Approval to return July

[bolt]

Hi Guys

I thought I’d start this, as I’ve already submitted my application to my Thai embassy of residence, I’m in UAE Abu Dhabi and I’m waiting on a reply about getting back to see the wife.

·         Can anyone post if they have applied.

·         if anyone has approval.

·         Government approved hotels. (who has booked any of these yet), I have pre booked 3 for costs purposes, but waiting on confirmation they are approved

·         Health insurance mentioning COVID_19 and to that value of $100K

 

Lets hope someone has approval

some websites 

http://hsscovid.com

https://www.caat.or.th/en/archives/51825

Emb Announcement on- spouse &children.pdf Declaration Form.doc Fit to Fly BLANK.pdf Hotels list State-Quarnatine-100663.pdf

[Wars]

Applied on June 12th via online and via by mail. Still waiting, nothing from the Washington DC embassy. Called today to check they said theres no update on the COE and they don't have an estimate when it'll be done. They said the decision comes from Thailand not from them. They told me I shouldn't book a flight or ASQ until that COE is approved. 

[Puccini]

28 minutes ago, Wars said:

Applied on June 12th via online and via by mail. Still waiting, nothing from the Washington DC embassy. Called today to check they said theres no update on the COE and they don't have an estimate when it'll be done. They said the decision comes from Thailand not from them. They told me I shouldn't book a flight or ASQ until that COE is approved. 

What do you mean with COE and ASQ?

[SGD]

My wife has been on to the Thai embassy in London every day and they are useless.

 

The latest deciphering of their gibberish is that all this talk about a list, getting permission etc. is only related to repatriation flights and has nothing to do with regular scheduled flights.

 

Yesterday, Qatar airways started flights back to Thailand, my wife is scheduled to fly next week. There is zero clear guidance, on any matter, from a truly authoritative source which can be trusted, yet I will bet none of those on that flight from Doha yesterday were holding any "special permit" from an overseas consulate.

 

So where is the real truth, not Facebook interpretation, not some half understandable Google translation of "cuddling" but a real lawful and up to date English language notice of what rules are in place today.

[bolt]

1 hour ago, Puccini said:

What do you mean with COE and ASQ?

CEO is certificate of entry ???

ASQ is Approved State Quarantine Hotels 

we can also choose from Alternative Hotels, provided they comply 

 

please see

hsscovid.com for more information 

Hotels list State-Quarnatine-100663.pdf

Edited July 2, 2020 by bolt

[unheard]

6 hours ago, PatrickC said:

 

the criteria for passengers. After this is clear they'll open up those flights, I think.

The criteria for the passengers is clear.

It's hard to say what's going on behind the scenes.

There will be no regular flights in July - only repatriation flights.

It seems the qualifying foreigners will be allowed onto those flights.

But will that actually happen? There were no reports (at least on TV) of anyone's application being approved yet.

Edited July 2, 2020 by unheard

[Puccini]

7 hours ago, bolt said:

CEO is certificate of entry ???

ASQ is Approved State Quarantine Hotels 

we can also choose from Alternative Hotels, provided they comply 

 

please see

hsscovid.com for more information 

Hotels list State-Quarnatine-100663.pdfUnavailable

Thank you.

[Puccini]

Posted in error.

Edited July 2, 2020 by Puccini
deleted my post

[Wars]

12 hours ago, Puccini said:

What do you mean with COE and ASQ?

alternative state quarantine Is ASQ

and Certificate of Entry is COE.  

[Maestro]

Removed an off-topic post.

[bolt]

Please circulate of post if we hear of anyone getting approval, the holidays are coming up so maybe after the 7th July 

[bolt]

 

I’ve just seen a foreigner has arrived and has completed 14 days quarantine in Thailand.

he was from New Zealand

twitter

@wayne_hay

[Sheryl]

On 7/2/2020 at 1:44 PM, PatrickC said:

I am in the process of applying. No approval yet. The Thai embassy has been very cooperative, although the precise requirements have not come through from Bangkok yet, by their own admission.

 

I'll be booking into the Movenpick. They have been very cooperative. 

 

Health insurance - I'm not sure what the validity is supposed to be? Any idea? $100k USD is excessive. 1m THB would be sufficient. No Thai hospital is that expensive.

Actually they are. Private hospital bills for single admissions can and do sometimes exceed 3 million baht.

[unheard]

12 hours ago, bolt said:

 

I’ve just seen a foreigner has arrived and has completed 14 days quarantine in Thailand.

he was from New Zealand

twitter

@wayne_hay

Thanks.

He's a work permit holder.

Any bets if we hear of any married to a Thai foreigner allowed in this month?

[bolt]

I’m going to call the embassy on Tuesday for an update

They’re on holiday on Sunday-Monday.

Being locked in the room is good for stopping the spread, but bad for sitting in a locked room for 14 days, I’ve asked several hotels about the restrictions during quarantine and the typical Thai is not clear, for example I asked if I can use the Swimming pool and fitness center during quarantine, and the reply was “Thank you for your email. Please be informed that all guest will be temperature checked upon arrival and we allow guest in house use the swimming pool.
Should you have any other query, please do not hesitate to contact us. “

 

I don’t think we’re classed as guests, so we’ll be locked in the loom for 14 day, so I’m going to find the cheapest option available, I was hoping the wife could bring some of my personnel items to ease the boredom, but I’m not sure that’s going to be allowed .

[Robin]

I am in Thailand, on Retirement visa, and hoping to visit for business reasons sometime soon  9My original plan was to travel in April but caught by lock-down.

I believe that I will be allowed to return as I have Thai spouse.  it is going to be possible to get a letter from Immigration here in Thailand stating that I qualify for a return flight.  That is go to I/O here with Khun wife, nd required papers, and get an approval.

Hopeful?  but it seems too logical for Thailand.

Only other way seems to be to travel on one-way ticket nd wait in UK until Thai entry restrictions are relaxed.  That way I might be home for Christmas.

 

[bolt]

1 hour ago, Robin said:

I am in Thailand, on Retirement visa, and hoping to visit for business reasons sometime soon  9My original plan was to travel in April but caught by lock-down.

I believe that I will be allowed to return as I have Thai spouse.  it is going to be possible to get a letter from Immigration here in Thailand stating that I qualify for a return flight.  That is go to I/O here with Khun wife, nd required papers, and get an approval.

Hopeful?  but it seems too logical for Thailand.

Only other way seems to be to travel on one-way ticket nd wait in UK until Thai entry restrictions are relaxed.  That way I might be home for Christmas.

 

if you’re currently  in Thailand, and hoping to leave, that’s the 1st step

returning is completely different scenario, the decision on who’s allowed to return is being done on a case by case basis. They’ve said it will be based on humanitarian grounds

my advice right now is don’t leave, if you really really have to leave then don’t expect back in until 2021, any earlier is risky

[PhineusFreek]

On 7/1/2020 at 8:01 PM, SGD said:

So where is the real truth, not Facebook interpretation, not some half understandable Google translation of "cuddling" but a real lawful and up to date English language notice of what rules are in place today.

Hahahahh Hilarious !!! You aint been in Thailand long have you ?

[unheard]

15 hours ago, bolt said:

I’m going to call the embassy on Tuesday for an update

Unfortunately the embassies won't have any updates for you unless they hear back on your case from MFA in Bangkok.

Then the embassy will immediately notify you of the coming message.

There's no point in calling.

Edited July 5, 2020 by unheard

[unheard]

2 hours ago, PatrickC said:

Don't complain about it - just be glad you are going to be one of the few people who is going to be able to move around the world at the moment.

Exactly.

Many with the families are anxiously waiting for the permission to enter, some for nearly a month already after submitting their application.

Still no response.

[Kinnock]

11 hours ago, bolt said:

if you’re currently  in Thailand, and hoping to leave, that’s the 1st step

returning is completely different scenario, the decision on who’s allowed to return is being done on a case by case basis. They’ve said it will be based on humanitarian grounds

my advice right now is don’t leave, if you really really have to leave then don’t expect back in until 2021, any earlier is risky

I'm in Thailand, have Permanent Residence and a Work Permit, hoping to visit UK, and have a return flight with Emirates booked (they keep changing the flight times, but looks to be daily flights via Dubai.

 

But as Thailand is not on the UK quarantine examption list, I would need 14 days quaranrine in UK, but I've heard it is neither monitored or enforced.

 

But the 'case by case' consideration and vague rules for my return concern me, so I keep moving the flight back (now booked for 30th Aug).

[unheard]

2 hours ago, Kinnock said:

But the 'case by case' consideration and vague rules for my return concern me, so I keep moving the flight back (now booked for 30th Aug).

It's more than just case by case.

You won't be allowed to return back in August and probably September and so on without a permission issued by the Ministry of foreign affairs in Bangkok.

You'll be in the same category as any other foreigners now stranded outside of Thailand, awaiting their turn to come back to Thailand.

You're risking of getting stuck for much longer than you expect since a permission to Enter is not a guarantee and you'll become a subject to all requirements as is the case with others in your group.

Also holding a return ticket for August is not a guarantee that the flight won't be cancelled as has already bin the case with all regular flights in July that weren't permitted to enter Thailand (they might have flown but weren't allowed to carry passengers into Thailand).

The only option for now are repatriation flights.

The daily flights arriving in Thailand are mostly planes carrying cargo, not passengers.

The only flights allowed to enter Thailand with passengers are repatriation flights.

They're talking about allowing more flights starting next month but it would only cover the bubble countries and possibly some chartered flights.

Edited July 5, 2020 by unheard

[SGD]

Well, to update, Qatar cancelled the flights until 2nd August.

 

Regarding the quarantine, I spoke to the Anantara, a hotel I know well. They confirmed that meals (full board) would be delivered to your room and you were not even allowed to go out on the balcony. After a second negative test on day 11, you could ask to have a 1 hour pool or exercise period from your room but until that time, you would be, essentially, locked in your room.

 

As this hotel has various blocks, it is highly possible to simply allocate a block to quarantine and then make it harder for you to get in or out.

 

Of course, the 130k for a suite for 2 people is lunacy if you cannot use the facilities which makes the hotel at large worth 130k.

 

I speculate that this stand off will continue until someone in the Thai government does a deal for reciprocal non quarantine such as the UK has done. Only then will the planes fly.

 

And on this $100k requirement for insurance, that needs to be removed as well because the fees being charged will stop 99% of people travelling.

[ExpatOilWorker]

On 7/2/2020 at 4:36 PM, bolt said:

CEO is certificate of entry ???

ASQ is Approved State Quarantine Hotels 

we can also choose from Alternative Hotels, provided they comply 

 

please see

hsscovid.com for more information 

Hotels list State-Quarnatine-100663.pdfUnavailable

The attachment link is broken, can you please post again?

[rupert the bear]

100k usd ins?but they say we are checked before we get on the plane,we need a cert and then again on entry.theres no covid in thailand they say so.....?its not making any sense.the only other country with weird entry requirements such as these is cambodia and no ones going there,uk just put them on the red list,this is why in my opinion,its bizarre

[Starmocihc]

8 minutes ago, rupert the bear said:

100k usd ins?but they say we are checked before we get on the plane,we need a cert and then again on entry.theres no covid in thailand they say so.....?its not making any sense.the only other country with weird entry requirements such as these is cambodia and no ones going there,uk just put them on the red list,this is why in my opinion,its bizarre

Well, it's almost as something isn't adding up, aye?

[bolt]

Brief update

I’ve contacted several hotels in the ASQ list, and they have confirmed exercise in various forms are allowed, subject to social distancing

 

“Thank you for your e-mail, Please you send copy passport and flight ticket to me back for reservation.

After 1st screening test, you can relax and use fitness center but cannot swimming.”

 

“ As policy of Ministry Public of Health in Thailand, they are not allow to use Pool and Fitness during quarantine practice. However we do available for the garden walk 9 rounds per day (The reservation in advance is required as per social distancing policy).”

[CorpusChristie]

8 hours ago, PatrickC said:

 

Actually the Thai embassy has informed me that we will be able to use cargo flights. 

Would that be legal and would the airlines allow that ?

[ExpatOilWorker]

1 hour ago, bolt said:

Brief update

I’ve contacted several hotels in the ASQ list, and they have confirmed exercise in various forms are allowed, subject to social distancing

 

“Thank you for your e-mail, Please you send copy passport and flight ticket to me back for reservation.

After 1st screening test, you can relax and use fitness center but cannot swimming.”

 

“ As policy of Ministry Public of Health in Thailand, they are not allow to use Pool and Fitness during quarantine practice. However we do available for the garden walk 9 rounds per day (The reservation in advance is required as per social distancing policy).”

What hotel did reply you?

People are using the pool all day at Anantara Siam at Ratchadamri (#6 on the below list).

 

https://thaiest.com/blog/list-of-alternative-state-quarantine-asq-hotels-thailand

Edited July 6, 2020 by ExpatOilWorker

[unheard]

6 hours ago, PatrickC said:

They further confirmed that we need not rely on repatriation flights - that we are allowed to fly on cargo flights if the airlines allow us to book on. How we go about doing this with the airline, I've no idea. I hope CAAT tells the airlines they are allowed to take passengers with certificates of entry and they then allow bookings. Whether though they'll be on their web site, or you need to call, or how it works, I am not sure.

That would be great.