Foreigner Returning To Thailand Decenber, 2020.

[Damien Harvey]

Hi,

I am presently in Kuwait and have just received approval from the local Thai Embassy here to return to Thailand. I submitted marriage certificate, wife's civil ID and my child's birth certificate and assured of a non-o within 5 working days. No problems so far. Then the inevitable speed bumps. The Thai official informed me the quarantine has to be at a government approved facility and quoted prices ranging from 50,000 thb to 220,000 thb!!! I did a little research and found there are Alternative State Quarantine (ASQ) and Alternative Local State Quarantine (ALSQ) options. Still costly; the cheapest I have found to date is 27,000 thb. So my questions to the forum -

 

1 - Has anyone heard anything regarding pricing and or know anyone that has just gone through this process?

 

2 - Any thoughts from anyone on whether the quarantine period and or conditions might change in the future?

 

As always we can expect changes, especially with it being Thailand.

 

I'm thinking /hoping that with tourism (or lack there of) choking Thailand to death the restrictions and hence cost for farangs returning to their lives and families might go down.

 

Damien.

 

 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

There are lots of threads covering ASQ hotels... Also Facebook groups. 

 

https://thaiembdc.org/asq/

https://thaiest.com/blog/list-of-alternative-state-quarantine-asq-hotels-thailand

 

 

In addition to your visa you’ll need to apply for your certificate of Entry. 

Requirements are: 

- ASQ booking before you receive your Certificate of Entry (from the Thai Embassy in Kuwait).

- Medical insurance >US$100,000 covering any complications as a result of Covid-19 (and a letter or certificate which states this)

- Flight confirmation

 

The Thai Embassy should have e-mailed you a list of requirements for application of Certificate of Entry. 

 

For flight boarding:

- Covid-19 RT PCR tests are also a requirement within 72 hours prior to boarding your flight.

- Fit to Fly certificate issued within 72 hours prior to boarding your flight.

 

 

Anutin (Thai Health Minister) recently announced that he wants to cut the quarantine down to 10 days. I’m actually wondering if by December the quarantine requirement will be cut down to 7 days - no one knows. 

 

When booking your ASQ only pay a deposit and ensure you have something which is fully refundable if cancelled (i.e. full refund if cancelled more than 1 week in advance of your stay etc). 

 

I found that ASQ’s respond well to queries by Facebook messengers (more so than e-mail). 

 

 

 

Edited November 6, 2020 by richard_smith237

[Upnotover]

28 minutes ago, Damien Harvey said:

Still costly; the cheapest I have found to date is 27,000 thb

Costly?  For 14/15 nights full board and COVID?  I have stayed in plenty of hotels in Thailand under THB2000/night but not at one of them would I voluntarily stay for an extended period and eat their food!

[Sheryl]

Not only is ASQ an option but for you, unless you have Thai citizenship, it is mandatory. If your wife and children are with you, they can go to State QUarantine. 

 

ASQ Costs are usually in the range of 30k - well over 100k (all inclusive). Plenty of threads on it with reports on specific hotels.

 

The only talk of shortening quarantine are limited to people on a special tourist visa available only in a few countries with low COVID rates. Coming from Kuwait you are going to need to quarantine for 14 days for the forseeable future.

[mrfaroukh]

It is simple take it or leave it. They know you want to go there and they charge what they think is right.