Back in Thailand ;-)

[JusticeGB]

Thanks for your informative account. I dare say if other people wishing to come to Thailand for a holiday were aware of your account the tourist arrivals would be ZERO. 

[Sheryl]

4 minutes ago, JusticeGB said:

Thanks for your informative account. I dare say if other people wishing to come to Thailand for a holiday were aware of your account the tourist arrivals would be ZERO. 

 

The tourist arrivals ARE zero, by design.

 

Tourist visas are not being issued and one cannot get a COE for reason of tourism.

[Sheryl]

OP what hotel are you at? Room sounds nice. Is it one room or a suite? with a 14 day confinement room size and layout matters...

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 7/26/2020 at 7:43 AM, GroveHillWanderer said:

But also, even if someone had tested negative 3 days earlier, they could still have been exposed to the virus after that and they most likely wouldn't show symptoms until a couple of days after the flight, given that the median period for the onset of symptoms is 4-6 days after infection.

 

However, if I'm reading the news reports right, Thailand is getting a fairly steady stream of Thais getting off the airplanes here and immediately showing symptoms -- fever, cough, etc...  So I'd say it's pretty doubtful that those folks were just fine hours before when boarding the airplane in their departure country.

 

It seems pretty clear that at least for returning Thais, they're not being required to jump thru all the hoops that returning farangs are.

 

[koele2]

I am on day 4 of quarantine.  Came from LA to Seoul to BKK.  I would say the last flight had less than 10% foreigners, most are still Thais.  It was a full flight, with some middle seats taken also in some rows.    The hardest part about returning to Thailand is getting the timing perfect.  Everything has to be lined up correctly, money has to be paid upfront in a lot of cases, and you are stuck relying on many other people for your fate.  
 

this is not the time to come to Thailand if you don’t have a good reason to.  The hoops you have to jump through are not easy.  I’m not sure if it’s getting easier as the govt. get more experience dealing with it all.  Plus it’s very expensive.  I’m out 100,000+ baht, whereas it would have cost me zero to return home normally.  

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

15 hours ago, koele2 said:

I’m out 100,000+ baht,

 You wanna roughly break down just where all that money went to in terms of different expenses???

 

[ubonjoe]

37 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

It seems pretty clear that at least for returning Thais, they're not being required to jump thru all the hoops that returning farangs are.

You have to take into consideration the countries some of them are coming from. It might be impossible for them to get the virus test within 72 hours and  looking at the lists on some embassy websites is is not required for them to board a flight.

[Aussieroaming]

Thank you for the report. I'm still waiting to get home to my wife and home in Bangkok. UK embassy won't give a COE without a flight booking or ASQ booking and when I asked them for a list of repatriarion flights so that I could book on one of them I was told Thais only, wait for a commercial flight. Then the Embassy told me not to book a commercial flight because they aren't allowed into Thailand yet, so go figure. Haven't seen my wife for 6 months now. Jan 2020 when she went back to Bangkok and got stuck by the Covid event.

[Tounge Thaied]

8 minutes ago, Aussieroaming said:

Thank you for the report. I'm still waiting to get home to my wife and home in Bangkok. UK embassy won't give a COE without a flight booking or ASQ booking and when I asked them for a list of repatriarion flights so that I could book on one of them I was told Thais only, wait for a commercial flight. Then the Embassy told me not to book a commercial flight because they aren't allowed into Thailand yet, so go figure. Haven't seen my wife for 6 months now. Jan 2020 when she went back to Bangkok and got stuck by the Covid event.

Many have reported booking a flight just to get into the COE process and the flight gets cancelled without you doing anything and you will be refunded. They were then given options for the "repatriation" flights. 

Edited July 27, 2020 by Tounge Thaied

[JanPeder]

Thanks for your information. Very good information for me, because I am on my way back from Stockholm to Chiang Mai. As soon as I can...and I am not crazy going back instead of waiting for better times.....But no Air yetfrom Stockholm. And every ASQ hotel is full booked! One question. Did you pay flight and hotel in advanced or is it OK only book them?

[koele2]

48 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 You wanna roughly break down just where all that money went to in terms of different expenses???

 

US dollars.

 

$2300 hotel 

$1200 repat flight from LA

$300 flight to LA

$200 Covid test 48 hrs.

$100 fit to fly
$200 insurance

 

it wasn’t cheap.  Gotta weigh cost versus coming back later (who knows when).  1+ more months away from family versus coming back now was worth the cost for me to pay.  

 

[Tounge Thaied]

Sounds like those that are required to have a clean bill of health, including a negative pre-flight covid test, are being put a risk of being exposed when coming over on the plane. Something to consider when you shell out close to 100,000 baht in total some are reporting. Only to get exposed on the plane with people who have no medical examination or test... You then popping positive or become symptomatic... guess what you get sent to the hospital... with more expenses. I would say unless you really need to get back to Thailand, I would wait a bit. 

[Max69xl]

On 7/25/2020 at 9:25 PM, Captain Monday said:

What are the implications of positive covid-19 test during quarantine?

If OP had a documented negative test within 72 hours before boarding the plane, and next test 3-5 days later, and if that test also was negative, that means he wasn't infected for at least 6 up to 8 days. Then the last 10 days would imo be a complete waste of time and money. It should be impossible to get infected during a correct quarantine after ~8 days and 2 negative tests. Is my logic wrong? 

[bkk6060]

2 hours ago, Sheryl said:

OP what hotel are you at? Room sounds nice. Is it one room or a suite? with a 14 day confinement room size and layout matters...

Just for info. the hotel they are using here in Pattaya for repatriated Thais is a newer 4 star pretty nice place.

[NoshowJones]

4 hours ago, robblok said:

You are wondering why self-quarantine does not work. Its because people don't stick to the rules. So its easier to have them all at a central location and check that they don't get out. It sucks but too many people would say they go in home quarantaine but in reality go out anyway. 

That's true Rob, but if there were very heavy fines or/and jail time guaranteed to anyone who does not adhere to the rules, then who would be stupid enough to break them?

[1FinickyOne]

8 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

That's true Rob, but if there were very heavy fines or/and jail time guaranteed to anyone who does not adhere to the rules, then who would be stupid enough to break them?

people who break laws... and there seem to be plenty out there... bank robbers, murderers, etc.. though this would more be in the category of jaywalkers and people who make illegal u-turns... 

[tandor]

wow!..what an ordeal..welcome back.

[digger70]

On 7/25/2020 at 7:33 PM, SnipTheCat said:

go back to Thailand

 Great you made it back to Los. 

After reading all the things you had to do even before you could get on the plane. 

 Than everything you had to do and still doing  I Won't be going back to Aus and returning to Los for a Long time if I don't Have too.  

[Aussieroaming]

3 hours ago, Tounge Thaied said:

Many have reported booking a flight just to get into the COE process and the flight gets cancelled without you doing anything and you will be refunded. They were then given options for the "repatriation" flights. 

Agreed but that means paying and cancelling another set of flights and the ASQ booking and waiting for future refunds. I already have 2 flights with another airline unrelated to Thai flights that I had to  cancel and I'm still awaiting refunds since May. So . The flights for August are Thai Airways, so I looked at their website and at present there is no way to book online for a future flight that can be altered to a repat flight if a seat were to become available. Maybe in August the website might be active. Thai Embassy told me to wait to submit the COE until commercial flights are available as the Thai Airways flights are for Thai's being repatriated (fair enough as these Thais are desperate to leave and trapped in the UK). 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

4 hours ago, koele2 said:

US dollars.

 

$2300 hotel 

$1200 repat flight from LA

$300 flight to LA

$200 Covid test 48 hrs.

$100 fit to fly
$200 insurance

 

it wasn’t cheap.  Gotta weigh cost versus coming back later (who knows when).  1+ more months away from family versus coming back now was worth the cost for me to pay.  

 

 

If all your $ numbers above are correct, that's closer to 133,000 b vs 100,000+ b.

 

[rickudon]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

If all your $ numbers above are correct, that's closer to 133,000 b vs 100,000+ b.

 

True, but his hotel is one of the more expensive ones. If you manage to book one of the cheapest ASQ hotels, total would have been around 100,000 baht. I did the calculations a month ago and came to the conclusion that if you couldn't afford at least 100,000 baht to return, forget it. Fortunately i am already here, but was just wondering what it would cost to get back if i had a home country emergency issue to deal with. I have no intention to leave Thailand this year. I usually go back to UK once or twice a year. Not in 2020 .....

[ukrules]

6 hours ago, possum1931 said:

That's true Rob, but if there were very heavy fines or/and jail time guaranteed to anyone who does not adhere to the rules, then who would be stupid enough to break them?

Plenty of them would break the rules regardless of the sentence, you see; the rules don't apply to rule breakers.

[Chongalulu]

Apart from the high cost ,especially if bein forced onto a one way business class, there appears an almost unacceptably high risk of one of the many hoops requiring jumping through going wrong and the entire process collapsing. Presumably if it was a piece of paperwork or failure to secure a Covid test within the 72 hours you would have no recourse for refund of an expensive flight ticket or ASQ booking ? It resembles a very high priced lottery ticket. Would like to hear of anyone experiencing such an issue and their tale. 

[Prince77]

On 7/25/2020 at 3:31 PM, SnipTheCat said:

but I had a deadline for renewing my work permit

Lucky for you, my work permit expired while I was abroad, my visa will expire in a few days.... without work permit it is mission impossible to get a CoE... and anyhow I can withstand the temptation of going back with all those conditions.

 

Great for you to make it.

Edited July 27, 2020 by Prince77

[HashBrownHarry]

8 hours ago, Aussieroaming said:

Thank you for the report. I'm still waiting to get home to my wife and home in Bangkok. UK embassy won't give a COE without a flight booking or ASQ booking and when I asked them for a list of repatriarion flights so that I could book on one of them I was told Thais only, wait for a commercial flight. Then the Embassy told me not to book a commercial flight because they aren't allowed into Thailand yet, so go figure. Haven't seen my wife for 6 months now. Jan 2020 when she went back to Bangkok and got stuck by the Covid event.

This contradicts another report of someone that has gone through the process, mentioned was COE first and once issued you're advised to make the flight / hotel booking?

 

Which one is correct?

 

[DrPhibes]

45 minutes ago, HashBrownHarry said:

This contradicts another report of someone that has gone through the process, mentioned was COE first and once issued you're advised to make the flight / hotel booking?

 

Which one is correct?

 

In the US, you have to make the reservation on the repatriation flight, then book the ASQ, then submit the ASQ and the flight reservation to finalize the COE.  This has been a very confusing subject as earlier, you had to book a phantom flight, submit that to get the COE, then cancel the flight.  The Embassy here finally realized there are no real flights so they now want the repatriation flight confirmation.

[unheard]

6 minutes ago, DrPhibes said:

The Embassy here finally realized there are no real flights so they now want the repatriation flight confirmation.

They knew from the very beginning that no commercial flights (with passengers) are going but since at that time the application processing and approval was taken place in Bangkok they had to follow the provided to them guidelines.

Edited July 27, 2020 by unheard

[Skallywag]

9 hours ago, koele2 said:

US dollars.

 

$2300 hotel 

$1200 repat flight from LA

$300 flight to LA

$200 Covid test 48 hrs.

$100 fit to fly
$200 insurance

 

it wasn’t cheap.  Gotta weigh cost versus coming back later (who knows when).  1+ more months away from family versus coming back now was worth the cost for me to pay.  

 

$1200 is very cheap for Business class one way from LA. 

Never seen a hotel in Thailand cost $160 a day?  Is that for 14 days only?

[unheard]

1 minute ago, Skallywag said:

$1200 is very cheap for Business class one way from LA.

No way, it must be economy.

[NoshowJones]

3 hours ago, ukrules said:

Plenty of them would break the rules regardless of the sentence, you see; the rules don't apply to rule breakers.

There is no one worse than me for breaking rules that I don't agree with if I can think of a way round it, but I would not break any rules with a heavy fine and/or jailtime, and I don't think there are many who are sober who would.