I'm trying to arrange the Covid-19 test to be within the mandated 72 hour limit as required for the COE process. The test results take up to two (!) days in my country, so my question is: do the embassies look at the issue date or the test date? Trying to contact my embassy on that, but let's see, there is hardly a definitive answer from them as usual.

 

Please, no guesses but only first hand information thank you.

 

Thanks

The process for ask the COE. You don't need the covid 19 test. You need the test result document only when depart from your country and arrive to Thailand. And they look at the collected specimen date and the day that you hold this document to show them. 

In Canada the covid19 test was not required to obtain the COE although the wording in the documents makes it appear so.

 

The date was as of when the swab went up your nose. So i needed to work backwards from my flight date. 

 

In Canada the 72 hours WAS not from when i received the results. So yes it really is a time crunch. 

FYI here is a post from someone about what happened on arrival at ASQ. i would hope and expect that there is some flexibility especially for people in the OP's situation and those travelling for long hours.

 

"I was then told I need to take a Covid-19 Test (at my cost ±5000 baht) because my existing Covid-19 test was older than 72 hrs (it was taken 72 hrs before departure but not 72 hrs before arrival – The ASQ booking questionnaire covered and stipulated that the Covid-19 test need to be taken 72 hrs before arrival, so I was kind of stuck without a choice) Note: the Test result came the following Day (i.e. Day 1 of Quarantine, arrival is considered Day 0)'

 

 

15 minutes ago, rimmae2 said:

FYI here is a post from someone about what happened on arrival at ASQ. i would hope and expect that there is some flexibility especially for people in the OP's situation and those travelling for long hours.

 

"I was then told I need to take a Covid-19 Test (at my cost ±5000 baht) because my existing Covid-19 test was older than 72 hrs (it was taken 72 hrs before departure but not 72 hrs before arrival – The ASQ booking questionnaire covered and stipulated that the Covid-19 test need to be taken 72 hrs before arrival, so I was kind of stuck without a choice) Note: the Test result came the following Day (i.e. Day 1 of Quarantine, arrival is considered Day 0)'

 

 

Only Thais can sell they own covid test to almost all arrival's! If you have 10-12 houer flight or even longer. Your covid test is almost always old! if your flight leave early morning , you need get your test result day before! And if result take 2 days to come out, you have already old sht paper in plane. Whitch you can wipe your behind! Why they not just take test from all, and forget that test in departure coundry! They test you anyway in quarantine! Some genius Thai have make this "great" idea again!

Edited August 7, 20205 yr by 2 is 1

Hi,

 

   The requirement to have a Covid-19 test for application of CEO (on married ground) has been waived (information given directly to me by Thai embassy in Belgium), only the covid-19 test before flight is necessary, and the embassy don't ask any more that you present it to them before flying as it was the case before. However on work permit ground, it has always been like that, covid-19 test only required for flying. 

 

    For flying, the 72 hours requirement is the date & time of the test, no the result, prior to departure (and they do check at the airport).

 

    When you arrive in Bangkok, if the date/time of your test is more than 72 hours, you may (and will most certainly) be asked to take another covid test at your expense before entering ASQ. In my case, the test was done 71 hour before arrival, I thought they would never take into account the 5 hours time zone difference, but they did, they looked at the date and time and said "ok, you are still in time". 

 

   (My references: I have been repatriated under work-permit, and I'm currently at day #13 in ASQ tested negative for the second time, going out on sunday), My father is doing the procedure to be repatriated under married ground but is stuck with some extra requests from the embassy at the moment)

On arrival, did you get tested at the airport or at the hotel?
Some hotels are offering 3 tests including one at day 0, is that it?

1 hour ago, SnipTheCat said:

Hi,

 

   The requirement to have a Covid-19 test for application of CEO (on married ground) has been waived (information given directly to me by Thai embassy in Belgium), only the covid-19 test before flight is necessary, and the embassy don't ask any more that you present it to them before flying as it was the case before. However on work permit ground, it has always been like that, covid-19 test only required for flying. 

 

    For flying, the 72 hours requirement is the date & time of the test, no the result, prior to departure (and they do check at the airport).

 

    When you arrive in Bangkok, if the date/time of your test is more than 72 hours, you may (and will most certainly) be asked to take another covid test at your expense before entering ASQ. In my case, the test was done 71 hour before arrival, I thought they would never take into account the 5 hours time zone difference, but they did, they looked at the date and time and said "ok, you are still in time". 

 

   (My references: I have been repatriated under work-permit, and I'm currently at day #13 in ASQ tested negative for the second time, going out on sunday), My father is doing the procedure to be repatriated under married ground but is stuck with some extra requests from the embassy at the moment)

If you don't mind me asking, what country did you arrive from?

 

From UK only 3 flights for august, all full.

 

There does not seem to be any wait list, only when flight opens hope that you get lucky and register?

 

Thanks.

OP... I came out of ASQ 4 days ago, returning on a repatriation flight from LHR to Bangkok on 19th July. 

 

The Embassy do not see the Covid-19 test - this is just a requirement for Check-in at the Airport, along with the Fit to Fly certificate. 

 

 

Thus, the Covid-19 test is not needed for the Application of CoE. 

 

My Covid-19 test was taken 3 days before the flight (i.e. test taken on 16th - flight on 19th) - the certificate was issued on the 18th... both test date and issue date were noted on the certificate. 

 

By the time I landed in BKK it was 4 days since I’d taken the test... Immigration didn’t pay too much attention to that. I had to take a Covid-19 test on arrival at the ASQ (and pay for it myself) as the pre-flight test was older than 72 hrs. 

 

   Looking at these replies, I guess that the answer to your question is dependent on where you're traveling from, and which ASQ hotel you've booked.

 

  In my case, no Covid-19 test results were required during the CoE application process. They were required prior to boarding the plane in Los Angeles, and were examined by both the Thai authorities on hand and the airline staff before a boarding pass was issued. Upon arrival at Suvarnabhumi, they were examined by several layers of medical/governmental officials, and again when I arrived at my quarantine hotel.

 

  I was tested well outside of the 72 hour window before my flight departed L.A. (approximately 90 hours), and the results were issued approximately 60 hours before departure. They were not questioned by anyone, so it would seem that (in my case, anyway), all they were interested in was the time the results were issued, and not the time the test was taken. I arrived at my quarantine hotel nearly 120 hours after the test was taken, and 90 hours since the results had been issued, and was not required to test again when I checked in.

 

  Of course, your mileage may vary!

3 hours ago, rct99q said:

In Canada the covid19 test was not required to obtain the COE although the wording in the documents makes it appear so.

 

The date was as of when the swab went up your nose. So i needed to work backwards from my flight date. 

 

In Canada the 72 hours WAS not from when i received the results. So yes it really is a time crunch. 

So very dependent on the speed at which the swab is processed and the report issued. 

14 minutes ago, landtrout said:

   Looking at these replies, I guess that the answer to your question is dependent on where you're traveling from, and which ASQ hotel you've booked.

 

  In my case, no Covid-19 test results were required during the CoE application process. They were required prior to boarding the plane in Los Angeles, and were examined by both the Thai authorities on hand and the airline staff before a boarding pass was issued. Upon arrival at Suvarnabhumi, they were examined by several layers of medical/governmental officials, and again when I arrived at my quarantine hotel.

 

  I was tested well outside of the 72 hour window before my flight departed L.A. (approximately 90 hours), and the results were issued approximately 60 hours before departure. They were not questioned by anyone, so it would seem that (in my case, anyway), all they were interested in was the time the results were issued, and not the time the test was taken. I arrived at my quarantine hotel nearly 120 hours after the test was taken, and 90 hours since the results had been issued, and was not required to test again when I checked in.

 

  Of course, your mileage may vary!

Would you mind please sharing the name of the quarantine hotel you used in Bkk, whether it was satisfactory and whether the hotel was flexible if you had to change the hotel check-in date. Thanks.

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

Would you mind please sharing the name of the quarantine hotel you used in Bkk, whether it was satisfactory and whether the hotel was flexible if you had to change the hotel check-in date. Thanks.

   Sure.

  I booked a room on short notice at the Maple Hotel in Bang Na. Typical "4 star" (2 1/2 stars would be more accurate) Thai hotel in an area that doesn't see many foreign tourists. It was one of the least expensive options at 33,000 baht for the 15 nights, and although far from luxurious it was acceptable for the purpose. When I booked, they asked for a 50% deposit with an option to change the check-in date once for no charge. I believe that any subsequent changes would have cost 1000 baht.

 

  The only notable thing about the room was that it had a small balcony, which might prove useful for smokers. No alcohol allowed, but nobody checks your bags! ????

 

  Feel free to PM me if you need more info.

15 hours ago, Milky girl said:

The process for ask the COE. You don't need the covid 19 test. You need the test result document only when depart from your country and arrive to Thailand. And they look at the collected specimen date and the day that you hold this document to show them. 

You need to be tested negative 72 hours before departure + having a fit-to-fly certificate from a doctor at a clinic/hospital. That's what's in the list of requirements at some embassies. 

You only need the Covidtest before departure. They offer tests, with labresults within a couple of hours, at several airports, including Kastrup, Schiphol and Frankfurt. Not sure about London. 

 

https://www.frankfurt-airport.com/en/transfer-at-frankfurt-airport/covid-19/fly-safely.html

Edited August 7, 20205 yr by RotBenz8888

4 hours ago, scorecard said:

So very dependent on the speed at which the swab is processed and the report issued. 

Yes very much so. However this whole process was really quite seamless for me.

I was able to get a turn around of about 24 hours on the test. Thai Consulate in Vancouver were very helpful, at least in my case.

 

May I ask how these recent flight prices compared to 12 month ago?

 

Just checked in at JFK. The airline checks covid 19 test before issuing the boarding pass. To be honest they glanced over it quickly. They were more looking at the negative (not detected part) they didn’t seem to really check the dates because they handed my documents back to me really fast. 

Edited August 7, 20205 yr by Wars

Thanks for all the answers. Some say yes, mandatory the TEST is taken within 72 hours, some say the ISSUE time of the result / fit to fly is what counts. As says my embassy. They wrote specifically:

 

• COVID-free Health Certificate (with a laboratory test result) and a Fit-to-Fly certificate  (Both in English) from a doctor, issued no more than 72 hrs. before the departure time of repatriation flight

So the wording is ISSUED, not tested. Bah, you never know. So I had my test yesterday which is around 90+ hours before the flight, but knowing Thai logic I will go to a quick drive-in test before delivering all the papers to the embassy on Friday. Yay, I have 2 Covid tests.

 

Jump, farang, Jump!

Edited August 12, 20205 yr by somtumwrong

21 hours ago, somtumwrong said:

Thanks for all the answers. Some say yes, mandatory the TEST is taken within 72 hours, some say the ISSUE time of the result / fit to fly is what counts. As says my embassy. They wrote specifically:

 

• COVID-free Health Certificate (with a laboratory test result) and a Fit-to-Fly certificate  (Both in English) from a doctor, issued no more than 72 hrs. before the departure time of repatriation flight

So the wording is ISSUED, not tested. Bah, you never know. So I had my test yesterday which is around 90+ hours before the flight, but knowing Thai logic I will go to a quick drive-in test before delivering all the papers to the embassy on Friday. Yay, I have 2 Covid tests.

 

Jump, farang, Jump!

Came from New Zealand last month.

Was required by consulate to complete a CO19 test before submitting application for COE then another <72 hrs before departure so yes it depends very much which embassy you are dealing with.(2x tests at $340 each)Yes did question this but at end of day are you going to argue with Embassy staff and miss very limited opportunity.

As was flying on a Saturday was told would take 48+ hr for 2nd test so went on a tuesday.(Probably the most stressful time as 1st test took 5 days to get results) so anxiety at level 10

Results from Lab came back on a Thursday and then had fit to fly letter also stamped from doctor and time stamped at that time. Did not show airline original covid test result only Fit to fly and other Embassy form stating covid free< 72hrs before. 

The airline did go through and check those times were correct so be aware.

As had layover of 18hrs in Singapore was well over 72hrs when landed in Bangkok.Was not asked to do a test on arrival but on 2nd day in ASQ had 1st test.

Regards

 

 

 

On 8/13/2020 at 4:41 PM, ChalongDobie said:

Came from New Zealand last month.

Was required by consulate to complete a CO19 test before submitting application for COE then another <72 hrs before departure so yes it depends very much which embassy you are dealing with.(2x tests at $340 each)Yes did question this but at end of day are you going to argue with Embassy staff and miss very limited opportunity.

As was flying on a Saturday was told would take 48+ hr for 2nd test so went on a tuesday.(Probably the most stressful time as 1st test took 5 days to get results) so anxiety at level 10

Results from Lab came back on a Thursday and then had fit to fly letter also stamped from doctor and time stamped at that time. Did not show airline original covid test result only Fit to fly and other Embassy form stating covid free< 72hrs before. 

The airline did go through and check those times were correct so be aware.

As had layover of 18hrs in Singapore was well over 72hrs when landed in Bangkok.Was not asked to do a test on arrival but on 2nd day in ASQ had 1st test.

Regards

 

 

 

Same situation here in Vietnam embassy. Seems ridiculously excessive to have to go and seek a test two weeks before the flight....then another right before(this one I get) ????