Thai Pass / Test and go successsful- what next in light of Omicron?

[LP80]

I'm booked to land in BKK 28th Jan, Thai Pass etc all pretty straightforward, and so I figured am ready to go. But I just saw that quarantine regs might change back to the 14 day model. Would this render my current Thai Pass / eligibility to travel etc void? 

 

 

[ubonjoe]

Nothing is official yet about the test & go entry. There was talk of doing away with it and require the 7 day sandbox instead.

Now it has been mentioned that the may change the list of countries that qualify for the test & go.

The may still honor a Thailand Pass for it that was issued prior to certain date.

[Ohyesuare]

Seems like they are honoring already approved ones but no longer accepting new ones. https://www.matichon.co.th/politics/news_3097424

[HashBrownHarry]

33 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Nothing is official yet about the test & go entry. There was talk of doing away with it and require the 7 day sandbox instead.

Now it has been mentioned that the may change the list of countries that qualify for the test & go.

The may still honor a Thailand Pass for it that was issued prior to certain date.

There sandbox offers less prevention than the test and go IMO.

Edited December 21, 2021 by HashBrownHarry

[geisha]

Seems like it’s all changed in the last few minutes??

[Sheryl]

9 minutes ago, Ohyesuare said:

Seems like they are honoring already approved ones but no longer accepting new ones. https://www.matichon.co.th/politics/news_3097424

Elsewhere it seemed to say that existing passes will have to quarantine 7 days.....

[JTXR]

Without pointing fingers at anyone -- this really is all novel and evolving -- it seems likely Thailand's tourism industry won't be restarting up again in any real sense until Covid settles down to being truly endemic.  2024 is not an unreasonable guess.

[Ohyesuare]

6 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Elsewhere it seemed to say that existing passes will have to quarantine 7 days.....

Yes this is correct. And only ones approved until January 10th.

[ubonjoe]

55 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Elsewhere it seemed to say that existing passes will have to quarantine 7 days.....

It is in the news forum now. 

 

[KannikaP]

There is another thread on here which says the Test & Go scheme has been scrapped.

[ubonjoe]

29 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

There is another thread on here which says the Test & Go scheme has been scrapped.

There is nothing affirmative yet. More info will be available later.

No new Thailand Passes are being issued for them now but the ones that already have been approved one can still be used.

[essex boys]

I recently, within the last two hours submitted my Thailand pass documents through a visa agency, they are ok but are now asking for the hotel booking confirmation, I paid the hotel earlier this morning and I have a payment slip but no booking confirmation, my guess Is  that they will hold off issuing my confirmation untill it’s too late for me to get a Thailand pass approval, that then means I will be pushed onto the AQ scheme at their hotel and of course they will get more money from me…

[jojothai]

9 minutes ago, essex boys said:

I recently, within the last two hours submitted my Thailand pass documents through a visa agency, they are ok but are now asking for the hotel booking confirmation, I paid the hotel earlier this morning and I have a payment slip but no booking confirmation, my guess Is  that they will hold off issuing my confirmation untill it’s too late for me to get a Thailand pass approval, that then means I will be pushed onto the AQ scheme at their hotel and of course they will get more money from me…

call them up and get it urgently You only have a short time

[jojothai]

51 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

There is nothing affirmative yet. More info will be available later.

No new Thailand Passes are being issued for them now but the ones that already have been approved one can still be used.

Can you check again please Joe,
all the articles i have read state that no more applications after 21 st,
and existing applications will be ok.

[jackdd]

16 minutes ago, essex boys said:

I recently, within the last two hours submitted my Thailand pass documents through a visa agency, they are ok but are now asking for the hotel booking confirmation, I paid the hotel earlier this morning and I have a payment slip but no booking confirmation, my guess Is  that they will hold off issuing my confirmation untill it’s too late for me to get a Thailand pass approval, that then means I will be pushed onto the AQ scheme at their hotel and of course they will get more money from me…

According to the new they stopped issuing new Thailand passes already.

[ubonjoe]

5 minutes ago, jojothai said:

Can you check again please Joe,
all the articles i have read state that no more applications after 21 st,
and existing applications will be ok.

What I have seen is that wil be put on hold.

The most recent is the one. 

 

[essex boys]

Hi gents just to update this, I finally got my hotel booking confirmation but I had to call them twice to gee  them up, I had already emailed them a few times to ask where my confirmation was but they never replied to them, on the last call I made I told them I was up against the clock and needed it promptly, after that call I got the email with my confirmation of booking my test and go. I used an agency called thai visa I believe they advertise on here, anyway I submitted all the necessary documents they required to do my Thailand pass application and got an email telling me everything was submitted, this was probably about 8pm Thai time so I’m not expecting an answer from them until the morning, which means I might get a reply from them early hours of the morning here, I’m hoping I submitted everything on time and that I will get issued my Thailand pass for one day test and go, I will update here when I get any more news, whether it’s successful or not I will let you know.

Edited December 21, 2021 by essex boys
Predictive text

[essex boys]

Hi gents, as promised I’m updating my post, it’s just gone midnight here in France and I’ve had my Thailand pass application approved….it was a last minute dash literally with only hours to go, but thanks to the company “Thai visa” I got the result I wanted, I did get a line message from them saying they were not processing Thailand pass applications because the deadline had passed, I just hope everyone who had their applications in got approved ???????? It was well worth the 2,700 baht to get “Thai visa” to process it for me.

[ubonjoe]

I found this on a embassy website.

[net1510]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

I found this on a embassy website.

I applied for Thaipass last week (paper Vax card, no QR code). I just got an approval a few mins ago. Has this on at the bottom:

[ubonjoe]

2 minutes ago, net1510 said:

I applied for Thaipass last week (paper Vax card, no QR code). I just got an approval a few mins ago. Has this on at the bottom:

Those that have already applied and get approval can still enter the country for the test and go. But I suggest you watch for news here to find out if there have been any new restrictions put in place.

[net1510]

8 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Those that have already applied and get approval can still enter the country for the test and go. But I suggest you watch for news here to find out if there have been any new restrictions put in place.

I will not relax until I am in country and past all restrictions.  The part below has already changed (but not a big deal):

[bobinisaan]

Just received approval for Test and Go. Applied Sunday Dec 19.

[HashBrownHarry]

13 hours ago, bobinisaan said:

Just received approval for Test and Go. Applied Sunday Dec 19.

Arrival date?

[donx]

What’s next in light of omicron? For my family, the latest hurdle was getting a PCR test on Christmas Eve. Originally I booked what I thought were set appointments for my family which turned out not to be. I was later told when I tried to confirm them that they were first-come first-served. So a day or so ago I found another clinic with  available appointments. I prepaid so I assumed all was good. I woke up this morning to find an email stating that the clinic is closed and the appointments need to be rescheduled after Christmas. My family leaves for Thailand on December 26. So I rushed to the first clinic at 9:30 AM and I see the long line that is at least a 4 hour wait but probably much longer. The manager said they were closing at 4:00 PM. I didn’t trust that we would get tested before they closed. While waiting, my wife found a clinic with appointments available at 1:30 PM with results delivered within an hour. We scheduled and prepaid for the tests. Then I received a call asking if we could arrive a little earlier, so we arrived, were swabbed, and received a negative result for my son in about an hour. My wife’s negative result came about 30 minutes later. And my daughter’s negative result came about 45 minutes after that. It cost $199 for each test.

 

The clinic that emailed me about being closed told me that they weren’t supposed to be open today but their website allowed us to book appointments anyway. They are refunding the $175 per test fee that I paid for. But the stress and frustration they caused us is worth much more than that.

 

The combination of the omicron strain and the Holidays made this one stressful Christmas Eve.

[bobinisaan]

Sorry about late reply. Arrive jan16.

My mate just received his xmas eve for arrival Jan 5.

Merry xmas to all and stay safe.

[club]

I think if you have Thailand pass you have to be back in Thailand by the 10 th of Jan 2022. Things could change for everyone any day knowing this Government

[aussiexpat]

5 hours ago, club said:

I think if you have Thailand pass you have to be back in Thailand by the 10 th of Jan 2022. Things could change for everyone any day knowing this Government

This 10th of January cut-off is a myth. If you have an approved Thai Pass you are allowed to enter on whatever date it was approved

 

Note: why has no-one ever showed a formal link to this so called 10 Jan deadline, it's just rumour spreading.

 

As my own proof, I applied 2 hours before the Tuesday midnight deadline and received my Thai Pass approval for Test & Go on Thursday. Entry date is 14 January 

 

Edited December 25, 2021 by aussiexpat

[Sheryl]

It's been published in the Royal Gazette now so official - those already holding Thaland Pass can come "under the scheme they registered" with the addition of a second PCR test on day 5. AFAIK no time limit was given. But obviously the more time that passes, the more chance of new restrictions being enacted.  There is supposed to be a "reassment" on 4 January.

 

Exactly how the Day 5 PCR  will be arranged/enforced is very unclear and I'm hoping we'll start to get some firsthand reports from new arrivals.

 

What they ought to do is have arrivals provide detailed itinerary (if not hotels, at least cities) for their first week in country and based on that issue them an appointment slip for a test a a nearby government hospital, then inform the government hospitals accordingly along with instructions to report back to MoPH as to whether appointments were kept and the result. Then MoPH inform Immigration to track down any no-shows, and monitor result trends.  But what they will do, is a whole other matter,  and I am doubtful a system like this would be effectively put together in such short notice (if ever). Designing impractical, un-implementable systems full of holes and contradictions seems to be the order of the day. That or just telling people to do something that is not possible for them to do -- like get a test at a Government hospital without any centrally-issued order that it should be done. Most do nto test on demand.

 

There was actually always supposed to be a Day 5 test under T&G but ATK - however it never got operationalized, people were given kits but no instructions on where to send the results and hotels when contacted said don't bother. This was a major lapse on government's part, had they done it properly they would already have a vast amount of information on how many cases slipped through the initial screening. (While ATKs are less accurate than PCR in early stages, by Day 5 they would be pretty good).

 

I just hope this 5 day PCR requirement doesn't meet with the same fate.

[donx]

7 hours ago, donx said:

What’s next in light of omicron? For my family, the latest hurdle was getting a PCR test on Christmas Eve. Originally I booked what I thought were set appointments for my family which turned out not to be. I was later told when I tried to confirm them that they were first-come first-served. So a day or so ago I found another clinic with  available appointments. I prepaid so I assumed all was good. I woke up this morning to find an email stating that the clinic is closed and the appointments need to be rescheduled after Christmas. My family leaves for Thailand on December 26. So I rushed to the first clinic at 9:30 AM and I see the long line that is at least a 4 hour wait but probably much longer. The manager said they were closing at 4:00 PM. I didn’t trust that we would get tested before they closed. While waiting, my wife found a clinic with appointments available at 1:30 PM with results delivered within an hour. We scheduled and prepaid for the tests. Then I received a call asking if we could arrive a little earlier, so we arrived, were swabbed, and received a negative result for my son in about an hour. My wife’s negative result came about 30 minutes later. And my daughter’s negative result came about 45 minutes after that. It cost $199 for each test.

 

The clinic that emailed me about being closed told me that they weren’t supposed to be open today but their website allowed us to book appointments anyway. They are refunding the $175 per test fee that I paid for. But the stress and frustration they caused us is worth much more than that.

 

The combination of the omicron strain and the Holidays made this one stressful Christmas Eve.

I forgot to mention that although I made sure that the test results from the first two clinics specifically stated that the test was an RT-PCR test, the results I got today only state the test was a PCR test. I hope this won’t cause any issues for my family. I know all COVID PCR tests are RT-PCR tests, but that doesn’t mean all of the airlines and government officials along the way understand this.