Thailand Pass Is Up And Running

[wasabi]

My wife and I just received our Thailand Pass QR codes a few minutes ago. I applied for us both on the evening (USA) of Thursday November 4th.

Here are a few details

 

• We are both US citizens.
• We were vaccinated with Pfizer in California. They provided  proprietary SMART Health QR codes which I included in our application but I somewhat doubt they were able to read these. I uploaded our CDC Cards which included both vaccination dates for both the 1st and 2nd shot required on the website. I manually added our Passport numbers, but no idea if that helped.
• We got Tune Insurance through the official ASQ Thai website. I only sent the first page of the PDF as a .jpg.
• We booked our hotel through the official ASQ Thai website.
• Our flight leaves near midnight on November 20th and arrives the morning of November 22nd. I used the 2nd leg of the flight for the flight #.
• I emailed the Thai and NYC Thai consulates last night asking for a status update. I have no idea if that helped or they even read the email.
• I only applied once.

The entire process was much more stressful than necessary. They should allow you to check where you are in the process online but at least it is over for us now.

 

[Hooray]

18 hours ago, Danderman123 said:

For anyone who entered Thailand with a QR code: were all of your documents reviewed, or just your PCR test results?

I left Heathrow on the 8th and Thai airlines asked for all my paperwork; pcr test result, hotel booking, thailand pass, and visa. On arrival at Phuket they took a copy of my pcr result and checked my thailand pass then i had to queue for my pcr on arrival. There they wanted my thailand pass and hotel booking. The hotel also wanted to see all the above documents. At Phuket airport there were two line - alternative quarantie and test and go. I didn't see anyone going through the alternative quarantive.

I did ask the check in assistant at Heathrow and she said if it wasn't in order then I woudn't have been able to fly even with all the thailand pass problems. I would suggest having everything printed out for when you fly.

[KhaoYai]

1 hour ago, Sanookmike said:

Anyone doing sandbox that second test is just a atk test you do yourself and show to the hotel.. initially I saw them being advertised as part of the test and go packages but most don't mention them now.

 

Atk test kits are pretty cheap so I assume if you was to worried about testing positive on day 6 you could do a few tests and show them the result that suits you. 

I left Thailand on 11 March 2020 and I have not been able to return there since.  My home and my wife are there so its been a difficult time.  I know its only a small chance but nevertheless its possible that I could pick up an infection whilst I'm there but have no symptoms.  If that happens I'll be placed in quarantine and by the time that's over it will be time to go back to the UK.  I signed up to the Exemption from Quarantine scheme because there are no further tests required. 

 

There will, I have no doubt, be thousands of Thai people walking around with the virus who are Asymptomatic - they are not required to take tests and although they'd also have to quarantine if they were and the results were positive, they would not be leaving the country afterwards.

 

I understand what you are saying about taking a few tests but I'd rather not take one than lie about the results.

[KhaoYai]

59 minutes ago, JCP108 said:

Interesting that they asked for insurance. My travel insurance policy starts on 11/28 as that's when I arrive in BKK. My first flight is out of Chicago on 11/26 local date. I wonder if the airline will quibble about that?

They shouldn't, the requirement for insurance comes from Thailand, not the airline and by the time you get there, your insurance will be in force.

[Danderman123]

1 hour ago, JCP108 said:

Interesting that they asked for insurance. My travel insurance policy starts on 11/28 as that's when I arrive in BKK. My first flight is out of Chicago on 11/26 local date. I wonder if the airline will quibble about that?

What date do you arrive in Thailand? 

[JCP108]

2 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

What date do you arrive in Thailand? 

11/28

[JCP108]

7 minutes ago, KhaoYai said:

 

 

There will, I have no doubt, be thousands of Thai people walking around with the virus who are Asymptomatic - they are not required to take tests and although they'd also have to quarantine if they were and the results were positive, they would not be leaving the country afterwards.

 

Several Thai people in our neighborhood in Bangkok have tested positive during the pandemic and were just told by the clinic to go home and self-quarantine (which they didn't, of course). None of them were told to go into formal quarantine or hospital as they were relatively asymptomatic. I assume it's about money more than public health. 

[Myles91]

12 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

I got approved in the UK with 2 shots of Pfizer about 5 weeks apart. I had to get my GP to accelerate the 2nd shot due to overseas travel. I would assume that most others getting approval from the UK will have their government mandated 8-week gap between shots? The US works to the manufacturer's original 4-week shot gap, same as Thailand. There's no stated limits on the TP application regarding the shot gap, just need the 2 shots and be fully vaccinated.

Okay thanks for the info, yeah doesn’t state anything on tp website, but does on the TAT website

 

supposedly 8 week gap seems to give highest all round protection anyway. 

 

im still waiting for approval for test and go. Applied on Wednesday 3rd, it’s does say up to 7 working days so I’ll give till Friday before I panic even more.

 

i don’t fly till the end of the month but wanted an answer in good time in case there’s issues and need to resubmit.

Crazy all this really, I think in time if the system allows hotmail, and pdf things should be smoother hopefully. or drop it altogether would be nice ????

[Bkk Brian]

7 minutes ago, JCP108 said:

11/28

Welcome back

[KhaoYai]

2 minutes ago, JCP108 said:

Several Thai people in our neighborhood in Bangkok have tested positive during the pandemic and were just told by the clinic to go home and self-quarantine (which they didn't, of course). None of them were told to go into formal quarantine or hospital as they were relatively asymptomatic. I assume it's about money more than public health. 

Interesting - they were carting them off to hospital at one time.  I can't see a foreigner being granted the same leniency though ????.

[KhaoYai]

2 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Welcome back

Its the US way. 11/28/2021 is 28 November.

[Bkk Brian]

Some good news for the Thailand Pass in future possibly.........................................from one of Richard Barrows newletters.

 

"A review of this is expected to take place in a couple of weeks. I was told by a senior TAT executive that we might see a relaxation in some key areas. For example, in the near future, there is a good chance that they will stop the need to have an RT-PCR within 72 hours of departure. So, you would only need to do an RT-PCR on arrival in Thailand. I am also told that in the future, maybe in December, this test will be changed to the cheaper lateral flow test. I presume this would mean that if this is done at the airport, then it would literally be a Test and Go and you wouldn’t need to stay one night in a hotel. Let’s see. This is what they want but it is not known how soon that can start."

 

"Another development they want to happen soon is the changing of the exception age for unvaccinated children. For Test and Go, it is presently only for children under 12. The TAT want this to be changed to under 18, the same as for the Sandbox program. This could start as soon as the review in two weeks has been completed. If there are any developments on this I will let you know on my social media channels."

 

https://www.getrevue.co/profile/richardbarrow/issues/reopening-of-thailand-dispatch-6-838257

Edited November 9, 2021 by Bkk Brian

[Danderman123]

24 minutes ago, JCP108 said:

11/28

No quibbles from anybody about your insurance.

[KhaoYai]

1 hour ago, NanLaew said:

There's no stated limits on the TP application regarding the shot gap, just need the 2 shots and be fully vaccinated.

Don't forget the at least 14 days before travel though.

[Sanookmike]

1 hour ago, JCP108 said:

Interesting that they asked for insurance. My travel insurance policy starts on 11/28 as that's when I arrive in BKK. My first flight is out of Chicago on 11/26 local date. I wonder if the airline will quibble about that?

Policy just needs to cover your period in Thailand start date should be the day you arrive and end date the day of your return flight.

[Sanookmike]

41 minutes ago, KhaoYai said:

I left Thailand on 11 March 2020 and I have not been able to return there since.  My home and my wife are there so its been a difficult time.  I know its only a small chance but nevertheless its possible that I could pick up an infection whilst I'm there but have no symptoms.  If that happens I'll be placed in quarantine and by the time that's over it will be time to go back to the UK.  I signed up to the Exemption from Quarantine scheme because there are no further tests required. 

 

There will, I have no doubt, be thousands of Thai people walking around with the virus who are Asymptomatic - they are not required to take tests and although they'd also have to quarantine if they were and the results were positive, they would not be leaving the country afterwards.

 

I understand what you are saying about taking a few tests but I'd rather not take one than lie about the results.

Completely understand mate... Be sure to check with your airline if they require one when leaving also, even though you are not required to have one returning to the UK alot of the airline's do as well the airports you transit through. Singapore for example... 

 

Hope all goes well

[Aero992]

I applied on the 8th of Nov for a holiday I've booked on the 26th Jan. Had a response that I had been successful 16 hours later. Was tempted to leave it as long as possible in hopes the entire scheme was scrapped but getting 5 weeks off work wasn't easy and I didn't want to risk leaving it too late.

 

I applied using Gmail and at the recommendation of someone a few pages back I booked  Siam Mandarina Hotel on Agoda. They have more reviews from the last week than anywhere else regarding Test & Go. The booking was fully refundable so this was hassle free but unfortunately slightly more expensive than most of the other options. I downloaded the confirmation Agoda sent via email that clearly states "Quarantine Package" and converted this to JPG.

 

For the photos of vaccinations I used the NHS online website with a chrome plugin to pull off the screenshots I needed. Zoomed in to the QR codes prior to taking the screenshot to make sure it was as clear as possible.

 

I booked the AXA insurance without much thought, will have additional insurance anyway so didn't read to much into it. Saw it specifically mentioned no the Thai Consulate website so it seemed like a good choice. I combined the Thai + English version into a single PDF and the converted that to a JPG.

 

Based on my travel date it doesn't seem like they're working through applications in any logical order.

 

Edited November 9, 2021 by Aero992

[Myles91]

2 hours ago, Gustomucho said:

Finally got it, applied on the 2nd, received the Pass on Hotmail (went to junk) I had not received the confirmation.

 

Flight on the 15th (arrival the 17th)

Canadian Vaccine, no passport number on vaccine page, no nationality

Canadian Insurance (Sunlife letter)

Agoda Booking

 

5 Demands, 2 emails, the first demand got accepted as the next 4 was using gmail.

 

 

 

Did your or anyone’s agoda booking state rt-PCR? 

 

Mine just says 1 COVID 19 test

Edited November 9, 2021 by Myles91

[Sandro777]

You win Thailand! Cancelled my entire trip as I still have not received a response from my Nov 1 Thailand Pass application and fly in less than 10 days. Stress free and can get back to my day job of fixing other people's badly designed processes and systems without having to pay a bunch of money to interact with this one! ????

 

[Aero992]

5 minutes ago, Myles91 said:

Did your agoda booking state rt-PCR? 

 

Mine just says 1 COVID 19 test 

That's exactly what mine looked like and they approved it.

[Myles91]

2 minutes ago, Aero992 said:

That's exactly what mine looked like and they approved it.

Okay great it’s looking like my application should be fine, just a waiting a game ????

[PabloSanDiego]

45 minutes ago, Sanookmike said:

Policy just needs to cover your period in Thailand start date should be the day you arrive and end date the day of your return flight.

My first trip is for a short 10 days and I initially bought 10 days of COVID insurance expiring on the day I depart, but then read that it needs to be for 30 days as that is the length of the visa exemption they grant when you arrive. It wasn't much extra, so I went ahead and cancelled my first policy (refunded quickly) and bought a new 30 day policy which is what I uploaded to Thailand Pass.

 

Did anyone buy less than 30 days COVID insurance and still got approved? Would be useful to know.

 

Another consideration is that if I test positive just before returning and have to go into quarantine (my biggest fear), then now I am covered for that. As it stood with the previous 10 day policy, I would have been out of pocket on that expense.  My policy with ACS covers asymptomatic hospitalization which I hope I'll never need.

[gearbox]

3 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

I notice you haven't replied to my earlier question as to where I am wrong.

 

Last night I completed my Thailand Pass application and received the pass this morning.  As part of that process applicants are required to selected the method of entry; Exempt, Sandbox or Alternative Quarantine. You select your entry type and are then presented with a set of relevant terms and conditions for entry - obviously I accepted them.

 

The terms and conditions that I agreed to contained a statement exactly the same as that which I posted last night:

 

I acknowledge and accept that, upon my arrival and during my stay in Thailand:

I shall be subject to entry screening measures for respiratory symptoms and temperature measurement for fever at the Port of Arrival through which I am entering Thailand;

2. I will directly travel from my port of arrival to my reserved accommodation via a designated sealed route;

3. I will be responsible for all relevant costs associated with COVID-19 diagnostic tests by RT-PCR technique at locations designated by the Thai Government. I shall undertake the first test upon my arrival in Thailand and should I stay in the Sandbox Programme for 7 days, I shall undertake a second test during the 6th-7th day or as required or deemed necessary by the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand.

3.1 I will undertake additional test(s) from Clause no. 3 based on the basis of the condition below:

๐ If I stay in the Sandbox programme less than 7 days, I shall take the second test during the 6th-7th day of my stay or as required by the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand

4. For the Exemption from Quarantine scheme:

4.1 I shall be quarantine for one day.

4.2 After a negative (not detected) RT-PCR test result, I am permitted to travel without restrictions in Thailand.

5. For the Sandbox programme:

https://tp.consular.go.th/en/policy

 

Its clear to me that nowhere in the two conditions for Exemption from Quarantine does it state I will have to take a further test. It does however, state in 3. that those entering under the Sandbox scheme will have to take a test on day 6 or 7.  I signed up for Exemption from Quarantine and as per the conditions above, I don't expect to be required to take any further tests.

 

Some embassies, consulates and hotels also seem to have got this mixed up - hardly surpising given the variations in information that exist.

 

I don't know if you're a drunk or a troll but you often come on here arguing with people, yet on the occasions you're asked to back up your statements, you simply go quiet - troll behaviour.

 

I posted the information in an effort to help people - as many do on this forum.  If your only contributions are to argue with people then I pity you.

I'm going to the Phuket Sandbox and there is no option to pay for second PCR test, at the PSAS site, I think it is replaced with antigen test but how is this paid and delivered is not clear.

 

This is from the Sandbox info column when you select your options for TP (Test&Go,Sandbox,AQ)

 

"Paid SHA+ hotel reservation confirmation throughout the 7 days period (including the fee for RT-PCR test and Antigen Self-test Kit)"

 

I have 2 QR codes, for the first one I didn't attach any test payment confirmations.

 

I think there are still remnants of inconsistencies across the site.

 

Good to see they have link with support articles now.

[gearbox]

10 minutes ago, PabloSanDiego said:

My first trip is for a short 10 days and I initially bought 10 days of COVID insurance expiring on the day I depart, but then read that it needs to be for 30 days as that is the length of the visa exemption they grant when you arrive. It wasn't much extra, so I went ahead and cancelled my first policy (refunded quickly) and bought a new 30 day policy which is what I uploaded to Thailand Pass.

 

Did anyone buy less than 30 days COVID insurance and still got approved? Would be useful to know.

 

Another consideration is that if I test positive just before returning and have to go into quarantine (my biggest fear), then now I am covered for that. As it stood with the previous 10 day policy, I would have been out of pocket on that expense.  My policy with ACS covers asymptomatic hospitalization which I hope I'll never need.

ACS covering asymptomatic hospitalization...that's news for me. They are known not to cover it. Did you get this asymptomatic coverage anywhere in writing?

 

https://www.aainsure.net/COVID-100000-usd-insurance.html

 

 

[Sanookmike]

41 minutes ago, PabloSanDiego said:

My first trip is for a short 10 days and I initially bought 10 days of COVID insurance expiring on the day I depart, but then read that it needs to be for 30 days as that is the length of the visa exemption they grant when you arrive. It wasn't much extra, so I went ahead and cancelled my first policy (refunded quickly) and bought a new 30 day policy which is what I uploaded to Thailand Pass.

 

Did anyone buy less than 30 days COVID insurance and still got approved? Would be useful to know.

 

Another consideration is that if I test positive just before returning and have to go into quarantine (my biggest fear), then now I am covered for that. As it stood with the previous 10 day policy, I would have been out of pocket on that expense.  My policy with ACS covers asymptomatic hospitalization which I hope I'll never need.

You read wrong.. it has to cover the whole period of your stay or visa length. Visa exemption is not a visa.. it's just a stamp that states you are exempt. 

 

Also day 1 of your policy starts when you clear immigration and ends when you leave, you are covered on that last day. 

 

If you buy a 10 day policy and you land in Thailand on the 1st it will end on the 10th (10 days like you paid for) if it was invalid on the 10th e.i ended 12am on the 9th that would only be 9 days coverage. 

[Rman]

5 hours ago, marcardar said:

They fixed the Janssen issue about 24 hours after launch. Now, when you select Janssen, the Dose 2 block is hidden, as it should be.

It's about the EU Vaccination Certificate. They only issue 1 certificate after the 2nd dose, around 3 months after the first one, and you receive only 1 page with the number of doses received and with the date you received your final dose. 2/2 (two of two)

So what happens if I only fill out the "First Vaccination..." section and leave the "Second Vaccination" section blank? Does the application go through anyway? 

[WhatAboutBob]

1 hour ago, Sandro777 said:

You win Thailand! Cancelled my entire trip as I still have not received a response from my Nov 1 Thailand Pass application and fly in less than 10 days. Stress free and can get back to my day job of fixing other people's badly designed processes and systems without having to pay a bunch of money to interact with this one! ????

 

I am in the same boat. I am cancelling as we speak as I was supposed to fly from Canada on 11th early morning and have had NO response on Test and Go (many applications starting from Nov 2nd with a couple email addresses and covering all the recommendations on this forum for cropping vaccine QR codes etc). I have emailed the support and Thai pass sites and called the number (66 2 572 8842... this is a joke, as nobody answers and I have tried the press 1 and 1 trick.. tried multiple times!). I would have had to take my pre-flight PCR test today at noon at a cost of $150 which would have been another waste of money. Have to cancel my flight by today to get no penalty refund. The hotel (Novotel Bangkok) said they won't refund me on my pre-paid Test and Go One day stay for $5000 THB... rip off!!!!! Now I have to try to cancel Insurance also which I pre-paid $800 for a 10 month stay!!!!!!I have outlaid so much money for this 10 month stay as I paid for received an O-A visa and had to play for Police check and other things!! I have outlawed thousands of dollars preparing for this long stay trip and now get NO RESPONSE to multiple Test and Go Thai Pass applications and no response from Thai Embassy or Thai Consulate in Canada.... Biggest gong show and rip off ever... the only bigger rip off would be getting approved and travelling then testing positive and being forced to a hospital and forced x-rays and medications/IV's that insurance will not cover because I am not actually sick....... no other country in the world would force you into a hospital when you hare not actually sick and have no symptoms (and are double vaccinated)!!  Never had so much stress in my life for what is supposed to be a long term vacation!!!! 

[PabloSanDiego]

1 hour ago, gearbox said:

ACS covering asymptomatic hospitalization...that's news for me. They are known not to cover it. Did you get this asymptomatic coverage anywhere in writing?

 

https://www.aainsure.net/COVID-100000-usd-insurance.html

 

 

that's really interesting, thank you for this info.  When I have to buy another policy next month I think I'm going to opt for AXA or LUMA which were also offered to me unless I get other concrete confirmation that ACS offers it. Most of the guys I know going over opted for AXA.

[PabloSanDiego]

59 minutes ago, Sanookmike said:

You read wrong.. it has to cover the whole period of your stay or visa length. Visa exemption is not a visa.. it's just a stamp that states you are exempt. 

 

Also day 1 of your policy starts when you clear immigration and ends when you leave, you are covered on that last day. 

 

If you buy a 10 day policy and you land in Thailand on the 1st it will end on the 10th (10 days like you paid for) if it was invalid on the 10th e.i ended 12am on the 9th that would only be 9 days coverage. 

I think you are correct, and by "read" I mean I read some posts by fellow travelers which obviously can be a bad source of information. I decided to take the safe route and just get the 30 days as the price difference was small and I didn't want to get a rejection from TP for this as I was already up against the deadline.  

 

But the asymptomatic coverage part I think is still valid. If you buy a policy that expires the day you plan to depart, and then say 2 days before you test positive, I think the insurance expires and you wouldn't be covered for the entire period of the forced quarantine?  That is also of course assuming the policy covers asymptomatic hospitalization/quarantine.

[Chief500]

Can anybody help please, as I've received conflicting information? Will my daughter (13) be eligible for the Thailand Pass? She has recently recovered from Covid and I have a certificate from the GP to confirm this and she will be vaccinated a month before arrival in Thailand. I asked the consulate and the same question and they said 1 jab is not fully vaccinated.

The consulate website states -

Travellers who have recovered from being infected by COVID-19 are eligible if they have received 1 dose of vaccine within 3 months after being infected (no less than 14 days before departure) by providing a medical certificate or letter confirming their recovery from the infection.

https://london.thaiembassy.org/en/publicservice/requirements-for-foreigners-travelling-to-thailand-during-covid-19-tra

Anybody managed to get a pass with the above?

I half did the pass application and it allows you to choose to upload 2 vaccinations or chose recovered from infection certificate and 1 vaccination cert upoad

 

Thanks

Edited November 9, 2021 by Chief500
update