Tounge Thaied

17 minutes ago, Olmate said:

Read the post,they borrowed a trillion. You think any country has cash reserves to cover this debacle.

What bank are all the governments around the world borrowing from?

This is certainly only going to apply to the die hard folks that need or are desperate to get back to Thailand. A regular short stay tourist is not going to jump through all the hoops for the COE and quarantine for two weeks on arrival. If all goes well, then we could see another iteration of this to get more numbers back into Thailand. Or simply some relaxation of the requirements. Immigration must have considered this in the context of operating beyond covid... which is a good thing for future tourism travel into Thailand. Post "emergency" Covid, and when the additional Covid related requirements to enter relax, this 90 day extension scheme is going to provide a fantastic entry option and will alleviate a lot of immigration hassle for a lot of folks.

12 hours ago, 86Tiger said:

Open the borders today, six months from now or 2 years from now.  The virus is still out in the world waiting to enter the kingdom and will eventually enter to run the natural course of every pandemic since beginning of time.

 

And there will be no effective vaccine.  They will tell you there is, billions $ will be paid by every country in the world.  But truth is it will not be a vaccine but a hope and a prayer.

 

On the positive side if I am wrong and an effective vaccine is developed:  We will also have cure for common cold virus, influenza virus and aids virus because they will have learned over last few months to do what was impossible for last 50 years..

This comment wins the internet today... Well said. All this turmoil for an illness that has killed a mere 0.0008% of the population. 58 deaths in a population of 70,000,000, do the math. 

9 hours ago, maqui said:

By the 4th quarter, the US will have 300,000 fatalities, a little bit less than 1% of the population.

.09% not 1% Do the math again. 

8 hours ago, Marvo said:

Am I required to get 10 months cover, to cover my entire stay, seeing as we'll know if I have COVID within 14 days of arrival? I would like to get an idea of the cost.

I paid just about $300.00 for 4 months of cover with this https://www.insubuy.com/ company. Very fast. And you choose your coverage period. You will have to check if this is only a USA centic company. I don't know. I was approved for my certificate of entry by covering only the 90 day visa I was granted. I do intend to stay longer, but that will be done by extending my 90 day Non-immigrant "Thai Wife" VISA to one year. No insurance is required with that extension. 

40 minutes ago, Grumpy John said:

I am of the belief that if Thai's go to other countries for well paid jobs then they have the money to pay for testing prior to boarding and quarantine on return.  The government didn't force them to work O/S.

It's a seriously negligent double standard isn't it. 

Testing, Testing, Testing. More testing more "Cases". Remember the VAST majority of "Cases" are asymptomatic, that's right no illness. "Cases" go up in countries that test... that's not rocket science. Imagine if we tested everyone for the flu? We could declare yet another pandemic. Remember the Spanish Flu? People forget, historically the flu is orders of magnitude more deadly. Btw, pick your poison (pick which of the myriad of other coronavirus') that you want to test for... those will also be at pandemic levels. 

Everything becomes more clear when you understand where he is getting his talking points from. I would provide more detail/information and source material for my comment, but I will just be censored on this platform. It is very likely I will get censored for just these three sentences. Most of my comments go right down the memory hole. ????

On 9/10/2020 at 1:21 PM, noserious said:

The embassy/consulate is in charge of issuing the visa. However the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in charge of the COE. Ideally this would be a simultaneous process.

It did work out to be a a simultaneous process for me. I sent my passport in, I then finalized the online application with the ASQ and Flight confirmation (I used Hanatours). The COE and VISA were then completed simultaneously. 

However for me, I went back to Hanatours to pay for my original flight booking of the 30th and discovered they had just added a flight out of Seattle ( I am in Seattle). And there was an earlier flight on the 24th. So I called Hanatours to change my flight confirmation to the earlier Seattle flight, saving a flight over to L.A and a week of waiting around to go. I contacted the L.A. consulate by email, and they have been very responsive btw, and they opened back up my application after it had already been submitted to allow me to change my ASQ and Flight bookings. So I was pretty fortunate. 

To sum up my process, I started my online application in August. After submitting the entire application I promptly got my first email from the consulate on August 25th. It wasn't until September 8th, that I finally got the online application finalized and they submitted. Then, upon my request, to re-book the ASQ and Flight for the earlier date and Seattle location, I updated the application to be re-submitted on September 9th. Even though I already knew my VISA had been approved, because they called me, the VISA and COE were finalized together and I received my COE by email September 10th. They put my passport back into the mail yesterday September 11th. My passport, by USPS tracking, tells me my passport will arrive back September 15th (I only used the 3 day priority mail option). Now I can go schedule my fit to fly test and covid test. 

Funny headline...

1 minute ago, FlyingThai said:

Or are they closed for public business and only operate via mail?

You got it. Mail only.

3 hours ago, pseudorabies said:

However mine is still active.

Have you ever gotten the "Use the Link below to edit the shared entry" message with a green "View Entry" link button in an email from them? This is your portal back into your application. If the application is locked, meaning you can no longer edit anything, it may say at the bottom below your signature "Submitted". That means your entire application is complete and has been submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If your application is still open and editable, then you are still in process for some reason. You need to find out what that reason is. Here is the L.A. phone number and of course their email:
323-580-4222

[email protected]

2 minutes ago, pseudorabies said:

I've been doing the online application and when I went in to upload some docs I had to change my answer from "NO" for "Do you have a visa?" to "YES" because I got a popup message stating that my visa was approved.

Have you re-submitted the entire application after this occurred? If you have submitted it, they should have contacted you by now. In addition to that yes question, you have to be sure that your ASQ and Flight confirmations have been uploaded, along of course, with all the other required documents. 

2 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

"Your application is reviewed."

Doesn't mean that you are approved at all, they are having a look at it.

I'm pretty sure Johnbarley understands this. There are two approvals, first the VISA then the COE. These have two separate, overlapping, sets of documents. The VISA can be completed on its own and sent back quickly. The COE takes a bit longer as it requires additional documents and to be reviewed and approved, I believe by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

Quick answer yes... you can get it in and back within 10 days... but it is very dependent on your factors. Are you near D.C.? It looks as though, from your OP, that you have been emailed. So that is good, you now have established communications. The L.A. folks have been very responsive. 

My situation: I am in the exact process you are describing right now... I am using the the Thai Embassy in L.A. Every case is situationally dependent. I have read some guys have gotten it back in as early as 8 days. I made some flight changes mid stream on my application so my mailing went out from Seattle to L.A. on Sept. 4th and arrived on September 8th using USPS priority mail and is taking a bit longer due to the distance I am at, priority mail is a 3 day mail service one way and I made changes delaying the process. I believe there is one more faster option with USPS, which the instructions for the mailing said I needed to send by USPS. Maybe next day air, not sure on that. I don't believe they have put my VISA back into the mail to me yet. But I believe they have stamped my VISA already and I am expecting my VISA back in the next 4-5 days. So for me, the entire process is taking somewhere between 10-12 days. I would say that if you have all your documents fully prepared, you can get an expediated USPS shipping option and put a short letter in the mailing indicating you would like to have your VISA back ASAP, I think you can do it within the 10 days. Then email them with your expediate request. 

15 hours ago, unheard said:

I think it's pretty much a simultaneous process.

I can confirm this. I sent my passport and documents to L.A. last week, I got a call September 8, 2020 from the L.A. Thai Embassy/Consulate they confirmed receipt of all my documents and passport that I sent in the mail. This is of course after completing the online application first and two other email exchanges. The person who called me said the VISA, my Non-immigrant O, and the COE were ready to be finalized once I now sent the ASQ booking. They had sent me an email the same day requesting that I update the online documents with the ASQ. Fortunately, I had my wife begin finding me one of the hotels and I was poised and ready to then secure the hotel. So now I am waiting for the ASQ to be updated today September 9, 2020. Presumably, they will send my passport back this week, and send the COE. I chose September 30th for the flight and have booked the hotel for that date. Just need the flight confirmation and COE and passport back now. 

At present, IMO, the Elite Visa has one redeeming quality, the option for those who want to retire without the health insurance requirement necessity. As I understand it, as you approach 75, currently you cannot get health insurance. So those who are not married to a Thai, and live in Thailand on the retirement VISA, it may be necessary to go ELITE to even stay in Thailand. 

8 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

More to the point can someone explain that if road deaths kill more than covid does, why ALL road travel has not been banned and why walking on paths near roads not been banned ? The world is being destroyed for less than road deaths per year. The entire governments of the world have gone insane.

I've trying to point this out for months... and if I produce evidence... TV Ministry of Truth blocks me. 

Great questions and synopsis. Totally agree.

1 minute ago, Johnboxer said:

Thai Embassy saying one person on the plane had covid 19

This shouldn't change anything for your friend, he will still qualify per current guidelines to meet the requirements with the 14 day quarantine and two tests... that is of course unless you comes up positive. Then he is off to the hospital... I wonder what happens after you go to the hospital as a positive? Anyone know? As we know, most never even get symptoms, so how do the Thai health authorities manage you at that point?

1 hour ago, nobodysfriend said:

 I once knew a Model in Phuket ... she did allow tourists to stay longer ... ( if they paid for ) .

Ok. You win the internet today for this one. ????

49 minutes ago, Kenny202 said:

Understand that, but again wouldn't you be better quarantining and testing BEFORE departure?

Best solution, IMO is, this is of course if the Thais are not quarantine or testing prior to departure, to not require any quarantine or testing and simply require everyone to do their 14 days quarantine and test out in Bangkok. Done. It is beyond stupid and a complete waste to test 72 hours before you get on a plane full of un-tested people. Why test before you get on in a situation like that? Just do your 14 days and two tests on arrival. 

52 minutes ago, jojothai said:

?

If a thai is not tested, then they are potentially allowing infected people on the flight for others to get infected which does not make sense.

You the foreigner get to sit up front... for triple the cost in business class of course. And this somehow protects you... It's a fair question. If the plane is full of un-tested people then why are the 5-10 foreigners on the plane even testing. They can test out in ASQ quarantine like the Thais do... it's blatant discrimination. 

1 hour ago, gamb00ler said:

I actually booked the ASQ before the Thai Embassy had announced the dates for September flights. 

I'm at the Passport is at the L.A. Embassy getting my new updated Non-Imm O (wife) VISA stage. I am still trying to decide when I should book my ASQ. I believe I will get my passport back in about 2 weeks from today. What do you think, should I push to go ahead and book for one of the two flights that are September 29 or September 30th? That way I can book my ASQ now as well?

6 hours ago, gamb00ler said:

$2715 ASQ  for two (85K B), extra big room

If you had wanted... was the 30-40,000 baht range available?