Covid insurance (ex UK) for Thai Pass.

[welshguy]

Good day all.

 

A quick question if I may please. My ex wife (who is Thai) is travelling to Thailand later this month (from the U.K.) Her Thai passport has run out, she has contacted the Thai Embassy in London for an "emergency" Thai passport. Of course, they aren't answering the phone recently!

 

Her "Plan B" is to use her British passport to travel there and back. She phoned me this morning asking me, how much and where to get the "special" Covid insurance ? I replied, Ive no idea!  IF! Her "emergency" Thai passport comes back before she goes....then all well and done, if it doesnt (which I suspect it wont!) she will need to get the covid insurance...hence my question!

 

Thanks in advance.

 

[KhaoYai]

Did she have to send her expired passport off or does she still have it?  She will not be refused entry if she has a Thai passport - expired or not. She could probably renew it more easily in Thailand.

 

I believe there is (was) a list of insurers on the Thailand Pass website.

 

If she enters on her British Passport - don't forget that she will need a visa if she wants to stay longer than 30 days (but a 30 day extension is possible).

Edited May 4, 2022 by KhaoYai

[welshguy]

1 hour ago, KhaoYai said:

Did she have to send her expired passport off or does she still have it?  She will not be refused entry if she has a Thai passport - expired or not. She could probably renew it more easily in Thailand.

 

I believe there is (was) a list of insurers on the Thailand Pass website.

 

If she enters on her British Passport - don't forget that she will need a visa if she wants to stay longer than 30 days (but a 30 day extension is possible).

Thanks for that,

 

im "assuming" she has sent her old Thai passport off.

 

I did say to her, it would probably be easier to get it renewed in Thailand.....but it of course, fell on deaf ears! I will look at the Thailand Pass website in a bit.

 

Cheers.

[richard_smith237]

IF she hasn’t sent off her existing (expired) Thai Passport she can use that. 

 

IF she has, she can still use that (if she has scans), the Thai Embassy (or wherever she sent it off too) should return it before travel.

 

Failing that, she can apply for her Thai Pass with her British Passport and pay the 650 baht insurance, but that just adds more complication when she should be able to use her expired Passport.  

 

To answer the question: Where to get the covid insurance ? - Its on the Thailand Pass website. 

[welshguy]

1 hour ago, KhaoYai said:

Did she have to send her expired passport off or does she still have it?  She will not be refused entry if she has a Thai passport - expired or not. She could probably renew it more easily in Thailand.

 

I believe there is (was) a list of insurers on the Thailand Pass website.

 

If she enters on her British Passport - don't forget that she will need a visa if she wants to stay longer than 30 days (but a 30 day extension is possible).

I just contacted her, she has sorted out the insurance.

 

She DIDNT! send her old Thai passport off to London Embassy, so she will do the passport renewal (and I.D. card) over there.

[KhaoYai]

12 minutes ago, welshguy said:

I just contacted her, she has sorted out the insurance.

 

She DIDNT! send her old Thai passport off to London Embassy, so she will do the passport renewal (and I.D. card) over there.

Just make sure she gets to the airport early - in case the airline is awkward.  You could try talking to them before she goes but in my experience, the check in staff know the rules better than those in the offices.

[donx]

When my wife returned to Thailand at the end of December, she used her US passport because her Thai passport had expired and there wasn't enough time to obtain an emergency travel passport. Although in the past it was easy to enter Thailand with an expired Thai passport, the problem now (and for not too much longer I hope) is that it is my understanding that you can't use an expired passport when applying for the Thailand Pass. Therefore she also had to purchase the COVID insurance.

[samtam]

15 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

Did she have to send her expired passport off or does she still have it?  She will not be refused entry if she has a Thai passport - expired or not. She could probably renew it more easily in Thailand.

 

I believe there is (was) a list of insurers on the Thailand Pass website.

 

If she enters on her British Passport - don't forget that she will need a visa if she wants to stay longer than 30 days (but a 30 day extension is possible).

 

14 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

IF she hasn’t sent off her existing (expired) Thai Passport she can use that. 

 

IF she has, she can still use that (if she has scans), the Thai Embassy (or wherever she sent it off too) should return it before travel.

 

Failing that, she can apply for her Thai Pass with her British Passport and pay the 650 baht insurance, but that just adds more complication when she should be able to use her expired Passport.  

 

To answer the question: Where to get the covid insurance ? - Its on the Thailand Pass website. 

I mentioned a friend in USA returning at the end of May being unable to get the THB695 insurance through the Thailand Pass because it was down. Not sure whether that has been resolved. Instead he had to buy insurance for THB3900.

Edited May 5, 2022 by samtam

[KhaoYai]

14 hours ago, donx said:

When my wife returned to Thailand at the end of December, she used her US passport because her Thai passport had expired and there wasn't enough time to obtain an emergency travel passport. Although in the past it was easy to enter Thailand with an expired Thai passport, the problem now (and for not too much longer I hope) is that it is my understanding that you can't use an expired passport when applying for the Thailand Pass. Therefore she also had to purchase the COVID insurance.

If that's the case I'm pretty sure that your wife could have applied for her Thailand Pass using her US passport but presented her Thai passport for stamping when actually entering - at immigration only (having both passports available as an explanation) .  She may well have had to buy insurance but I really can't see a Thai passport holder being refused entry to their own country.  I don't know about Thailand but its actually against the law for a non-naturalised UK citizen to be refused entry to the UK.

Edited May 5, 2022 by KhaoYai

[sateuk]

2 hours ago, samtam said:

 

I mentioned a friend in USA returning at the end of May being unable to get the THB695 insurance through the Thailand Pass because it was down. Not sure whether that has been resolved. Instead he had to buy insurance for THB3900.

Same here arrived from the uk yesterday , couldn't purchase the cheap insurance only the AXA 4000baht