secondtime

Just got my umpteenth CE in Phuket. They glance at the papers to make sure you signed everything, take your money, and tell you to come back tomorrow to pick up your passport. It’s all done outside, so whether you’ve gotten CEs elsewhere doesn’t matter so long as you have a local TM30 printout with your application. (Malika is close to the immigration office, has a pool, and prints the TM30 with a smile.)

Wear the jewellery and an open necked shirt. The more body hair you have, the better.

Did my fifth covid extension in Phuket. It was a breeze - the IO only checked that all the paperwork was signed, then gave me a chit to pick up my passport next week after the holidays (it's a Buddhist one, so remember to buy alcohol on Saturday if you want to drink on Sunday).

That 40k baht your friend ended up spending - was that flying from Bangkok, to Phnom Penh, getting the visa, coming back and doing test and go? Seems rather expensive. Was he not vaxxed and had to quarantine in both countries, or are there some other expenses?

You forget to mention lucky!

Figured I'd bump my old thread instead of creating a new one. Today I successfully got my fourth covid extension at Phuket Town. It was almost the same experience as my previous extensions - crowded, 99% Russian, friendly and helpful IOs, and no real attention paid to what you wrote on the application forms, only that you had all the right forms. My details - arrived via Sandbox as tourist exempt, Canadian passport, after my initial 45 days I skipped the normal 30 extension and went right to the 60 day covid extensions, and all my extensions are through Phuket Town. The difference is this time they required a TM30. I've brought them before but never volunteered it, and this time they asked. I think some people were turned away for not having a printout. I saw a lot of people turned away, mostly for incomplete paperwork, but few outright rejections. I heard the IOs explain to several people that the policy has changed since the last period and they're no longer eligible. I don't know what their situations were, so I can't answer whether Phuket is more relaxed about STVs or applicants who arrived as tourists but switched to non-O's. Oh, and a lot of Russians were still handing over 1900 baht for their extensions. If anyone wants to analyze these numbers - last time I arrived early and by 10:30am the slip they gave to pickup passports for successful applications was over 150. Today I left at noon and the slips they were giving to pickup passports was under 100.

I read somewhere on this site that Russians and Ukrainians are eligible for 30 day humanitarian extensions. This article says Immigration will waive their 1900 baht extension fees and help with emergency housing:

Great clinic, and I wanted to use them but my friend needed to leave urgently and CM couldn't do a same-day test on the weekend. We ended up going to Lanna Hospital. It was 3000 baht for 24 hours and 4500 for 3 hour results. Had to take a number and register a patient profile in the admissions area, where nobody spoke English (at least on the weekend) and they didn't understand or care what we were there for, despite me showing them their own website advertisement. But I realize that was our mistake for assuming it mattered, because once registered in the system you just go to the department you need (in our case, the testing clinic on the 2nd or 3rd floor) and it's a different world - sparkling clean and they all speak English. I suspect if we just went straight there they could have saved time by helping do the registration.

Xi recently watched a program about Thailand and said: "90% of Thais are not wearing masks. This is the reason their country is being infected all around. Many of them dress dirty and don’t shower." There's no way Xi will let dirty Thai tourists into China.

Watch for reports from Phuket. They have been rubber-stamping all the covid extensions. If they start to get tough then I'd bet the extensions really are done for.

I don't know how likely this is to work, but I do wish you the best of luck. If I see a Colombian monk in Chiang Mai I'll put a beer in a Sprite bottle in your begging pot.

Pay for a Moderna shot.

I've been following a Facebook Cambodia visa group and in the last week there are reports of foreigners (and locals) who test positive for omicron being kept in big run-down concentration camps. Seriously - they are converted stadiums with no privacy, no plumbing, inedible food, no extra clothing or electricity, and you are held there potentially for weeks until you get 2 negative PCR tests. By contrast, testing positive for covid besides omicron and you can quarantine at a residence or regular government hospital. https://web.facebook.com/groups/cambodiaquarantineexperience/ Think carefully about entering Cambodia until they sort out this hysteria.

https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/tourism/test-go-registration-back-on-travellers-can-apply-for-entry-starting-february-1

I was about to recommend the same office. Phuket Town immigration seems to be the most easy-going for giving covid extensions.

Does anyone know if the private hospitals give a certificate for Moderna shots ? I would guess they do, but I wonder if this can be used for a Thai government vaccination certificate. I'm on a tourist visa and getting a booster here. I wonder what kind of proof I'll be provided with. My principal reason for getting a booster is the bump in protection but it would also be nice to get recognition that I've had it.

That was true with me back in September. I know other people who also skipped the 30-day extension at Phuket and went right to 60-day covid extensions. But Phuket seems to have stopped doing that in the Autumn. I considered doing my most recent extension in Bangkok but I decided to wait until my return to Phuket because I've never experienced or heard of any problems there.

Speaking of being prepared, it seems they also moved all of the forms outside. I saw some people filling them out at outdoor tables, but before I left I stopped in the office to grab some extras for next time (I'm an optimist ????) but there were none in the building. The second floor office was very empty without the covid extenders, I'm sure the other visa types will appreciate this.

Today I went for my third covid extension in Phuket Town (I originally arrived tourist exempt in the Phuket sandbox). Covid extensions were moved to tents outside, and they were busy (long lines at the photocopier and by 10:30 the queue numbers were over 150). Otherwise it was the usual process. IOs were very efficient, one was checking documents and another 4 taking applications. When it was my turn they didn't read my explanation, just checked that all paperwork was present and signed. No questions about TM30, and my last TM30 was filed in a different province. Everyone was told they can pick up their stamped passports tomorrow.

Thanks Rabas! That was one of the hospitals I was looking at but I wasn't sure if they were already doing vaccinations. Bangkok Hospital (in Bangkok) was the only one I saw that publicly indicated they were taking reservations for shots right now, and their official stores were already sold out of coupons. I ended up buying a coupon from another hospital (Med Park) and I've got my shot scheduled. Thanks everyone for all the helpful replies!

Thanks, that's what I was hoping. The Bangkok Hospital in Bangkok is accepting reservations but not selling coupons anymore. I might try Bangkok Hospital in Pattaya.

Apologies if this has been asked before, I can't find an answer anywhere. Can someone who is a tourists (entered visa exempt and now on covid extensions) buy a Moderna booster in Thailand? Or are they reserved for Thai citizens and longer-stay visa holders?

I was there on NYE, just to walk through and see what it was like now, after my last visit years ago. Arrived at 8pm and there was a long line to enter (no distancing of course, nobody ever distances in lines anywhere in Thailand or my home country). Had to show a scan of my vaccination certificate and a scan of my ID to enter, but I don't remember them looking at the photo on my ID, or my face. The road was reasonably busy but not as much as I remember from normal times. All the restaurants had turned into clubs blaring music, and touts with masks under their chins showing drink menus. Nobody inside an establishment was wearing a mask, and many of the places were already crowded (packed, really) at 8pm. Ratio was about 70:30 Thai:farang. Most of the foreigners were just sightseers like me, walking down the main road as couples or groups. There were a lot of younger tourists too in the restaurant-clubs but definitely outnumbered by Thai. I'd guess that the 10 positives were just a drop in the bucket.

The PCR tests are usually good for 72 hours, so maybe just 7 tests... if timed perfectly Seriously though, in normal times this would be an amazing trip for trainspotters

I think New Zealand, Australia and Canada are meant to be the best retirement destinations for autocrats who stole a lot of money and want to give their children foreign citizenships.