Interesting, I visited Thailand earlier this year and today got email that my Thailand Pass request is registered and also got new personal key code.

I checked the email headers and it's actually from tp.consular.go.th and all links point to actual site, not to some scam (unless whole tp.consular.go.th is taken over..)

Maybe just a hick-up in the system

edit: the warnings in red are included in the message I received :)

got this as well
guess this is not a hiccup of the system, but a warning about scam-Emails sent to everybody, who ever applied for a Thailand pass

"The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) and Thai Chamber of Commerce have both stated the changes are not enough to encourage wider foreign tourism and travel.

The FTI in particular has stated this weekend that they will continue to petition and urge the government to entirely drop the Thailand Pass and test and go process, replacing it with a simple vaccine verification. They do not believe dropping only the pre arrival test will make much difference and pointed at an increasing number of countries with little to no paperwork, testing, and restrictions required to visit."

and

"The Thai Chamber of Commerce stated that the steps made a positive move forward but far too slow and the current plan to treat Covid19 as endemic in four months will put Thailand significantly behind other tourism destinations. They suggested immediately moving forward the timeline to dropping restrictions and regulations around travel and testing.

The Hotel Association of Thailand joined FTI by stating that they supported the total and complete removal of Thailand Pass and Test and Go as soon as possible to restore their business and the economy."

https://thepattayanews.com/2022/03/1...-restrictions/

Lobby groups were criticizing restrictions or too slow reopenings all the time during the pandemic and in all countries...

Some of us know Thailand and the tourism business very well. That‘s why I‘m more happy, that the entry restrictions will be fully scrapped until July 1 than I‘m angry, that it still takes so long.

And I have four more trips to Thailand until July 1, where I have to pay for tests and more expensive transportation every single time.

How many trips to Thailand until July 1 make you so angry?

Yes lots of people going back to the Provinces hurt business too in trying to open up. They need them to come back to BKK. Also the Chinese and Russian tourists make a lot of the numbers. Chinese of course a lot more than the Russians. Flights have to be arranged and slots have to be cleared too not only in BKK but from other countries and overflight permissions etc.
It is going to take a while to get back and I also have been there a few times since November. March was a lot better than December.

Testing positive
 

I am about to fly to Bangkok in 2 days. As recently recovered from COVID (first positive 18th Feb, negative since16th March) I am wondering what will happen if the pre-departure or the on arrival test turn out positive?

Am I still able to fly and most importantly can I move freely within Thailand? I cannot find any exact information on the Thai government's website.

As far as I know if you got tested positive on 18th Feb and if you have a negative since 16th March, you would not get positive again so soon. I do not think if you tested positive on arrival, then you can move around freely. You would have to quarantine.

Very possible to still test positive with a PCR test for upto something like 3 months after recovery and the PCR tests carried out in Thailand are supposed to be more sensitive than most. Have you got a recovery certificate/letter that states you've had COVID & recovered?

Yes this, you need to have a doctors note saying you have recovered plus copy of positive test and date.
Most airlines will accept this if u test +, then if u test + on arrival you present the letter - then
they may take u to hospital for antibody test or they may let you proceed
if they take u to hospital it is up to the MD what they do - mostly you should be okay, but there are a few stories of people being made to quarantine - most are allowed to proceed.

New possible plan/rumour:

“If the government approves [this move] and the situation improves further, the ministry will propose lifting all travel restrictions on June 1," he said, adding that this means fully vaccinated foreign tourists would be able to enter Thailand freely.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40013682

original plan of the government is 1. July...
now it is the tourism minister that is talking about 1. June... several times already, the government did follow the health minister and not the tourism minister....you can decide yourself what will be more likely...

For sure it‘s better if they are discussing an earlier date of scraping all entry restrictions than discussing a later one.

Yesterday Thailand had 27,024 new infections, which includes 46 from abroad, which includes 15 from test&go. That means that 0.056% of all detected infections are issued by travelers under test&go. And the number of undetected cases under test&go is almost zero, while there are many more undetected domestic cases.

So they could scrap all restrictions (but being fully vaccinated/boostered) without a significant impact on the pandemic.

so the new rules have been confirmed in the Royal Gazette and from tomorrow 1. April, there is no predeparture PCR test anymore necessary...
hope that does not increase the percentages of positive tested tourists after arrival... we will have to monitor that

What is the current turnaround time on Test & Go Applications?

from what I hear anything between less than 24 hours up to 6 days

Will let you know another data point once mine and my partner’s come through - submitted both yesterday afternoon for our return from our trip out over Songkran.

Reports on reddit are a lot faster results (apparently since Russians have stopped applying - they were a very large percent of applications, some say as much as 86%).

I received the approval for both of us this morning - total turnaround time is just shy of 18 hours and over-night :tu::tu:

My T&G recently took 10 days but I see many reports this week of very fast turnarounds <24hours

Mine was ~14-hours. Quite fast.

Trying to fill this in now for Phuket.

1. Do we need to pay for PCR before applying for Thailand Pass?
2. Do we need to make a "PCR" test appointment for children (5 and 2 years old) even though they will have a saliva test?

Thanks

1. Yes.
2. ?

What actually happens if you test positive? Are you taken away and put in a public hospital as the website seems to indicate, or are you allowed to isolate in your room. Single traveler.

depends on location, your symptoms, health authority in charge, available options and your negotation skills...
Hospital isolation, hospitel, stay in hotel or change to other hotel, isolation in own condo/house, state quarantine....there are many different stories

All true but I doubt very much that a foreigner would be put in a public hospital as the OP asked. If hospitalized it would be the hospital associated with hotel if on arrival. After that I don't know.

with no word I said, that any foreigner will be put in a public hospital. I am also not sure whether the OP knows the difference between public and private hospitals in Thailand.
and I also know foreigners, who have been treated in public hospitals for Covid, some free of charge and some at very low expenses...
and yes of course, if you test positive during test & go and have severe symptoms, then the obvious option is the hospital which collaborates with the test & go hotel

How can a foreigner be treated in public hospital? There are so many horror stories of testing + and without symptoms, but being forced into a long hospital stay and very high cost. They can't all be made up?

I did not claim that those stories are made up...there are many, in particular during the start period of sandbox and test & go....but it seems more and more common sense and less harsh measures prevail!

First: Of course they could be all made up. In these days there are many lies about much more serious and obvious subjects. We have a war on information about almost everything.

It‘s as BinSabai said. It depends on different factors, where you end up after tested positive. If your Thai contacts are as bad as possible and you are as incapable as possible, then you will end up in the worst scenario possible, which is staying in a expensive hospital for 10 days. In some countries of the world some people get their pride from being as dumb as possible. Thailand doesn‘t belong to that kind of countries.

The most important advice is to manage your situation as much as possible actively by yourself if you are tested positive. Most people, who end up in a hospital without having symptoms, did nothing but waiting and after 1-3 days of them doing nothing, the Thai authorities took their actions. If you have any kind of personal contacts to Thai people (including hotel management staff as i.e. a frequent guest) use them. And if your are talking to an official face-to-face try to get dressed in an appropriate way before. Even if the pre departure is scrapped, get tested before departure. Traveling to Thailand from a country with a high rate of infections without being sure of being negative belongs to the most stupid things someone can do.

Very soon that will be history anyway as all restrictions will be scrapped starting from June or July. That‘s in two or three months.

There will be more changes starting on May 1. The Minister of Health is preparing requests to the CCSA (which decides about that kind of regulations).

The Minister of Tourism requests the following changes:
- changing the PCR test on arrival to an ATK test starting from May 1
- scrapping all corona linked entry restrictions starting from June 1 (that means the scrapping of the Thailand Pass)

The question is, if the Minister of Health will wait for the end of Songkran before he will publish his requests or if he publishes them before. I think, it will be the same requests as requested by the Minister of Tourism.

We were never as close to get rid of that entry restrictions as we are now.

Thank you. I sent messages to the two hotels I normally stay at in Bangkok (depends on location) to ask the same question. These are five-star hotels. Neither one has responded to my question. Normally they respond almost instantly. I guess the answers are not clear…

We had the same questions.

The hotel we are staying at in Phuket has told us that if we are positive, we will need to discuss with the hotel on next steps. Next steps range from quarantine in the hotel to quarantine in the hospital. I take that to mean that if you are smart, you can probably quarantine in the hotel (especially if the hotel gets more of your cash).

I don’t want to state the hotel but it’s not a huge chain and it’s a 5 star.

I certainly hope you don't test positive - if you are unfortunate please do tell us what happens.

Also if you do get a response please let us know - the conventional wisdom is that it is an MD makes the decision but if the hotel has a say that would be useful information.

Quick Test & Go question... Has anyone successfully used an existing general annual travel insurance policy, like one of those credit card ones? Or does everyone have to buy the Thailand specific one? No sweat, as it's only a few $s, but why pay extra if you don't need to, eh?

Also I was planning to use my usual taxi company rather than bundle it into the hotel. Do they still need proof of transfer wrapped into your hotel booking? (I'm looking at HKT FWIW)

Thanks

2. The website is for a "PCR" test. However children under 6 don't have a PCR test, they have a saliva test. So the question is, do we need to book that on thailandpsas.com beforehand? Or we just turn up and the kids have the appointment?

They won't issue the pass without a paid Covid test.

I don't know what they are doing about kids.

I did not used CC insurance, but generic travel insurance from Europe
I called the insurance to ask if they can specifically send me a document about the Thailand requirements, they said that they do it everyday for people going to Thailand.

Got my test and go in 5 hours with that.

Yes, using Amex travel insurance. For my first trip in September I‘ve got a document for the duration of that single trip. When I‘ve requested documents for more trips, they‘ve sent me a document which covers 12 months. I‘ve used that document for a couple of COEs and TP so far without any problem.