Update on thailand pass and thailand no quarantine

[PadPrikKhing]

On 10/15/2021 at 7:09 PM, BritTim said:

 If you qualify for visa exempt entry, that is often the best route to a Non O visa and subsequent extension(s).

This is what I'm thinking of doing (in March or April). Would you please outline what would qualify/disqualify a US person for visa-exempt entry? I know that before the pandemic it was basically an automatic thing for Americans.

[internationalism]

6 hours ago, portlandtree said:

So only one night quarantine no problem get to catch up on time change but what hotels only in Bangkok? Anybody know if one can do it in pattaya? Please someone tell me if you know

if you are not from one of those quarantine-free countries and if there would be bangkok, pattaya sandbox, you do book sha+ hotel for 7 nights. Can be cheap, thrown away, if needed and if too late to cancel.

After testing in the airport travel to this hotel, where you would be locked for some 6h, until test results. If positive, they would take you to hospital/hospitel for a minimum a week. Do pay extra for speedy pcr tests so they can release you to your sha+

[ubonjoe]

23 minutes ago, PadPrikKhing said:

This is what I'm thinking of doing (in March or April). Would you please outline what would qualify/disqualify a US person for visa-exempt entry? I know that before the pandemic it was basically an automatic thing for Americans.

What he meant by qualify is in reference to the country you are from. Only certain countries citizens qualify for a visa exempt entry.

As a US citizen you do qualify for a 30 day visa exempt entry.

[aussiexpat]

Being retired since 52 and having a beautiful condo in Thailand I thought nothing could break me, but Thailand has done it. The 1 night quarantine with potential 14 day prison for a false positive PCR test has done it after promoting "no quarantine". I now understand the analogy "the straw that broke the camels back"

 

Have now booked flight to LA and will catch a niners game, do a quick visit to Tijuana and then travel route 66 before going to Miami and Jamaica. 

 

Thailand condo has been empty 2 years so it can do another year while Thailand figures out how to remove all their BS

 

 

Edited October 17, 2021 by aussiexpat

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, PadPrikKhing said:

This is what I'm thinking of doing (in March or April). Would you please outline what would qualify/disqualify a US person for visa-exempt entry? I know that before the pandemic it was basically an automatic thing for Americans.

If you are a US citizen, then you qualify for visa exempt entry. You will receive an initial 30-day stay which you can extend once by a further 30 days if you need more time to prepare for the next steps. With significant time remaining on your permission to stay (at least 15 days) you will then apply for the "conversion" Non O visa, giving a 90-day stay from when the visa is granted. Finally, you can apply for a one-year extension of permission to stay towards the end of that 90 days.

[steevjee]

On 10/16/2021 at 3:56 AM, dj230 said:

canada has one of the highest vaccination rates but not on the list ???? 

Dont sweat, It will be, they're just doing forward promoting to the big fish

[Jeffr2]

4 hours ago, sandyf said:

COE applications that were in the system prior to the Oct 1st changes were suspended and they started processing again on 30th Sept, mine was one of them. I was due to fly 7th Oct.

Once they did start they were very quick, I was initially rejected, edited the application and had approval within the hour, and that was late evening.

If your quarantine is reduced don't expect much of a refund, my original price for the ALQ was £58/night and ended up at £92/night.

Exactly what happened to us. Luckily, I knew of the changes and the consulate told me to wait to apply and book anything.

 

I was also rejected. Submitted additional information and approved on a Sunday!

[Jeffr2]

1 hour ago, aussiexpat said:

Being retired since 52 and having a beautiful condo in Thailand I thought nothing could break me, but Thailand has done it. The 1 night quarantine with potential 14 day prison for a false positive PCR test has done it after promoting "no quarantine". I now understand the analogy "the straw that broke the camels back"

 

Have now booked flight to LA and will catch a niners game, do a quick visit to Tijuana and then travel route 66 before going to Miami and Jamaica. 

 

Thailand condo has been empty 2 years so it can do another year while Thailand figures out how to remove all their BS

 

 

Things were really good here for quite some time. Much better here than most other places in the world. Sadly, the worm has turned. Thailand is no longer a great place to be.

[sirineou]

4 hours ago, sandyf said:

I didn't have a problem with the COE, just screwed into the ground by Agoda.

The problem I had with my CoE was that they rejected my Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance certificate because it did not say 100k covid caverage,  even though it said Unlimited coverage including covid 19. Even though I hade what is considered the Cadillac of medical insurance, , and I was fully vaccinated , which meant that my chance of using the covid insurance was very low, they wanted me to go and buy additional covid 19 insurance, I had to call twice to straighten the thing out. other than that I did not have a problem 

My concern  is , with a online portal, who do you call? Would there be a way to bypass the portal? We will see. 

[stigar]

I have a personal friend in the thai embassy here.I send her a msg 3 days ago asked if any news about this.She replied and said she will let me know if anything changes.I had plan to go in august,and she said better to wait because its expencive that time.So im waiting to see what she confirms when its official.

Im not going back to bangkok before all the regulations is gone.My better half agree with me.

[treetops]

13 hours ago, Carrbhoy said:

We are at cross purposes somehow. I’m doing ASQ 7 days on arrival on the 22nd October in Bangkok at an SHA+ hotel.

 

My CoE was issued by The Thai embassy in London.

Got you now - your first post read as if you were doing Sandbox in Bangkok, not quarantine, and  I was wondering how I missed that!  As others have said, it's the terms used as SHA+ is compulsory only for Sandbox.  Your prison quarantine hotel in Bangkok may indeed be SHA+ qualified too as many are now, but it's still an ASQ for this month at least.

[Heng]

10 hours ago, portlandtree said:

So only one night quarantine no problem get to catch up on time change but what hotels only in Bangkok? Anybody know if one can do it in pattaya? Please someone tell me if you know

There will be a list surely, but you can likely assume that hotels that are currently SHA or AQ hotels (if you want to shop around before the official list comes out) because of their connections will still make use of those same connections to be one night PCR testing wait hotels.

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

6 hours ago, yimlitnoy said:

I am not traveling to Samui or Phuket this year, you need a PHD and time to understand all the requirements.  A PCR test on departure to Thailand should be sufficient, why a test on arrival coupled to an expensive hotel stay?  Why do you want us to spend our money on 2 Thai insurances corporations instead of spreading our money among the Thai people who are suffering at this moment?  Even the Thai do not trust the local insurance companies as demonstrated in their rally 2 weeks ago. 

 

What if the test on arrival shows a false positive situation, you will send us to an expensive hospital for foreigners for 14 days at our expense? 

 

What if I am infected while in Thailand due to low vaccination rate of the Thai population and this is only discovered on the departure from Thailand PCR test?  No, I am not traveling to Samui or Phuket this year.  I am fully vaccinated and in my book it is sufficient and adequate for travel anywhere.  

The cheapest Corvid insurance will cost me 5100 thb for 3 months, still don't know how much the hotel and test will cost. For a family of 4 this will probably add 1000 USD to their trip to Thailand. I think many people think like you and skip Thailand until all these extra costs are removed.

[DHut]

On 10/16/2021 at 3:46 PM, TorquayFan said:

DHut and Fusion58 - I have the same problem. My COE has now been pre-approved to fly on Nov 4th arriving 5th. I have to upload a few more documents then it's done with hopefully.

 

I intend to try and complete that AND apply for the 'Thailand Pass' in addition, to cover it both ways as soon as it becomes online. Just can't do anymore.

 

Hoping for some clarity on how to proceed. They'll have to be sharp with the data and instructions if I am to do the Pass but we'll see.

 

Hoping for some clarity asap I'd add !!!!

 

Any thoughts ?

The embassy in my home country has stopped issuing COE. If Thailand Pass is not by end of this coming week, I am screwed. I will have to push back my arrival date at least a week. This will potentially caused me do a lot of explanation to my company and miss my best friend's wedding. Not to mention the amount of money I've paid so far... 

[Eff1n2ret]

8 minutes ago, DHut said:

The embassy in my home country has stopped issuing COE

I thought it is the MFA that issues the COE, not individual embassies. Try this:-

https://coethailand.mfa.go.th/

[treetops]

7 minutes ago, DHut said:

The embassy in my home country has stopped issuing COE. If Thailand Pass is not by end of this coming week, I am screwed. I will have to push back my arrival date at least a week. This will potentially caused me do a lot of explanation to my company and miss my best friend's wedding. Not to mention the amount of money I've paid so far... 

The MFA briefed that their target is to have the system "ready to operate" by roughly the 1st November.  Now there may have been something lost in translation but my interpretation of that is there's no chance of it being ready by the end of the week.

[DHut]

1 minute ago, Eff1n2ret said:

I thought it is the MFA that issues the COE, not individual embassies. Try this:-

https://coethailand.mfa.go.th/

I called up the embassy and the lady asked for my COE 6 digit code. She checked and came back saying approvals for November arrivals has been suspended. I suspect the COE portal is just a central system to receive COE applications from all over the world and it routes the cases to individual embassy for processing.

[sandyf]

2 hours ago, sirineou said:

The problem I had with my CoE was that they rejected my Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance certificate because it did not say 100k covid caverage,  even though it said Unlimited coverage including covid 19. Even though I hade what is considered the Cadillac of medical insurance, , and I was fully vaccinated , which meant that my chance of using the covid insurance was very low, they wanted me to go and buy additional covid 19 insurance, I had to call twice to straighten the thing out. other than that I did not have a problem 

My concern  is , with a online portal, who do you call? Would there be a way to bypass the portal? We will see. 

I used the Emirates insurance, not a problem and free.

[DHut]

1 minute ago, treetops said:

The MFA briefed that their target is to have the system "ready to operate" by roughly the 1st November.  Now there may have been something lost in translation but my interpretation of that is there's no chance of it being ready by the end of the week.

I interpreted it as it could be ready between now to 1 November. If they don't give at least 1 week to allow people arriving early November to use this new system, then no one is able to come to Thailand because they are stuck in a limbo of no COE and no Thailand Pass. Confusing as hell.

[Carrbhoy]

17 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

People are getting their acronyms mixed up…. Hardly surprising given all the different announcements & schemes… 

 

But…  SHA+ is for Phuket Sandbox or Samui Plus. 
 

Quarantine in Bangkok is ASQ (can’t leave hotel room) 

The ASQ in Bangkok is in a SHA+ hotel which is why I said what I said. Glad we cleared it up!

 

[Tanya Shearn]

Does Phangnga ( Khao Lak ) has its own sand box program? Or we still need to book SHA plus hotel for 7 days at Phuket ? Thanks 

[gk10012001]

8 hours ago, andy said:

Ah, once again, details are hard to come by.  Shocker ????

 

2 questions.  If you have a passport from a country on the list, but live in a country not on the list, can you still use Thailand Pass?

 

And can Thai nationals use Thailand Pass to enter for a visit, bypassing normal ASQ and the glorified quarantine of the Sandboxes?  Can Thai nationals travel from any country under this system, or do they have to be coming from one of the listed countries?

 

Hurry up and let me know before the powers that be change their mind again ????

 

 

ah, good question.  Not all people will be traveling from the "allowed" countries.  I doubt the Thai pass will know the difference, but it may ask what country are you traveling from.  Some countries at the moment check flight history to make sure people are not just flying into a certain "allowed" country for a few hours in an attempt to qualify for arrival .  Will have to wait to see what pans out in Thailand

[gk10012001]

8 hours ago, sirineou said:

The problem I had with my CoE was that they rejected my Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance certificate because it did not say 100k covid caverage,  even though it said Unlimited coverage including covid 19. Even though I hade what is considered the Cadillac of medical insurance, , and I was fully vaccinated , which meant that my chance of using the covid insurance was very low, they wanted me to go and buy additional covid 19 insurance, I had to call twice to straighten the thing out. other than that I did not have a problem 

My concern  is , with a online portal, who do you call? Would there be a way to bypass the portal? We will see. 

I am on "obamacare" using CIGNA a PPO plan and I got coverage for everything.  I know I am covered, but doubt I could convince Thailand of that for anything.  I guess much will depend on what the Thai App does.  If things get approved, case closed.  Maybe there is a cert form which one could get signed off non Thai issued health insurance that people could possibly get for insurance for Visas that required it.  I read that some people were able to get their companies to get that signed

[gejohesch]

6 hours ago, sandyf said:

I used the Emirates insurance, not a problem and free.

I usually fly with Emirates. I was puzzled with the wording of their insurance, early this year. I'm not sure Emirates (or whoever they process the insurance with) issue a certificate with the required wording concerning COVID. Can you confirm?

[eisfeld]

1 hour ago, Tanya Shearn said:

Does Phangnga ( Khao Lak ) has its own sand box program? Or we still need to book SHA plus hotel for 7 days at Phuket ? Thanks 

Under the currently active Phuket Sandbox program you have to stay 7 days in Phuket and are then free to leave to Phang Nga. They do not have their own Sandbox Program. This will likely change on November 1st where you will have to stay only one day/night and are then free to leave the island.

[farang51]

1 hour ago, eisfeld said:

Under the currently active Phuket Sandbox program you have to stay 7 days in Phuket and are then free to leave to Phang Nga.

Under the current plan, the areas Khao Lak and Ko Yao in Phang Nga is part of the sandbox plan. You can go to your SHA+ hotel there directly from the airport when arriving at Phuket Airport.

https://www.tatnews.org/2021/10/now-7-day-stay-for-sandbox-tourists-from-any-country-in-the-world/

[Sticky Rice Balls]

16 hours ago, scorecard said:

Good question. I'm in the same situation but my guess is test and 1 night in Bkk, then to CNX, & hopefully no further tests or monitoring etc.

yep im getting that same feeling sadly......sigh

[Sticky Rice Balls]

14 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

What he meant by qualify is in reference to the country you are from. Only certain countries citizens qualify for a visa exempt entry.

As a US citizen you do qualify for a 30 day visa exempt entry.

Im a Yank so I would go for the 30 day exempt, question being with CNX being my final dest and a layover in BKK, would BKK be the place I would have to stay over for a night and get tested, even if it was a layover to CNX, where I had hoped to do the asq/test......

[eisfeld]

1 hour ago, farang51 said:

Under the current plan, the areas Khao Lak and Ko Yao in Phang Nga is part of the sandbox plan. You can go to your SHA+ hotel there directly from the airport when arriving at Phuket Airport.

https://www.tatnews.org/2021/10/now-7-day-stay-for-sandbox-tourists-from-any-country-in-the-world/

Oh nice, seems they changed that two weeks ago. Thanks for the correction. I wonder though if one can stay a bit in Phuket and then go to Phang Nga within the 7 days?

[scorecard]

22 hours ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

So if my final dest being CNX with a layover in BKK for a few hrs..would I be tested in BKK and have to stay a night in BKK at ASQ or can transit to CNX for test-ASQ?

Thanks in advance..

Good question, I'm waiting for same info.

 

Also brings up the question whether foreigners travelling from abroad to their permanent home in Thailand can do whatever test on arrival and then very quickly continue their travel to their home and do 24 hrs isolation at home?