Preparing to Return to Thailand - by Richard Barrow

[Dodger]

Finally, tourists, and expats returning home, are starting to arrive. I've talked to two individuals who have returned in the last 2 days who both said their trips, barring all the documentation requirements, went smoothly. This is also consistent with what our own Reporter on the Streets vnman has said in recent posts.

I always like listening to what Richard Barrow has to say and thought this fairly recent article he posted in his Newsletter may be helpful to some who are planning to make the journey:

Preparing to Return to Thailand
by Richard Barrow

"Compared to flying to the UK, my return trip to Thailand was nerve-racking. Very nerve-racking. But like I said many times, it is not a good idea to fly to Thailand during this transition period between the Certificate of Entry (COE) and the new Thailand Pass. My original advice was to wait at least two weeks. In fact, if you are not in a rush, I would advise to wait until December or January as the Thailand Pass system is still buggy. In addition, there could be an update on 15th November and on 1st December that will ease some entry rules. For example, the TAT is pushing to drop the requirement for the pre-flight RT-PCR test. This is because in some countries, it is difficult or even impossible to get this test done. They also want the RT-PCR test on arrival to Thailand to be changed to the cheaper and faster lateral flow test like they already do in the UK. If this happens, then it will be a literal “Test and Go” at the airport and no need to wait at a hotel. But I cannot see that change happening before December. Maybe in January.

Last week I originally applied for the Certificate of Entry as I didn’t think there would be time for me to apply for the Thailand Pass. The system was being launched on the 1st of November and I was flying back on the 3rd of November. The COE was relatively easy to do though it was done in two parts. After the initial pre-approval, I then had to upload plane tickets and hotel booking. Which I did straight away. The next day, I then received the Certificate of Entry. Total time was three days. I then decided to apply for the Thailand Pass just for the experience to see if it was easier to apply, and easier to enter Thailand compared to people arriving with CEO. I also wanted to see if they would accept my social security digital card as the rule to allow this was changed the day after I had applied for my Certificate of Entry. As you probably know already, the process to apply for the Thailand Pass was far from smooth.

The Thailand Pass was due to go online at 9:00am which was 2:00am in the UK. I set the alarm to wake myself up. At first, I thought it wouldn’t take too long. After all, I had all the documents ready on my iPad. The only thing I had to do differently was to do screenshots of the PDF files as the system only accepts JPG images. (By the way, they will update this soon to allow to upload PDF files). The other problem is that you can only upload one file. So, if the PDF has multiple pages, then you need to do a photo collage.
For the Thailand Pass I needed to upload these five documents:

1. The photo page in my passport
2. My medical insurance
3. My vaccination certificate
4. The QR code for my vaccine certificate
5. My hotel booking (including RT-PCR testing)

I also had to enter personal details like passport number and date of birth and the date of arrival in Thailand. Unlike for the COE, I didn’t need to upload my visa or my flight ticket. On the last page I clicked submit and….. Nothing. It came up with a server error. Like other people, I tried multiple times before giving up. The next day I took the advice of some people and entered four spaces after my passport number and straight away I got the “success message”. Around 13 hours after this, I received an “automatic email” from the consular department in Bangkok saying my registration had been received and the results would be sent to me within seven working days. I was due to fly to Thailand the following day.

Twelve hours after the receiving the automatic email, I then got another email with my QR Code. Great news for me and other expats as that also meant that they had accepted my social security digital card (the link for applying for the digital card is below). Then a minute later I received another QR Code and then eight emails saying my application had been rejected due to duplicate registration. I panicked at first as I thought that they had rescinded my original QR Code. But I scanned that on my smartphone and it went to a website that said it was verified.

The email clearly said that I only needed to present these three things on check-in and on landing in Thailand:
1. Passport with visa (if required)
2. Thailand Pass QR Code (on mobile device or printed copy)
3. Medical certificate with a laboratory result indicating that COVID-19 is not detected through RT-PCR test (issued within 72 hours before departure).

Not everyone’s experience with the Thailand Pass registration system was the same. Some had no problem from the start. Some got their QR Code straight away. Some, like myself got it within 1-3 days. Others were panicking that it wouldn’t come and wondered if they should cancel their flights. For most people I don’t think it was the best of experiences. The main problem is that you cannot check on your registration status. And when you get an email back that says something was not correct, you must then apply again from the start. So that would potentially mean another seven days. I have already heard stories of people missing flights or just giving up. But the problem is, you cannot apply for the Thailand Pass unless you pre-book the accommodation and your insurance. It is such a gamble at the moment. Who would risk it?

Going back to my story, we headed to the airport early to check-in in case of delays. Like in Bangkok, the airline must check that you have all your documents before you fly. The people I was travelling with had COE. I had Thailand Pass. I really thought that my check-in would be simple as I only needed to show three things. It wasn’t so. Although this was now the 3rd of November, they hadn’t seen a Thailand Pass before. They knew it was coming but they didn’t know what to do with the QR Code. So, they asked me for print outs of all my documents. I gave them the negative Covid-19 test that I had just done and told them that the rest is on the QR Code. But they didn’t have a QR Code reader. I said you can use your phone, but she didn’t have an app.

Luckily, I had print outs of everything already. But my problem came with the insurance. She wanted to see the insurance policy where it said I have Covid-19 insurance coverage up to $50,000. All I had was my social security digital card. I showed it to her, but she wasn’t happy. I told her that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wouldn’t have issued me a Thailand Pass if they hadn’t accepted my social security. After a while, she found a colleague that had a QR reader on his phone and he scanned my QR Code. This then went to the website which said I was verified. She still wasn’t convinced but finally let me go. Hopefully, people who fly out in the coming days and weeks will have an easier time at check-in. But all was good in the end.

End of article.

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