My quest for a Visa

[StevieWonders]

As I said, Ive already had one covid test which was a few weeks ago. The next one is in about 10 days. They are needed before hospital checks and are free as part of the treatment.

The final one, which I have to pay for, will be less than 72 hours before departure...got it?!

Quite. How much will that be? Are the hospital tests mandatory before the one you have to pay for or are you just adopting a “belt and braces” approach? If voluntary how did you justify getting hospital tests?

[arsenal]

gerefan2. Victory, total victory.

Never before in the history of gay whorenongering have so many owed so much to so few.

And gerefan2, when you get there. You will have them on the beaches, you will have them in the hotels, you will have them in the bars and you will have them in the clubs. You will never surrender.

[gerefan2]

And gerefan2, when you get there. You will have them on the beaches, you will have them in the hotels, you will have them in the bars and you will have them in the clubs. You will never surrender.

If I get to walk down Boyztown this winter it will be my finest hour!

[gerefan2]

Quite. How much will that be? Are the hospital tests mandatory before the one you have to pay for or are you just adopting a “belt and braces” approach? If voluntary how did you justify getting hospital tests?

Final test £275 with 24 hour result. Hospital tests mandatory for each of my check ups.

[StevieWonders]

Final test £275 with 24 hour result. Hospital tests mandatory for each of my check ups.

What I’m driving at is that, as you’re the Forum trailblazer, others may want to use your endeavours as a template they can follow so are the hospital visits essential for everyone? To date taking the insurance and the certificate together you’ve almost spent what you would spend on the airfare in previous years.

[Manforallseasons]

geregan2, I applaud your tenacity however, I wonder if all your efforts will be worth finally coming to Pattaya as it is today?.

[goji]

My tourist visa application was submitted last week.
Other countries, such as Austria have a paper form, but in London, they refer us to a web based application, with a Thai domain name. It's a very unfriendly site, as Gerefan2 reports.

For applications via this website, we have to attach a flight booking. ie The flight has to be booked without knowing we will be allowed into Thailand. [The paper form for Austria does not seem to require a flight booking]

All of the documents have to be under 500mb, which requires a lot of fiddling around, when confirmation of booking pdfs come out at over 500 mb, as did my bank statement. There are websites that downsize pdf files for free, but I didn't want to send my bank statement to one of those.
Fortunately I have a scanner, but a digital camera should be capable of getting an adequate result, after a few attempts.

After all that and payment, I had to send the passport to the embassy. I used "Special Delivery" and enclosed a pre-paid "Specical Delivery" envelope for the return.
In 2020, one would think they could e-mail the visa, since the immigration people in Bangkok get to see my passport and can presumably cross check the visa electronically ? Digital process has a long way to go.

Cambodia was e-mailing visas over a decade ago.

[francois]

If I get to walk down Boyztown this winter it will be my finest hour!

You will likely be disappointed! Most nights are dead; only Friday and Saturday are things lively.

[pong]

General: entertaining and instructive. A kind if explanation: the Thai in their infinite wisdom of cours think that anyone on this globe has the very same passport etc. statistics as their own. So the procedureis set to that. And as always: the Brits delight in having it all just a tiny bit different, as we are so independent island etc.
From other Thaivisit fora here on the continent I gather that its as for now all fruitless if you hail from a country that has too many covid-infected people. Hence only the Chinese are exempt. It also seems the procedure was/is mainly meant for Thai wanting to return home-for which TG=THAi air has had some chartered flites recently, incl. from LONdon.
Unless you actually own a home in TH or have some tight family relationship there, it is as for now said to be a useless venture to gain entry.
But Iĺl thumb it for you to get a final approval and being able to report in person the delights of a tourist-less Land of Smiles. Keep on!

[Brad the Impala]

Thanks Gerefan(and goji) for sharing your experiences of trying to get back to Thailand. Keep posting the news as it comes, and wishing you luck. If successful others will follow in your tracks!