Getting from UK to Thailand: practicalities

[Thaiophil]

I finally got back to Thailand after 7 months in the UK yesterday. Now starting 2 weeks quarantine. I thought it could be helpful to run through the process step by step and offer a few tips to help others who qualify for a Certificate of Entry. The process may differ in other countries and is still evolving, so keep checking the Thai Embassy website.

 

Bottom line;  the process is navigable, but stressful and fairly expensive. If any of the required steps fail, you risk being back to square one and losing money.  If you don’t need to come back to Thailand just now, you may wish to consider waiting.

 

I found the RTE in London really responsive and efficient throughout. You have to keep trying their phones in the afternoons, but they will answer eventually and give good advice. Eventually, a senior staffer started giving me helpful email advice.
 

You need to start by synchronising flights, ASQ booking and Covid test booking. Best not leave the latter too late as they get booked up. I would allow 3 weeks lead time at least.

 

By now there are several commercial flight options. When I booked, only Emirates was authorised. Before booking, I checked their daily record on Skyscanner/Flightradar and was reassured that both flights had operated as planned every day for a week. Beware of airlines cancelling. Your COE is restricted to the booked flight only! My flight to Dubai was half empty. Not all airlines would have operated it.

 

As regards ASQ there seems to be plenty of capacity at various prices from about 30,000 baht up. Various people I know have reported that their ASQ was fine. But check the fine print in cancellation policy carefully. What if your flight is cancelled or you test positive? Some charge 100% for late cancellation.

 

I booked the Covid test early through a local private GP. To be ultra safe given risk of no result or false positive, I also booked a second test in London with a 24 turnaround. Work out the logistics of the 72 hour rule carefully. Eg, don’t book a flight on Mon or Tues if your test takes 48 hours to come back and your clinic or their lab does not work weekends.

 

The Fitness to Fly certificate can be obtained from a private GP or online Dr but check what you will actually get. I ended up telling the Dr what I thought the Thais would want and it worked, notably A huge bold title

 

I needed a visa. I applied online to the RTE once my office had requested the COE. The online system is clunky and needs a good internet connection. I twice lost the connection and had to start again. Uploading docs is especially finicky. But it worked in the end. I easily got an appointment within a couple of days at the RTE and didn’t wait long when delivering the application.

 

in my case, the COE was the most difficult. My office had to apply with all the required papers in Bangkok and did so 4 weeks ahead. Even so, despite reminders, COE only arrived 36 hours before the flight. Really stressful. RTE were sympathetic, but only Bangkok could approve. I think the new online application process for private cases looks much better.
 

My work insurance covers the Covid requirement, but I got a private one to recoup costs in case of failed Covid test.

 

Do fill out the other two forms from the website in advance including the T8 health declaration. This saves hassle at airport check in and on arrival at Bkk. Those without the latter had a much longer wait. make sure you have all papers and copies at check in. It was quite random what Emirates checked and different in London and Dubai

 

Here are the approx costs in my case:

 

One way flight £ 450

ASQ 60,000 baht

Visa £60

Covid test £200

FTF £85

Travel insurance £50

Two round trips to London re visa £150

 

Good luck!????

 

Will likely report back on ASQ experience in due course

 

 

 

 

[Surelynot]

Wow......I'm sure a number of people will appreciate your effort in posting this.

 

I was considering going back to the UK.....two new grandchildren this summer.....think I will leave it a while as I just can't face the hassle of getting back.

[madmen]

That cost is fairly reasonable compared to numbers thrown around the forums 

 

[Thaiophil]

11 minutes ago, madmen said:

That cost is fairly reasonable compared to numbers thrown around the forums 

 

Full Covid insurance as per Thai requirement would add extra cost. Mine was already covered by my work

[ronaldo0]

Is the COVID insurance with a Thai company or uk ? If I return and have to take out covid insurance with a Thai company as well as insurance I have then it will cost me around 20-40,000bht more as I will be living there all year .

[jayboy]

4 hours ago, Thaiophil said:

Full Covid insurance as per Thai requirement would add extra cost. Mine was already covered by my work

Excellent report.One question if you don't mind.Many of us have work or private insurance covering the COVID risk already.Can one just show the policy or is a letter required from the insurance company needed confirming the specific Thai requirement on cover?

[Peter Denis]

Thanks for this report.  Very helpful for those considering a similar track.

One question > You didn't mention it but for which Visa did you apply that was eligible for the CoE?

[Thaiophil]

31 minutes ago, ronaldo0 said:

Is the COVID insurance with a Thai company or uk ? If I return and have to take out covid insurance with a Thai company as well as insurance I have then it will cost me around 20-40,000bht more as I will be living there all year .

I am not an expert, but it likely depends on which visa you are applying for. For the “retirement” visas(O-A, O-X), you need a Thai policy covering the full length of your stay. My visa was work related so our office corporate  health insurance was enough

[Thaiophil]

19 minutes ago, jayboy said:

Excellent report.One question if you don't mind.Many of us have work or private insurance covering the COVID risk already.Can one just show the policy or is a letter required from the insurance company needed confirming the specific Thai requirement on cover?

as just replied to another poster, I think it is driven by the type of visa you have or will get

[Thaiophil]

10 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

Thanks for this report.  Very helpful for those considering a similar track.

One question > You didn't mention it but for which Visa did you apply that was eligible for the CoE?

mine was non-immigrant F, but the types of visa allowing COE are set out on the Thai Embassy website and you will find numerous threads on the same

 

Had I not been able to get a visa through work, I researched the O-A as a fallback and it seems not so hard to get if over 50

[Jumbo1968]

8 hours ago, Thaiophil said:

I finally got back to Thailand after 7 months in the UK yesterday. Now starting 2 weeks quarantine. I thought it could be helpful to run through the process step by step and offer a few tips to help others who qualify for a Certificate of Entry. The process may differ in other countries and is still evolving, so keep checking the Thai Embassy website.

 

Bottom line;  the process is navigable, but stressful and fairly expensive. If any of the required steps fail, you risk being back to square one and losing money.  If you don’t need to come back to Thailand just now, you may wish to consider waiting.

 

I found the RTE in London really responsive and efficient throughout. You have to keep trying their phones in the afternoons, but they will answer eventually and give good advice. Eventually, a senior staffer started giving me helpful email advice.
 

You need to start by synchronising flights, ASQ booking and Covid test booking. Best not leave the latter too late as they get booked up. I would allow 3 weeks lead time at least.

 

By now there are several commercial flight options. When I booked, only Emirates was authorised. Before booking, I checked their daily record on Skyscanner/Flightradar and was reassured that both flights had operated as planned every day for a week. Beware of airlines cancelling. Your COE is restricted to the booked flight only! My flight to Dubai was half empty. Not all airlines would have operated it.

 

As regards ASQ there seems to be plenty of capacity at various prices from about 30,000 baht up. Various people I know have reported that their ASQ was fine. But check the fine print in cancellation policy carefully. What if your flight is cancelled or you test positive? Some charge 100% for late cancellation.

 

I booked the Covid test early through a local private GP. To be ultra safe given risk of no result or false positive, I also booked a second test in London with a 24 turnaround. Work out the logistics of the 72 hour rule carefully. Eg, don’t book a flight on Mon or Tues if your test takes 48 hours to come back and your clinic or their lab does not work weekends.

 

The Fitness to Fly certificate can be obtained from a private GP or online Dr but check what you will actually get. I ended up telling the Dr what I thought the Thais would want and it worked, notably A huge bold title

 

I needed a visa. I applied online to the RTE once my office had requested the COE. The online system is clunky and needs a good internet connection. I twice lost the connection and had to start again. Uploading docs is especially finicky. But it worked in the end. I easily got an appointment within a couple of days at the RTE and didn’t wait long when delivering the application.

 

in my case, the COE was the most difficult. My office had to apply with all the required papers in Bangkok and did so 4 weeks ahead. Even so, despite reminders, COE only arrived 36 hours before the flight. Really stressful. RTE were sympathetic, but only Bangkok could approve. I think the new online application process for private cases looks much better.
 

My work insurance covers the Covid requirement, but I got a private one to recoup costs in case of failed Covid test.

 

Do fill out the other two forms from the website in advance including the T8 health declaration. This saves hassle at airport check in and on arrival at Bkk. Those without the latter had a much longer wait. make sure you have all papers and copies at check in. It was quite random what Emirates checked and different in London and Dubai

 

Here are the approx costs in my case:

 

One way flight £ 450

ASQ 60,000 baht

Visa £60

Covid test £200

FTF £85

Travel insurance £50

Two round trips to London re visa £150

 

Good luck!????

 

Will likely report back on ASQ experience in due course

 

Did fly with Emirates if so what were the entry requirements for Dubai, what was your departure airport ?

[Thaiophil]

5 hours ago, Jumbo1968 said:

Did fly with Emirates if so what were the entry requirements for Dubai, what was your departure airport ?

yes Emirates from London. Required documents for Thailand allow transit in Dubai as well

[Whale]

On 10/24/2020 at 5:45 AM, Thaiophil said:

in my case, the COE was the most difficult. My office had to apply with all the required papers in Bangkok and did so 4 weeks ahead. Even so, despite reminders, COE only arrived 36 hours before the flight. Really stressful. RTE were sympathetic, but only Bangkok could approve. I think the new online application process for private cases looks much better.

 

Great write up/advice.

In my case (O-A in UK) the CoE was perhaps the easiest thing, both pre-approval (1st stage) and full approval (2nd stage) was 1 hour for each. I had lunch in the middle of applying which made the whole CoE process about 4 hours from start to printing off the CoE.

[Whale]

23 hours ago, ronaldo0 said:

Is the COVID insurance with a Thai company or uk ? If I return and have to take out covid insurance with a Thai company as well as insurance I have then it will cost me around 20-40,000bht more as I will be living there all year .

 

I used my overseas policy, I emailed the broker and they sent me at letter by email to print saying I was covered for general insurance including covid between dates x and y and that it was for X USD. As I applied for an O-A I also asked them to sign the Thai document for long stay 400/40 insurance, they would not sign any form that was not of the companies own making, so I contacted LMG and they set up a policy for 6000 baht for me, it obviously is quite useless as an insurance policy for illness but it gets you the certification required for the O-A visa.

[davidcraig]

I have a visa and a Certificate of Entry (CoE). But my fight with Lufthansa has been cancelled and I've been moved to Qatar Airways arriving on the same day at about the same time. Will I be able to use my existing CoE or do I have to go through the whole CoE process again?

[ubonjoe]

3 minutes ago, davidcraig said:

Will I be able to use my existing CoE or do I have to go through the whole CoE process again?

You should inform the embassy about the change.

[hydraides]

Good to hear you could get back into Thailand. A few questions.

 

1) Do you get to choose your own state quarantine, or is it chosen for you?

 

2) Could you please go into more information about the visa you applied for to enter into Thailand? & What documents did you require for the Visa

[Thaiophil]

18 hours ago, hydraides said:

Good to hear you could get back into Thailand. A few questions.

 

1) Do you get to choose your own state quarantine, or is it chosen for you?

 

2) Could you please go into more information about the visa you applied for to enter into Thailand? & What documents did you require for the Visa

yes you can choose any approved ASQ hotel from quite a big range. For me, it was important for outdoor exercise to be allowed. Not possible in some places

 

My office got me a visa, but I could also have got a one year O-A.  Latter requires Thai health insurance

[Resident Alien]

On 10/26/2020 at 3:44 PM, davidcraig said:

I have a visa and a Certificate of Entry (CoE). But my fight with Lufthansa has been cancelled and I've been moved to Qatar Airways arriving on the same day at about the same time. Will I be able to use my existing CoE or do I have to go through the whole CoE process again?

 

On 10/26/2020 at 3:49 PM, ubonjoe said:

You should inform the embassy about the change.

CoE's I have seen do mention arrival flight number.

You must request a new CoE when arrival flight has changed.