Has anyone yet done the day 5 ATK test? How does it work, do you get some serial number on the test kit and it has to match when you upload to MorChana app? Or can you just use any test kit you have "aquired" with negative result and upload a picture of that? Just asking for a friend ;)

Do they list both when collected and when reported? Thailand actually looks at time of report - but CVS for example only list time of collection

Time of collection

Thanks - I think they used to be lot more expensive. I called them b/c medicare was not listed on their drop down and I wanted to make sure it is accepted - a couple of notes:
1) medicare - select "other", medicare will only pay for the $90 option
2) if the results don't come in 24 hours you can call them and if for some reason they are lost or ???? (but they say it doesn't happen) they claim that they will do the 90 minute one for free. This matters b/c on a previous trip cvs results didn't appear until 4 days after my test (and after the flight) but when they did post they posted for a date 3 days prior! - and there was NO was to reach anyone on the phone.
3) the booking time is a bit strange - they ask for your last departing flight and then schedule your apt based on that. It is easy to change to the time you need (eg many base timing on your FRIST departing flight)
tomwhom - THANK YOU VERY MUCH - this is very valuable info for me (and I suspect many others!)

Yes this caught me first and later on I figured out and then changed the time.

do NOT donwload the Moochana app - Covid helped Thailand becoming a better place
 

We just performed the ATK tests and sent pictures of the negative results by email to our test&go hotel (which at least in the case of the Shangri La they kindly recommended). Did not yet hear back from them.

In NO case would we ever download the (non compulsory) Moochana tracking/phishing/data stealing app. Thailand is not championing data security and since I applied for the Thai pass I got several phising and spam emails related to the application. At least they warn about this ;). BTW: I did never download the EU data mining apps either.

Bangkok is empty, businesses are starving and people are running around OUTSIDE masked like chickens in the heath :D (completely useless if you then ride a crowded train with the same wet mask you touched a thousand times). Not exactly your holiday spot, guess the seaside would be better. At least they learned to be nice and accomodating. Promises for a good future which I wish to them!

Post Covid Thailand will definitely be a nice place choosing right your season and destination. No Russians / Chinese in sight either. Will treat ourselves to a weekend at the Centara Railway Hotel in Hua Hin: premium seafront deluxe room THB 4500 net per night including (room service) breakfast! The fuel for the car may cost more......

The Russians are normally not in BKK. I was there end of December and early this month too. The business is picking up and will pick up more because of the doing away of the day 5 PCR test. The biggest issue is if the tourist test positive and the quarantine for a longer period. Once and if they do away it or shorten the quarantine until you test inconclusive people will stay away.
Chinese will probably start end of the year and it is they who sustain the major part of the industry of Thailand. The government always make a mess of things and would eventually do the right thing with pressure from the industry.

Any testing upon arrival is a hindrance to tourism, a pre departure test is the maximum that the market tolerates. Wonder why most EU countries can do that and even suppressed the pre departure test for vaccinated travellers ?

About the Chinese, I love your optimism, BUT the Chinese communist party in charge does not want its people leaving the country. Anyway they sadly will be busy for a lomg time following the disastrous zero Covid policy.

Yes testing on arrival is the biggest hinderance to tourism in any country. As for the Chinese their tour operators have been told that they will be opening up for outbound travel by end of this year so they have already started to make bookings too.

Basically you could do the ATK test outside of you nostrals and submit 100% certainly negative result back (via email)?

You are so right. We have this excellent return ticket ARN AMS BKK with Klm in J for less than Eur 1.000. Due to fly end of April. We would love to go to BKK and Koh Samui again. I have no problems with testing before travelling. However the risk of testing positive on arrival is not acceptable. Unless this changes within the next weeks, we will cancel the trip. Feel very sorry for all the kind people whose income depends on tourism.

no predeparture PCR test anymore...
 

now it looks like the predeparture PCR test will be dropped first, while the PCR after arrival and day 5 ATK will still stay in place...
Pre-travel tests to be dropped (bangkokpost.com)

Well dear BinSabai, one must bee a fool to leave without predeparture PCR test and then risk to test positive on arrival going to hospitel jail or whatever.

Thai nationals already now can enter without predeparture test.

you are WRONG on this!

Thai nationals coming back through test & go or sandbox need a predeparture PCR test as well; they are only exempt from having an insurance!
on the other side, Thais who come back and serve quarantine, do NOT need a predeparture test

I would agree with the first point!

The positive rate on arrival of travelers from some origins were very high (up to 17%) a few weeks ago. Since then the pre-departure test is seen as not reliable by some Thai authorities. They don‘t care, that people from most of the countries (i.e. Russia) with that high numbers don‘t travel anymore. They also prefer to have the testing business in Thailand to having it in the countries of origin.

On the other hand without the need of a pre-departure test the positive rate on arrival will go up as the number in many Western countries are high and there will always be a lot of people who are inexperienced enough to travel to Thailand without getting tested before departure. And Thailand hasn‘t enough resources for PCR testing many more travelers.

I‘m quite sure, that they will change the test on arrival to an ATK test or that they will scrap it in the next months. And everyone who travels to Thailand should have an ATK test before departure as long as there are tests after arrival.

Oh that sounds much better - thanks

Do note though, that nothing is certain until the Garuda sings..

Yes, nothing is certain. But the odds are a lot higher since the DoH changed its mind a few weeks ago.

I agree with you about the pre departure test. I do not think anyone wants to risk getting stuck in a hospital or a quarantine facility in Thailand.

Just my personal opinion but dropping the pre-departure doesn't make sense. I will not travel to Thailand until that awful Thai Pass website (with glaring security and data privacy issues) bites the dust.

Part of the issue is that the PCR tests are not identical. The test used in Thailand is more "sensitive" then what the majority of the world uses. I don't know the specifics, but it will ping positive at a lower detection level then tests typically done in the USA / Europe / Etc.

Another potential issue upcoming....with more and more locations getting rid of test requirements, the ability to easily get PCR tests, especially with tight / quick turnaround times, will get more difficult....or much more expensive. Or likely, both.

Pre-departure PCR tests are gone as of 1 April. PCR testing upon arrival and ATK testing on day 5 will apparently continue, as will the $20K insurance requirement, as will Thailand Pass/Test&Go.

Good luck with that, Thailand.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand...d-from-april-1

I would rather do the pre arrival PCR than the testing on arrival. It is a pain in the neck.

At the same meeting they‘ve said, that they will decide in April if they will change the PCR test on arrival to an ATK test. The odds are very high, that this will happen.

It‘s very likely that the Thai Pass will be scraped starting on July 1. And between July 1 and now, they will go on easing the measures.

That is as much as they can do. And yes, if anyone thinks, that it‘s not acceptable, he should avoid traveling to Thailand.

[QUOTE=thbe;34086064
That is as much as they can do. And yes, if anyone thinks, that it‘s not acceptable, he should avoid traveling to Thailand.[/QUOTE]

Correct. Definitely Thailand is not yet ready to receive "normal" tourists. There is an obsession for wearing masks absolutely everywhere at least in Bangkok, not only in closed places, mass transit or crowded markets (where it is appropriate), but even at 6 AM in a park.

Doesn't make for a relaxing holiday.

People are absolulety scared, except when they are eating their sweets with friends from the same plate ;) or eating their sticky rice from the same basket.

If Thailand makes it easier for people to quarantine and also not get scammed in the process then obviously more people would go and the tourism would be a lot better.
The cost of a limo from AOT was about 850 BHT to downtown. A PCR test is about 1500 to 2000. Then add a hotel room at a 4 star which is about 2500 to 3000 at max. I normally pay around 1700 to 2200 depending on the season. But now most of the hotels charge you around 5900 to 6200 BHT just for that one night.

Completely agree - restrictions are gradually going away and that is a good thing. Compared to the rest of Asia we in Thailand are miles ahead!

Well that is a pretty unreasonable comparison - and AOT’s cheapest option (the Isuzu) has been 1,100 (or 1,050?) for a long time before covid.

The one night charge comparison is unreasonable too - that contains sealed transport from airport to hotel, includes testing. So by all means, stay away - I don’t see people complaining like crazy about Singapore, Hong Kong etc which are by far more crazy..

That‘s already the case and there are less examples for scams like that as you maybe think. Many tourists had their quarantine in their hotel after testing positive on arrival. The quote of positive tests is down to 0,27% after scraping the PCR test on day 5 and after the number of travelers from Russia went down to almost zero.

Right now Thailand has the highest numbers of infections of the whole pandemic. Same for many traveler‘s countries. But they are still scraping all regulations within 4.5 months (starting mid of February until end of June). It‘s up to you to think, that they should be faster and that they should scrap all measures right now.

I‘ve been to Phuket in September last year and six times to Bangkok since November 1. And I‘ve saved more money on flights and hotels than I‘ve spent on PCR tests and transportation. Also I‘ve had special experiences. I.e. being the only person at Patong beach within 200 yards or more on a Saturday afternoon. That won‘t happen again.

We all want our old life back. And I‘m happy that the Thai government now follows the plan to scrap all rules until July 1.

No reason to be passive-aggressive (like the rest of your cheerleader mates here) when responding.....just say "if YOU think it's not acceptable, then YOU should avoid traveling to Thailand."

I do think it's unacceptable and I will avoid traveling to Thailand. Given the bumbling dictatorship's recent track record on "opening up for tourists", I suspect millions of other prospective tourists will join me in that decision.

Don't know about millions, but here are 2 who just cancelled their trip.. If you don't trust the testing procedures in other coutnries, why don't you ask your local reprerenstatives to arrange this? I wouldn't mind to do any test monitored by the Thai embassy or consulate BEFORE departure..

With or without the restrictions there aren‘t additional millions of tourists who would go to Thailand until end of June.

Think again.

Mexico - another tourism dependent country but one which has no entry restrictions - had 1.65 million tourists in January 2022. Thailand had 133,000 "visitor arrivals" in the same month.

https://tradingeconomics.com/mexico/tourist-arrivals

In 2021, Mexico had 31 million tourists that brought in $18.5 billion dollars in tourism revenue. In the first ten months of 2021, Thailand had 106,000 tourists.

https://mexicobusiness.news/aerospac...-tourists-2021

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/20...ors%20a%20year.

People are traveling - and want to travel. They just don't want illogical, inane, and expensive barriers to entry (e.g., Thailand Pass, Test & Go, insurance and quarantine scams) foisted upon them when they do.

In the travel context Singapore are now well ahead of Thailand when it comes to ease of entry requirements. Pre-departure lateral flow/antigen test, pre-registration of your vaccination status in a easy to use website (where as far my personal details have not been compromised) and a self administered, self procured on arrival lateral flow/antigen test.

Whilst on the subject of crazy this article did make me laugh though.

High season is pretty much over anyway. Therefore a careful step by step opening given the fast rising Covid cases in the western countries is reasonable at this time. Nobody is expecting millions of tourists anyway during 2. quarter of this year

Mexico‘s tourism numbers don‘t depend on China, but Thailand‘s do. And Russia isn‘t an important market for Mexico‘s tourism, but it‘s for Thailand. The fact, that there are extremely low numbers of travelers from China and Russia, has nothing to do with Thailand‘s entry restrictions. And additionally the war in Europe affects the numbers of travelers from Europe.

Tourism needs months, maybe years to ramp up from zero. Other countries in SEA just started to open. They will need half a year or more to get back to more than 50% of it‘s pre covid standard.

Some posters in this thread are in as much denial as the Thai government muppets regarding the deleterious effect of entry restrictions on tourism. As long as the government continues with the current program, the results will remain disappointing.

Meanwhile, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Philippines have all re-opened with far less onerous restrictions. So no, compared to the rest of SE Asia, Thailand is not "miles ahead".

"Vietnam on Wednesday scrapped quarantine and other travel restrictions for foreign visitors in an effort to fully reopen its border after two years of pandemic-related closure, the government said.Visitors entering the Southeast Asian country only need to show a negative COVID-19 test prior to arrival, according to the Health Ministry, which said the new measures were effective immediately."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/trave...ne/7059362001/

"Cambodia on Thursday dispensed with a requirement for visitors from overseas to take Covid-19 tests, as the country moved ahead of most neighbours by relaxing most restrictions to spur more investment and tourism, officials said."

https://www.bangkokpost.com/travel/2...rseas-visitors

"Double-jabbed visitors are welcome in the Philippines, provided you have proof, and can present a negative Covid test on arrival. This needs to be a PCR test taken 48 hours before departure, or an antigen test no less than 24 hours before the first leg of your journey."

https://www.euronews.com/travel/2022...ons-for-every-

Thailand was the first country to open in SEA and other countries tried to learn from Thailand. I.e. Singapore copied Thailand‘s concept for months.

All was set to an ongoing easing of entry restrictions - until omicron came up. In December/January there was a fight between PM, MFA and TAT on one side and the Vice-PM/MOH on the other side. It wasn‘t really about entry restrictions, but about the Vice-PM wanted the PM‘s job. We‘ve seen a huge throw back about entry restrictions at that time.

But that is over. All ministries in Thailand want to ease the entry restrictions as much as possible now. For several reasons they need a couple of months for that. But it‘s very likely, that all restrictions will be gone after July 1. That is not just a forecast, that is the current plan of the Thai government. They‘ve published that plan a couple of days ago.

Since the reopening, I‘ve been to Thailand seven times. I know and I‘ve seen, that it‘s not just about easing entry restrictions. In the tourists areas almost everything was closed for more than a year. People gave up their businesses. People applied to other jobs. People went back to their home towns. Airlines cancelled their flights. Vietnam, Cambodia and Philippines will need months to ramp up their tourism industries to 50%. Thailand is miles ahead of them. And countries like Vietnam and especially Cambodia will need BKK to get the tourists into their country.

The removal of the pre-departure test is helpful from a logistics perspective but not a big deal to me. As other have mentioned, I am going to test anyways as I want to mitigate the risk of testing positive upon arrival. I would actually prefer to require a PCR test within 24 hours of departure and no test gymnastics upon arrival. But it is Thailand, they have to do it "Thai style".

By the way, for those saying that they do not see as much complaining about non-sense in other Southeast Asian countries. It's because Thailand is the most visited and has a very loyal travel contingency. I love Hong Kong, it is a lost cause though. Singapore? Not even a comparison. I think the Philippines and Vietnam are smart to try and help their tourist industry a bit while Thailand fumbles around in getting to where we all know they will ultimately land. It will take all of these areas a long time to get back to something that looks normal on tourist numbers. Just the lack of flight and the time to get new flights scheduled etc takes time.