News Forum - Thai YouTuber complains about Test & Go: ‘Foreigners won’t come back if facing this…’

[PapayaBokBok]

I flew to BKK in Nov 2021  and had a bit of a issue---was a bit confusing but did work out in true thai style

Of course making the hotels alphabetical would seemingly fix this--also vehicles on stand by--would they let hotels park for free and drivers wait inside?   seems they called my hotel for the driver once i finally found my rep lady........

So many easy fixes but would a 3rd world country with  no regulation or policing allow this in a country full of image--status and corruption?....add in the me first mentality, esp when it involves the tourist and his CASH

So yes--easily fixed in theory.....whos gonna enforce this?  who will sustain order?...big money--big face...

[ace035]

1 hour ago, tezzaaa said:

 ..Might have been worth mentioning that for those tourists that are unfortunate to be positive on arrival and asymptomatic, the insurance scam - that they were forced to purchase to get their Thai pass- will not be valid and they end up having to fork out 34,000 baht for a random hotel room that is supposed to cost less than 800 bht per night ...

Quit that scaring mongering thing, you assume that incoming tourists will be automatically positive for covid when they arrive in Day 1, you don't have any evidence to back up your claim about insurance scam.

[Grumpish]

35 minutes ago, oldschooler said:

BA badly needs to Die.

Great Safety Record matched only by its monumental Service Failures last 25 years or more….

Even though I am in receipt of a healthy pension from BA, I have to agree with you - over the last 25 years they have gone from being one of the best to no better than most low cost carriers, while still charging a premium price. 

[TheDirtyDurian]

I arrived last week. My experience wasn't like the OP. Airport was dead on the whole, no issue with crowding whatsoever. 

Do agree about finding the hotel rep though. There are about 5 kiosks with many many hotel names on them. And it is a bit of a mission to work your way through them to find yours. 

It could be done in a better way. Like the hotel saying they're at kiosk 3 or something. 

However, having said that, it  only took me a few minutes to recognise the sign from the hotel and then it's five minutes to the car. 

Anyways, hopefully all this will be gone next month and we can get busy complaining about massive queues to take ATKs at the airport...

[jerm138]

Can anyone who has gone there recently clarify for me how it works after you clear customs and immigration?

We're moving there from the USA on the 20th of this month. We have met all requirements (visas, Thailand pass, insurance, PCR test/hotel, etc.)  My wife is Thai but traveling on a US Passport. Her family lives in Bangkok.

Our PLAN is to arrive, get through immigration and customs, hand off our luggage and our dog to her family who will meet us outside the airport, then we go to our Test and Go hotel until we're free to leave.

The way this post and comments read, it's sounding like we are shuttled directly to our hotel and won't have access to the outside to hand off our luggage and dog. This creates obvious problems for us if we're unable to meet with her family before going to the hotel.

Thanks in advance for any information on this.

Edited April 11, 2022 by jerm138
clarification

[Lawyers_Guns_and_Money]

12 hours ago, Thaiger said:

After reportedly seeing crowds of tourists left waiting for hotels at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, a Thai YouTuber has voiced his discontent about Thailand’s unpopular Test & Go entry scheme He said the system was a mess, with hotel staff having to shout to finding their guesses, while tourists searched for the logos of their hotels, as if they were playing a puzzle game. Atichan Cherngchavano, who goes by his online alias “Au Spin9”, is a popular YouTuber reviewer of IT products in Thailand. On Sunday, he posted pictures of crowds of international travellers at the airport on his personal Facebook […]

The story Thai YouTuber complains about Test & Go: ‘Foreigners won’t come back if facing this…’ as seen on Thaiger News.

Read the full story

I suppose an email prior to arrival from the hotel with the counter # would have been too complicated. 

[Marc26]

12 minutes ago, jerm138 said:

Can anyone who has gone there recently clarify for me how it works after you clear customs and immigration?

We're moving there from the USA on the 20th of this month. We have met all requirements (visas, Thailand pass, insurance, PCR test/hotel, etc.)  My wife is Thai but traveling on a US Passport. Her family lives in Bangkok.

Our PLAN is to arrive, get through immigration and customs, hand off our luggage and our dog to her family who will meet us outside the airport, then we go to our Test and Go hotel until we're free to leave.

The way this post and comments read, it's sounding like we are shuttled directly to our hotel and won't have access to the outside to hand off our luggage and dog. This creates obvious problems for us if we're unable to meet with her family before going to the hotel.

Thanks in advance for any information on this.

So how is the dog being transported?

 

Now this was a long time ago(16 years ago) but I had to go to cargo building to pick up my dog

But if you do need to pick up the dog in cargo, maybe write a note that certain family member is picking the dog up for you

 

 

When my wife landed, they asked what hotel and they directed her to go to an area and wait

 

But this being Thailand, I think you also can arrange for your family to be somewhere near and have someone meet them with the dog

[oldschooler]

1 hour ago, Grumpish said:

Even though I am in receipt of a healthy pension from BA, I have to agree with you - over the last 25 years they have gone from being one of the best to no better than most low cost carriers, while still charging a premium price. 

Ha! Not many would so admit ….My remorseless  (one way) vendetta with BA began in 1998 when BA computer crash incredibly prevented boarding pass issues ! No Manual Back Up. My Business Flight to Montserrat Disaster Delayed Six Hours ….. the following year my family Florida vacation flight delayed Eight Hours …. for same reason…. no corrective action !! Rude Check In 2002 for Kuwait Business Flight by Worlds Oldest & Ugliest Hostess ( common feature). Unionized. Three Strikes & Out. Never used BA again. Until Strike -Cancelled EVA LDN-BKK Flight forced BA Sole Direct Alternate.

 

[oldschooler]

49 minutes ago, jerm138 said:

Can anyone who has gone there recently clarify for me how it works after you clear customs and immigration?

We're moving there from the USA on the 20th of this month. We have met all requirements (visas, Thailand pass, insurance, PCR test/hotel, etc.)  My wife is Thai but traveling on a US Passport. Her family lives in Bangkok.

Our PLAN is to arrive, get through immigration and customs, hand off our luggage and our dog to her family who will meet us outside the airport, then we go to our Test and Go hotel until we're free to leave.

The way this post and comments read, it's sounding like we are shuttled directly to our hotel and won't have access to the outside to hand off our luggage and dog. This creates obvious problems for us if we're unable to meet with her family before going to the hotel.

Thanks in advance for any information on this.

Hmmm….  If still Thai Citizen she must enter & leave Thailand on her valid Thai Passport.

[Soidog]

1 hour ago, jerm138 said:

Can anyone who has gone there recently clarify for me how it works after you clear customs and immigration?

We're moving there from the USA on the 20th of this month. We have met all requirements (visas, Thailand pass, insurance, PCR test/hotel, etc.)  My wife is Thai but traveling on a US Passport. Her family lives in Bangkok.

Our PLAN is to arrive, get through immigration and customs, hand off our luggage and our dog to her family who will meet us outside the airport, then we go to our Test and Go hotel until we're free to leave.

The way this post and comments read, it's sounding like we are shuttled directly to our hotel and won't have access to the outside to hand off our luggage and dog. This creates obvious problems for us if we're unable to meet with her family before going to the hotel.

Thanks in advance for any information on this.

I think @Marc26 has just about answered your question. When I arrived back in January this year, you clear passport control (immigration) and collect your bags. You then walk out where there is an area cordoned off with 5 or 6 hotel desks representing all of the SHA+ hotels. I found the one I had booked and the girl told me to take and seat and wait. The seating area has around 100 seats and was fairly busy and chaotic. After 10 mins a driver arrived and called my name and a Thai family name (mum dad and two kids). We walked outside where the hotel minibus was waiting and straight in to the bus. I got the impression that the whole pick up area was controlled and the general public (your wife’s family) would not be allowed in to that area?  
 

I would suggest you get one of your family members to go to the airport and enquire what will happen and how they can collect your bags and dog. My sense is that simply meeting them outside and handing things over just won’t be possible. I think they will have to collect your dog from some other airport building and they may need to go to your hotel and collect your bags, with you having left them with reception.
 

You really need to have someone check first hand what the procedure is. Unless anyone on this forum has recently done the exact same thing, then I think you may just get opinions rather than facts. 

 

Good luck.  

[jerm138]

3 hours ago, oldschooler said:

Hmmm….  If still Thai Citizen she must enter & leave Thailand on her valid Thai Passport.

This is incorrect

[Saltire]

11 hours ago, Grumpish said:

Better than I did with a now expired voucher from Lufthansa, there were bookable flights but Lufthansa expected me to pay an additional amount that was actually more than the cost of a new ticket if I wanted to use the voucher. 

News just in - they refunded my Credit Card today!

However thanks to the change in the exchange rate (I had to pay in Thai Baht in Dec 2019), my 25k baht flights cost me around £650, but my refund (from BA Bangkok) was £80 less.

Just in time to pay my UK tax bill.

 

[oldschooler]

7 hours ago, jerm138 said:

This is incorrect

good you have that covered though

[TheDirtyDurian]

10 hours ago, oldschooler said:

Hmmm….  If still Thai Citizen she must enter & leave Thailand on her valid Thai Passport.

No, That is completely wrong. 

[TheDirtyDurian]

11 hours ago, Lawyers_Guns_and_Money said:

I suppose an email prior to arrival from the hotel with the counter # would have been too complicated. 

My hotel just said they would be waiting by exit 10 which is the door number, numbering the counters would be the next step. 

[Leo]

"Au said he wanted the people who launched the program to try using it themselves...." Is Au really Thai? This is a pretty much unknown concept in Thailand.

[Leo]

13 hours ago, jerm138 said:

Can anyone who has gone there recently clarify for me how it works after you clear customs and immigration?

We're moving there from the USA on the 20th of this month. We have met all requirements (visas, Thailand pass, insurance, PCR test/hotel, etc.)  My wife is Thai but traveling on a US Passport. Her family lives in Bangkok.

Our PLAN is to arrive, get through immigration and customs, hand off our luggage and our dog to her family who will meet us outside the airport, then we go to our Test and Go hotel until we're free to leave.

The way this post and comments read, it's sounding like we are shuttled directly to our hotel and won't have access to the outside to hand off our luggage and dog. This creates obvious problems for us if we're unable to meet with her family before going to the hotel.

Thanks in advance for any information on this.

As Soidog already inferred, you are not allowed to meet anyone at the airport, except two people: The hotel rep (who is actually airport staff) and the hotel driver. I'm afraid that luggage and dog go with you to 1-day quarantine hotel. Ask the hotel for updated info or if the family can come to the hotel instead and pick them up. Hotels have some leeway in this process, some hotels are stricter than others.

[Benroon]

16 hours ago, Marc26 said:

You people on here really don't understand what "opinion" means

Stating something you don't have any clue or knowledge of isn't an "opinion"

Great point, but to be fair if only real  opinion based on real knowledge was allowed, 90%+ of the comments would disappear - what would all the whiners trotting out old wives tales ad finitum do with all the new free time they’ve got ? 

I’ve come to the conclusion, the lower the IQ, the more you will struggle here as in my circle of friends I don’t seem to know anyone who has a problem with migration, police, dual pricing, or any other angst that negates the beaches, the food, the people, the weather etc etc. You know the people, the ones that can clear a bar in 10 minutes flat, spouting vehemently that the Leo is 5 baht more expensive than their local, whereas it was buzzing before they went in! 

 

[Benroon]

13 hours ago, jerm138 said:

Can anyone who has gone there recently clarify for me how it works after you clear customs and immigration?

We're moving there from the USA on the 20th of this month. We have met all requirements (visas, Thailand pass, insurance, PCR test/hotel, etc.)  My wife is Thai but traveling on a US Passport. Her family lives in Bangkok.

Our PLAN is to arrive, get through immigration and customs, hand off our luggage and our dog to her family who will meet us outside the airport, then we go to our Test and Go hotel until we're free to leave.

The way this post and comments read, it's sounding like we are shuttled directly to our hotel and won't have access to the outside to hand off our luggage and dog. This creates obvious problems for us if we're unable to meet with her family before going to the hotel.

Thanks in advance for any information on this.

Interesting one - my hotel rep simply asked how many items of luggage I had, if I had said none as someone was picking it up I can’t see I would have been stopped. Infact less work for the rep/driver. If between you and your relative you choose a door number I can’t see a problem with you simply walking there and handing the luggage to them. There are no covid police patrolling. 

Having said that why not just take the luggage with you to keep it simple and get your family to pick it up from the hotel ? 

[Benroon]

28 minutes ago, Leo said:

As Soidog already inferred, you are not allowed to meet anyone at the airport, except two people: The hotel rep (who is actually airport staff) and the hotel driver. 

Who is policing that ? 

[Poolie]

17 hours ago, Poolie said:

How often has that actually happened though? Say in the last five weeks? Give us numbers.

And answer came there.................none!! I thought so!

[Poolie]

1 hour ago, Benroon said:

You know the people, the ones that can clear a bar in 10 minutes flat, spouting vehemently that the Leo is 5 baht more expensive than their local, whereas it was buzzing before they went in! 

Oh dont I know them. They've potentially ruined many a holiday, I say potentially because I've developed a beacon and usually bolt before they appear like a cloud on a sunny day!

[Leeshard]

On 4/11/2022 at 12:05 PM, Pompies said:

This chaos creates a virus transmission risk far worse than flying in a plane or traveling by train or bus. Such incompetence is notice globally and no one in Europe, the US or even regional counties will subject themselves to such risk &  inconvenience. The fact that British Airways is cancelling all flight to Bangkok from October onwards is a clear indication that Thailand is no longer a valuable destination. And we can thank one man for all of this because he put himself in charge and the end of the barrel of a gun. 

British Airways have cancelled flight UNTIL October, after which they will resume. Please get your facts right. 

[Marc26]

2 hours ago, Leeshard said:

British Airways have cancelled flight UNTIL October, after which they will resume. Please get your facts right. 

Them and the ones you can spot right away are the "liars" and "exaggerators"

It seems I only come across them mostly in Bangkok 

I like to have a chat and meet people at the bar

 

But these guys are way too eager to talk and within 5mins you know they are full of shit

[Guest1]

4 hours ago, Leo said:

Ask the hotel for updated info or if the family can come to the hotel instead and pick them up. Hotels have some leeway in this process, some hotels are stricter than others.

The family is Thai, it is a Thai Hotel, why do I think, that if someone from the family calls the Hotel itself, they may have a good chance to get the most possible and updated information?

Just saying ....