Covid RT-PCR test within 24 hours of arrival.

[Blueskytoday]

So they now say...upon arrival one will have to stay at quarantine hotel for one day...."must undergo RT-PCR test within 24 hours of arrival"....Will they give the PCR test AT THE HOTEL your staying at,,,,Then clear you to go anywhere you want after negative results?? Otherwise damn difficult to get a covid test on your own in the time allotted to do so...

[Dodger]

So they now say...upon arrival one will have to stay at quarantine hotel for one day...."must undergo RT-PCR test within 24 hours of arrival"....Will they give the PCR test AT THE HOTEL your staying at,,,,Then clear you to go anywhere you want after negative results?? Otherwise damn difficult to get a covid test on your own in the time allotted to do so...

According to a release published in today’s PattayaMail, arriving vaccinated passengers will be able to transfer directly to Pattaya to have their RT-PCR test and wait in a pre-registered hotel until the result is known. Some reports say the Pattaya-bound passengers will need to be escorted to the seaside in special buses, others that they are free to make their own independent arrangements to leave the airport. At the time of writing, Thai embassies abroad, the consortia of insurance companies and the government’s registration portal have not updated their sites.

Other news releases have mentioned that the price of the RT-PRR test is included in the price of the room, so one could draw the assumption that the test will be done at your hotel.

https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/news/awaiting-the-tourists-pattaya-decides-to-suck-it-and-see-376901

[pong]

From a general Thai forum (mostly for those married with Thai ladies in this country and thus full of people who want to go asap);
It depends-some HTL may have a direct link with some hospital and as you have to prebook they can organise that some nurse comes and do this test. or maybe the nurse comes daily at a specified time. Hence it may happen-if you arrive quite late in the day, you may have to wait till nect day for the test and have to stay there night 2 for the result
The HTL MUST collect you @ airport and deliver you without contacts-hence also without the wife or the friend-to its premises, in a MAX of 2 hrs-Pattaya is reachable, HuaHin not. And yes, they will state an all-in price for transportation+HTL+test+statement.
It remains unclear what is to happen should you fail the Thai test=are suspected to have covid
Many HTLs by now do not know how to handle it or remian unconvinced
The new THai Pass is an app that replaces all the cumbersome burocrazy paperwork that was required for the quarantine method. Thai embassies should handle this. BUT in my country they now say they are ´full/busy´ untill late nov=4 weeks ahead.
Well-known guru David Barrow(?) advises to wait and see how it works and not run for airbookings now. And I will follow this advice.
(quick math: this adds to at least 2 tests+any fees for Thai embassy+higher cost for HTL/transp etc)=I estimate at least 200 250eur.

[Oliver2]

Yes; desperate as I am to return, I've decided to wait a few weeks before proceeding in view of the likelihood that there will be further tweaks. Not to mention tips from travellers. The posts from those who are among the first to arrive in BKK will be instructive.

[christianpfc]

Until 1 Nov, a lot of more details (and some misinterpreted or wrong information) will come out, and even after 1 Nov changes are possible. I will read reports in November, and if I like what I read, go in December, else wait for further improvement.


Hence it may happen-if you arrive quite late in the day, you may have to wait till nect day for the test and have to stay there night 2 for the result

The new THai Pass is an app that replaces all the cumbersome burocrazy paperwork that was required for the quarantine method.

Thai embassies should handle this. BUT in my country they now say they are ´full/busy´ untill late nov=4 weeks ahead.

Well-known guru David Barrow(?) advises to wait and see how it works and not run for airbookings now. And I will follow this advice.

Considering that airplanes leave and arrive at all times of day and night, some might come at an unsuitable time and have to stay 2 days. I once read somewhere about a hotel that charges for 24 hours stay, regardless of time of check-in. One could assume that the PCR run around the clock?

Some of the bureaucracy has been removed. But doing everything on the internet adds some new difficulties (there are reports about error messages or data loss for no apparent reason).

Similar in Berlin. Waiting time for an appointment for a visa application is 4-6 weeks. Don't know how long COE or Thailand Pass would take.

Richard Barrow.

[goji]

Similar in Berlin. Waiting time for an appointment for a visa application is 4-6 weeks. Don't know how long COE or Thailand Pass would take.

My eVisa took 2 working days. That's down from 6 calendar days last year, which included posting the passport both ways.
Last year's COE application was submitted after lunch and I got it about 10pm the same day.

Am not sure about this year's Thailand Pass, but since I'm not first out of the trenches to face the flak, I expect it will be OK. [Unless it is delayed further, so I AM one of the first]

As for the covid PCR test, I think it would be a hell of a lot better if we booked these directly and had them done at the airport, before going anywhere.

The big risk with the current system is the test result not showing up within 24 hours, which could presumably mean a second night of quarantine (in a supposedly quarantine free system).

[Blueskytoday]

For me....will be in Korea.....at this time,,the ONLY flights to BKK arrive there at 11:30 pm...Assume this would mean
not getting test until next morning/afternoon,,and getting results the 2nd day maybe late, sooooo looks like in this case 2 days hotel payment.

[christianpfc]

...out of the trenches to face the flak...
Poor choice of words. Flak = Flugabwehrkanone (anti-aircraft gun). However, flak is now used in English as a general term (criticism, opposition) and the German 8.8 cm Flak during WWII was used efficiently against ground targets as well.

[goji]

Poor choice of words. Flak = Flugabwehrkanone (anti-aircraft gun). However, flak is now used in English as a general term (criticism, opposition) and the German 8.8 cm Flak during WWII was used efficiently against ground targets as well.

Had I been attempting to write in German, I'd have hopefully used a capital F, but would almost certainly have made far worse errors elsewhere.

To face the flak is a fairly common term used in English.
As is to "blitz" something, e.g. bliz all the weeds in the garden with weedkiller.

To criticize this would be rather like me criticizing Germans for misusing English words adopted into German, such as "Handy" (mobile phone).

[arsenal]

It's clear that the Thai govt wants to have its cake and eat it with loads of tourists coming and putting up with their entry requirements. Someone should tell them it ain't going to happen.

For every sex crazed oldest swingers in town acting like love struck teenagers horny old enough to know better 20 something hunting put out the bunting I go wiss yoo I so miss yoo boy chasing bike racing pensioner teens pulling down boys jeans such as goji and gerefan2 who make the effort 1000 choose to go somewhere more user friendly.

[vnman]

Poor choice of words. Flak = Flugabwehrkanone (anti-aircraft gun). However, flak is now used in English as a general term (criticism, opposition) and the German 8.8 cm Flak during WWII was used efficiently against ground targets as well.

Considering that he is coming out of the trenches, flak is the perfect word.

The offers from the hotels seem reasonable to me. I do think that the insurance is wasted money because I assume we all have our own insurances and don't need anything extra.

Most of us seem to be waiting for some positive feedback from people who are or will be in Thailand. The problem is that it's a difficult time of year. Am I going to wait until December to decide if Thailand is a go or not? I opted to book one of the other 195 countries. it will be far easier to make a last-minute decision for a trip in April.

[goji]

The offers from the hotels seem reasonable to me. The hotel component of the charges does seem reasonable. I think the testing component is more expensive than it should be, but this really should not stop anyone going to Thailand.
Once out of quarantine, Bangkok hotels seem to be 500 a night below normal levels, so one can start "recovering" any extra expenditures.


I do think that the insurance is wasted money because I assume we all have our own insurances and don't need anything extra.
If your own insurance explicitly includes covid treatment costs and at least $100,000 (now $50,000), it ought to satisfy Thai requirements. There are non-Thai insurance policies proven to meet the rules, so if you have one of those, I certainly agree that buying the Thai insurance would be a waste of money.