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

[jerm138]

Thanks for the answers. We called the hotel and they suggested the same (meet the family at the hotel instead of the airport) We didn’t think that would be an option. 
 

The hotel also said that the dog can stay with us for an extra 1000 THB which I’m happy to pay to keep him with us instead of dumping that burden onto the family (especially if we happen to test positive and have to quarantine.)

 

Also as an FYI for anyone following this: the person we spoke to said that whether or not you can meet someone right there at the airport just depends on how strict airport staff are being that day. 
 

Getting through the airport and to the hotel is going to be a bit of a challenge. We normally travel light, but since this is a permanent move we’re fully loaded. Between the two of us, we’ll have 4 large luggage pieces, 2 roller carry ons, and the dog kennel. If the scene described in the article is typical, it will be insanity. But that’s Thailand. 

[Guest1]

34 minutes ago, jerm138 said:

we’ll have 4 large luggage pieces, 2 roller carry ons, and the dog kennel.

I assume, you mentioned that to the hotel? Just saying, it sounds a lot for a Camry or even a minibus, but with other people in?

[TheDirtyDurian]

3 hours ago, Guest1 said:

I assume, you mentioned that to the hotel? Just saying, it sounds a lot for a Camry or even a minibus, but with other people in?

The transport will not be shared, but yes. The hotel should be made aware of luggage requirements. 

[Guest1]

14 minutes ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

The transport will not be shared, but yes

You may talk with Soidog about that. 

"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."

https://thethaiger.com/talk/topic/13127-news-forum-thai-youtuber-complains-about-test-go-‘foreigners-won’t-come-back-if-facing-this…’/?do=findComment&comment=192668

I think that some Hotels will do that more "efficient", as soon they have more parties to pick up, from one flight!

[Soidog]

4 hours ago, jerm138 said:

Also as an FYI for anyone following this: the person we spoke to said that whether or not you can meet someone right there at the airport just depends on how strict airport staff are being that day.

Good to hear you have a confirmed plan and even better if you can keep your dog with you. 

As for the situation being dependant on how strict the airport staff are being on that day. That goes for just about everything else in Thailand. Everything from drink driving charges, to visa extensions at immigration, to if you can open a bank account. Everything seems to depend on the individual and what side of the bed they got out of that morning. 
 

Safe trip and post a picture of your dog in Thailand. I hope he/she deals with the steamy weather

[TheDirtyDurian]

10 hours ago, Guest1 said:

You may talk with Soidog about that. 

"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."

https://thethaiger.com/talk/topic/13127-news-forum-thai-youtuber-complains-about-test-go-‘foreigners-won’t-come-back-if-facing-this…’/?do=findComment&comment=192668

I think that some Hotels will do that more "efficient", as soon they have more parties to pick up, from one flight!

Yeah maybe. I guess it's up to the passenger to check with the hotel in advance that the transport is just for them. 

I've done TnG a few times now and every time it was just me. Whether I got lucky or that's standard I can't say. 

On one of the bookings it did specify transport with a Japanese sedan, which after putting your bags in the trunk, and losing the front passenger seat because it's closed off, doesn't leave much space anyway. 

 

[Marc26]

5 minutes ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

Yeah maybe. I guess it's up to the passenger to check with the hotel in advance that the transport is just for them. 

I've done TnG a few times now and every time it was just me. Whether I got lucky or that's standard I can't say. 

On one of the bookings it did specify transport with a Japanese sedan, which after putting your bags in the trunk, and losing the front passenger seat because it's closed off, doesn't leave much space anyway. 

I've confirmed with hotels that my wife and me in a couple weeks, are a private pick up

 

It's kind of ridiculous you have to go through all these covid protocols and then share a ride with strangers 

[Wfh]

Exactly! Why I canceled my trip to Thailand last week. 

[Poolie]

32 minutes ago, Wfh said:

Exactly! Why I canceled my trip to Thailand last week. 

I expect they're almost suicidal now.

[Alavan]

On 4/11/2022 at 6:19 PM, 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.

What is the use of a test & quarantaine in your hotelroom if you meet persons on the airport before this operation? If positive you could already have infected those people before going in quarantaine (although I guess the chance of them infecting you could be larger).

[Alavan]

On 4/11/2022 at 7:11 PM, oldschooler said:

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

which would make passport control a lot more easy and fast

[Benroon]

On 4/12/2022 at 8:16 AM, Poolie said:

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!

Market it !!

Imagine that - an anti expat, I demand nubile ladies to sit on my lap for free, you should be honoured to sell me large Leo's for 2 baht more than 7-11 device and who thinks it's a good idea to put AC/DC on in a buzzing bar!

Keep us up to date with your progress 

[Poolie]

28 minutes ago, Benroon said:

Market it !!

Imagine that - an anti expat, I demand nubile ladies to sit on my lap for free, you should be honoured to sell me large Leo's for 2 baht more than 7-11 device and who thinks it's a good idea to put AC/DC on in a buzzing bar!

Keep us up to date with your progress 

I wouldn't hold your breath. I like a quieter environment, and know just where to get it, except when there's rugby on, and, even then, I know where the welsh (Johnathan Davies by, He's greeeaat he is) dont go.

[Marc26]

On 4/12/2022 at 3:25 AM, Guest1 said:

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 ....

I have learned to let the Thais handle things........and stay out of it, it usually works out

May not be the way you would do it, but it works...............

[jerm138]

On 4/12/2022 at 7:48 AM, Guest1 said:

I assume, you mentioned that to the hotel? Just saying, it sounds a lot for a Camry or even a minibus, but with other people in?

Yes, we contacted the hotel and explained the situation. They have a van shuttle and said they can handle it.

Good question though! That could be an ugly last-minute mess if we weren't prepared.

[Marc26]

1 hour ago, jerm138 said:

Yes, we contacted the hotel and explained the situation. They have a van shuttle and said they can handle it.

Good question though! That could be an ugly last-minute mess if we weren't prepared.

When I took my dog to Thailand, the Thais were always helpful 

 

I don't think they ever saw a German Shepherd before!   

[jerm138]

Well, we made it to Thailand and MOST everything went very smooth. The biggest hiccup we had was at the airport in Chicago. The office that issued our Thailand pass accidentally left one letter out of my wife's first name. So when we went to check in for our flight (4 hours early) they refused to let us check in because the "names didn't match."  We were trying our best not to panic but we were already making contingency plans in case they wouldn't let her board. We ended up standing there next to the ticket counter for over two 2 hours with all of our luggage and our huge dog kennel waiting for the office in Thailand to email them to explain that the spelling of the name doesn't have to be perfect, only the passport number matters.

They finally checked us in with very little time to spare.

Our arrival in Thailand went very smooth. We landed just before midnight. There was someone waiting just outside the jetway with my wife's name on a card (and her name was spelled correctly... too bad that person wasn't the one who created our Thailand pass). She was there to explain the process of retrieving our dog.

We had a 5-minute wait at the immigration counter, the shortest of all my annual trips for the past 20 years. After clearing Immigration, we walked out to the baggage area. Our dog was already there in the oversize baggage area waiting for us. Another very nice staff member helped guide us along. My wife took the dog to the Agriculture office while I waited for the luggage. By the time I got all the luggage off the belt, she was already finished with the paperwork at the office. They even allowed us to let the dog out of the kennel right there in the baggage area so he could walk around.

Next, we went to the customs office to declare our dog and pay the 1000 THB fee. Again, everyone there was extremely nice and helpful and seemed to love our dog.

After that, we walked out into the area where you catch the shuttles to the hotel. When you enter that area, it's sort-of a "T" intersection: you can only go left or right, then waaaay down at the end of each direction, there are tables set up to request your hotel shuttle. We already knew we had to go to table #5. We turned right because we saw the big "5" on a sign down there. Then they redirected us all the way to the other end to the OTHER table #5 for our hotel. This seemed a bit stupid to me to have two tables with the same number but on opposite ends of the airport and serving different hotels, but I don't get worked up over these things, I just say "it's Thailand" and move on.

We had to wait about 20 minutes for our shuttle since we had to have our own. We asked a security guard if we could take our dog outside to relieve himself and she allowed us to do so. Again, very helpful people the entire time. The area didn't seem too crowded. Definitely nothing like what we saw in the article. But by this time it was about 1am so that probably played a role.

The rest was straight-forward. We arrived at the hotel, got our noses poked, then went up to the room. They delivered food and beer to us even though it was now 2am. The next morning at 10am, we got our negative test results and hired a van to bring us to the house.

We've been here a few days now and I have to say it was well worth all of the trouble for us. However, if anyone I know starts thinking of coming here on holiday I will STRONGLY encourage them to wait until all of these restrictions are lifted. It's just too much expense, anguish, and risk to try to come here right now if you're not staying permanently. I can't imagine going through all of that then having to quarantine in a hotel the entire trip if you happened to test positive. And if you DO come, check all of your paperwork for typos.

They're saying in the papers that the restrictions will all be lifted soon. If so, this long story will be moot, but I still wanted to tell it in case it helps someone else.

 

Edited April 24, 2022 by jerm138

[Marc26]

7 minutes ago, jerm138 said:

Well, we made it to Thailand and MOST everything went very smooth. The biggest hiccup we had was at the airport in Chicago. The office that issued our Thailand pass accidentally left one letter out of my wife's first name. So when we went to check in for our flight (4 hours early) they refused to let us check in because the "names didn't match."  We were trying our best not to panic but we were already making contingency plans in case they wouldn't let her board. We ended up standing there next to the ticket counter for over two 2 hours with all of our luggage and our huge dog kennel waiting for the office in Thailand to email them to explain that the spelling of the name doesn't have to be perfect, only the passport number matters.

They finally checked us in with very little time to spare.

Our arrival in Thailand went very smooth. We landed just before midnight. There was someone waiting just outside the jetway with my wife's name on a card (and her name was spelled correctly... too bad that person wasn't the one who created our Thailand pass). She was there to explain the process of retrieving our dog.

We had a 5-minute wait at the immigration counter, the shortest of all my annual trips for the past 20 years. After clearing Immigration, we walked out to the baggage area. Our dog was already there in the oversize baggage area waiting for us. Another very nice staff member helped guide us along. My wife took the dog to the Agriculture office while I waited for the luggage. By the time I got all the luggage off the belt, she was already finished with the paperwork at the office. They even allowed us to let the dog out of the kennel right there in the baggage area so he could walk around.

Next, we went to the customs office to declare our dog and pay the 1000 THB fee. Again, everyone there was extremely nice and helpful and seemed to love our dog.

After that, we walked out into the area where you catch the shuttles to the hotel. When you enter that area, it's sort-of a "T" intersection: you can only go left or right, then waaaay down at the end of each direction, there are tables set up to request your hotel shuttle. We already knew we had to go to table #5. We turned right because we saw the big "5" on a sign down there. Then they redirected us all the way to the other end to the OTHER table #5 for our hotel. This seemed a bit stupid to me to have two tables with the same number but on opposite ends of the airport and serving different hotels, but I don't get worked up over these things, I just say "it's Thailand" and move on.

We had to wait about 20 minutes for our shuttle since we had to have our own. We asked a security guard if we could take our dog outside to relieve himself and she allowed us to do so. Again, very helpful people the entire time. The area didn't seem too crowded. Definitely nothing like what we saw in the article. But by this time it was about 1am so that probably played a role.

The rest was straight-forward. We arrived at the hotel, got our noses poked, then went up to the room. They delivered food and beer to us even though it was now 2am. The next morning at 10am, we got our negative test results and hired a van to bring us to the house.

We've been here a few days now and I have to say it was well worth all of the trouble for us. However, if anyone I know starts thinking of coming here on holiday I will STRONGLY encourage them to wait until all of these restrictions are lifted. It's just too much expense, anguish, and risk to try to come here right now if you're not staying permanently. I can't imagine going through all of that then having to quarantine in a hotel the entire trip if you happened to test positive. And if you DO come, check all of your paperwork for typos.

They're saying in the papers that the restrictions will all be lifted soon. If so, this long story will be moot, but I still wanted to tell it in case it helps someone else.

Great result

 

As I said before, everywhere in Thailand took very good care of my dog

It he was a big black German Shepherd that most had never seen before!

 

The Thais were brilliant with him