worth the hassle, especially since it is fairly inexpensive to sell and then rebuy here.  Gold shops are really good place to buy, price is posted and you can order larger size bars, like 5 or 10 baht, or they often stock the 1 baht size.   

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The Thai Embassy in London simply states that a 'Fit to Fly' certificate is required, they don't say what they want from it.

From the USA it might be easier with regards to the fit to fly, we are given a choice of two different documents, the doctor just needs to fill out and sign them.  I believe just any one is required, but I had the doctor sign both of them.  My MD had no trouble with the documents.  

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I have read that the Covid 19 test RESULT needs to be issued 72 hours prior to departure ( RESULT WAS PRINTED IN RED ). In most cases there is a 2 - 3 day wait after the TEST date.  If your flight is on the 28th, ( 00:15 hrs. ), have your TEST on the 23rd or 24th ?  would that be safe and correct ?  Does the Covid test certificate have a TEST date and RESULT date ?  I can foresee a misunderstanding at check-in.... thanks

That was one of the problems, one of the reports did not have a report date, which would have been 24 hours before the flight.  Just telling what I would do, if going again I would get the test done the day before (morning) and use 24 hour guaranteed service.  However the consolate advised the report date must be 72 hours before departure, similar to what you are suggesting.

The airlines has a lot of latitude for allowing one to board and I can see there is a lot of CYA going on.  When I called the tour company (ticket book through tour company) they could not give me any information (which surprised me), likewise checking with the airlines yielded the same result (could not give any information).  I suppose they err on the side of caution.  Denying boarding to someone who should be allowed to board is better in their eyes probably than allowing boarding to someone who later gets denied entry at the final destination.   

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He/she met incompetent check in staff.

If you got denied boarding incorrectly I think it would be hard to get any positive result.  As in my case it was already the check in person and when she wasn't sure she called over her manager.  So yes they were wrong probably but unfortunately you operate at their discretion when checking in, not sure what remedy you would have if incorrectly denied boarding.  Better to overkill it, next time would get test within 24 hours and bring all docs that went in to applying for the COE.  

For me on the paid test there was a collection date and result date.  The result was produced on the same date as the collection.  Both were within 48 hours of check in.  Note that Thai immigration was fine with it, it was the airline check in staff which questioned it and would only allow check in after verification from Thai immigration. 

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A sensible way to avoid any possible problem would be to get your test as close to departure as you safely can.

Yes I agree with this.  For me there was a private lab that guaranteed 24 hour turn around, you just have to hope there is no delay in getting the results.  The test (in my case) does not show a time, only sample collection date and date reported.  This being the case it would probably make sense to get the test early in the morning on the day prior to the trip, then stop in to print it on the way to the airport.  The test in my particular case $295, I also had a free test done which took 2 days to get the results (which is not as good).  The tests are getting quicker an more reliable so I image it will get easier in the future.   I have not calculated the exact amount of difference between the test and the flight, there was a 14 hour layover, but if you assume the test results were at the end of the day it would be very close to the 72 hours.  In a future case I would be prepared to argue the elapsed time with a time calculator as I think the check in personel and manager were just looking at the raw dates (which make it look much longer than 72 hours since there is a time difference).

BTW, if I was doing it again I would use the 24 hour company $295 service and get the test done the day before (as opposed to 2 days before).  

Yes, two tests done on Tuesday with check in on Thursday.  One test cost me $295 to guarantee results within 24 hours.  The other test was done on Tuesday and the results were not available until Thursday but there was no report date on the second test.  In any event the check in staff and manager said the tests could not be used because the 72 hours had to be from the connecting flight, not the departing flight.  They were quite adamant.  Very surprised about it has I had not heard that in any research, or from the Consulate, or from any other source.  

57 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

And the problem was at Incheon?

No, checking in at SFO

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Where?

Korean Air, San Francisco to Incheon South Korea

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Lodge a complaint to the airline about this individual doing the checkin who seems not to be trained properly.

It was actually the manager who came over to check documents.  I am not sure if there is any validity to the 72 hours before connecting flight (instead of the departing flight) from the report date, as I had even asked the consulate and had never heard that.  

When I went to check into the flight they tried to convince me that the Covid-19 tests were not valid since they needed to be within 72 hours of the connecting flight.  The tests (I had 2 just to be on the safe side) were done 2 days before the departing flight.  I had never read anywhere that the tests needed to be done with the clock starting from the connecting flight.  Also they wanted all the documents that I had submitted to Thai immigration to get the COE pertinent to family in Thailand.   I did have most of those documents on the laptop, but then the manager wanted to see the Passport of Thai spouse at which point I basically cried foul.  There is no assumption that a Thai spouse has a passport and I explained that this was nothing Thai immigration would ever ask for (they would want the ID card).  He basically didn't agree but said that is OK as far as the COE documents 'for now', he would send pictures of the other documents to Thailand including my extension of stay and ask for clearance from Thai immigration.  

So I had to wait while everyone else checked in their baggage until shortly before the plane took off.  Two attendants then came out and I was thinking 'This doesn't look good', but actually they said everything was fine, Thai immigration had said all was OK.

The process for clearing immigration in Thailand was straightforward and pretty well designed.   Overall a pretty good process as far as things go, glad I made it through.  The biggest problem is with the airlines in that it all depends on how the check in people feel at that particular point in time as they apply a unique set of rules that may or may not correspond to what Thai immigration would mandate.  
 

Farang51:  Thanks for that, forgot.  I have the insurance which was necessary to get the COE, but still wasn't thinking of printing it to take along with me.  I will do that, better safe than sorry!  

Just to double check the list.

1.)  Passport with Visa / Entry Permit

2.)  COE indicating correct flight numbers.

3.)  Document which comes with the COE - 'Declaration Form'

4.)  PCR Covid-19 test.  Somewhere they specify that the test should be a RT-PCR test, on the test results it indicates PCR covid test (SARS-CoV-2 (COVID19) Qualitative PCR), in the separate literature they state it is a RT-PCR test.  The results should be dated within 72 hours of the flight  which is a bit tricky to organize.

5.)  ASQ reservation (not sure if it is required, I will take it anyway).

6.)  Fit to Fly documents.  There are two separate documents.  'Medical Certificate for Air Travel' and 'Fit for Travel Medical Certificate'.  These need to be dated within 72 hours.  Only one of the two types is required.

Hmmm, don't think the embassy here has a facebook page but not sure.  Anyway, fax and email seem to work as they no longer answer the emergency phone which they used to do in the past.  I did get the modified COE so hopefully all is good now.  

The general problem I have with communication is they no longer seem to answer the emergency phone number and it goes to a mail box which is full and is not accepting messages.  With the holiday on Friday I am confident it will all be OK on Monday, and I will continue to fax, email as this seems to be the only way to get through.  According to the message I received from the Airlines, they initiated the flight change and updated the embassy so it would impact everyone on the flight.  

Hopefully this will take care of itself eventually.  My flight is out of the USA on October 29th, the COE was issued a while ago.  Now the airlines has changed the connecting flight.  They have notified me via email of the flight changes on Thursday of last week.  I have sent a couple of emails and a fax to the embassy to get them to re-issue a new COE.  Have not heard anything back.  Anyone else with similar?  How long should it take to get the new COE issued?   As far as I understand going with an existing COE that doesn't match all the flight details is a no go.  

thanks, looking at the fb page it is quite good.  will be staying in bkk.  looking at various hotels now.  Should be in towards end of October as need to wait for flights to get published then leave enough time to get the visa.  thanks all....

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Well I hope if needed, the Consolate may be flexible, hate the thought of waiting for a CV19 vaccine to return.

tourist visa amid coronavirus

Probably on separate thread, but just thought I would jot this down that there are apparently plans to open up to long term tourists.

will be attempting to return to Thailand around the end of October.  Any recommendations for a good quarantine hotel?  Also is it possible to use the fitness room or is there a permitted daily exercise period?  Are the hotels pretty available or pretty booked up?

Thanks,

If I were to suggest some possible improvements in the process here is what they would be:

>>Put flights out there on the list further into the future, as of September 13th there are only flights listed through the end of September, which doesn't do any good since it takes almost a calendar month to get the visa.

>>Allow the applicant 'conditional approval' prior to purchase of air ticket and quarantine accomodations.

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QR has one of the best refund, reschedule, voucher programs.

I will look at QR.

Any recommendations on quarantine accomodations, I see quite a few on the list?

There is a web portal to apply for a emergency travel visa for travel from the USA to Thailand during the pandemic.

Here is a link to the info page https://thaiembdc.org/visas/

There are only certain 'repatriation' flights on the official list.  One of the flights on the list must be booked.  Right now on the list there are flights through September 30th, 2020.  I have been informed that the October flights will be released later in the month of September, towards the end of the month.  The embassy says they need 15 business days to produce and give a visa and before you can apply for the visa you need to purchase a non refundable airline ticket and also the 15 day quarantine hotel reservation.

I am basically just wondering at this juncture how the math works out.  I mean 15 business days are almost a calendar month.  So like if I started buying everything today I could get everything but the visa would come in after the ticket departure date.  

Anyone with experience on receiving a visa from the USA?  How long did it actually take once all the forms were submitted (to get the travel visa)?

Also had this problem when running a 10km loop. Started carrying a thin and light bamboo stick with me (no fun carrying heavy stuff for 10k!), if the dogs were nipping at me would stop turn around and whack them one. They seemed to remember and stopped coming after me. I don't mind if they bark and protect their area, it is just when the run up as if to bite!

Thanks for the reply. The unit I am considering is the Garmin GPSMAP 62sc (which has compass, alt. and camera). Not sure why the price is so expensive here, the GPSMAP62s is 25,500 here or 374.99 USD purchased overseas. (the 62s is the model with no camera, the 62sc is 443.35 overseas and is not sold here). Just want to verify that there is no major difference between overseas purchased or local, which is sounds like there is not.