moojar

Update for anyone in the same boat - our Thailand Passes have been approved. We arrive at Phuket just after 8pm, and that is counted as 'Day 1'. May be different in other provinces, or because Phuket PCR test are done at the airport. No idea.

Update for anyone that finds this whilst doing their research. One of the Buriram hotels (the Amari Buriram United) replied to my Agoda enquiry four or five days later to say they only do the Test & Go stuff via direct bookings, not bookings thru a booking website such as Agoda. The reply came too late - the same day our Thailand Passes were approved with the five-night Phuket stay. So it is possible to T&G upcountry. Make your enquiries well in advance though.

If you are arriving at Phuket you usually book the PCR tests yourself. At least that's what the four hotels I contacted told me, but perhaps your hotel budget and my hotel budget are different. ???? The PCR website is https://www.thailandpsas.com/ . It told me when my day 5 is, I wasn't able to choose. I arrive after 8pm and that is day 1 according to that booking website. So I made my bookings around that. Thailand Pass has been submitted, I'll find out soon enough if the booking system got 'day 5' wrong. I haven't made any onward bookings, just in case. Easy enough to add an extra night in the hotel and resubmit the application.

FWIW we will arrive at Phuket and do both our PCR tests there - day 1 and day 5. We had wanted to do Day 5 at a Buriram hotel. Contacted two of the leading (most expensive) SHA extra+ hotels there and they both said "not participating in Test & Go". I don't know if that means no Buriram (province) hotels are in the scheme. This booking website only has the more touristy provinces listed, so maybe only those are in the Test & Go scheme? Don't know, but we decided to stay in Phuket for five nights and do both tests there. Less hassle.

While it is travel insurance, covering more than I initially thought, the problem I have with it is that cover only commences once I clear Thai immigration. So if I'm turned back over a technicality with my paperwork, as I have heard of with others, I'm not yet insured. Likewise if some emergency stops me travelling at all, or I have issues in transit, etc. I shall probably shop around for the least expensive basic policy that satisfies the Thai Covid insurance requirement, bought from a Thai company for ease of entry, and also get regular TI from my home country. Annoying to face the extra costs, but the travel environment we knew is gone.

My (Thai) wife and I (Australian) will be spending around half of each year in Thailand after we retire in mid-2022. I'll either do tourist visas or spouse visas and rely on regular travel insurance, as I have always done. I have switched off following Thailand events during the pandemic, not being able to visit. So I'm not much across the entry requirements. Just starting to look at it now, and hoping ASQ / sandbox / CoE requirements will be much reduced by the time we visit in six or seven month's time. One thing I don't expect to go away for a few years is the 'USD$1,000,000 COVID insurance'. I understand this can be purchased from a non-Thai company, but as it seems to be a farang-wallet-lightening scheme they ... prefer we use Thai companies. On this first visit I'll probably just suck it up and pay the tax for ease of entry. Will I need regular travel insurance on top of the COVID insurance though? I am mostly concerned about being repatriated to my home country should I be badly injured / ill. The COVID insurance I have looked at would only repatriate my ashes; I'd rather not let it get that far. Edit: Luma covers repatriation, costs THB27k for 6 months tier 3 (THB3m for repatriation.) Seems a bit steep, and only covers "as soon as you pass Thai immigration". Might be worth getting a basic COVID policy + regular travel insurance then. The premium table shows 30, 60, 90, 180, and 365 days. I'll need to find out of they cover for, say, 190 days without having to pay for 365 days. Best do that before I book my return flight.

Thank you, that makes more sense. Yes, after Easter. I know things are likely to change, I just hope in the right direction! I have been putting off retiring, because Covid. So we bought flight tickets, locked in my retirement date. If there is no longer a requirement to "sandbox" in Phuket we shall have a week at a quiet beach anyway, sort of ease into retirement. ???? Thanks again.

I'll just hijack the post a bit, quick question. We are coming back to Thailand via the Phuket Sandbox after Easter, and I'm just beginning to look at the process - sounds like fun. Two embassy websites I have looked at have the steps involved, with the RT-PCR test step 3, apply for the CoE step 9. This cannot be right? If the RT-PCR test must be within 72 hours of departure that leaves SFA time for the CoE application / approval. Surely they mean the list to be point form, not in any particular order. Cheers. https://sydney.thaiembassy.org/en/content/requirements-under-phuket-sandbox?cate=5d847bbc15e39c21b8005f2c