GroveHillWanderer Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 So my daughter has got herself into a bit of a quandary about returning to Thailand. She's in the UK and wants to return to Thailand next month and stay for about 2 months. She has both Thai and British passports but she's just realised her Thai passport has expired and she probably doesn't have time to renew it before her desired travel date (early November). She knows she can enter the country on an expired passport but does anyone know if that will be possible with all the current requirements for CoE, ASQ booking, getting on a repatriation flight etc? She said she was thinking about using her British passport with an STV visa but is that even possible, coming from the UK? Anyone have any advice or suggestions as to how she might best proceed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlkik Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 Contact the Embassy . 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroveHillWanderer Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 2 minutes ago, mlkik said: Contact the Embassy . Yeah I told her that but she said she's been trying to contact them for some time and hasn't been able to get a response yet. Obviously she'll have to contact them at some point but just wondered if anyone had ideas about whether she's better off trying to use her expired Thai passport or her UK one in the current situation. Is there even any visa should could get on her UK passport at the moment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackcab Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 A troll post has been removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJack54 Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 A 2 month holiday to Thailand and return to UK? Surely a bad idea. Suggest to her that a visit towards end of 2021 a better idea. Regarding STV from UK chance is zip. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 9 hours ago, GroveHillWanderer said: Is there even any visa should could get on her UK passport at the moment? A non-o visa as a returning Thai national. But that is not needed since she can still enter the country with a expired Thai passport. She needs to register with the embassy to get a certificate of entry and etc. Home page of embassy website in Thai is here. https://london.thaiembassy.org/th/index 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Crossy Posted October 20, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted October 20, 2020 6 minutes ago, ubonjoe said: But that is not needed since she can still enter the country with a expired Thai passport. Very important note - She MUST renew her Thai passport whilst she is in Thailand if she enters on it. Immigration will not let her leave on a different nationality passport to the one she entered on. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HashBrownHarry Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 6 hours ago, DrJack54 said: A 2 month holiday to Thailand and return to UK? Surely a bad idea. Suggest to her that a visit towards end of 2021 a better idea. Regarding STV from UK chance is zip. I could n't think of a better idea of leaving the UK at this moment in time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroveHillWanderer Posted October 20, 2020 Author Share Posted October 20, 2020 10 hours ago, DrJack54 said: A 2 month holiday to Thailand and return to UK? Surely a bad idea. Suggest to her that a visit towards end of 2021 a better idea. Regarding STV from UK chance is zip. She's been under a lot of stress at work recently and really feels the need for some time off from working almost full time in the ER and ICU with CoVid-19 patients. They've agreed, on a fairly exceptional basis, to let her take a couple of months off but after that she has to go back to work - unless she wanted to give up her job, which she doesn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJack54 Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 13 minutes ago, GroveHillWanderer said: ..., let her take a couple of months off but after that she has to go back to work - Understand. Obviously she wants to get to Thailand, however isn't there some countries in Europe with no quarantine and other expensive requirements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroveHillWanderer Posted October 20, 2020 Author Share Posted October 20, 2020 11 minutes ago, DrJack54 said: Understand. Obviously she wants to get to Thailand, however isn't there some countries in Europe with no quarantine and other expensive requirements. There probably are, but she hasn't seen her mother, brother or cousins for over a year and a half now and is really missing Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 6 hours ago, Crossy said: Very important note - She MUST renew her Thai passport whilst she is in Thailand if she enters on it. Immigration will not let her leave on a different nationality passport to the one she entered on. Getting a passport here should not be a problem unless she was born outside the country, then got her birth certificate from a Thai embassy and never registered here in a house book to get a Thai ID number. Easy to get here with her old passport, her Thai ID card and a copy of her house book registry. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroveHillWanderer Posted October 20, 2020 Author Share Posted October 20, 2020 She was born here, has a Thai ID and is on our house book so renewing her Thai passport while she's here won't be a problem. It's just the logistics of getting in with an expired Thai passport that seems a little tricky, given all the extra rigamarole that's required these days. I guess the main thing is that she has to get the Thai Embassy to issue her a CoE although they're very difficult to get a hold of at the moment, apparently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 4 minutes ago, GroveHillWanderer said: I guess the main thing is that she has to get the Thai Embassy to issue her a CoE although they're very difficult to get a hold of at the moment, apparently. She need check the Thai part of the website to find the info she and apply for the COE online. I am sure many have used a expired passport to do it. For a while they were not accepting applications for new passports. Info is here: https://london.thaiembassy.org/th/content/การลงทะเบียนเพื่อจองเที่ยวบินพิเศษกลับประเทศไทยใน?cate=5f069ee372a783584326eb77 COE application. https://coethailand.mfa.go.th/regis/step?language=th 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossy Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 27 minutes ago, ubonjoe said: Getting a passport here should not be a problem unless she was born outside the country, then got her birth certificate from a Thai embassy and never registered here in a house book to get a Thai ID number. Easy to get here with her old passport, her Thai ID card and a copy of her house book registry. Yeah, I mentioned it because we had a thread earlier this year where someone's daughter had entered on her expired Thai passport and then tried to leave on her UK passport, understandably denied followed by much wailing and gnashing of teeth over lost flights etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 18 minutes ago, Crossy said: Yeah, I mentioned it because we had a thread earlier this year where someone's daughter had entered on her expired Thai passport and then tried to leave on her UK passport, understandably denied followed by much wailing and gnashing of teeth over lost flights etc. I would hope that would be a rarity. There though have been cases where a person that had not registered here after being born abroad and entered with a expired passport that caused them a lot of problems. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nout Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 Use a London based agent to expedite the Thai passport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroveHillWanderer Posted October 20, 2020 Author Share Posted October 20, 2020 The other thing she's worried about if she uses her expired Thai passport is a possible problem checking in. In the past she would just check in with her UK passport and as visa-exempt entry was in force, she didn't have a problem but obviously now that would raise a red flag. Even if she did get a CoE, trying to explain the whole situation to a check-in attendant could be tricky. Does anyone know if they still have a representative of the Thai Embassy present at the airport checking that everyone boarding a repatriation flight meets the requirements as was reported a while back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 17 minutes ago, Nout said: Use a London based agent to expedite the Thai passport. How would they do that. The Thai passport can only be applied for at the embassy and they are created here in Thailand and then are sent to the embassy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tso310 Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 (edited) 18 minutes ago, GroveHillWanderer said: The other thing she's worried about if she uses her expired Thai passport is a possible problem checking in. In the past she would just check in with her UK passport and as visa-exempt entry was in force, she didn't have a problem but obviously now that would raise a red flag. Even if she did get a CoE, trying to explain the whole situation to a check-in attendant could be tricky. Does anyone know if they still have a representative of the Thai Embassy present at the airport checking that everyone boarding a repatriation flight meets the requirements as was reported a while back? First use the Thai Embassy's Facebook page for info. The procedure for a repat flight has changed and since Oct 4 the Thai flights must be booked online and then you go through the normal procedure. The "open for booking lottery" on the embassy web site has stopped. Note that it was the case that Thai Air was not taking credit card payments. I don't know if this is still the case. A direct bank transfer to their UK bank was supplied. You have to fly Thai to get SQ. Only a fit to fly certificate is needed for Thais and this can be done on the phone, which is what my wife did from one of the embassy's suggested clinics. https://www.facebook.com/ThaiEmbLondon/ Page down for relevant posts. This is and has been for many months the normal way of getting repat info. If you have a query just post and someone, not an embassy official, will respond. There is a lot of info there. Airlines normally accept expired passports, up to 6 months, if the passenger is flying back to the country of origin. The Thai Embassy does not have a rep at LHR check-in anymore. Queue early as the flights are full and people are travelling from all over the UK and Ireland. My wife started queuing at 4pm and she was about 30% into the queue. Note that Heathrow was trying to stop non passengers from entering the terminal to avoid congestion, I was pushing the trolley so I made sure I looked like a normal flyer. Edited October 20, 2020 by tso310 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 18 minutes ago, GroveHillWanderer said: The other thing she's worried about if she uses her expired Thai passport is a possible problem checking in. In the past she would just check in with her UK passport and as visa-exempt entry was in force, she didn't have a problem but obviously now that would raise a red flag. Even if she did get a CoE, trying to explain the whole situation to a check-in attendant could be tricky. There should not be a problem checking for the flight since she will traveling on a repatriation flight. She might need to show her UK passport to prove her legal status in the UK. 18 minutes ago, GroveHillWanderer said: Does anyone know if they still have a representative of the Thai Embassy present at the airport checking that everyone boarding a repatriation flight meets the requirements as was reported a while back? I am not sure they will have a rep at the airport or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessc Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 1 hour ago, GroveHillWanderer said: She was born here, has a Thai ID and is on our house book so renewing her Thai passport while she's here won't be a problem. It's just the logistics of getting in with an expired Thai passport that seems a little tricky, given all the extra rigamarole that's required these days. I guess the main thing is that she has to get the Thai Embassy to issue her a CoE although they're very difficult to get a hold of at the moment, apparently. While I am not 100% certain, I believe I read that for countries that allow dual citizenship, if you are a citizen of country X, you must enter country X on your country X passport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimn Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 She can come back to Thailand on an expired passport and as far as I know get a COE. Just tell her to follow the process on the RTE embassy site below. Its in english but there is a link for Thais to apply for a COE. The embassy is very hard to get hold of via normal channels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimn Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 1 hour ago, GroveHillWanderer said: I sent you a PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max69xl Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 8 hours ago, HashBrownHarry said: I could n't think of a better idea of leaving the UK at this moment in time! Really? Go through all the procedures including 14 nights quarantine for a 2 month holiday? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotchilli Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 19 hours ago, GroveHillWanderer said: Anyone have any advice or suggestions as to how she might best proceed? Only way and that is via the embassy.... you don't say if you're in London to go knock on the door? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedrogaz Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 19 hours ago, GroveHillWanderer said: Yeah I told her that but she said she's been trying to contact them for some time and hasn't been able to get a response yet. Obviously she'll have to contact them at some point but just wondered if anyone had ideas about whether she's better off trying to use her expired Thai passport or her UK one in the current situation. Is there even any visa should could get on her UK passport at the moment? From another friend trying to get back here I have heard the Thai embassy in the UK is worse than useless....don't return phone, calls email, etc. I have heard that you need to go down to the embassy early in the morning and wait outside....but I don't know ion this is true either., Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanaplaza666 Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 4 hours ago, GroveHillWanderer said: She's been under a lot of stress at work recently and really feels the need for some time off from working almost full time in the ER and ICU with CoVid-19 patients. They've agreed, on a fairly exceptional basis, to let her take a couple of months off but after that she has to go back to work - unless she wanted to give up her job, which she doesn't. Then i geuss there must be other options for her if she just needs some time of . If she wants to return here i geuss she has to quarantine for 14 days and same when she gets back to UK so that's 1 month in quarantine and all of that would just leave her 1 month of holliday . All the hassle would give me even more stress . Is there no other option for her two months of at work , there are some other options closer to home with less hassle i think . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 19 minutes ago, Pedrogaz said: I have heard that you need to go down to the embassy early in the morning and wait outside....but I don't know ion this is true either., You cannot just walkin anymore. Everything is done by appointment since covid 19 started. Just about everything can be done online and by email. Passports have to be mailed in for visas after applying online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HashBrownHarry Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 3 hours ago, Max69xl said: Really? Go through all the procedures including 14 nights quarantine for a 2 month holiday? She's Thai, hardly any procedures. It's a safer option than the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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