JTXR

Well, it's as clear as mud now.

Latest news reports are that incoming tourists will need US$ 50K in Covid insurance.  And sometime soon new O-A visa applicants will need US$ 100K insurance cover (inclusive of covid), and sometime later (September 2022?) extensions based on original O-A will also require the US$ 100K cover. 

Is that the current state of play?  Yes, of course, things could change at any time....

My Thai wife developed very bad tinnitus a couple of years ago, and after trying several different hospitals and "specialists" in Bangkok, was most satisfied with (and still goes to) the Hearing, Speech, Balance and Tinnitus Center at Bangkok Hospital.

https://www.bangkokhospital.com/en/center-clinic/eye-and-ent/hearingspeechbalance-tinnitus-center?info=overview

There simply is nothing YOU can do to convince or coerce the guy to do the right thing.  I believe you need to try to find neighboring Thai people who are also bothered by the noise.  They may be able to do something.  If there are none, or they are unable or unwilling to, then it's hopeless.

I suspect paying the guy to turn the noise down, or relocate, or sell out to you will only result in what always results from what is essentially blackmail (or a protection racket).  Down the road, he or someone else will do the same and expect payment again.

I have been expecting something like this once the US$ 100,000 Covid insurance requirement for reentry was begun.  I've been preparing to bail on Thailand as soon as the cost of redundant and worthless insurance becomes untenable.  I'll see what the cost turns out to be when my permission to stay extension comes around and decide then.

After a short visit to the US, I returned to Thailand a couple of months ago (with COE and NonImm OA-based extension of stay) and did the 15-day quarantine in hotel.

I had been doing my online 90-day reports before with no problems.  My question is:  will I need to submit any additional information when I do my first 90-day report after returning (proof of covid insurance, successful exit from quarantine, etc.)?  Or will I be able to do the online 90-day report exactly as before?

Thanks.

This illustrates something that I've come to realize just recently (after going to and returning from the US, and finishing 14 days in ASQ):  no matter what the "rules" and "guidelines" may be where you're traveling to or from, they can change while you're traveling and you may well be stuck wherever you are.   I'm guessing this will be true for some time to come.  I will only travel if it's absolutely necessary.  No way I'm taking an international "vacation" just for the sake of a vacation.

I live in Thailand and am returning very soon after four weeks in the U.S.  I have a valid permission to stay, COE, and ASQ hotel reservation.  Unfortunately, I'm freaking out a bit about the negative Covid PCR test results.

When I left Thailand, after looking at this site and (I think) various Thai government sites, I was convinced that the negative result needed to be issued within 72 hours of the first departure, NOT that the sample needed to be drawn within those 72 hours.  So that's what I did.  Now, I'm having a very hard time convincing anyone I talk to in the States, including the clinics where I had tests done (so I'd be sure to fall within the window) and including my U.S. airline.

First, am I correct in my statement above that the negative result just needs to be issued within 72 hours of the first departure? Second, can someone post an image or link to some official Thai government statement to that effect?  I've been looking and I can't find again what I thought I'd seen before.  I'd really like something that looks official so I'm not reduced to arguing with airline staff at the check-in counter.

Many thanks.

I'm in the U.S. with a valid OA-based extension of stay and valid reentry permit.  I have a air booking.

To get the COE and necessary other things (Covid insurance, ASQ booking, Covid test, etc.), is two weeks before planned departure the right time to start the COE process?  (The instructions on the Thai Embassy DC site are not very clear to me.)

Assuming you have made one transfer per month (of at least 65,000 baht), you will need to ask your Bangkok Bank branch for 12 "credit advice" (one per month for the past 12 months).  There will be 12 pages, one per transfer.  If your branch is small, like in a mall, you may need to talk to the manager, but eventually, when you explain it's for international transfers you've made once a month, and it's for immigration, they will know what you need.  You'll likely be told it will take 3 days (that's what I was told the last 2 years, but each time it only took two days).

BTW, I found a few years ago that if I had transfers made into my Bangkok Bank account as baht, they got coded as bahtnet, but if I made the transfers as dollars, they were coded as foreign transfers (FTT).  You may look into that.  In any event, even with FTT codes in the bank book, immigration seems to like a credit advice for each transfer,

I'll be coming back to Thailand in a couple of months.  Can I pay for the required US$ 100k coverage at the official site above with transfer from a Thai bank account?  Or will I need to use credit card? 

Thanks

There is no shortage.  Go to Bangkok on Google maps. Simply type "German restaurant,"  or "Swiss restaurant" or "Italian restaurant", or "French restaurant" and take a look at the results.  I'm in Bangkok, and that's exactly what I do.  Many places have daily specials on a chalkboard.  I don't know any restaurants that unfailingly change these daily, but that's not to say there aren't any.

I also would really like to know the answer to this, or where to keep looking online for an answer over the next few weeks. 

I will likely be in exactly the same situation when I try to return to Thailand.  I'll be "fully vaccinated," with AZ followed by Pfizer, and would like to skip quarantine if I can, which will only be possible if Thai authorities recognize the combination.

Had my first AZ shot at PhayaThai 2 on Wednesday the 23rd.  My appointment was for the same date originally given (i.e., there was no deferment caused by the deferment of appointments 15-19 June).   

When my wife called them several days before, they said there would be a confirmation email (see the example above) the day before the appointment.  Confirmation email was actually received on Monday (two days before). 

The process was well enough organized and went smoothly enough.  Given the queue number I got at the time I arrived, they probably dealt with around 220-230 people that day.  The location, although indoors, was well ventilated but the large room at the center of the process had a couple of processing steps where social distancing was maybe not ideal.  Staff were great without exception:  friendly, patient, good-humored and professional.

And, yes, it was free.

What can you recommend?  I care less about cost than absolute reliability.  (No "sorry, not ready, come back tomorrow...."). 

Thanks.

As soon as you make a new appointment, the old one is cancelled on the system.

Given what US$100K cover is likely to cost at my age (compared to the baht 400K/40K currently required), if this proposal is made into law, there's no way I will stay.  Simply a ramp-up of govt/insurance industry sticking it to retirees in Thailand.

Ubon Joe is correct, as usual.  I just did my extension at CW yesterday.  Last year I had a bit of a problem with the insurance, because it was the first year and they made me come back and get the extension the day my insurance policy started. 

This year, my old policy expires at 24:00 on the last day of my current extension and the new policy begins at 00:01 the following day.  There was no problem doing the extension early.

BTW, the extension process was much smoother than in past years, in part because it was less crowded, no doubt.  With all the required docs printed, signed, well organized, etc., it took almost exactly one hour.  Then getting the re-entry permit took about 15 minutes.

Reported today that data from immigration's appointment booking site is easily breached.

Unbelievable!!  In one week I find that my online appointment at immigration and my vaccination booking for foreigners at the Ministry of Health will leak my data to even a novice hacker!

There's incompetence and then there's staggering levels of incompetence.  The government obviously regards data security for expats as completely unimportant.

There's no sense at all in panicking. 

I have a so-called "confirmed" appointment for AZ for next week.  I'll call a couple of days before the appointment date, but I'm assuming it will have been cancelled/postponed.  It won't come as any sort of surprise. 

Regardless of registrations and appointments, given the outright mendacity and incompetence of those in charge, I suspect I won't get a first injection before August or so, despite high risk due to age.

I have a morning appointment at CW to extend my OA-based extension of stay.

When I try to make an afternoon appointment for a re-entry permit, as soon as I enter my passport number, the system asks something like "You want to make a new appointment?"

My question is, can I have two appointments the same day?  Or will making the new appointment cause the system to cancel the 1st appointment (which I obviously don't want). 

thanks

Play with the dates (go one day later and later...) until you get one with AZ not fully booked.

God only knows what certificate one can get if (as I likely will) they get 1st shot of AZ in Thailand and 2nd shot of Pfizer in the US. 

Probably neither country will consider this as "fully vaccinated".  Still, it's better than flying to the US with no vaccination at all and then flying back from the US only half vaccinated.  Better to fall through the bureaucratic cracks than be hospitalized or die.

39 minutes ago, samtam said:

Got the registration, but like many others, not a booking date:

 

Well, sorry....yes a booking date 01 JAN 1970????

You can go back, log in again, and update your booking.  The app remembers your main details, but you will need to check off the medical condition pages again.

Even after I got an actual appointment date )and took a screen shot), there was a message to wait for a final email confirmation from that email address.