Border Run Alternatives

[jacko45k]

3 hours ago, sammael said:

Can you still fly into and enter Malaysia? because at this point id rather enter and stay there with the 3 month free visa without worrying i have to leave again before this virus craziness is over.

Malaysia shut its borders to travellers and restricted internal movement from March 16 until March 31.

[In the jungle]

Andaman Club Ranong is closed to visa runs from today. 

 

I say that with authority as I was there today around 2.00 pm.

 

According to a senior Thai immigration official it was a Burmese decision to close the border and he did not know when it would reopen.

[phuketrichard]

Border runs: be advised;

 

The government will extend the requirement of medical certificates and health insurance from Sunday to cover all visitors to the country regardless of nationalities to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

 

Travellers to Thailand have to now show authorities a health certificate, issued no more than 72 hours before travelling, confirming that they have been tested and are free from the virus. They must also present an insurance policy showing minimum coverage for coronavirus of not less than US$100,000.

 

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1882315/health-certificates-required-of-all-visitors

[Airbagwill]

So no border runs without certification and  cash in bank.

No extensions?

no flights home?

[orchis]

3 minutes ago, Airbagwill said:

So no border runs without certification and  cash in bank.

No extensions?

no flights home?

depending on where 'home' is there ares still scheduled flights.

[Rinrada]

The Interior Ministry has ordered Most border provinces to leave only One international Checkpoint Open .... <removed>

     

 

 

[Airbagwill]

How about Savanakhet

[ubonjoe]

2 hours ago, Airbagwill said:

How about Savanakhet

Only if you got a visa from the Lao embassy or consulate. No visa on arrivals or e visas now.

[Saradoc1972]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

Only if you got a visa from the Lao embassy or consulate. No visa on arrivals or e visas now.

Just did that on Friday 20th March around 1:30 pm with an eVisa obtained around 16th, and a health certificate from Mukdahan International hospital for 200 Baht obtained about an hour earlier (no "Covid test" in that sense, did not seem to matter anyway, but the chap in the 'Quarantine Station' on the Thai side seemed amused, did not even keep it), back to back within 5 minutes as is possible with a Non-Imm "O" ME; worked. Got another 90 days now for things to settle down.

[Saradoc1972]

2 hours ago, Saradoc1972 said:

Just did that on Friday 20th March around 1:30 pm with an eVisa obtained around 16th, and a health certificate from Mukdahan International hospital for 200 Baht obtained about an hour earlier (no "Covid test" in that sense, did not seem to matter anyway, but the chap in the 'Quarantine Station' on the Thai side seemed amused, did not even keep it), back to back within 5 minutes as is possible with a Non-Imm "O" ME; worked. Got another 90 days now for things to settle down.

Please be aware this *might* well be obsolete as of now, as by tomorrow, Sunday 22nd, Thailand seems to be introducing this insurance requirement nobody can fulfill unless having taken out a nice insurance beforehand AND are able to produce papers stating that satisfactorily in English, by which Thailand is actually saying: we are shutting down tourism for the next 3 weeks or so, just a bit veiled as the country's economy is 20-25 percent tourism and expats.

 

That is why I so hurried to do that run from Pattaya on Thursday evening to be there on Friday 20th, no later.

[Airbagwill]

17 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Only if you got a visa from the Lao embassy or consulate. No visa on arrivals or e visas now.

Apparently only doing O visas? - no SETVs?

 

[Caldera]

47 minutes ago, Airbagwill said:

Apparently only doing O visas? - no SETVs?

 

No SETVs, correct. But even for Non-O applications, you would now have a hard time going there and coming back (Lao visa changes, border closures, new entry requirements for Thailand).

 

[bangkokboy888]

Applied for Cambodia e-visa on March 23

 

Received e-visa today March 24th. have until June 24 2020 to use it.

 

the strange thing is that when applying for the evisa, there was no 'United States' or 'America' selection available in the list of countries. So I applied using "American Samoa" 

 

wrote to the Cambodia e-Visa people, let's see if they actually respond. Confirmed on third party sources that American Samoa and USA use the same passport just that Samoans are referred to as nationals in passport while continental Americans are referred to as citizens, apparently. 

 

anybody trying the same? 

 

 

[audaciousnomad]

2 hours ago, bangkokboy888 said:

Applied for Cambodia e-visa on March 23

 

Received e-visa today March 24th. have until June 24 2020 to use it.

 

the strange thing is that when applying for the evisa, there was no 'United States' or 'America' selection available in the list of countries. So I applied using "American Samoa" 

 

wrote to the Cambodia e-Visa people, let's see if they actually respond. Confirmed on third party sources that American Samoa and USA use the same passport just that Samoans are referred to as nationals in passport while continental Americans are referred to as citizens, apparently. 

 

anybody trying the same? 

 

 

Be careful, you might be turned away as their official travel restrictions specify that nationals from USA may not enter. Worse, you might technically be breaking their law for falsifying documents. I wouldn't want to know what the inside of a Cambodian jail is like.

CAMBODIA – published 20.03.2020
1. Passengers arriving from France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Spain or USA are not allowed to enter Cambodia.
- This does not apply to nationals and residents of Cambodia.
2. Nationals and residents of Cambodia, diplomats and officials of foreign embassies and international organizations and their family members who have a Diplomatic Visa Type A and Official Visa Type B who live or have been in France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Spain or USA in the past 14 days will be quarantine for 14 days.
- This does not apply to airline crew.

Source:   https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/international-travel-document-news/1580226297.htm

[BritTim]

3 hours ago, bangkokboy888 said:

Applied for Cambodia e-visa on March 23

 

Received e-visa today March 24th. have until June 24 2020 to use it.

 

the strange thing is that when applying for the evisa, there was no 'United States' or 'America' selection available in the list of countries. So I applied using "American Samoa" 

 

wrote to the Cambodia e-Visa people, let's see if they actually respond. Confirmed on third party sources that American Samoa and USA use the same passport just that Samoans are referred to as nationals in passport while continental Americans are referred to as citizens, apparently. 

 

anybody trying the same? 

 

 

Your e-visa is not valid. There is no United States selection because US citizens cannot get an e-visa. If you try to check in for a flight, the check in staff should hopefully catch this, and prevent you checking in. If they do not, best case is you will be denied entry on arrival and sent back. However, much worse consequences are possible.

[bangkokboy888]

thanks @BritTim and @audaciousnomad for the warnings. i will heed your advice. 

 

didn't realize that e-visa not available for americans but i guess that makes sense now that it's clear they did not include americans on the dropdown list. 

[AgentSmith]

March 22 Thai Airways denied my check-in because Cambodia didn't provide visa on arrival anymore. I was surprised because IATA didn't mention any of that (still doesn't). E-Visa wasn't an option because I had booked the flight after midnight for the next evening. So same day and e-visa can only be requested from the next day. I asked the Thai Airways staff at the check-in counter, the information counter and later the ticket office at Suvarnhabumi and they all stated that e-visa wasn't an option. Which again is strange because according to the same IATA info Cambodia doesn't deny any specific nationality entry and they only look at where you're traveling from. Thailand isn't on their blacklist. But of course I ended up not flying, got my money back and returned home.

 

Now I got an extra extension with a visa support letter from my embassy. I have to report back in in 2 weeks according to the stamp in my passport. It doesn't mention anything about an exit date. Perhaps it's an indefinite extension until immigration deems it possible again for me to leave. Not sure though about that and could just as well be a regular 30 day extension. At least I don't risk overstay for the time being.

 

IATA info as of today

 

Quote

CAMBODIA – published 20.03.2020
1. Passengers arriving from France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Spain or USA are not allowed to enter Cambodia. - This does not apply to nationals and residents of Cambodia. 2. Nationals and residents of Cambodia, diplomats and officials of foreign embassies and international organizations and their family members who have a Diplomatic Visa Type A and Official Visa Type B who live or have been in France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Spain or USA in the past 14 days will be quarantine for 14 days. - This does not apply to airline crew.

 

[ubonjoe]

10 hours ago, AgentSmith said:

IATA info as of today

New one done yesterday.

CAMBODIA – published 28.03.2020
Items 1 and 2 are effective 23:59 local time, 30 March 2020:
1. All visa exemptions, visas on arrival and e-visas are suspended till 30 April 2020.
2. All foreigners must:
- have a medical certificate, issued by competent health authorities of their country no more than 72 hours prior to the date of travel, certifying that they are not tested positive for the Coronavirus (COVID - 19); and
- have proof of insurance policy with minimum medical coverage of fifty thousand US dollars.
3. Passengers arriving from France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Spain or USA are not allowed to enter Cambodia.
- This does not apply to nationals and residents of Cambodia.
4. Nationals and residents of Cambodia, diplomats and officials of foreign embassies and international organizations and their family members who have a Diplomatic Visa Type A and Official Visa Type B who live or have been in France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Spain or USA in the past 14 days will be quarantine for 14 days.
- This does not apply to airline crew.

Source: https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/international-travel-document-news/1580226297.htm

[AgentSmith]

Thanks! It seems that IATA also isn't a reliable source of up-to-date information. Those are hard to come by these days.

[AgentSmith]

Scrap that. I overlooked that this rule only applies from the very end of March 30. That means I could've done my visa run last week after all. That really makes me wonder where Thai Airways gets their info that made them not accept me as a passenger as it obviously wasn't correct. Cambodia still accepts VOA (for now) and it also explains why the e-visa website hasn't been taken down yet.

[stament]

8 hours ago, AgentSmith said:

Scrap that. I overlooked that this rule only applies from the very end of March 30. That means I could've done my visa run last week after all. That really makes me wonder where Thai Airways gets their info that made them not accept me as a passenger as it obviously wasn't correct. Cambodia still accepts VOA (for now) and it also explains why the e-visa website hasn't been taken down yet.

So what's your plan now?

[AgentSmith]

3 hours ago, stament said:

So what's your plan now?

I got a visa support letter from my embassy that got me an extra extension. I have to report back in in 2 weeks. Supposedly it gives me 30 days extra but there's no exit date in my passport yet. I'll just wait and see what happens. At least I can prevent overstay for the time being.

[jonga80]

Hello, I am new here. I have a tourist visa until the end of may, I made the 30 days extension. I want to stay three more months in Thailand. How do you see getting a new visa on those dates? I mean in another asian country and go back to Bangkok. My plan would be go to another asian country at the end of may, and then comeback with a 2 months tourist visa, extendable for one more month. How do you see? Nowadays it would be impossible, but I hope in june will be different.

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, jonga80 said:

Hello, I am new here. I have a tourist visa until the end of may, I made the 30 days extension. I want to stay three more months in Thailand. How do you see getting a new visa on those dates? I mean in another asian country and go back to Bangkok. My plan would be go to another asian country at the end of may, and then comeback with a 2 months tourist visa, extendable for one more month. How do you see? Nowadays it would be impossible, but I hope in june will be different

We are all guessing about the situation two months from now. My own view is that it will still be very difficult to visit Thailand as a tourist in early June. At a minimum, I think you will need heavy health insurance, plus tests confirming you are Covid-19 free. Once you leave Thailand, I think you should assume it will be some time before you can return. Further, even assuming borders open, I can imagine neighbouring countries having similar strict conditions before you are allowed to enter.

[jonga80]

18 hours ago, BritTim said:

We are all guessing about the situation two months from now. My own view is that it will still be very difficult to visit Thailand as a tourist in early June. At a minimum, I think you will need heavy health insurance, plus tests confirming you are Covid-19 free. Once you leave Thailand, I think you should assume it will be some time before you can return. Further, even assuming borders open, I can imagine neighbouring countries having similar strict conditions before you are allowed to enter.

Thanks for your opinion Tim.

[RedReding]

Could land borders between Laos and Thailand open before the air routes ? What do you guys think it's the most likely ?

[ubonjoe]

15 minutes ago, RedReding said:

Could land borders between Laos and Thailand open before the air routes ? What do you guys think it's the most likely ?

I think they will be opening at about the same time for the Thai side of borders. But the other countries might not be open.

[BritTim]

29 minutes ago, RedReding said:

Could land borders between Laos and Thailand open before the air routes ? What do you guys think it's the most likely ?

If Thailand wants to enforce strict quarantine on arrival, they may restrict entry by foreigners to a couple of major airports in the first instance. Also, they are likely to want to limit the numbers arriving. However, it is all guesswork.

[RedReding]

Right. Hard to predict.

[sead]

So im a Swedish citizen but currently in Denmark. Is there any way i can enter Thailand directly or indirectly from either Sweden or Denmark. I havent been with my gf 3 months now and i do have some free time as from now so i would like to use it.