Nightmare scenarios continue in wake of Thailand Pass launch

[garzhe]

When with they learn that Thai government agencies are incapable of producing websites and outsource to a reliable company.

[khunPer]

From the article...

Mr Tanee also acknowledged “some issues” with the system, which he said was mostly due to “external interferences”.

 

Many thanks, I learned something new... Next time I make a script error in a web-page code, I can just say that faults are due to external interfaces...????????

[McTavish]

3 minutes ago, khunPer said:

From the article...

Mr Tanee also acknowledged “some issues” with the system, which he said was mostly due to “external interferences”.

Must've been those dirty farangs mis-typing errors.   

 

[Road Warrior]

totally HOPELES - this will help to reduce tourist indeed  1/10 who thought of this idea !!

[LoudHailer]

All documents required for Thailand Pass are either in my passport, including a visa, printed and in a file ready to present to authorities upon checking in at the departure and arrival airports. This online digital Thailand Pass nightmare, forced upon Thais and farang expats long resident in Thailand ANXIOUS TO RETURN HOME TO THAILAND from abroad, is stressful in the extreme. It’s taking a toll on my mental health. Seriously. 

 

Airfares, hotel, Covid tests at departure and arrival are all paid for in full. It is five days since receiving acknowledgement of receipt of the Registration Application. The clock is ticking for the aircraft departure. Is worse to come? I can’t imagine what more horrors await when I actually have to install the Thailand Pass application on my phone. It’s yet another tool of oppression upon Thais and the prosperous farang residents the Thai government claims it wants to attract. 

[Neeranam]

16 hours ago, NanaSomchai said:

The Thai Elite Visa program has always been considered as an obvious scam, paying XXX hundreds of thousands of bahts just to get a gold colored (useless) flashy card. I'm sorry for those who got suckered in but that's all the Thai Elite Visa

Not all expat are English teachers or retirees. 1 million baht is small change to some. 

I was an English teacher and chose to pay 5,000 baht for citizenship, indtead of an elite waste of money. 

[brucegoniners]

It probably only works on internet explorer using Windows 95, lol

[huyuli]

This seems to work. Apologies in advance if it doesn't.

 

 

[Grusa]

2 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Thailands registration sites/apps seem to always backfire.

Why doesn't Thailands aviation administration just instruct all incoming airlines to check for a double vaccine, and a PCR test and insurance at the departing countries check-in desk.

Nothing else is needed.

 

 

Have you ever dealt with Thailands' aviation authority? I do, regularly. They are as bad, or worse. 

 

Not for nothing is it called the Counter Aviation Authority of Thailand. (It used to be the Death to Civil Aviation)

[arithai12]

15 hours ago, hioctane said:

If you want to do anything the first day, expect some growing pains while the bugs get wrinkled out. It is the nature of all launches. 

I submitted it yesterday. I agree with you that the start of any such program is always filled with unknowns. Personally, it took me 50 minutes, much longer than I expected, but can live with it. The overall impression is that the interface itself is quite good, but that the programmers were following specifications given by some top boss without much clue. I hope a few things can be improved:

 

-for many documents, they don't accept PDF, only JPG. Say insurance letter or hotel booking. My booking is a 4-page PDF, I had to split it into images and make mosaic. Nowadays PDF is a well recognized standard, it MUST be accepted.

 

-they want your passport first page, but there is no provision to provide say a visa/extension for those of use who live in Thailand, and re-entry. These would speed things up, one hopes. They accept a single image only, so again I had to make a composite of the above.

 

-they want your address back in home country, but don't care where you are going to stay in Thailand. I think this is simply translated from the previous sandboxes, where they expected you to stay put for 7/14 days. For us returnees, it would make much more sense to provide an address in Thailand rather than in home country - where many of us do not have roots anyway.

 

-iniitially they had announced that it needed to be submitted 3 days before departure. I think because Nov 1 was approaching. Now the message is "you will be informed within 7 working days", which means we have to submit at least 2 weeks in advance. In my case, I fly back on Nov 18, I will be notified perhaps Nov 16... what if it's a no with all the bookings and payments already made.

 

-my main concern is the insurance. I am fully insured with a top company since 2000, fully compliant with the requirements. The insurance letter is written correctly, but in a way that a moron might misinterpret it.

 

Nothing left but to wait now.

 

btw, the whole ThailandPass process is too long (about ten steps), in English only,  and sufficiently complicated to put many people off.

[arithai12]

13 minutes ago, brucegoniners said:

It probably only works on internet explorer using Windows 95, lol

Windows 10, Firefox older version, no problems.

[Bvor]

3 hours ago, shuffler said:

I found the two main issues when applying for the Thai Pass.

One, convert your doc, s to jpeg. Do not send pdf. 

Two, Do not use Hotmail. Use g mail. 

Once I did that. Got the pass in two hours. 

Hope this helps.. 

on test run my google browser mode had issue, so tried internet explorer mode - no such issue - but next day when i had all my info, internet explorer mode raised some other issue. i then tried microsoft edge successfully. now i'm concerned that because the SHA Plus logo didn't appear on my print out of sunshine hip hotel booking confirmation i won't be granted TP QR Code. will find out "within 7 days".  

[FunkyDunky58]

15 hours ago, hioctane said:

If you want to do anything the first day, expect some growing pains while the bugs get wrinkled out. It is the nature of all launches. 

Can you name one Thai government online system that ever worked on launch?

 

 

[Anant72]

16 hours ago, hioctane said:

If you want to do anything the first day, expect some growing pains while the bugs get wrinkled out. It is the nature of all launches. 

 

3 hours ago, mikecha said:

Embassy no help eiither  they say it is a seperate  office and embassies have no say in this 

so if u get a visa you must apply seperatley for Thai pass 

 

more delays 

In Thailand, everyday is launch day and growing pains are permanent.

[toolpush]

17 hours ago, NanaSomchai said:

There you have it.

 

The Thai Elite Visa program has always been considered as an obvious scam, paying XXX hundreds of thousands of bahts just to get a gold colored (useless) flashy card. I'm sorry for those who got suckered in but that's all the Thai Elite Visa scheme was about and that's all it'll ever be.

 

Think of it for a second, if the roles were switched and the tables were turned around, do you really think the Thais (stingy as they are) would fall for a, say "British Elite Visa" scheme? or a "French Elite Visa" program? or a "Belgian Elite Visa" path?

 

There goes the saying: "In Rome, do as the Romans", In Thailand, do as the Thais. The only way to survive in this Kingdom is to be as stingy as they can be.

 

The Thais would never fall for that, why would YOU?

 

I beg to differ. For anyone under 50yo, the so-called Elite Visa offers a way to stay long term in Thailand. Yes, it is expensive, it is no more than a glorified Tourist Visa with no extra usable benefits and you get basically no assistance from the Elite company, it still has it's place.

[toolpush]

14 hours ago, NanaSomchai said:

That's right. It is regrettable, unfortunate, uncalled for, whatever you want to call it but:

 

My point stays and remains unchanged; this is the mindset of 99.99% of the Thais.

 

This is akin to walking into Tukcom Pattaya buying a cheap phone or cheap accessories and expect any kind of warranty whatsoever.

 

As soon as you've parted with your money, the very minute you walk away from the booth, you now are of ZERO interest whatsoever to the Thais in general.

 

Now bringing this analogy into the Elite Visa scheme, it is exactly the same mindset kicking in; you've already paid them everything you owed them, you parted with your money willingfully, money exchanged hands and in return you got your (useless) gold flashy Elite Visa card.

 

As you now are worthless to them, you can sod off into the sunset.

 

Thai mindset 101; Money first, talk later (maybe).

I agree with you in part; the fancy Gold card is absolutely useless. Worse than useless actually, because you are told it will assist in things like opening a bank account, etc. Nope, not one bit.

The Visa itself enables anyone under 50 yo a way to stay in Thailand long term. Nothing more.

 

[Darksidedude]

typical no surprises here ha ha

[TechnikaIII]

They need foreign expertise.

You know ... us "dirty people."

[10baht]

The problem, answer and solution all wraped up in one number (45.36%) and one link:

https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations

 

[cape]

5 hours ago, shuffler said:

I found the two main issues when applying for the Thai Pass.

One, convert your doc, s to jpeg. Do not send pdf. 

Two, Do not use Hotmail. Use g mail. 

Once I did that. Got the pass in two hours. 

Hope this helps.. 

You got the Thailand Pass two hours after submitting your application? Two hours later?

???? Sure?

[Charlie Halliday]

6 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

in Thailand nothing can be done online except shopping. For all the rest you need lots of copies and papers to do anything, extension visa, driverslicense, 90days reports and other immigration issues, workpermits, not only for foreigners but for Thais too... Thailamd still far away from the digital era

Thailand technology is as good as anywhere. Anyone paying tax here will tell you that. They know to the last satang what you owe them. The reason the 90day reporting app does not work is because they don't want it to work. The reason for all the paper work rather than online visa renewals is because they can make up errors which cost us money. They want to make the visa application so arduous that we end up paying them under table money to make it happen. It's all about corruption. These immigration centres rake in millions by taking bribes to speed up the process. If it was all online none of these crooks would have jobs. Welcome to Thailand folks. 

[cape]

5 hours ago, shuffler said:

I found the two main issues when applying for the Thai Pass.

One, convert your doc, s to jpeg. Do not send pdf. 

Two, Do not use Hotmail. Use g mail. 

Once I did that. Got the pass in two hours. 

Hope this helps.. 

You got the Thailand Pass two hours after submitting your application? Two hours later?

???? Sure?

[Skallywag]

1 hour ago, LoudHailer said:

All documents required for Thailand Pass are either in my passport, including a visa, printed and in a file ready to present to authorities upon checking in at the departure and arrival airports. This online digital Thailand Pass nightmare, forced upon Thais and farang expats long resident in Thailand ANXIOUS TO RETURN HOME TO THAILAND from abroad, is stressful in the extreme. It’s taking a toll on my mental health. Seriously. 

 

Airfares, hotel, Covid tests at departure and arrival are all paid for in full. It is five days since receiving acknowledgement of receipt of the Registration Application. The clock is ticking for the aircraft departure. Is worse to come? I can’t imagine what more horrors await when I actually have to install the Thailand Pass application on my phone. It’s yet another tool of oppression upon Thais and the prosperous farang residents the Thai government claims it wants to attract. 

Yet somehow >28,000 people went through these hoops and entered via Phuket sandbox.

Paperwork and testing and phone apps are part of the New Normal, either adapt or be left behind.

 

Also many who were "anxious to return home"  already did through the ASQ 14 day quarantine which started many months ago.  

 

If paperwork and online forms stress you. hire someone to do it for you.  

Good luck

Peace

Edited November 6, 2021 by Skallywag

[cape]

The local embassies approve visas, but the Thailand Pass is approved centrally (Bangkok, Min of Foreign Affairs maybe).

There are issues with the software. Plus, has the process been stress tested? Is Bangkok properly staffed and trained to deal with the volume of applications?

So, a couple of worries.

What is problematic is that the applicant will have had to pay out a lot of money in advance. You need to have bought a return flight, a quarantine hotel, insurance and possibly a PCR in your home country before you get approval.

And what if you don't? What if your application is rejected? You cannot recover the $1,000 you've put in.

So big risk here. You are counting on Thai authorities in a new system that may not have been fully tested.

Conclusion. Unless there is urgency, probably best to allow three to six months for the system to stabilise.

[MrJ2U]

17 hours ago, hioctane said:

is the nature of all launches. 

..... Thailand app launches anyway.

 

 

[Crok]

Why are they setting up a new system of entry? Why not revert to the original system before Covid and ask for a valid- not forged- certificate of vaccination at point of entry. If no certificate give the foreigner a choice of having a jab there and then or put him on the next plane back to where he came from. After all is this new procedure to protect the Thais from foreign carriers of Covid - or is it a money making exercise to enrich legal firms offering a service to arrange a visa for the gullible?

[Joules]

WHAT is the cost of this insurance?

[Burma Bill]

18 hours ago, hioctane said:

It is the nature of all launches.

[Toby1947]

Couldn’t expect anything else from a 10th. world country stuck in the dark ages. 

[NoshowJones]

7 hours ago, sikishrory said:

Why is it so hard for Thais to make websites. 

One of the most important websites of the last 2 years.

Their economy banking on it.

They still screw it up.

 

Thailand is not a low IQ country for no reason. Here we have an unelected soldier impersonating a PM, and the people allow it, nearly everything that comes out of this guys mouth gets changed after a day or two because so much nonsense has been spouted.