Covid Tales 1: Thailand Pass - retiree says you need be a "MENSA" genius to understand requirements

[TheFishman1]

Get rid of the Thai Pass

[tonray]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

Frank - who lives near Pattaya - said that he had already "survived" a 15 night detention in an ASQ facility during the Covid first wave in 2020 but now in the UK he was having to go through similar hurdles to get back to Thailand again, a country he has lived in for 20+ years.

 

He said that the decisions he needed to juggle to get back on a "Pension Visa" would give a MENSA test (those for geniuses) a run for its money.

Clearly a MENSA genius would not have traveled back to the UK twice during a pandemic when it's so difficult to get back in.

Edited November 25, 2021 by tonray

[tonray]

11 hours ago, BananaBandit said:

Are you suggesting the MENSA entry test is fraudulent?

 

11 hours ago, CartagenaWarlock said:

Just give few thousand bahts to an agent and get it done easy peasy. 

They can get me thru the test ?

[asean]

Applied yesterday got QR code in less than hour....

[tonray]

Just now, asean said:

Applied yesterday got QR code in less than hour....

I knew we had some geniuses among us...after all who can recommend LED TVs and diagnose illnesses better than ThaiVisa members anyway !

[kiwikeith]

17 hours ago, JoePai said:

you need be a "MENSA" genius to understand requirements

 

Well that rules out 99% !

It took me three weeks of hard work to get an 86 yr old back home on a COE Ubon helped me a lot, with some ideas, I had to go with the 45 day on arrival which is now back to 30 days and then he could apply for a non o 90 day.

Covid insurance was easy part , COE was knocked back twice but got it in the end ,but had to have a booked ticket out to get in which was only $500 down the drain.

Getting the rt-pcr on time was a headache and getting the old boy his vaccination papers ect loading the app on his phone was a nightmare as he never has used a swipe phone, then instructing him labelling all the paperwork was something I would never help anyone with again.

I have to get back myself next year with family and I hope it is a bit easier then.

[poohy]

17 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Unattributed belly aching more like. Sounds like 'Frank' is either a bit of a stress monkey, clueless or the OP totally misread his "ironic and sometimes tongue-in-cheek and humorous" emails. Since there's no such beast as a 'pension visa', I would say it's leaning towards clueless.

 

My experience: ThailandPass went 'live' on 1st Nov, I applied 2nd Nov received acknowledgement email 3rd Nov. This included booking an AQ hotel. No word from first AQ hotel by 4th so booked a backup hotel and a third via agoda (all except one fully refundable). Went ahead and booked a FLEXIBLE flight for 11th Nov. Sent emails to the first two AQ hotels and went and booked my local PCR test using the CLEARLY STATED and EASILY UNDERSTOOD "no more than 72-hour BEFORE start of travel" rule. Submitted a second TP application on 7th with a follow up email regarding it and the earlier application. Received confirmation of second application receipt on 8th and a few hours later got the 'No Quarantine' QR code for the second application. The hotels all broke radio silence the same day on the 9th so after doing my PCR test, I confirmed one and canceled the other two. Went online in the evening and upgraded my ticket to get better separation from fellow pax, bought excess baggage and lounge access. Printed out 4 pieces of paper, one each for QR code, proof of insurance, PCR -ve test and the AQ hotel which were quickly approved by two subsequent check-in staff at two different airports. The total time between parking at the jetway to getting my PCR-tested butt into my comfy AQ room was less than 90-minutes.

 

The rest as they say is (easy peasy) history.

That is not exactly junping on a plane is it

Before people get there knickers twisted quoting new normal other countries are working on  workable much less convoluted systems

Ill wait for a while

[tjintx]

Frank, that were nothin'.  When I was growing up, we had to cope with daily changing requirements, non-responsive bureaucracy, a two-week quarantine within a one week only stay, why... when I was your age..., wait, except for the last bit, that has been the last few years, sorry, back to whatever you were doing.

[Headgame]

When did Mensa replace common sense?

[hotchilli]

Thailand pass, the app that just keeps confusing.

[NanLaew]

13 hours ago, redwood1 said:

So there are some people who are good at hoop jumping,so what......For loads of people the Thai Pass is anything but user friendly......I would go so far to say the TP was designed to be a mess.....And its succeeding quite well...

Stop talking about 'loads' of other people.

 

Have you ever tried a TP application for yourself?

 

I admit that some people are intimidated by doing stuff online but that's got nothing whatsoever to do with Thailand Pass or the CoE procedure that preceded it. I would wager that most nations that are welcoming foreigners are mandating some sort of online pre-approval these days.

 

Once again, here's RECENT evidence of how easy it is.

 

13 hours ago, candide said:

I think the situation now is different from what it was at the beginning of the month.

I did it this week end and it has been seamless. I registered online for the insurance and got the certificate at once. Booked the test and go room directly on the hotel website, and it was clearly indicated that PCR test and pick up was included. Go the confirmation after a few minutes.

Then converted all my files in jpg using a free software (Formatfactory), followed all instruction and got my acceptance and QR a few seconds later.

Having said that, I have the EU digital Covid certificate which the system is used to process, it may be longer with certificates from other countries.

 

Now @redwood1 are you going to try and apply for a TP or are you already here (never left) and just don't like anything much?

[sungod]

'Frank' seems like the typical moaning retiree who lives in Pattaya to me.

 

My company has brought in somewhere in the region of 20 expats since the Thailand pass, no hiccups.

[Canadian Snowbird]

I've been coming to Thailand since 2007; the 1st 7 trips as a 30 day tourist, then 6 years in a row for 5.5 to 6 months following retirement at 60 specifically to avoid Canada's brutal winter weather. I didn't make it last winter and really missed the warm weather and the golf. I would normally play golf 3 to 4 days a week when there, and although I don't drink alcohol and avoid the bar scene, I spend my fair share. I never felt the need to comment on this forum before even though I've been monitoring it for over 7 years now. I'm finally annoyed enough it's time to add my comments. I've wanted to return for this winter, but thought I would wait to see if they would work out the glitches and make things less complex. I was planning to leave mid December and stay until late April. Estimates for the insurance from Cdn insurance co's ranged from 25,000 to over 75,000 thai baht. So I decided to try one of the thai insurance companies promoting themselves on this website. I received a response that they would not insure any new customers over the age of 65. Wow ... not only do I feel like they really don't want us anymore, but they don't want our money either. I'm changing my plans and will continue monitoring things for the possibility of coming mid January, but if they don't reduce some of the requirements, I may do a complete change of plans and go somewhere else this winter, and possibly future winters.  

[crouchpeter]

14 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Maybe some of these people should try the actual MENSA test. Yes, it is difficult and it is supposed to be difficult.

If someone is not even smart enough to enter Thailand then maybe they shouldn't try that MENSA test. They might be disappointed when they get the result.

 

IQ of 100 is the "mean" IQ, not the average.

[Eric Loh]

14 hours ago, candide said:

 

Having said that, I have the EU digital Covid certificate which the system is used to process, it may be longer with certificates from other countries.

 

Well done getting your travel sorted out. I just like to know from you as regards to the EU digital covid certification. Reading from your post, it does seem that the Thai government recognise the vaccination status certification by the EU digital covid system. Is that right? Recognition by participating countries makes things much easier for travellers. As I know, 51 countries & territories in 5 continents are now connected to the EU certification. Singapore being the latest. 

[NanLaew]

7 minutes ago, Canadian Snowbird said:

I've been coming to Thailand since 2007; the 1st 7 trips as a 30 day tourist, then 6 years in a row for 5.5 to 6 months following retirement at 60 specifically to avoid Canada's brutal winter weather. I didn't make it last winter and really missed the warm weather and the golf. I would normally play golf 3 to 4 days a week when there, and although I don't drink alcohol and avoid the bar scene, I spend my fair share. I never felt the need to comment on this forum before even though I've been monitoring it for over 7 years now. I'm finally annoyed enough it's time to add my comments. I've wanted to return for this winter, but thought I would wait to see if they would work out the glitches and make things less complex. I was planning to leave mid December and stay until late April. Estimates for the insurance from Cdn insurance co's ranged from 25,000 to over 75,000 thai baht. So I decided to try one of the thai insurance companies promoting themselves on this website. I received a response that they would not insure any new customers over the age of 65. Wow ... not only do I feel like they really don't want us anymore, but they don't want our money either. I'm changing my plans and will continue monitoring things for the possibility of coming mid January, but if they don't reduce some of the requirements, I may do a complete change of plans and go somewhere else this winter, and possibly future winters.  

That's the first I have heard that Covid-specific US$50k insurance is only available to those younger than 65. Is that a 'bundled' package, ie. general health insurance that meets the required financials OR a standalone, add-on insurance specifically for Covid and CoE/TP applications?

 

I checked AXA and Tune Protect Covid-specific insurance offerings about 6 weeks ago and didn't see any age limits on the online application or in the quote they sent.

 

Here's a screen-grab from Tune Protect's current offering. Note the age cap is 75.

 

[Canadian Snowbird]

4 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

That's the first I have heard that Covid-specific US$50k insurance is only available to those younger than 65. Is that a 'bundled' package, ie. general health insurance that meets the required financials OR a standalone, add-on insurance specifically for Covid and CoE/TP applications?

 

I checked AXA and Tune Protect Covid-specific insurance offerings about 6 weeks ago and didn't see any age limits on the online application or in the quote they sent.

 

Here's a screen-grab from Tune Protect's current offering. Note the age cap is 75.

 

It was a thai company called "aetna" and promoted themselves here as providing insurance to satisfy the thailand pass requirements, meaning a bundled packaged.

[Road Warrior]

as norm. bags of confusing paperwork !!!!   keep chopping down the trees  

[condobrit001]

I applied for and received Thailand Passes for myself and wife in less than 24 hours. Yes, you need to make sure that you follow the rules which are clearly set out in the current iteration of the application - especially regarding file formats and sizes. I'm not MENSA material and am in my 70's, so come on you young guys - didn't you pay too much attention at school? Now, where are my Werthers?

[erkho]

I had no problems whatsoever getting a Thai pass, took ONE DAY…..after that everything just needed to be in order. I was off the plane Nov.4th and at my hotel with NO holdup except briefly having to find my hotel driver which took 5 minutes. Mountains out of molehills fellas. It’s not tough and should slow no one down who wants to come. 
I don’t want to be toasted on here but those are the facts. It was simple amd they were extremely well organized on arrival.

Hope this helps those being scared away. 

[shaff]

WHAT ABOUT THE 400,000 BURMESE WORKERS SET TO COME IN?? ARE THEY DOING THE THAILAND PASS AND PCR ETC?? MMMMMMM DIDNT THINK SO

[Will B Good]

3 minutes ago, shaff said:

WHAT ABOUT THE 400,000 BURMESE WORKERS SET TO COME IN?? ARE THEY DOING THE THAILAND PASS AND PCR ETC?? MMMMMMM DIDNT THINK SO

Cracking start......can't write in capitals.....bye.....555

[ColinChapman]

21 hours ago, internationalism said:

siamosauruses

555 Brilliant! That's my word of the year

[alphonse]

1 hour ago, erkho said:

I had no problems whatsoever getting a Thai pass, took ONE DAY…..after that everything just needed to be in order. I was off the plane Nov.4th and at my hotel with NO holdup except briefly having to find my hotel driver which took 5 minutes. Mountains out of molehills fellas. It’s not tough and should slow no one down who wants to come. 
I don’t want to be toasted on here but those are the facts. It was simple amd they were extremely well organized on arrival.

Hope this helps those being scared away. 

Good to hear that you had no problems. Like the Canadian chap, I am holding back until later in December when snagging should be complete at least. Perhaps the whole <deleted> show will have even been dropped as I cannot see many casual  tourists bothering to come to grips with the requirements.

 

I don't think that it's 'mountains out of molehills' though.

 

Anything that requires digital application, timing, ongoing expense and officialdom is bound to incur a degree of stress.

 

Things should fall into place, but we all get slightly anxious, should they not.

 

Thai officialdom is renowned for its clumsy, fussy and unclear online application processes. They seem oblivious to this though, so pile on the pettiness.

 

I've still to discover if you still need your passport number on the vaccination certificate, and if so how I can overcome this, as it is not included on  the official (very) UK document. 

 

One further example of the 'fussy' mentioned above. There is sufficient personal information on the document as to not make such cross-referencing necessary.

 

 

Edited November 25, 2021 by alphonse

[soi3eddie]

33 minutes ago, shaff said:

WHAT ABOUT THE 400,000 BURMESE WORKERS SET TO COME IN?? ARE THEY DOING THE THAILAND PASS AND PCR ETC?? MMMMMMM DIDNT THINK SO

Of course they do. They use the special Thailand Pass hidden in the hills around Kanchanuburi...

[berrec]

I think you all have missed the key issue here!

 

It's not just TP, it's how Thailand government runs the country.

 

It's based on confusion (announce and unannounced), ever-changing regulations (knee-jerk policies), excessive mountains of paperwork  (job tenure for life) and "not my problem" (you make mistake, you fix) attitude.

 

Why? Government; we know better than you!. 

[NanLaew]

3 hours ago, poohy said:

That is not exactly junping on a plane is it

Before people get there knickers twisted quoting new normal other countries are working on  workable much less convoluted systems

Ill wait for a while

As you seem to have issues accepting the REALITY of the new normal, nobody's jumping on a plane anywhere as easily as they used to.

 

If you can share the specifics of the "other countries are working on workable much less convoluted system" I would suggest you're the one with your knickers in a twist. Meanwhile, other people are traveling to Thailand and having fun too.

 

PS: Cambodia (still) doesn't count.

[NanLaew]

2 minutes ago, berrec said:

I think you all have missed the key issue here!

 

It's not just TP, it's how Thailand government runs the country.

 

It's based on confusion (announce and unannounced), ever-changing regulations (knee-jerk policies), excessive mountains of paperwork  (job tenure for life) and "not my problem" (you make mistake, you fix) attitude.

 

Why? Government; we know better than you!. 

And as a non-Thai, coming for a vacation, why should the way the country is being run concern them as much as it obviously consumes you?

 

Key issue?

[NanLaew]

52 minutes ago, shaff said:

WHAT ABOUT THE 400,000 BURMESE WORKERS SET TO COME IN?? ARE THEY DOING THE THAILAND PASS AND PCR ETC?? MMMMMMM DIDNT THINK SO

Gone in 3..., 2....,

[Will B Good]

3 minutes ago, berrec said:

I think you all have missed the key issue here!

 

It's not just TP, it's how Thailand government runs the country.

 

It's based on confusion (announce and unannounced), ever-changing regulations (knee-jerk policies), excessive mountains of paperwork  (job tenure for life) and "not my problem" (you make mistake, you fix) attitude.

 

Why? Government; we know better than you!. 

So this is where Johnson is getting his ideas from?