Existing approved Thailand pass holders have to enter by Jan 10??

[webhost]

I am arriving on January 18 and have an existing approved Thailand pass with QR code, approved before the test and go programme was suspended.

 

Today the article published today in the Bangkok Post states:
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2241455

 

"As for Test & Go travellers whose applications for entry were previously approved, they must now enter Thailand by Jan 10 under revised measures for travel, he said. After the Jan 10 deadline, visitors must only enter under the Phuket Sandbox scheme or be quarantined, he said"

 

Is this January 10 date true ? as there was some commentary before that the January 10 date was incorrectly published by Thai media, rather they previously they said existing Thailand pass holders could enter if already approved. 

I'm a little concerned as naturally all my arrangements have already been made.

[ozfarang]

After the 10 January you can only enter via the Phuket Sandbox and Quarantine (Bangkok)

 

From Richard Barrow

 

[Sheryl]

The Jan 10 cut off  is a proposal.

 

Decision will be made in a meeting today.

[ozfarang]

2 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

The Jan 10 cut off  is a  proposal.

 

Decision will be made in a meeting today.

I can read, it won't be a proposal after Friday

[DrJack54]

What a bad situation for holiday makers. I guess for those returning and live here, 7 days quarantine is upsetting but doable.

[ozfarang]

Just now, DrJack54 said:

What a bad situation for holiday makers. I guess for those returning and live here, 7 days quarantine is upsetting but doable.

Yes, 7 days is ok compared to the 14 days I had to endure on arrival mid last year.

 

Any quarantine is a put-off more most real tourists

[DrJack54]

1 minute ago, ozfarang said:

Yes, 7 days is ok compared to the 14 days I had to endure on arrival mid last year.

 

Any quarantine is a put-off more most real tourists

The problem for current ones in situation such as the OP, is they do not have a choice/option to switch to Phuket sandbox. 

 

[Sheryl]

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

What a bad situation for holiday makers. I guess for those returning and live here, 7 days quarantine is upsetting but doable.

 

Yes, if one's reason for travel is compelling enough, 7 days quarantine may be acceptable.  But the overriding problem is that it was announced on 20 December that existing T&G passes would be honored and people have proceeded on that assumption. To reverse this with only 6 days warning will result in considerable financial loss and inconvenience to many people, and hurt the government's credibility with the travel sector. People will not feel assurred that even the 7 day quarantine will remain in effect or that there won't be further rules changes mid stream and retroactive to those already approved, if this reversal is made.

[Smokey and the Bandit]

5 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

What a bad situation for holiday makers. I guess for those returning and live here, 7 days quarantine is upsetting but doable.

Sure anything is doable I suppose, but it looks like the suspension of any new TP will be now until the end of this month, there should be an announcement soon. This means only the Phuket sandbox or 7 days quarantine is now an option. This won't help the tourism figures?

[orchis]

will be discussed/decided tomorrow and decided/officialised on Friday.

Edited January 4, 2022 by orchis

[DrJack54]

8 minutes ago, Smokey and the Bandit said:

. This won't help the tourism figures?

I'm currently in island and bit surprised with few folk I've met and in fact they are tourists. Not living in Thailand.  Seems a lot, I'm  actually surprised.

I'm upset for those that now do not have the test and go option.

That aside I still believe travel for tourism at this time is just crazy. 

 

[JackGats]

If only they could say "book a 7-day quarantine on top of your TP" and you're done. But that would be far too easy wouldn't it? What will most probably happen is that approved TPs will be void and there will be a new hit and miss system where you must start everything from scratch (book, rebook, re-re-book, everything paid upfront without any guarantee).

[stigar]

6 hours ago, ozfarang said:

After the 10 January you can only enter via the Phuket Sandbox and Quarantine (Bangkok)

 

From Richard Barrow

 

Im not surprised if PHUKET SANDBOX will be scrapped.Im not surprised if they go back to 15 days quaranene again like i did last year.Pls read what mr Barrow says.

[superal]

1 hour ago, Smokey and the Bandit said:

Sure anything is doable I suppose, but it looks like the suspension of any new TP will be now until the end of this month, there should be an announcement soon. This means only the Phuket sandbox or 7 days quarantine is now an option. This won't help the tourism figures?

Its probably that they now realise that the tourist trade is not happening any time soon and so there is little to lose . Basically what little tourists they have now will be all that Thailand will see for this year at least . The cancellation of the Thai Pass has not gone down well , to say the least . 

[Phil1964]

Looks like Thailand's leadership does not want any 'dirty' western foreigners visiting unless you are a millionaire, while they sit tight and wait for the return of their beloved Chinese hordes with their Yuan. 

 

 

[essex boys]

Yep a major spanner in the works for me, I live in France so have to get an antigen test 48 hours before I fly, I can’t fly directly to London from my local airport so I have to fly from Nantes to schiphol then schiphol to Heathrow, then I’ve got two nights in a hotel in Heathrow to allow time for my PCR test to be done and get the results back and also not forgetting my day 2 PCR test in the Uk to put on my passenger locator form, I fly next week on the 13th to arrive in Bangkok on the 14th, for me to arrive on or before the 10th I would need to fly from Heathrow on the 9th which would means my Thailand pass would be invalid as it’s more than the 72 hour leeway currently given, so once the official announcement is made on Friday the 7th that would give me about 24 hours to re arrange everything, flights, tests, hotel etc…it ain’t going to happen!! I’ve invested so much money and effort into this trip that I can’t cancel without some sort of financial loss, so it looks very much like I’m going to have to do quarantine for 7 days or 10 days or 14 days…who knows! yep, I know I was taking a chance booking under the Thailand pass scheme, but when I booked there was no hint that they would set a time limit on the arrival date….before the haters and anti tourist people start, I’m returning to be with my family. Just to add that I’m using a Thai airways flight that was booked over 2 years ago just as the pandemic set in and Thailand closed its borders, I have since moved to France, and Thai airways will not let me use the flight ticket unless I fly from London Heathrow ( which is where it was originally booked to fly from) or pay an extra fee to fly from Paris Charles de gaull 

 

Edited January 4, 2022 by essex boys
More information

[geisha]

14 hours ago, Sheryl said:

 

Yes, if one's reason for travel is compelling enough, 7 days quarantine may be acceptable.  But the overriding problem is that it was announced on 20 December that existing T&G passes would be honored and people have proceeded on that assumption. To reverse this with only 6 days warning will result in considerable financial loss and inconvenience to many people, and hurt the government's credibility with the travel sector. People will not feel assurred that even the 7 day quarantine will remain in effect or that there won't be further rules changes mid stream and retroactive to those already approved, if this reversal is made.

I think it’s absolutely disgusting that the government doesn’t give a damn about their tourists who have asked for Thai Pass, and had their approval, have insisted that said tourists can enter without problem, then, last minute turn around, goes back on their word. This is very bad management, lack of understanding and total ineptitude. 

[arithai12]

7 hours ago, essex boys said:

Thai airways will not let me use the flight ticket unless I fly from London Heathrow ( which is where it was originally booked to fly from) or pay an extra fee to fly from Paris Charles de gaull

Another example of very poor upper management at Thai Airways. It should be in their interest to get rid of all pending bookings. I had the same with Emirates, they would allow me to fly from any airport in the same zone, to any airport in the same zone.

[webhost]

Trying to get clarify after the latest announcement with last day of entry being January 15. I have an approved pass for January 18 for test and go. If I change my flight, insurance and test and go hotel to a date prior to January 15, is this acceptable for entry? It's still quite unclear and so much confusion out there still. 

 

[Karlo]

6 minutes ago, webhost said:

Trying to get clarify after the latest announcement with last day of entry being January 15. I have an approved pass for January 18 for test and go. If I change my flight, insurance and test and go hotel to a date prior to January 15, is this acceptable for entry? It's still quite unclear and so much confusion out there still. 

 

Same as yourself I arrive on the 18 Jan under the test and go. I have read you can amend flights within 72 hrs and asked if anyone has successfully brought their flight forward within 72 hrs. Furthermore, is the 72 hrs from arrival in Thailand or start of your flight. As my QR code shows entry as 18 January, so on this basis is it possible to bring the arrival date forward by 72 hrs making a new arrival date of 15 Jan and would entry be allowed on the 15 Jan

[webhost]

Regarding amending flights within 72 hours, I have heard that this can only be done for flights in advance, not bringing them forward, however putting that to one side, one intepretation of the latest news is that approved test and go QR code holders can now arrive prior to January 15. However in order to do so, the question remains as to whether you need to request an amended thailand pass (a manual process and possibility of slow or no response from TP). Without this you run the risk of the airline not boarding you as your arrival date printed on the test and go is after Jan 15. In addition, I would assume one must also revise your insurance document and hotel reservation - quite a process and again, whether it's possible to do all of that in time is another question.

[mjnaus]

I was just informed by the Thai embassy in The Hague that the 15th of January cut-off date for Test&Go QR codes has been revoked. As in there will not be any cut-off date. This message was posted on the official FB page of said Thai embassy. 

Myself and my wife are scheduled to arrive on the 17th, hence we have been following the recent developments closely. My wife has also send the embassy a message to double checked and they indeed confirmed that we will be able to enter with the Test&Go QR code that has been issued to us. 

 

Link to the FB post: https://www.facebook.com/ThaiEmbassy.Hague/posts/4896993847019655

[webhost]

Thanks for the heads up. Indeed this is wonderful news. I just phoned the Thai Embassy in the Hague and they confirmed they just received this information and all test and go approved holders can travel as planned on their original approved arrival date! What a relief!

[mjnaus]

8 minutes ago, webhost said:

Thanks for the heads up. Indeed this is wonderful news. I just phoned the Thai Embassy in the Hague and they confirmed they just received this information and all test and go approved holders can travel as planned on their original approved arrival date! What a relief!

Thanks for double checking and confirming this. And I guess we have to thank the Thai embassy in The Hague for being the only official government source bothering to actually share this non trivial information with the world ????

 

Still can't help but feeling a bit uneasy though.... would be great if other official sources would confirm this.

[webhost]

Yes, big thanks to the Thai Embassy in the Hague for being so certain and confident in releasing this information. The Thai Embassy in Vienna just revised their information which effectively also confirms this: https://thaiembassy.at/en/coe.html