PeterRoy

I feel for you Andrew, that was a shambles.

Last month I missed out on a flight but using the same registration today I was able to grab a single seat.

Four separate accounts with four tabs open may be your best bet for for next time given the previous error. With that said, I hope you can get some kind of clarity from the embassy.

The demand for flights is enormous and there will be hundreds of disappointed farang out there. I'm yet to see my son, he'll be 4 months old when we meet. It's heartbreaking to think others are facing a similar situation with an indefinite wait. 

Taking out travel insurance could be punt with regards to length of policy, seeing as we don't the date of repatriation flight prior to making the purchase. I plan to take out an additional month on the backend to hopefully account for possible delays.

Thanks for the info chaps, I really appreciate this thread.

A little clarification for anyone interested, lifted from the Thai Embassy in London's:

Quote

For family members of Thai nationals (spouse/child/parent)

While Thailand still puts in place travel restriction, spouse or child or parent of a Thai national can apply for the Certificate of Entry to go to Thailand.  

Required documents, which must be submitted by email to [email protected] : 

1. Statement of your purpose and urgent need to go to Thailand
2. Your passport copy and your spouse's or child’s or your parent's passport copy
3. A copy of your Thai visa (if already expired, you have to apply for a new one)
4. Copy of marriage certificate or birth certificate
5. Copy of air ticket *
6. Covid-free heath certificate *
7. Fit to fly health certificate *
8. Copy of health insurance policy which covers COVID related medical treatment and coverage of no less than 100,000 USD
9. Hotel booking for Alternative State Quarantine (ASQ) at one of the hotels approved by the Thai authorities *
10. Other supporting documents (if any), such as if you own a property in Thailand
11. Declaration form

As the spouse of a Thai national you're required to submit 11 items for consideration when applying for the "Certificate of Entry." These are sent off to Bangkok for approval, which can take 2-3 weeks. 

The statement (1), passport (2), marriage certificate (4), supporting documents (10) and the declaration form (11) should be easy to obtain.

In my case I have to apply for another non-immigrant O visa AFTER the COE is issued. (3)

For the insurance policy which covers Covid (8) I'm going to try my hand with Post Office travel insurance. It claims to cover serious Covid cases and repatriation if required. It was just over £200 for 3 months (as a 34 year old with no pre-existing conditions.)

Alternative state quarantine (ASQ) needs to be booked BEFORE applying, this has to be paid in full. For the lower end accommodation you're looking at £770 - £1250 for the 15 night stay. This is the list of hotels given by London's Embassy. Seeing as you're effectively boxed in a room for a month, there's little upside of booking a hotel based on location or out of room facilities. Given online reviews and the view from higher floors, the The Kinn Bangkok hotel looks comparatively good value at £770. The key point is that ASQ hotel dates can be changed no extra cost but refunds won't be given for full cancellations. (9)

The final 3 items are not required to be submitted for the COE unless you're travelling within 72 hours (don't ask me how they were planning to process the application in that timeframe.) But you will need the Covid free health certificate on arrival, specifically: A Medical certificate with a laboratory result indicating that COVID -19 is not detected (COVID test must be by RT-PCR method), issued within 72 hours before departure. It's proving hard for me to find a Lab with quick results. I've emailed a few places but I don't hold out much hope. Flying to Birmingham is my current best option but it's not preferred. Fit to Fly certificates seem to be issued alongside Covid tests, alternatively they appear to be given out like candy via GP skype sessions. The Covid test and FTF certificates will set you back around £180-300.

Finally, there are various airlines appearing to fly into Thailand come August. Qatar, Turkish, Finnish Air to name a few. Return prices are low £500-600 and thankfully tickets are flexible for re-booking before December (Qatar and Turkish confirmed) (5).

It would be naive to say these guidelines won't change in the near future, it would be equally foolish to ignore the risk of a £2,000-£3,000 outlay in the hope this ticks the correct boxes in Bangkok. 

I'm personally going to wait a few weeks to hear the approval rate of COE applications, if that info is thin on the ground I'm going to have to jump into the darkness, fists full of baht in hand.

The above information is where I'm at just now, please your own conformity research if you're planning to apply.

3 hours ago, unheard said:

Plan to fly out?

Could you please point me to a case of an approved application?

I haven't heard of a single one.

I might be wrong but at this point virtually no one in the married group is making any plans to fly out.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe richard_smith237 is planning to fly out in a couple of weeks.

Unfortunately the Thai Embassy in Glasgow is closed until further notice and the email I just received back from London consisted of a link to the COE page. Sigh.

Waiting for the post to arrive on the day of travel could be quite a nightmare, I'll continue my search for a Lab near me. 

Quote

Having a dedicated courier bring a test kit to you and waiting while you self administer the test. The courier then returns to the clinic with the test / swab. Results within 48 hrs. This option is the most expensive.

I'm also going to investigate the third option suggested by Richard. 

I do however feel there must be a common option used by applicants as every one needs this Covid test. In my case, a 700 mile round trip shouldn't be required for an appropriate lab for testing. Perhaps a more solid option will emerge in a week or two as people plan to fly out.

This is a fantastic article on Sweden's lackluster Covid response, well worth a read when you have 20 minutes:

https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-should-we-aim-for-herd-immunity-like-sweden-b1de3348e88b

8 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Ask the Thai Embassy in London? They are processing Thai returnees and I imagine that they do the tests locally, in London.

Good call, my Wife suggested this as well. I'll contact the Glasgow Embassy to see if they have access to something similar.

Hi Everyone,

I'm from the UK looking to get out to see my Wife and Child via the relaxed rules on farang arrivals. While the application for a Certificate of Entry is long-winded, it is mostly manageable. The one stumbling block seems to be getting my hands on a Covid test result, from a lab, within 72 hours of flying. The NHS provides results via text message and given the time restraint home tests aren't fast enough. I've seen a couple of private places with a fast TAT but both are in London whereas I'm from Scotland. Where do you guys/gals plan to get tested prior to flying?

Thanks in Advance. 

On 7/3/2020 at 7:20 PM, richard_smith237 said:

 

I e-mailed the Thai Embassy in London who replied with the following list of requirements: 

 

I sent back the following: 

 

1) Declaration-spouse of Thai (M Signed)

2) Copy of Passport 

3) Copy of Passport Visa Page

4) Marriage Certificate

5) Wife's Thai ID Card

6) Wife’s Passport 

7) My Tambien Baan (yellow house book) 

8. Wife’s Tambien Baan (Blue House Book) 

9) ASQ Booking

10) Flight Confirmation 

11) Health Insurance Certificate (confirmation of Covid-19 cover / up to US$1 Million)

 

In the e-mail I stated the UK Clinic where I have the booking for the Covid-19 Test and Fit to Fly evaluation 72hr prior to flight departure. 

 

I didn’t provide a Covid-19 test result or Fit to Fly certificate as the requirements are to provide this within 72hrs of the flight. 

 

I don’t like the blindly waiting part without even knowing whether my application has been received - par for the course I suppose. 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for sharing your application so far, the information has been useful. Could you please tell me where you were able to find a clinic which does Covid testing with a quick turnaround? I've not had any luck in finding one as yet. Additional, with regards to the Health Insurance Certificate, does the policy explicitly say Covid coverage is included or is the fact it's not excluded sufficient proof?

I'm looking to travel to visit my Wife and newborn son in August, I'd really appreciate the information as the London Thai Embassy wasn't able to give specifics.