confusion over PCR test and RT-PCR test for 30 day visa-waiver (holiday)

[bluebird729]

My sister is going from the UK for a 3 week holiday with her family.

The clinic she is dealing with (in London) said that their PCR test is suitable for Thailand.

But the Thai Airways flight confirmation email says that the test needs to be an RT-PCR test.

 

Does anyone know what Suvarnabhumi  immigration accepts?

is a normal PCR test acceptable? or must it be an RT-PCR test?

 

* none of her family are vaccinated, so they are doing the covid-test method to enter, but now she is worried that the clinic is giving her incorrect info.

[Ralf001]

Unvaccinated Travelers – Before coming to Thailand, unvaccinated travelers need to complete an RT-PCR or Professional Antigen (Pro-ATK) test through a clinic or medical professional. The test result must be issued within 72 hours before departing for Thailand.

Edited August 13, 2022 by Ralf001

[ubonjoe]

It can be a professionally done antigen test (ATK) or a RT-PCR test.

Entry requirements are here.

[bluebird729]

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

It can be a professionally done antigen test (ATK) or a RT-PCR test.

Entry requirements are here.

So, it means the clinic in London is wrongly telling people their standard PCR test is suitable for Thailand.

Have you heard about people getting rejected at Suvarnabhumi for not having the correct PCR test?

[ubonjoe]

31 minutes ago, bluebird729 said:

So, it means the clinic in London is wrongly telling people their standard PCR test is suitable for Thailand.

It will be accepted if it is a RT-PCR test. Same if it is a antigen test (antigen test kit ATK).

I think the clinic will be doing a RT-PCR test.

[bluebird729]

51 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Unvaccinated Travelers – Before coming to Thailand, unvaccinated travelers need to complete an RT-PCR or Professional Antigen (Pro-ATK) test through a clinic or medical professional. The test result must be issued within 72 hours before departing for Thailand.

So I guess it means she (and her family) will be rejected at Suvarnabhumi.

Have you heard about people getting rejected at Suvarnabhumi for not having the correct PCR test?

[Ralf001]

4 minutes ago, bluebird729 said:

So I guess it means she (and her family) will be rejected at Suvarnabhumi.

Have you heard about people getting rejected at Suvarnabhumi for not having the correct PCR test?

I don't know any un-vaccinated people that have traveled to Thailand.

[ubonjoe]

10 minutes ago, bluebird729 said:

So I guess it means she (and her family) will be rejected at Suvarnabhumi.

Have you heard about people getting rejected at Suvarnabhumi for not having the correct PCR test?

From what I have read they are not checking for vaccination certificates. If they do not have a test they will have them do a ATK test at the airport.

Not sure what kind of PCR test they are doing at the clinic. Ask if it is a RT-PCR test.

[KIngsofisaan]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

It can be a professionally done antigen test (ATK) or a RT-PCR test.

Entry requirements are here.

Any idea how long this requirement to be tested will go on?

[ubonjoe]

10 minutes ago, KIngsofisaan said:

Any idea how long this requirement to be tested will go on?

I don't think it will be eliminated anytime soon for those that are not fully vaccinated.

[KIngsofisaan]

7 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

I don't think it will be eliminated anytime soon for those that are not fully vaccinated.

As other countries open up completely and tests are far and few between, this may be prevented unvaccinated tourists from coming to Thailand from the first world

[Ralf001]

10 minutes ago, KIngsofisaan said:

As other countries open up completely and tests are far and few between, this may be prevented unvaccinated tourists from coming to Thailand from the first world

Thailand is not preventing unvax'd tourists from entering.

[KIngsofisaan]

Just now, Ralf001 said:

Thailand is not preventing unvax'd tourists from entering.

In places such as the US, where many did not get any vaccines, I was told testing is not readily available as it use to be.

 

 

[Ralf001]

Just now, KIngsofisaan said:

In places such as the US, where many did not get any vaccines, I was told testing is not readily available as it use to be.

 

 

Nothing to do with Thailand and it allowing people to enter or not.

[KIngsofisaan]

Just now, Ralf001 said:

Nothing to do with Thailand and it allowing people to enter or not.

Thailand is the one requesting non vaccinated passengers be tested no longer than 72 hours prior to arrival

 

Go back and read Ubon Joe's post

[Dan O]

4 minutes ago, KIngsofisaan said:

In places such as the US, where many did not get any vaccines, I was told testing is not readily available as it use to be.

 

 

Not sure you heard that. They are readily available  at almost every major pharmacy and many are free or any number of clinics close to all major airports

[Ralf001]

1 minute ago, KIngsofisaan said:

Thailand is the one requesting non vaccinated passengers be tested no longer than 72 hours prior to arrival

 

Go back and read Ubon Joe's post

That lack of available covid test in the USA has nothing to do with Thailand's entry requirements.

 

Which part of this are you struggling with ?

[ThailandRyan]

1 hour ago, KIngsofisaan said:

As other countries open up completely and tests are far and few between, this may be prevented unvaccinated tourists from coming to Thailand from the first world

Mandatory test needs to be done before entry to South Korea, here is a website that is current with travel requirements and where tests are not required

 

https://www.traveloffpath.com/countries-without-any-travel-restrictions-or-entry-requirements/

[howerde]

If you do not meet the vaccination/rt pct/atk requirement then i doubt they will let you board the aircraft in the UK

 

https://www.thaiairways.com/sites/en_GB/plan/travel_information/Travel_Requirements/Thailand.page?code=THALLTR

 

Edited August 14, 2022 by howerde

[Lemsta69]

4 hours ago, bluebird729 said:

So, it means the clinic in London is wrongly telling people their standard PCR test is suitable for Thailand.

Have you heard about people getting rejected at Suvarnabhumi for not having the correct PCR test?

this came up last year  yes and no; PCR and RT-PCR tests are actually different tests. the RT stands for "Reverse Transcription".

 

"A reverse transcriptase (RT) is an enzyme used to generate complementary DNA (cDNA) from an RNA template"

 

it is only possible to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus using the RT method. therefore the "PCR" test performed by the London clinic will in fact be an RT-PCR test. but for some reason the clinics in London have decided to use shorthand and have dropped the "RT" just to confuse everybody. I guess they year for days of yore when they were a world power ????

 

last year there was at least one report of a traveller being held up at check-in, and rightly so,  because the certificate said "PCR" but the IATA rules said "RT-PCR". check-in and immigration staff shouldn't be expected to be scientists.

 

however there have been no recent reports on here of travellers to Thailand encountering this issue.

 

[richard_smith237]

This is just a terminology issue... 

 

The Clinic in London is being lazy with their phrasing and use of PCR test instead of RT-PCR test. 

 

Simplifying it somewhat... a PCR tests checks for DNA, but the virus is RNA - it is therefore reverse transcribed (hence the RT - which uses enzymes to change a specific piece of RNA into matching DNA). 

 

Thus: It is not possible to do ‘just a PCR’ test for Covid. ALL PCR tests for Covid-19 are infact RT-PCR tests. 

 

 

----------

 

Ask the Lab to put RT-PCR on the certificate (not just PCR).

 

[problemfarang]

5 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

From what I have read they are not checking for vaccination certificates. If they do not have a test they will have them do a ATK test at the airport.

Not sure what kind of PCR test they are doing at the clinic. Ask if it is a RT-PCR test.

when i came back in May, the first thing they checked was the vaccine certificate. But i dont know the situation in August. But i imagine they need to understand your vaccination situation somehow.. 

[The Hammer2021]

6 hours ago, bluebird729 said:

So I guess it means she (and her family) will be rejected at Suvarnabhumi.

Have you heard about people getting rejected at Suvarnabhumi for not having the correct PCR test?

I haven't  heard of any unvaccinated travellers coming here and only know two unvaccinated  people here - both thick farangs but whatever  test travellers take they run the risk of being infected  or getting a false positive  result.

Edited August 14, 2022 by The Hammer2021

[malone99]

i'm a bit confused now.

last thing i heard was, that nobody, so unvaxxed too, is required to show anything. at all. that was latest information. has that changed?

[ubonjoe]

11 minutes ago, malone99 said:

i'm a bit confused now.

last thing i heard was, that nobody, so unvaxxed too, is required to show anything. at all. that was latest information. has that changed?

There has been no change since July 1st when the new rules went into effect.

Sniped from the first post I did in this topic.

[malone99]

13 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

There has been no change since July 1st when the new rules went into effect.

Sniped from the first post I did in this topic.

ok, thanks.

but i think you can show up without a test, and if they ask you to present something, you just have to pay, and make a test on site...

 

[khunjeff]

On 8/14/2022 at 7:54 AM, ubonjoe said:

From what I have read they are not checking for vaccination certificates.

I've flown back to Thailand twice in the past month: from Vietnam to Don Muang, and from Malaysia to Suvarnabhumi.

 

On both occasions, airline check-in staff asked passengers to present their vaccination certificates (either in paper or on the phone). It was just a glance, not an in-depth examination.

 

On arrival at Don Muang, the corridor from the gate area heading to immigration was blocked by Ministry of Public Health personnel who checked everyone's vax proof as they passed (again, just a quick glance).  At Suvarnabhumi, on the other hand, there was no check of health information at all on arrival. 

 

The government had said they would only be doing random spot checks, and that was indeed my experience. I have no idea how either check-in staff or arrival staff handled unvaccinated pax, because everyone I saw (only a small percentage, of course) had a vaccine certificate. 

[iaminwa]

I can confirm - I arrived last night from Netherlands and I was not asked for any vaccination certificate or any PCR Test Result - I can't remember the Emirates booking online, may have asked for my vaccination status - I fully vaccinated...no PCR required at Bangkok Ariport last night.

[ThailandRyan]

On 8/14/2022 at 8:50 AM, KIngsofisaan said:

In places such as the US, where many did not get any vaccines, I was told testing is not readily available as it use to be.

 

 

Testing is available all over in the US and most airports have facilities outside where you can schedule online or walk up. I don't know who has been feeding you this info that testing is limited.  You can obtain 4 ATK test kits per family from the federal government through the mail as well.

Edited August 15, 2022 by ThailandRyan

[kiwikeith]

On 8/14/2022 at 11:48 AM, Ralf001 said:

Unvaccinated Travelers – Before coming to Thailand, unvaccinated travelers need to complete an RT-PCR or Professional Antigen (Pro-ATK) test through a clinic or medical professional. The test result must be issued within 72 hours before departing for Thailand.

All that is required is a rapid Antigen test or RAT test but it has to be a professional one, you can get them done in NZ at the chemist in NZ for 90 dollars, it's the same test you can do yourself at home but Thailand requires it to be done by a medical professional the chemist's do them and give you the paperwork for 90 dollars. 

 

My friend just went  back to Thailand with his Thai wife and kids and they waved him straight in and never asked for anything, never tested anyone and never asked to see his rapid Antigen results, but don't take the risk get it done and you can get straight in you don't need a PCR, just a professional Rapid Antigen test done within 72 hours before arrival