Thai News

The official entry conditions and procedures are announced:

• Travel by air from the approved countries . Currently, Thailand has approved quarantine-free entry for arrivals from Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, UK, USA, and Hong Kong.

  • Must have been in the approved countries for 21 days or more.

  • For returning Thais and foreign residents, it is not necessary to be in an approved country for 21 days or more, as long as they are travelling from Thailand to the approved country/s and return within the last 21 days.

• A Certificate of Entry (COE) or a proof of registration for entry Thailand via specified platform. Currently, the COE can be applied online https://coethailand.mfa.go.th/ . [This service be replaced by a ThailandPlus online form from 2nd November].

• A Medical Certificate with an RT-PCR lab result indicating that COVID-19 is not detected issued no more than 72 hours before travelling.

  • A Medical Certificate of Recovery is also required from those having a lab result with COVID-19 detected to show that that have recovered from COVID-19 no later than 3 months.

• An insurance policy, with coverage clearly identified as no less than US$50,000, which should cover the cost of the treatment and other medical expenses associated with being infected with COVID-19, including in-patient hospitalisation for the whole duration in Thailand. *Except for Thai citizens who are entitled to the national health insurance system.*

• A payment confirmation for no less than a 1-night stay upon arrival at the approved quarantine facilities ( Alternative Quarantine -- AQ, Organisation Quarantine -- OQ, or Alternative Hospital Quarantine -- AHQ ) , or SHA Plus-certified hotel.

  • The prepayment should cover both the 1-night accommodation, the required RT-PCR COVID-19 test, and an Antigen Test Kit (ATK).

• A Certificate of Vaccination (fully vaccinated).

  • For those fully vaccinated, proof includes a Certificate of Vaccination with a vaccine approved by Thailand's Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) (see here ) or the World Health Organisation (WHO) (see here ) no less than 14 days before their travel date.

  • and a Certificate of Vaccination with at least one dose of the approved vaccine at least 14 days before their travel date.

  • Travellers under 12 years of age, travelling with their parents or guardians, are exempt from this vaccination requirement, but must have a Medical Certificate with an RT-PCR lab result indicating that COVID-19 is not detected issued no more than 72 hours before travelling.

• Undergo the entry screening (health screening and Immigration procedures) upon arrival at Thailand's International Airport, and submit all the required documentation to the officials.

• Then proceed directly by the approved airport transfer to the pre-arranged COVID-19 test centre, or the reserved accommodation and undergo the required RT-PCR COVID-19 test on Day 0-1.

  • Travellers must download and install the specified alert application (MorChana), and must wait within the accommodation only for the test result, which should be available within the day.

• If testing negative for COVID-19, travellers can go anywhere in Thailand.

  • Each traveller will receive an ATK that they have prepaid when booking the accommodation.

  • Any traveller experiencing COVID-19 symptoms must immediately get a test done, using the provided ATK. If experiencing no symptoms, travellers must use the provided ATK for COVID-19 self-testing on Day 6-7, and show the result to staff at the hotel or accommodation, as well as record the result (bot detected and non-detected) in the MorChana App.

  • Hotel/AQ staff must recommend that travellers self-monitor themselves for at least 7 days. If any traveller experiences COVID-19 symptoms, Hotel/AQ staff must immediately notify the officer in charge of communicable disease control in their respective area.

  The information does not cover the case if testing positive. No doubt this will mean a 2 week stay in an expensive quarantine centre to be paid for by the traveller.

Just days after what appeared to be a watershed announcement by Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan ocha that the country would reopen on a blanket basis to visitors from an initial list of 10 countries without quarantine and a suggestion that both alcohol and nightlife may be allowed after December, comes news that stronger controls will be maintained.

According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor Yuthasak Supasorn, in recent days, there will still be a mandatory one day quarantine requirement for all visitors while he also suggested that there was no going back to the former tourism market with busy nightlife scenes as Thailand seeks a new more sober type of tourism.

The one day quarantine will surely be a miserable time has one is locked up in a hotel room cell contemplating the dreadful consequences should the test result prove positive.

There seems little easing of the onerous restrictions requiring pre-booked tests, covid insurance, quarantine hotel bookings and installing a tracking app.

The current news about bar openings suggests that bars can open from 1st December but only until 11pm and it seems that nightclubs and GoGos could be shuttered for some months yet.

The Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha's made a big TV address to the nation announcing that quarantine would soon not be required for visitors from 10 countries. The changes are promised from 1st November 2021.

The ten countries mentioned included Singapore, Germany, the US and the UK, but full details will have to wait for a meeting of the CCSA covid coordinating group on Thursday.

Hopefully other essential details such as whether a Certificate of Entry will still be required may also published after the meeting.

On the bad news side it seems that early visitors will find a rather locked up Thailand with bars closed until 1st December and even then, late night bars and GoGos may still be closed for a while longer.

The Thai government plans to promote tourism next year under the new slogan:

 Visit Thailand 2022, Now Even More Amazing Thailand Has It All.

An ambitious plan for Phuket and the tourism sector was approved during an online meeting of the Centre for Economic Situation Administration, chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

A tourism promotion fund will be set up, not just to promote tourism but also to effect changes in the tourism industry for sustainable growth, as well as reducing as much red tape as possible to promote tourism.

  The Thai government has postponed the re-opening of Bangkok, Pattaya and several other provinces from 1st October to 1st November. However it does seem to be the idea that Fully vaccinated visitors will be forced to quarantine for 1 week rather than 2. But of course there will be all the previous mass of restrictions, paperwork, expense and hassle as in Phuket.

Travel from Thailand to the UK is also very difficult with the UK defining Thailand as a red list country requiring British and Irish people to quarantine in an expensive hotel for 10 days, and banning other nationalities from travelling from Thailand to the UK. In addition it has also been noted that the UK refuses to recognise any vaccinations administered in Thailand.