Kalboz

News article ... Thailand to warmly welcome inoculated travellers

https://www.ttgasia.com/2021/01/26/t...ed-travellers/I seriously doubt the 10 million figure for this year ...

But then again ... https://www.ocregister.com/2021/01/2...ions-underway/

transpac

Not sure an industry group spokesperson expressing a desire qualifies as "news"?

Every possible scheme has been floated, by government and trade association types, for months.

The "government" response to the vaccine situation has been ABYSMAL. "Stories" change hourly, and if you criticize the "authorities" you're looking at the threat of jail.

Perhaps, in nine to twelve months, after much of the local population has been vaccinated, foreign tourists, who can prove acceptable vaccination reords, will be allowed entry without quarantine.

But even that's unicorn territory as of today. Certainly won't be letting them in in March or April of this year.

I don't even bother posting this sort of drivel, a complete waste of time.

BinSabai

the 6.9 million in 2020 comes mainly from the 2 months before the covid-shutdown. my best guess is that they will open for inoculated travelers for the main season 21/22, probably Nov/Dec 21...until then quarantine will remain but probably shortened and some releases of certain strict and unnecessary restrictions...

estnet

No one seems to be talking about the elephant in the room (at least for me) not only is the quarantine a problem but if you test + you are either taken to a hospital or a "field" hospital where you may be in a huge area without any privacy and in a closed area with many people who have tested positive. The actual procedure when you test + in quar is not clear and there are some pretty scary reports out there. To me it's a bit of a black hole - unknown and scary- but it sort of doesn't matter for me b/c I won't do the quarantine ....

BinSabai

tell me of one case where they put a westerner into a field hospital!
I have heard of several westerners, who were tested positive during quarantine, had no or mild symptoms, put in a single room in a hospital and released after 10 days
I will be in quarantine in march...

restlessinRNO

This 10 day hospital stay would of course be at their expense. In addition some medical insurance plans would be reluctant to pay for a 10 day hospital stay of an asymptomatic Covid-19 patient.

BinSabai

it certainly helps to check the insurance policy to prevent such unpleasant suprrise!

Kalboz

CoE requires an actual Covid-19 insurance policy coverage. The trick is to find a reputable one that will actually pay for such hospital stay, directly to the hospital or reimburses you.

We did the 15-day quarantine (not 14 days) and it was not such a bad time. But there was 4 of us, and the meals at Le Meridien were great.

goodeats21

Couple questions for those that have been through the processes...
I am planning a trip for Feb.

I have good insurance through work, which covers me when out of USA. I have a letter from them detailing coverage, but doesn't specifically list COVID as covered. How particular is the requirement for proving insurance?

Similarly, is there a standard "fit to fly" form that is used? I can get my Doctor to provide something, but not sure if there is specific language needed or something?

Any practical advise appreciated.

BinSabai

for the insurance i got a confirmation letter from my international insurance that stated
- covers treatment for Covid 19
- more than 100'000 USD
- inpatient and outpatient
- for the entire period of my stay in Thailand
it depends a bit on the officer of your embassy that approves the application for COE

fit to fly: usually the embassy provides a form on the website (example below), but it looks like there are many different forms around and as long it states "fit to fly" and is signed by a doctor, you should be fine

eccentricfusion

My insurance through my work provides many times the required coverage, including internationally during travel. The issue though, I got a big book of all the benefits/coverage but it didn't specifically list COVID being covered either, although it most definitely is. I just went out and bought additional insurance (I used SafetyWing personally, although a few different sites sell insurance from Tokio Marine) that specifically had the coverage. It cost about $80 for two months. They provided a one page letter to download that specifically stated everything that was required by the Thai Consulate in LA. I have seen people in a Facebook group mention that having a one page letter is helpful when submitting for the visa/COE - can't expect the visa guy to go through 200 pages of what is covered and try to figure it out - that is why I ended up just buying some additional insurance.

The fit to fly form there is no standard, although there are a few templates provided on the consulate website. I went through Dr. Donna (from medconsultasia.com) based off recommendation on a Facebook group - 400THB and the letter was exactly what was needed by immigration in Thailand. I just needed to upload a negative COVID test, sent them a message on WhatsApp, got it all done in about 15 minutes. I would have went to my primary care provider but due to the timing of my flight, I was getting the COVID test results on a weekend and my primary doctor was not working on the weekend. 400 THB isn't much anyway.

transpac

Every country, consul may have different requirements, best to check with them, review, then ask follow-on questions.

https://thaiembdc.org/notification/n...ioninthailand/

The applicant must first contact the Embassy or Consulates-General in jurisdiction area through emails (as below) to retrieve his/her personal link to upload additional documents.

If you're still on OH then email NY Consul.


The Royal Thai Consulate-General, New York
Website: https://www.thaicgny.com/
Email: [email protected]

BinSabai

My international insurance also exceeds the needed multiple times. It's also pretty expensive, the whole reentry process to Thailand involves many additional costs and efforts (ASQ hotel, PCR test & FtF, many documents etc.) so that I want to avoid to pay for additional insurance...In addition 2 months insurance might be ok for a visa waiver entry, but my visa goes until october and I guess 2 months insurance coverage would not be sufficient.
It took me some effort to let my insurance write a confirmation letter as needed, but finally I got one and the embassy approved at first try

SKT-DK

Yes, it is a costly hassle, and that is part of the reason why I do not want to leave the country.
Currently, there is no COVID insurance requirement for visa extensions, so I think you will be fine there. But if you need a certain data point, I can report back on the current state of affairs in about a month's time

escape4

The Thai Embassy where I applied for CoE did not initially accept my application, they wanted an explicit confirmation that covid was included. So I asked my insurance company for a letter and my CoE was subsequently approved. In addition the hurdle might not only be obtaining the CoE: when I checked in for my flight, the airline staff specifically asked me where can they see in my documents that covid was covered because they were looking for it in my insurance documentation but could not find it at first; they were clearly looking for this wording specifically. So I would advise getting a letter from the insurance company if covid is included in coverage but not specifically mentioned.