seigex

i haven’t seen any actual details of this yet, says it’s free, but not sure how and where. Hopefully I get some details when i get there

seigex

Just to give an update on my entry, now that I'm settled in to my hotel. The process was still extremely smooth. Did help that I arrived at midnight, so the airport was pretty much empty.

I took a CVS PCR test on 12/22 thinking I would get results within a day as they had been coming on previous tests. Drove to LAX for my overnight at the Hyatt Regency and hadn't received the test by 7pm on 12/23. I booked a 1hr PCR at 7am at LAX TBIT, which was $200 (refundable minus a $12 fee) thinking I wasn't going to get results until after my flight started. I woke up, got ready, parked at the economy lot and hopped on a shuttle to head to TBIT for my test appointment.

While on the shuttle I got a notification from the MyChart app that my results came. Checked them out and they were NEGATIVE and it said RT-PCR. I got to LAX, then hopped on the Hyatt Regency shuttle back to the hotel so I could print my results, which they happily did for me at the front desk. The format was kinda crappy, not tabular at all, just a bunch of info, had my name and DOB, and that the test was taken at CVS, and some other info, but didn't show the doctor or specimen number.

I headed back to LAX, and checked in with JAL when they opened at 8:30am. The gate agent checked my thai pass, took my PCR results, asked me when I signed up for the thaipass, mentioning that he heard they were stopping it. I told him when I ordered (a month ago) and that all that have been approved are still valid. He gave me boarding passes and checked my bags.

Flew in to NRT, no security check (since coming from the US), we were dumped right in to the international terminal gate area. The NRT gate only checked my passport against my boarding pass. On the plane I was handed two forms to fill out for immigration, one an attestation on if I'm sick, and the other just general immigration arrival information (name, dob, where are you staying, passport number, etc).

I got to BKK, was first off the plane, so headed up to the chairs, they took my packet with my printed QR code, insurance, and asked if I had a booking confirmation for my hotel (I didn't), but she said that's fine. She filled out another form for me, and sent me to a station where they verified my documents. No problem whatsoever with the free CVS PCR test. I was then sent to border control/immigration agent who took fingerprints, a picture, verified my passport, and then passed me through.

I collected my bags and then went through the "nothing to declare" door at the exit, then on to the baggage carousels. I then exited from exit C on the left side if facing the exit doors by the baggage carousels, which dumps you in to the place where all the hotel tables are. I found mine, they found me on their roster (only person for this hotel coming in at that time I guess) and got me a car. Car took me to a hospital by the hotel, they weren't expecting me, asked if I had gotten confirmation. After I said yes, they called the hotel to verify. I had to tell them I had a fast track test. I got my nose swabbed with one qtip (didn't go deep at all) and my tongue swabbed with another qtip and I was done. They gave me the ATK test but said that it won't matter since they are requiring a second PCR now and that the hotels have the info.

I got to my hotel, they checked me in and gave me my room and said they are still getting the details on the second PCR test and will give me info tomorrow. But apparently there are government hospitals in the area where a test needs to be done free of charge. They said they should have info for me tomorrow to get it booked up. This works perfect as I need an administered test to get back to the US anyway in 6 days. They told me that the police told the hospitals not to give results until 8am, so I should have my results by then and assuming I'm negative, I'm free to go.

Since the ATK was no longer needed, I went ahead and took the test which came out negative. This puts me a little bit at ease while I wait for my results.

Overall the process was really smooth, even being Christmas time, and now I'm just biding my time until I get my results in a 5 or so hours.

Also, even at 1am, it's hot/humid as hell here and my driver did NOT use A/C for the 30 minute drive. So, that was fun.

tr3k

- that's Thailand for you. (Also, clearly not worth paying for the "fast track" test then )

Guyin

What is the reason for not giving the results before 8:00am? I want to go for the hotel breakfast before 8:00am.

thbe

I had four stays with a Thailand Pass so far and I got the results of the tests on arrival appr. 90 minutes after the swab tests were done.

SHA++ means, that the hotel is partnering with a hospital. Every hospital offers their medical package. The time between swab test and test result varies depending on the hospital. You get what you pay for.

Btw: Usually you can’t use an official PCR test in Thailand to board an international flight or enter a another country later without special request as the documentation doesn’t match the requirements.

Södermalm

Can you say which hospital/hotel you got the test at? Also, did they charge extra for the fast track test, and is it worth it?

I am concerned about getting a painful test on arrival in BKK (I know it probably depends mostly on the person administering it).

seigex

Bumrungrad Hospital down the street from Hyatt Regency (coordinated by the hotel). I paid to get it in 4 hours but was told when I got here that hospitals were told not to call until 8 to report results. It cost me $60 extra. Without that, it says result are in by "afternoon", so still worth it IMHO since I'm only here for a week. The test wasn't painful at all. I've seen some videos of people getting their brain tickled, but I've also seen a lot of reports similar to mine where they do the inside of the nose and the sides of the tongue.

Södermalm

Thanks!

seigex

tbf, the non-fasttrack says sometime in the afternoon, so still better with my limited time here (7 days in country), although I'm not happy that the 4 hours turned in to 7 hours. Just about 8am here and I called the front desk and they said "oh your results will be in this afternoon" I told them that I had fast track and he said "oh, it takes 4 to 6 hours to get them" to which I replied that it's been 7, and he signs and says he'll call the hospital. That was 20 minutes ago.

I'm supposing, purely a guess, so that if someone is found positive, they aren't trying to deal with it in the middle of the night or early morning. Otherwise, no clue.

estnet

Shift change? Short staffed at night to put the samples in the machine?

seigex

Why would the police be involved in the decision if it were one of those reasons though?

seigex

finally got results back, negative! woohoo.. they brought me the key to my room and I'm free to move about the country

Guyin

That makes sense. Or maybe they don't want people to escape in the dark after testing positive, just kidding 😂

estnet

Who said anything about the police?

SKT-DK

Welcome to freedom - easy process, right?

To be honest, the withholding of results and police story sounds a bit made up (by the staff, not you of course). What the hotel staff told us when we arrived back was that night time arrivals usually takes a while longer than day time as the labs are not operating at night.