When to get tested for re entry to Thailand

[notrub]

Excuse me for being stupid but help me out please.  I am in France now, on the 2nd Dec..  My flight to BKK is on the 5th at 10h50.  (Sunday).  I arrive at   Bangkok Suvarnabhumi  on the 5th at 07h15 following a 15 or 18 hr flight.  I have to have a RT-PCR test taken with the results 72 hours (3 days) before entry at BKK (or getting onto the flight?).  So, can I get a test and on Friday the 3rd with results dated Sat the 4th?  And are result sent to me on my phone acceptable or must I have a printed document?  (I have a 4 or 5 hr drive from here, where the lab is, to where my hotel is where the morning flight takes off from) I have a TP and a Thai retirement visa with a re-entry stamp and, of course, all the vaccines (done in Thailand) documented.  My Thai hotel c/w tests has been reserved and will be going there on arrival.

 

I live in Thailand so I am just going home after a quick administrative trip here to France.  But, if the powers that be think I would doing what I have done (for the TP) and what I have to do to get back in as a tourist, they must have a screw loose.  

 

Thanks very much for any comments.

[JustAnotherHun]

72 hours before boarding

[Upnotover]

From the Thailand Pass website;

 

Obtain a negative COVID-19 test result (RT-PCR), issued within 72 hours before travelling

 

i.e., before departure.

 

[NanLaew]

58 minutes ago, notrub said:

My flight to BKK is on the 5th at 10h50.  (Sunday).  I arrive at  Bangkok Suvarnabhumi  on the 5th at 07h15 following a 15 or 18 hr flight. 

Looks like you are on Finnair? If you are departing CDG at 10:50 on Sunday 5th, you will be arriving in BKK at 07:15 on Monday 6th.

 

It's a 14:50 hour flight including a 2 hour stopover/plane change in Helsinki.

 

Your Friday test with results on Saturday should be OK but if possible, I would recommend getting the test as late on Friday that still permits next-day results. Note that the important date as far as PCR tests are concerned is the test date and not the result date. 72 hours is 3 days so if you get tested on Friday afternoon, the certificate will expire on Monday afternoon. You should already have arrived, been PCR tested and in AQ by then.

 

My recent experience on Finnair from UK via HEL to BKK, having a printed copy of everything they need to check is definitely fastest but they will accept if it is only available on your smartphone. To speed things up, make sure you can access that certificate quickly on your phone.

 

NB: Download and save any test certificates or AQ-related docs to your phone. My experience is some people don't bother and suddenly find themselves in a strange airport with 'no internet' and no access to anything on their smartphones that was emailed BUT NOT SAVED. The internet at HEL is fast and free but it didn't help a whole lot of people who forgot to save their documents when I flew about 3 weeks ago. Accordingly, the flight left over an hour late. I just checked AY141 on flightaware and it's still departing later and arriving later than scheduled so the boarding gate check must still be a shambles.

 

bon voyage

Edited December 2, 2021 by NanLaew

[notrub]

Yes, it is the 6th.  It is my Lufthansa flight schedule that missed out the 'next day' comment.  

 

So, Friday afternoon and collect printed results when the lab opens Saturday morning.  Got it.  Thank you very much.

 

I am flying out of Lyon, which is a giant modern international airport, so there should be no problems there.

 

Thanks again.  I am dreaming of my morning exercise dip back home in Isaan.  I am a Canadian (born) and used to walk to school in -10c no problems and at home (b4) in Chamonix France -10c was a 'mild' day, zero was 'balmy'.  When I got here it was -3c and I thought I would die of hypothermia getting out of the car.   

 

Wish me luck getting home again 

 

 

 

 

[LoeiI]

7 hours ago, notrub said:

Thanks again.  I am dreaming of my morning exercise dip back home in Isaan.  I am a Canadian (born) and used to walk to school in -10c no problems and at home (b4) in Chamonix France -10c was a 'mild' day, zero was 'balmy'.  When I got here it was -3c and I thought I would die of hypothermia getting out of the car. 

Good luck on your return journey ????, went out to eat Mu Kratha tonight in Loei had to put a fleece on car t/c said 17 but felt more like - 17 (Must be getting old) off to UK in Jan probably have to get the thermals out ????, what size pool do you dip in ? and was it expensive to build / maintain     

[jimn]

Others have answered your question. 2 other points (1) Print it out 100% (2) Make sure the lab report is in English

[sandyf]

17 hours ago, NanLaew said:

My experience is some people don't bother and suddenly find themselves in a strange airport with 'no internet' and no access to anything on their smartphones that was emailed BUT NOT SAVED.

That is not true, emails and attachments are automatically saved on your phone, but you have to know how to look for attachments.

If the test certificate was a download, as opposed to an attachment, then you would have downloaded it to read it.

I would agree that it is best to put all relevant docs in a separate folder to speed up access.

[scorecard]

20 hours ago, JustAnotherHun said:

72 hours before boarding

As said above, the regulation is no more than 72 hrs before boarding the aircraft, but for some airlines it's no more than 72 hrs before the scheduled departure time of the aircraft.

 

Its' NOT 72 hrs before arrival at the destination. 

[scorecard]

Another way is to print the certificate then take a smartphone photo of the printed document then make sure the photo has gone into your smartphone album or gallery.

 

Most/all smartphone have an automatic app (Icon) labelled 'gallery' or similar. Click on that icon your photo of your vaccine cert. document should be right there.

[NanLaew]

12 hours ago, sandyf said:

On 12/2/2021 at 3:36 PM, NanLaew said:

My experience is some people don't bother and suddenly find themselves in a strange airport with 'no internet' and no access to anything on their smartphones that was emailed BUT NOT SAVED.

That is not true, emails and attachments are automatically saved on your phone, but you have to know how to look for attachments.

If the test certificate was a download, as opposed to an attachment, then you would have downloaded it to read it.

I would agree that it is best to put all relevant docs in a separate folder to speed up access.

Only if they know where the phone automatically saves it to. Most would appear to keep opening the email to view/show it... until there's no internet and then it's serious multiple headless chook time and at least a one hour departure delay.

 

An acquaintance (who reckons he's smarter than his smartphone) nearly got sent back to Hamsterjam from Kristiansand airport as there was no wif-fi on arrival and he only knew how to open and view stuff in gmail. Luckily, another passenger hot-spotted him so he could show his test certs from the UK to the immigration cop.

 

There's seriously some folk out there who must have other folks tie their shoelaces for them.

[NanLaew]

10 hours ago, scorecard said:

Another way is to print the certificate then take a smartphone photo of the printed document then make sure the photo has gone into your smartphone album or gallery.

 

Most/all smartphone have an automatic app (Icon) labelled 'gallery' or similar. Click on that icon your photo of your vaccine cert. document should be right there.

Screen capture is also dead easy.

 

For some people I mean.

[superal]

14 hours ago, scorecard said:

As said above, the regulation is no more than 72 hrs before boarding the aircraft, but for some airlines it's no more than 72 hrs before the scheduled departure time of the aircraft.

 

Its' NOT 72 hrs before arrival at the destination. 

I was told it is 72 hours before check in as that nullifies any possible departure delay of the aircraft .

[scorecard]

3 hours ago, superal said:

I was told it is 72 hours before check in as that nullifies any possible departure delay of the aircraft .

Which is quite logical. 

[scorecard]

7 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Screen capture is also dead easy.

 

For some people I mean.

True, very easy, serves the purpose here.

Doing it through a smartphone photo also gives the opportunity to store the photo in the phone gallery and call it back later onto the phone screen if asked to do it that way by check-in/transit/arrival officers. 

[sandyf]

10 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Most would appear to keep opening the email to view/show it... until there's no internet and then it's serious multiple headless chook time and at least a one hour departure delay.

I will say it again, you do not need internet to open an email that has already been opened.

Do not continue to mislead people.

Education is the way forward, not clinging on to the archaic paper trail. Next post you will be complaining about how many trees the Thais use.