just received this email......

 

Royal Thai Embassy, London has rejected your registration/application.

Due to From 1 Nov.2021, all travellers to Thailand will have to apply for the Thailand Pass at tp.consular.go.th, allow at least 7 working days for approval from the central authorities. For travellers arriving Thailand from 1–8 Nov.2021, we recommend you to apply for the Thailand Pass and Certificate of Entry (COE) in case of any delays of the Thailand Pass. Those travelling after 8 Nov.2021,please register for the Thailand Pass. For details, please visit the Embassy’s website https://bit.ly/3Cgr2di

 

good luck if you are arriving 8 Nov Onward and have already received your CoE ...you have to REGISTER with thailand pass 9am 1 Nov  and go thro it all again with 46 other Countrys on the same website portal

Just received the same e-mail from the London Embassy.  Was due to be flying on 10 Nov with 7 day Sandbox in Phuket.  Good news is that I can now change to just the one night in Bangkok bad news is will there still be time to get registered and everything approved before I am due to leave.

 

I didnt like the Sandbox arrangements but once I had decided to go for it found it reasonably straightforward and was now looking forward to traveling.  Have to start over again now and start cancelling everything booked for Phuket.

 

I think I will put things back a week.  The thought of everyone trying to access Thailandpass at roughly the same time on its first morning fills me with dread.  The caveat in the e-mail also doesnt look;

 

( Caution approved the new system will be implemented by the public , not the Embassy. Therefore, travelers are requested to pre-register with an additional time for approval.)

 

So that means getting through the bottleneck to register and then an additional 7 working days+ to receive approval.

 

Dont see too many people flying for a few days after 8 Nov.

 

Good luck to all travelers ...

 

 

And one could, I think, be reasonably forgiven for coming to the conclusion that the London Embassy are steadfast in their determination to trick, hoodwink and deceive foreigners seeking to enter (or return to) Thailand from the UK into continuing to submit COE applications which are now fruitless, given that there still isn't a dickey-bird mention of the Thailand Pass on their website as far as I can tell! ????

 

https://london.thaiembassy.org/en/publicservice/requirements-for-foreigners-travelling-to-thailand-during-covid-19-tra?page=5d6636cd15e39c3bd00072dd&menu=5f4b6eb3f6ae4b236972c562

Edited October 26, 20214 yr by OJAS

I received same message. Trying to be positive. Arriving back in BKK on 13 November.  Thinking (hoping) 7 days should be sufficient.

 

But why do they make everything so difficult? 

48 minutes ago, JRG23 said:

But why do they make everything so difficult? 

Because they can ... 

The simple thing to have done is honor already issued CoEs and not issue any more of them.

3 minutes ago, expat_4_life said:

The simple thing to have done is honor already issued CoEs and not issue any more of them.

Which is what they are doing.

4 hours ago, Salerno said:

Which is what they are doing.

Seconded.  My COE was issued last week and is valid for use on 4 November to enter Phuket as a quarantine-free [sic] arrival

 

'I just checked my COE online and it has been updated. Now includes the following "From 1 November onwards, the traveller will be eligible to enter Thailand on Exemption from Quarantine scheme (after receiving negative RT-PCR test result)."'

Happened to me the end of September, before the big changes.  Applied around September 25th and was told to try again October 1st.  They are really unorganized.

My company have just sent me my flights for arriving in BKK on the 8th December. Hoping all this malarky has settled down by then and its pretty straight forward. ????

15 hours ago, JRG23 said:

But why do they make everything so difficult?

It's the 1 and only thing at which they are consistent.

Typically Thailand.

T.I.T.

Land of Silly

 

Best wishes.

Just been reading the Emirates website in preparation for my flight home in December and read this. 

 

Travel to Bangkok

Below restrictions are applicable for Bangkok

The ban on international flights to Thailand has been extended until 30 November 2021. Travel to Thailand is restricted to specific categories of passengers. Please check the requirements below before you travel. You may be required to take a COVID‑19 PCR test and submit additional documentation before departure. Please note all required documents must be printed.

Edited October 27, 20214 yr by misterphil
Spelling

3 minutes ago, misterphil said:

Just been reading the Emirates website in preparation for my flight home in December and read this. 

 

Travel to Bangkok

Below restrictions are applicable for Bangkok

The ban on international flights to Thailand has been extended until 30 November 2021. Travel to Thailand is restricted to specific categories of passengers. Please check the requirements below before you travel. You may be required to take a COVID‑19 PCR test and submit additional documentation before departure. Please note all required documents must be printed.

I think that just means you need a COE to enter.  I just came in on Emirates, to Phuket.

46 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

Happened to me the end of September, before the big changes.  Applied around September 25th and was told to try again October 1st.  They are really unorganized.

There's always going to be comfusion during the transition in requirements, no getting away from it.

 

Humans don't like change.

14 minutes ago, misterphil said:

My company have just sent me my flights for arriving in BKK on the 8th December. Hoping all this malarky has settled down by then and its pretty straight forward. ????

That sounds like a decent amount of time for the new system to be up and running.

13 minutes ago, HashBrownHarry said:

There's always going to be comfusion during the transition in requirements, no getting away from it.

 

Humans don't like change.

I think it was the process.  They just don't put things together properly here.  The local consulate wasn't sure what to do, and new rules couldn't be used until published in the Royal Gazette. Plus, the old COE rules expired at the end of September.  Mass confusion.  Terrible procedures.

7 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

I think it was the process.  They just don't put things together properly here.  The local consulate wasn't sure what to do, and new rules couldn't be used until published in the Royal Gazette. Plus, the old COE rules expired at the end of September.  Mass confusion.  Terrible procedures.

I applied for CoE mid October ( currently in quarantine now ), i didn't find the process that hard.

 

Infact this has been my 4th entry and they've all been pretty straight forward if you're organised.

 

I find the marraige extension a lot more hassle that what this has been tbh.

reading some of the comments. this could be cause london has an embassy not as efficient as others?  im flying nov 4,  and about two days ago i asked chicago embassy if i should wait for thailand pass and they responded to apply for coe.  my gut says that coe and thailand pass might coexist for a few days.   i mean they will probably follow thru with pre approved coes.  ?  only makes sense.  if not on about nov 1 until about nov 7 . nobody gonna show up in thailand. i submitted my coe application yester day and i hope it will be preapproved by tomorrow and if i get my final docs in right then i will have that coe by nov 1 .  i still think in my case if im preapproved before nov 1 . they will finish out my process.  i dont think i can apply for thailand pass on nov 1 and get the ok to fly on nov 4?

1 minute ago, yogi yogi said:

i mean they will probably follow thru with pre approved coes.  ?

It's already been confirmed - flying before 7 November use COE, flying after 7 November wait until ThailandPass is live 1 November and use that.

52 minutes ago, misterphil said:

Just been reading the Emirates website in preparation for my flight home in December and read this. 

 

Travel to Bangkok

Below restrictions are applicable for Bangkok

The ban on international flights to Thailand has been extended until 30 November 2021. Travel to Thailand is restricted to specific categories of passengers.

The "specific categories of passengers" now include virtually all humans on earth, but they've continued to use that wording for the last year and a half - just as they continue to pretend that requiring a COE somehow constitutes a "ban on international flights", and referring to regularly scheduled flights as "semi-commercial" somehow means that commercial flights aren't landing every hour.

 

People in Thailand mostly understand what's going on, but average folks elsewhere (including journalists) take the statements literally and think that Thailand is sealed off from the outside world.

Just now, Salerno said:

It's already been confirmed - flying before 7 November use COE, flying after 7 November wait until ThailandPass is live 1 November and use that.

thanks salerno .  so if i submitted my pre approval on monday morning ,  and i fly on nov 4 they will probably follow thru with me to allow me to use the coe.  as they know if i fly on nov 4 i wont have time to do the travel pass.  so what u are implying is that for a few people the coe process will still be open after nov 1 for a few days  ,  ONLY FOR THOSE  people who have already submitted for preapproval for arrival before nov 7  .  only makes sense

29 minutes ago, HashBrownHarry said:

I applied for CoE mid October ( currently in quarantine now ), i didn't find the process that hard.

 

Infact this has been my 4th entry and they've all been pretty straight forward if you're organised.

 

I find the marraige extension a lot more hassle that what this has been tbh.

Agreed.  Not to bad, but very time consuming and makes you nervous.  You have to get flights and hotel to get the COE, but told to apply for the COE before booking flights. Then, you have 14 days to get flights.  As a traveler, it's better to book flights quite a ways in advance.  Cutting it too close many times results in much larger flight costs.

 

I'm no fan of prepaying hotels either.  Plus, the number of times I was asked for the exact same documents was crazy. 

 

For Greece, you just uploaded the docs and showed the QR code at check in and on arrival.  Done.  Not here...mass disorganization IMHO.  Me thinks some are making money off this scheme...

C.O.E. not really canceled but " Changed "  to Thailand Pass and while people change and apply prepare while on you journey expect the unexpected when one arrives?????

4 minutes ago, yogi yogi said:

so if i submitted my pre approval on monday morning ,  and i fly on nov 4 they will probably follow thru with me to allow me to use the coe.

Yes, the COE site has been updated if you haven't looked for a while:

 

 

Also, note the entry:

 

Well that is interesting.  I contacted the Thai Embassy in Canada today.  What they told me is that if I plan to arrive in Thailand before Nov 7 (which I do) I should use the COE application process.  They did say that they will not accept new applications using COE process from Nov 1 onward.  However they will allow the COE approved to enter after Nov 1 under the new rules (so can use the COE process for the next 5 days).  I asked if I would need to stay in a quarantine hotel for 7 days if I use the COE process to enter Thailand after Nov 1 …: answer was a definite “no” (just a 1 day quarantine hotel stay per the new rules).  They were very sincere about wanting to be flexible during the transition.  Is it worth your while to give the UK embassy staff a call?

17 hours ago, JRG23 said:

But why do they make everything so difficult? 

Anyone who as had anything to do with Thailand for any length of time should be perfectly aware that they never actually approve anything until a few days before the implementation date.

A bit like the UK giving people a couple of days to get back from a red list country.

Difficulty, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

 

Just now, Salerno said:

Yes, the COE site has been updated if you haven't looked for a while:

 

 

Also, note the entry:

 

u are the man salerno . good work. im not sure if i put exemption from quarantine or 7/10 day quarantine. i think i put bangkok in this field.  but im sure embassy will understand what i want?  u are suggesting i can get into my acct and adjust this error i made?  u are saying if i put bangkok in this field they will assume im going 7 nights bkk??  all i know is people have been getting coes.  with the one night quarantine. u are suggestig that the field above picture is the thing i should have put into this box?

5 hours ago, Salerno said:

It's already been confirmed - flying before 7 November use COE, flying after 7 November wait until ThailandPass is live 1 November and use that.

Our flight leaves Paris on the 7th and arrives on the 8th November.  Seems we may be caught in the middle.  I have submitted the initial COE request and hope for a positive response fromt he Paris embassy.

5 hours ago, yogi yogi said:

u are suggesting i can get into my acct and adjust this error i made?  u are saying if i put bangkok in this field they will assume im going 7 nights bkk?? 

No need. It's a selection box so you can only choose one or the other. No error has been made, prior to the latest change it didn't mention exemption for quarantine at all so you would have chosen 7/10 days quarantine (which has now been amended to reflect the new option under the new rules). This will be matched with the paperwork you upload (vaccine status and hotel booking) to determine what you are doing i.e. 1 night test and go ("quarantine free").

 

 

1 hour ago, thaibook said:

Our flight leaves Paris on the 7th and arrives on the 8th November.  Seems we may be caught in the middle.  I have submitted the initial COE request and hope for a positive response fromt he Paris embassy.

That's awkward timing for sure. Hopefully you'll get pre-approval today and they'll process via COE. Even if they don't I wouldn't be too concerned, a week to process it under the ThailandPass may be a bit nerve wracking but easily doable. Just jump on it as soon as it's launched