ThaiVisaCentre

1 hour ago, farang51 said:

This is not correct! Any travel insurance with health coverage will do. You need a certificate from the insurance company for the Thailand Pass application, which is something the insurer gladly provides.

Sorry this rule was changed earlier this year.

Any policy can be used as long as it mentions coverage amount (or unlimited), and travel to Thailand.

2 hours ago, Felt 35 said:

Thank you for replying. Well I will at least try to upload it when applying. Btw, the Insurance company is widely used by the foreign community here but I believe its origin is foreign.

Felt

The insurance does NOT need to be Thai.

As long as it states over $10,000, or unlimited coverage as well as mentions covid-19 you should be fine.

For STV visa due the recent changes you can use other policies like LUMA

Its advisable to obtain your full insurance term upfront, as some insurers do not let you extend within country.

We usually advise against STV as they also require you to have 90 days of pre-paid stay with a tax-receipt, as well as 90 days of insurance at minimum. There are other options to prolong your stay in Thailand which are more favorable.

If you do need OA long stay insurance LUMA does offer this in country as well HERE

Heres the pricing matrix for the 1 year long stay packages


 

3 hours ago, wn78 said:

 

Are you referring to a warning that immigration could give me on the arrival, while still letting me in?

 

So it sounds like applying for a visa has no additional risk, can only improve my chances.  In an unlikely case the embassy rejects me for a TR visa (on the grounds of requesting too much time this year, I don't see any other reasons I can be denied for), I assume it's not a permanent flag, and I can apply again later, or even try my luck with exempt entry, is that correct?

 

We have never heard of anything like that happening.

Arriving with an actual visa will make things easier.

If you are entering through the same way you originally arrived then it is technically possible.

2 hours ago, wn78 said:

That was my intention, but I got concerned reading a recent post of a failed visa application in a long stay situation. So just trying to get opinions on a possibility of being rejected for a visa, and if taking that risk is justified compared to the benefits the visa would give me at the border....  If the embassy people have the ability to check the recent stay history and extensions given by the immigration, then I have some risk of being rejected, otherwise I should definitely go for the visa.

Depending on your passport country there is no harm applying for a 60 Day Tourist Visa through the evisa system.

A few months a year would not cause any issues, the issue is those who have been using short term visas to stay 1+ year.

Most people get away with a warning, as long as they do not have a bad history, or don't have the 20,000 THB cash on hand. 

On 5/20/2022 at 8:52 AM, KhunLA said:

All good & fine, but 0.2% doesn't excite.

 

Anyone got a source for seeds hopefully that will produce something in the 10-20% range when buds snipped off for enjoying.

 

PM if not wanting to go public.  Thank you very much 

The article is not saying that home-grown plants with > 2% are considered narcotics.

It is saying in extract form if they have more than 2% then it would still be considered a narcotic.

With the articles wording it would appear that all high-thc strains are fine, as long as not extracted into concentrates.

By the time this is finalized by the FDA this may change. 

You can submit again without needing to do anything with your previous submission.

There is no rule on how many approved/rejected Thailand Pass applications you can have, however there is a limit of 2 concurrent pending applications.

13 minutes ago, audaciousnomad said:

Thanks. I applied and got the consideration stamp and must return on 30-May.

Regarding the program possibly ending, there is one other thing that may tilt the balance towards the program continuing: The Ukraine conflict. 

 

The few thousand Russian and Ukrainian tourist still stuck here were accommodated under the same order as the Covid extension program, instead of creating a separate  "Ukraine Conflict extension" just for their unique situation. 

 

So...if that covid program order is ended, they will have effectively also created a problem for the Russians/Ukrainians who might need to continue being here to weather the storm so to speak.  

 

This is of course, conjecture. But they cannot screw the covid stayers without also screwing the Russians/Ukrainians in the process.

There is an extension option which can be used by the Russians, and Ukrainians.

It is a 30 day extension based on embassy letter under war situation, and they can keep extending as long as the embassy continues to issue the required letter for them.

This option has been rarely used as the covid extensions have been easier to get, and in some provinces you get a full 60 days.
 

4 hours ago, Caldera said:

Are you still able to get this without "under consideration"?

Yes, its the full 60 day stamp.

One more thing is we are not yet sure about is if you can get the 2nd extension with the completion stamp if the program is not actually extended.

This may only be an issue for some provinces where they issue an under consideration stamp which can range from 10 to 30 days, and you have to come back for the 2nd stamp for the full 60 days.

If you need help with a full 60 day extension you can contact our team via LINE.
 

5 hours ago, RedReding said:

What are the requirements for those covid extensions in Chiang Mai if on a extension of visa exempt ? Any direct experience from someone ?

Should be very easy, especially if all you have done is 

30 day exempt -> 30 day extension

You will easily get your extension.

1 hour ago, audaciousnomad said:

I feel like they will extend the state of emergency to retain the ability to make sudden policy changes if some new unexpected covid variant pops up.  What that will mean in regard to the covid extension program is anyone's guess. So yes, anything can happen.

This is possible as well, but it would be hard for them to fully open up nightlife, and remove all entry requirements with an extended state of emergency as they are pushing to consider covid as endemic. I find it hard to believe that they will consider covid as endemic, and be in a state of emergency simultaneously. It's also possible this is the last time they extend it because there is still a small window where state of emergency will still be active.

We still advise to apply soon if your intention is to get one of these extensions to avoid a negative outcome, there is another meeting on May 20th which will talk about further reductions of entry restrictions.

We will have to wait, and see.
 

4 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:

Correct me if I'm wrong . . but "visa runs" will probably involve a lot more than they used to.   To re-enter Thailand, I'm assuming we'll be required to register in the Thai Pass system, purchase covid insurance (again), cross our fingers and then hope the system doesn't break down and we get approved in a timely manner, etc etc . . ?    

The Thailand Pass system has been improved.

Approvals are guaranteed within 48 hours (as long as you submitted the correct information).

But like Sheryl said you can apply for the Thailand Pass ahead of your trip while you are still in Thailand, the only issue you may run into is obtaining insurance while in Thailand. Some companies allow it, but many of the Thai companies do not.

56 minutes ago, audaciousnomad said:

You are guessing this? Or you have some inside contact that hinted at this?

Please read my comment again.

Anything can happen, but it's highly likely that there will not be another extension unless they extend the state of emergency which currently ends on May 1st. 

Covid extensions are related to this state of emergency, and it does not seem likely that you can have the nightlife restrictions lifted on July 1st with a state of emergency in place.

This is my opinion based on all the information we have access to.

2 minutes ago, croftrobin said:

No they do not

 

I just did the quote for a 60 year old and got a quote of 650 baht.

 

 

Thats the FWD policy.

16 minutes ago, croftrobin said:

Use jairoo then

 

https://insure.roojai.com/quote/#/covid-inbound-travel

 

 

 

Just tried that form, they just recommend FWD, and did not even mention the limitations of the policy (which is misleading).

16 hours ago, Bvor said:

got a TP for a friend from AQ. in.th mid april, no PCR test and used FWD 30 day covid insurance. the 30 days started from entry date as per FWD site which states policy start date be same as date of entry. 14 days waiting period of no concern to friend, just wanted to get TP and stamped into thailand which is what happened - no problems with airports, airlines or anyone/anything else.  

They do not enforce this.

We have never heard of anyone having issues entering, or getting an approval under a FWD policy.

The only risk we see is that if you were to actually have an issue, and needed this type of insurance they would weasel out of covering you based on the 14 day restriction, or the RT-PCR restriction.
 

1 hour ago, sometimewoodworker said:

there is an quote email that supports your interpretation 

that disagrees with the @ThaiVisaCentre wording, there is no follow up from TVC that agrees that they are wrong.

 

As you should know, what if questions are remarkably difficult to get a definitive correct answer to from Thai institutions. Change the wording of the question and the answer will change.

 

If the insurance requirement remains in place after the 20th I will certainly be asking.

 

What ever the answer it’s still the cheapest way to get a TP issued 

If you wish to actually use the FWD policy it does need to be purchased 14 days before start date, OR you will need to have a RT-PCR test 72 hours before the start date.

Many do not understand how the FWD policy works, and yet their Thailand Pass still gets approved even-though they cannot actually use that policy because they don't have the RT-PCR test. This is because the Thailand Pass application does not ask for a RT-PCR test for vaccinated entry.

If your travel is within less than 14 days, and you do NOT have a RT-PCR test but wish to have a functional policy we recommend comparing your options between:

• WORLD TRIPS - compare prices based on your info (great for younger travelers, and shorter term trips)
• MSIG - has fixed pricing based on age similar to FWD but is much more expensive because it does not have additional restrictions, and comes with better coverage

Many of the travelers wishing for all these requirements to be removed have expressed to us that they do not care if the policy can even be used. So they proceed to buy FWD (knowing the restrictions), or buy WORLD TRIPS policies with high 5,000 USD deductibles to reduce the cost.

This is based on what we have seen from thousands of travelers which are in our facebook groups, and from our general clients.

The point of my post was to show that there are low cost options that travelers are using every day compared to policies which can cost 3,000++ THB.

I wouldn't delay your trip waiting for Thailand Pass to be fully removed.

The May updates have already streamlined the process quite a bit, and we are regularly obtaining Thailand Pass approvals for our clients within a few hours if submitted correctly.

As for the insurance requirement there are two very low cost options depending on your age.
 

• WORLDTRIPS (great for under 35, or have a short trip)
  you can set the deductible to 5,000 USD, and the premium to 50,000 USD for rates around 100-500 THB
   
• FWD (great for older than 35)
  fixed rate of 650 THB for 30 days (no matter what age)

Most of the rejections we see are related to the following issues:

• foreign insurance policies which do not meet the requirements, or state coverage
• bad vaccine documents which do not state the actual vaccine type / injection date / name
• uploading a photo of their face, and not an actual passport document photo ????
   

So basically it's a $3 to $20 cost, and about 15-20 minutes of your time.

We expect it to be possibly removed in July, or rebranded into something else which is a digitized TM6 replacement.

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

We have not yet asked about cancellation. But the policy terms seem to say it is possible prior to the effective date.

 

What they have advised is to purchase (and pay for) a new policy first, then get a refund on the old one. Which we are not going to risk doing.

I think some insurers do not actually have the ability to make amendments in their system due to possible price changes (even if the term is not actually changing).

Far from ideal but It should not impact your application, we have seen many travelers make these types of changes without issue.