Thai News

A kind Thai forum user has posted (translated) Swiss embassy advice about the possibility of foreigners in Thailad being forced into expensive hospital or hotel quarantine should they test positive for covid.

1. According to the Thai emergency decree, everybody who has a positive Covid test is required to inform the health authorities. Failure to do so can result in a fine up to 20K Baht.

2. People who are positive can be put in Quarantine in ASQ (alternative state quarantine) on their own cost. Refusal to go into quarantine can be punished with up to 2y in jail and 40K Baht fine.

3. People with severe symptoms will be sent to a Hospital. The Thai health authorities can decide whether to send the people into a field hospital or a "hospitel" (communal quarantine places).

4. People with no or light symptoms can be allowed to quarantine at home, only if

- they are less than 65y old
- they have no existing health problems that would put them on high risks
- they have a place to stay that is suitable for quarantine.

5. The Swiss Embassy is aware that some condo management companies have denied isolation in the condo block due to the risk for the other residents, in which case, the health authorities would then order the quarantine in a ASQ hotel, hospital or hospitel.

Insurance in Thailand can be a nightmare at the best of times with the chances of a payout often being very remote indeed. But now in covid times Thailand's mandatory quarantine in state facilities even when not actually in need of treatment leads to a horror show.

But there is worse, the worthless insurance that you have to buy to get an entry may be deemed insufficient for the immigration police checking your papers on arrival. So what do you do then?

Well the Thai authorities have now set up a facility to buy sufficient worthless insurance to get you in to the country should you be pulled up at the border.

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports and the Office of the Insurance Commission invited 10 insurance firms to sell COVID-19 insurance policies to the visitors who lacked such insurance coverage as they arrive.

Thailand has re-imposed mandatory 10 day hotel quarantine measures for foreign Visitors to try and protect itself from coronavirus Omicron variant.

The one day quarantine scheme titles Test & Go has been suspended until at least 4th January.

Travellers who already submitted Test & Go applications to enter the country will be allowed to visit with 1 day of quarantine plus the nasty sting on the tail of a second PCR test  on the 5th day of the visit. Of course the government doesn't mention the dreadful consequences of failing this test, 2 weeks isolation in an expensive medical facility.

The Phuket Sandbox scheme will still be available where people are allowed out of their quarantine hotels in the daytime to wander around Phuket.

Update: Likely continuing quarantine

2nd January 2022. See article from thepattayanews.com

Thailand's Ministry of Public Health is recommending that the current hotel quarantine requirements for all visitors to continue at least until the end of January 2022. And also that people who already have an approved Thailand Pass for the Test & Go program, must enter before January 10.

A final decision on these matters concerning the Thailand Pass will probably be made on Wednesday this week and then could be approved by the CCSA on Friday.

Update: Continuing quarantine

5th January 2022. See article from thethaiger.com

At its latest meeting, the Thai government's covid authority (CCSA) decided to continue requiring full hotel quarantine until further notice. Those who have received a Thailand Pass QR code will be allowed to enter Thailand under the previous Test & Go 1 night quarantine program until January 15. The CCSA say there is a possibility that this deadline may be extended upon future review.

The possibility to pass the quarantine period in island quarantine rather than hotel quarantine will continue under the Phuket Sandbox scheme and this possibility has been extended to several other holiday islands, Krabi, Phang Nga, or the Surat Thani islands of Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, and Koh Tao.

Thai vaccine certificates will be valid for COVID-19 pass regimes across the European Union bloc from January.

Certificates of vaccination issued by the Thai Ministry of Public Health will be valid when presented across the European Union member states.

The Ministry of Public Health has clarified that the current Digital Health Pass available through the Mor Prom app in Thailand will be accepted across European Union member states from January.

Thailand will also recognise the European Union's Digital Covid Certificate for citizens of any of the 27 member states of the union on arrival in the kingdom.

Update: UK too

30th December 2021. See article from thethaiger.com

The UK will join the EU in accepting Covid-19 vaccination certificates issued via Thailand's Mor Prom app. The digital certificates, issued by the Department of Disease Control, confirm the holder is fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Such proof is increasingly becoming a pre-requisite for international travel.

British Airways has suspended all direct flights from the UK to Bangkok until October 2022. A spokesperson for BA said:

We apologise to customers whose travel plans are disrupted. Where a customer's flight is cancelled, we always contact them to offer options including a full refund.

As an alternative, passengers had been offered flights to Doha with Qatar with a connecting flight to Bangkok.

The cancellation of flights was due to reduced demand for air travel during the ongoing pandemic. The BA cuts are not specific to the Bangkok route and are part of 2144 flights that have been deleted from BA's winter schedule.