Yet another update to rules for entering Phuket, new exceptions

[dmacarelli]

A friend of mine is in the sandbox now. He was asked what it took to get into Thailand. He sent me this. What can one even say? And my contention is, that the international tourists are taking a far greater risk by coming here, than the locals are by being exposed to them. 

 

1) Apply for a visa
2) Apply for pre-approval for the Certificate of Entry (COE).
3) Meantime check flights and hotels - but don’t book because the visa or COE may not be approved, or in time.
4) Secure $100,000 of Covid-specific insurance. If you already have worldwide health insurance it doesn’t count unless it specifically states at least $100,000 just for Covid. Most policies are available online.
5) Make sure you have valid vaccine proof over 2 weeks old
6) Wait for pre-approval. Usually something is missing, so fix and resubmit
7) Meantime, start to worry about flights. Only 4-5 airlines are approved and fly direct to Phuket. You can’t transit via BKK. I had booked Turkish Airlines (part of Star Alliance) but they cancelled the Phuket flight 3 days before departure. I had to scramble to find another flight within 72 hours (the COE gives you 72 hours “cancel” time otherwise you have to resubmit!) I managed to find a good route on Etihad, but with long layovers.
8 ) After I submitted the pre-approval the official rules were published in the Royal Gazette - now you had to prove pre-payment for a 14 night stay, plus (surprise) pre-payment for 3 Covid tests in Phuket (flat rate of 8,000 baht for 3) one on arrival, one on day 6, last one on day 12. Positive - you’re off to a hospital, even if no symptoms. No self-quarantine!
9) Once you’re pre-approved, confirm and pay for the flights, hotel(s) and Covid tests. The hotel(s) send back an SHA+ approved booking confirmation form.
10) Get an RT PCR test within 72 hours of your first flight. I got one to match the Turkish Airlines flight. But had to get another because of their cancellation and rebooking with Etihad. Because of holidays (and hurricane Elsa reaching Florida) the testing labs shut down for 36 hours. So I had to buy an emergency 24 hour guaranteed test that cost $399!
11) I also had to book, cancel and rebook a “positioning” flight from my home in Jacksonville to Chicago, where the Etihad flight left from. Because of my baggage allowance with United (up to 3 @ 70lbs each) and other factors, I used them to go to Chicago. I had a long layover so I booked a “day-use” Marriott hotel (had to use cash - only $75 - but they upgraded me to a suite. I hung out there for 6 hours - showered and changed underwear and shirt - then back to O’Hare to check in with Etihad.
12) You must make copies of all documents. I made 2 of everything and bought plastic folders for each set and put everything in order. Plus extra copies of ones I thought they may keep - which they did!) Of course the print-heads on my multi-function printer crapped out (a technical term for not working ) so I made 4 runs to the local FedEx office to print and copy all the docs. Then 3 more after the flight change. Oh - that reminds me - meantime I had booked and paid for the hotels. So I had to change the bookings - which meant multiple calls to the hotels and new confirmations and another trip to my friends (now on “Hello Mr. ++++ - nice to see you again” terms!) at FedEx!

Not sure what number I’m on now - finally, the COE approval came 24 hours before departure. One final visit to FedEx to make multiple copies of the COE.
Next number - the journey itself went fine - just very long. 40 hours door-to-door!
Last number - in Abu Dhabi the Etihad people were really worried about my COE “72 hour” extension. They said if the paperwork wasn’t exact what the Thai officials want they get a big fine - and I can’t stay in Phuket. They took copies (Ha! That’s where the extra copies went!) and sent to Phuket for approval. Within 2 hours they got the approval.

The arrival process in Phuket is quite something, but very orderly. The flight to Abu Dhabi was 90% full. Much fewer people on the Phuket flight. Business about 60%. Being in the front cabin means getting off the plane first, which I turn puts you ahead of everyone else through immigration and customs. Because of my status I was greeted by a personal assistant in the pre-immigration Covid registration area. She helped me load the Morchana tracking app on my phone - yup, you’re tracked 24/7 for the 14 days (you also have to refresh the app every day and take a new selfie, plus have your temp checked). After that she escorted me thru immigration and made sure the official stamped my passport correctly (full year visa) and the escorted me to my waiting mini-van to the Four Points Sheraton. I was the only arrival with a personal assistant, so I think I got through to the van in record time - even with a stop to load a DTAC SIM into my phone (my US number uses the e-SIM on my phone, so both my US and Thai numbers are active- here I make the Thai number the primary).

There’s quite a bit more involved but I think I covered the main points.
 

[TobyAndrews]

2 hours ago, Stonker said:

Please  don't misquote me and put it in quotes as if that's what I said when it's clearly not. - You did by the way, but you did add: if that's the way the tourists behave, you are not surprised at the way the hotels treat them. So the Phukets are justified for all the scams, and cheats, they subject the tourist to then?

So they didn't get one set per day?  - Not on the last day no.

That's not what the person making the review, ipshita95, says in their two star review from September 2019, which is that they felt entitled to an additional tea bag as they were still there in the morning. - There was no additional tea bag requested. The word additional does not appear in the review. They wanted the tea bags they were entitled to.

The clue was "landlords charge". - Too long have dogs' rights been ignored, if a landlord collects a fee on behalf of a dog, the dog should receive the fee!

No, that's not a bank fee; that's why it's not called a bank fee. - Who issues a credit card? A  bank, Therefore a fee for using a credit card by the hotel is a bank fee.

However here it is not clear whether the bank fees were paid to the bank, or the hotel. if the fees were paid to the hotel this is illegal because no transaction incurred 

Byeee ..... - Byeeeeeee

 

[TobyAndrews]

1 hour ago, dmacarelli said:

A friend of mine is in the sandbox now. He was asked what it took to get into Thailand. He sent me this. What can one even say? And my contention is, that the international tourists are taking a far greater risk by coming here, than the locals are by being exposed to them. 

1) Apply for a visa
2) Apply for pre-approval for the Certificate of Entry (COE).
3) Meantime check flights and hotels - but don’t book because the visa or COE may not be approved, or in time.
4) Secure $100,000 of Covid-specific insurance. If you already have worldwide health insurance it doesn’t count unless it specifically states at least $100,000 just for Covid. Most policies are available online.
5) Make sure you have valid vaccine proof over 2 weeks old
6) Wait for pre-approval. Usually something is missing, so fix and resubmit
7) Meantime, start to worry about flights. Only 4-5 airlines are approved and fly direct to Phuket. You can’t transit via BKK. I had booked Turkish Airlines (part of Star Alliance) but they cancelled the Phuket flight 3 days before departure. I had to scramble to find another flight within 72 hours (the COE gives you 72 hours “cancel” time otherwise you have to resubmit!) I managed to find a good route on Etihad, but with long layovers.
8 ) After I submitted the pre-approval the official rules were published in the Royal Gazette - now you had to prove pre-payment for a 14 night stay, plus (surprise) pre-payment for 3 Covid tests in Phuket (flat rate of 8,000 baht for 3) one on arrival, one on day 6, last one on day 12. Positive - you’re off to a hospital, even if no symptoms. No self-quarantine!
9) Once you’re pre-approved, confirm and pay for the flights, hotel(s) and Covid tests. The hotel(s) send back an SHA+ approved booking confirmation form.
10) Get an RT PCR test within 72 hours of your first flight. I got one to match the Turkish Airlines flight. But had to get another because of their cancellation and rebooking with Etihad. Because of holidays (and hurricane Elsa reaching Florida) the testing labs shut down for 36 hours. So I had to buy an emergency 24 hour guaranteed test that cost $399!
11) I also had to book, cancel and rebook a “positioning” flight from my home in Jacksonville to Chicago, where the Etihad flight left from. Because of my baggage allowance with United (up to 3 @ 70lbs each) and other factors, I used them to go to Chicago. I had a long layover so I booked a “day-use” Marriott hotel (had to use cash - only $75 - but they upgraded me to a suite. I hung out there for 6 hours - showered and changed underwear and shirt - then back to O’Hare to check in with Etihad.
12) You must make copies of all documents. I made 2 of everything and bought plastic folders for each set and put everything in order. Plus extra copies of ones I thought they may keep - which they did!) Of course the print-heads on my multi-function printer crapped out (a technical term for not working ) so I made 4 runs to the local FedEx office to print and copy all the docs. Then 3 more after the flight change. Oh - that reminds me - meantime I had booked and paid for the hotels. So I had to change the bookings - which meant multiple calls to the hotels and new confirmations and another trip to my friends (now on “Hello Mr. ++++ - nice to see you again” terms!) at FedEx!

Not sure what number I’m on now - finally, the COE approval came 24 hours before departure. One final visit to FedEx to make multiple copies of the COE.
Next number - the journey itself went fine - just very long. 40 hours door-to-door!
Last number - in Abu Dhabi the Etihad people were really worried about my COE “72 hour” extension. They said if the paperwork wasn’t exact what the Thai officials want they get a big fine - and I can’t stay in Phuket. They took copies (Ha! That’s where the extra copies went!) and sent to Phuket for approval. Within 2 hours they got the approval.

The arrival process in Phuket is quite something, but very orderly. The flight to Abu Dhabi was 90% full. Much fewer people on the Phuket flight. Business about 60%. Being in the front cabin means getting off the plane first, which I turn puts you ahead of everyone else through immigration and customs. Because of my status I was greeted by a personal assistant in the pre-immigration Covid registration area. She helped me load the Morchana tracking app on my phone - yup, you’re tracked 24/7 for the 14 days (you also have to refresh the app every day and take a new selfie, plus have your temp checked). After that she escorted me thru immigration and made sure the official stamped my passport correctly (full year visa) and the escorted me to my waiting mini-van to the Four Points Sheraton. I was the only arrival with a personal assistant, so I think I got through to the van in record time - even with a stop to load a DTAC SIM into my phone (my US number uses the e-SIM on my phone, so both my US and Thai numbers are active- here I make the Thai number the primary).

There’s quite a bit more involved but I think I covered the main points.
 

What a nightmare! Why does anyone want to endure this endless aggravation.

Well you made it through. Please enlighten us to any further obstacles you have to overcome Demarcarelli.

[dmacarelli]

13 minutes ago, TobyAndrews said:

What a nightmare! Why does anyone want to endure this endless aggravation.

Well you made it through. Please enlighten us to any further obstacles you have to overcome Demarcarelli.

I live here. I would never submit myself to those ridiculous and extremely arrogant restrictions. 

They don't realize the tourists are taking a far greater risk by coming here, than the Thais are taking by hosting them. They also don't realize Thailand is not the center of the known universe.

But they are soon going to understand, that they need the world 30x more than the world needs Thailand! 

I want to travel overseas. But, I will not do so until all restrictions are lifted. Period. 

[Stonker]

4 hours ago, dmacarelli said:

I live here. I would never submit myself to those ridiculous and extremely arrogant restrictions. 

They don't realize the tourists are taking a far greater risk by coming here, than the Thais are taking by hosting them. They also don't realize Thailand is not the center of the known universe.

But they are soon going to understand, that they need the world 30x more than the world needs Thailand! 

I want to travel overseas. But, I will not do so until all restrictions are lifted. Period. 

You seem to be assuming that "they" want tourists to come.

 

Maybe things would look different if you considered that "they" aren't as desperate for tourists to come as  some think, as they realise that however much Phuket and Pattaya want tourists to return a lot of Thais don't - rightly or wrongly - so all they're trying to do is keep a lid on things and hang on for as long as they can.

[King Cotton]

49 minutes ago, Stonker said:

5 hours ago, dmacarelli said:

I live here. I would never submit myself to those ridiculous and extremely arrogant restrictions. 

They don't realize the tourists are taking a far greater risk by coming here, than the Thais are taking by hosting them. They also don't realize Thailand is not the center of the known universe.

But they are soon going to understand, that they need the world 30x more than the world needs Thailand! 

I want to travel overseas. But, I will not do so until all restrictions are lifted. Period. 

Expand  

You seem to be assuming that "they" want tourists to come.

Maybe things would look different if you considered that "they" aren't as desperate for tourists to come as  some think, as they realise that however much Phuket and Pattaya want tourists to return a lot of Thais don't - rightly or wrongly - so all they're trying to do is keep a lid on things and hang on for as long as they can.

 

Good evening, Stonker!

I'm fairly sure that @dmacarelli, in using the term 'they', meant the Thai tourism authorities and central govt, rather than the Phuket and Pattaya tourist centres specifically - or as you put it, 'a lot of Thais' who I'm sure are not the 'they' at issue. He/she was alluding to a Thai govt officialdom short-sightedness, IMO.

 

[Zorraw]

Hi there, do you know which hotel I have to go when I leave Phuket after 7 days, heading to Koh Samui. Do I need to stay another 7 days in a SHA+ hotel or can I choose a accomodation by myself. Nobody could answer me this until now, so I hope  some of you know more and can tell me :) thank a lot.

[dmacarelli]

12 hours ago, King Cotton said:

Good evening, Stonker!

I'm fairly sure that @dmacarelli, in using the term 'they', meant the Thai tourism authorities and central govt, rather than the Phuket and Pattaya tourist centres specifically - or as you put it, 'a lot of Thais' who I'm sure are not the 'they' at issue. He/she was alluding to a Thai govt officialdom short-sightedness, IMO.

Yes, of course. I have alot of affection and respect for most Thai people. It is the officials (city, provincial and national) which have lost all my respect, and whom I despise to no end! 

[Stonker]

14 hours ago, King Cotton said:

Good evening, Stonker!

I'm fairly sure that @dmacarelli, in using the term 'they', meant the Thai tourism authorities and central govt, rather than the Phuket and Pattaya tourist centres specifically - or as you put it, 'a lot of Thais' who I'm sure are not the 'they' at issue. He/she was alluding to a Thai govt officialdom short-sightedness, IMO.

Thank you, but by "they" I meant exactly the same "they" that @dmacarelli meant, which he's now confirmed he meant.

 

Nothing to do with "the Phuket and Pattaya tourist centres specifically", which I never mentioned or so much as hinted at.

 

"The Phuket and Pattaya tourist centres specifically" also weren't the "a lot of Thais" I was referring to either.

 

By "a lot of Thais"  I meant "a lot of Thais" outside Phuket and Pattaya, so almost the polar opposite to your interpretation which was why I wrote "... however much Phuket and Pattaya want tourists to return a lot of Thais don't ...".

 

The point I was trying to make, evidently not clearly enough, was that while he saw it as "Thai govt officialdom short-sightedness" an alternate view could be that it isn't "short-sightedness" at all but what they want to do.

 

I'll re-write it for you to try to make it clearer:

 

 

You seem to be assuming that Thai govt officialdom want tourists to come.

Maybe things would look different if you considered that Thai govt  officialdom aren't as short-sighted as  some think, as they realise that however much Phuket and Pattaya want tourists to return a lot of Thais don't - rightly or wrongly - so all they're trying to do is keep a lid on things and hang on for as long as they can.

 

[King Cotton]

 

I'm fairly sure that @dmacarelli, in using the term 'they', meant the Thai tourism authorities and central govt, rather than the Phuket and Pattaya tourist centres specifically - or as you put it, 'a lot of Thais' who I'm sure are not the 'they' at issue. He/she was alluding to Thai govt officialdom short-sightedness, IMO.

Yes, of course. I have a lot of affection and respect for most Thai people. It is the officials (city, provincial and national) which have lost all my respect, and whom I despise to no end!

 

28 minutes ago, Stonker said:

Thank you, but by "they" I meant exactly the same "they" that @dmacarelli meant, which he's now confirmed he meant.

Sounds to me, with his 'Yes, of course', like @dmacarellifully agreed with my interpretation of his 'they' reference.

Come on, Stonker . . . don't be such a child. When you drop a point, occasionally, just be big enough to admit it and maybe apologise, too.

[King Cotton]

16 hours ago, Stonker said:

You seem to be assuming that "they" want tourists to come.

Maybe things would look different if you considered that "they" aren't as desperate for tourists to come as  some think, as they realise that however much Phuket and Pattaya want tourists to return

Oops, it's the Stonker memory failing again, as today's post confirms.

38 minutes ago, Stonker said:

Nothing to do with "the Phuket and Pattaya tourist centres specifically", which I never mentioned or so much as hinted at.

Further to my preceding post, it does look like, in your desperate attempts to look smart, you're now out-smarting yourself.

What was that, about not mentioning "the Phuket and Pattaya tourist centres specifically", when, only 16 hrs ago, you said "as they realise that however much Phuket and Pattaya want tourists to return, etc . . ." ?

[AlexPTY]

This book is already bigger than the Yellow Pages. Pathetic really, feel sorry for those who got rejected because they didn't watch late night news. 

[Stonker]

1 minute ago, King Cotton said:

I'm fairly sure that @dmacarelli, in using the term 'they', meant the Thai tourism authorities and central govt, rather than the Phuket and Pattaya tourist centres specifically - or as you put it, 'a lot of Thais' who I'm sure are not the 'they' at issue. He/she was alluding to Thai govt officialdom short-sightedness, IMO.

Yes, of course. I have a lot of affection and respect for most Thai people. It is the officials (city, provincial and national) which have lost all my respect, and whom I despise to no end!

Sounds to me, with his 'Yes, of course', like @dmacarellifully agreed with my interpretation of his 'they' reference.

Come on, Stonker . . . don't be such a child. When you drop a point, occasionally, just be big enough to admit it and maybe apologise, too.

I don't think I'm the one being childish here, @King Cotton, or the one who needs to apologise.

 

Of course he fully agreed with your interpretation of his 'they' reference.

 

THAT  WAS  ALSO  MY INTERPRETATION OF  HIS 'THEY' REFERENCE, AS  I  WROTE, VERY CLEARLY.

 

The problem isn't my misinterpretation (or yours) of @dmacarrelli's post, as there was none by either of us, but YOUR complete and inexplicable misinterpretation of what I wrote in repy to his post, which is pure fantasy on your part, dreaming up content which is clearly not there.

 

You simply mis-read what I wrote in reply to @dmacarelli, then rather than re-reading it and realizing you'd made a mistake you chose to bluff, bluster, and compound your mistake instead.

 

You got it wrong, stuck your nose in where it wasn't needed unnecessarily, and then rather than either let it go or man up and admit that you mis-read my original comment and apologize you've tried to be clever by pretending that because @dmacarelli agreed with your "interpretation" I must have dropped a point and had a different interpretation.  I DIDN'T.

 

Don't try to be clever - it doesn't suit you.

 

... and don't bother to apologize - that wouldn't suit you either.

[BlueSphinx]

3 minutes ago, Stonker said:

I don't think I'm the one being childish here, @King Cotton, or the one who needs to apologise.

Of course he fully agreed with your interpretation of his 'they' reference.

THAT  WAS  ALSO  MY INTERPRETATION OF  HIS 'THEY' REFERENCE, AS  I  WROTE, VERY CLEARLY.

The problem isn't my misinterpretation (or yours) of @dmacarrelli's post, as there was none by either of us, but YOUR complete and inexplicable misinterpretation of what I wrote in repy to his post, which is pure fantasy on your part, dreaming up content which is clearly not there.

You simply mis-read what I wrote in reply to @dmacarelli, then rather than re-reading it and realizing you'd made a mistake you chose to bluff, bluster, and compound your mistake instead.

You got it wrong, stuck your nose in where it wasn't needed unnecessarily, and then rather than either let it go or man up and admit that you mis-read my original comment and apologize you've tried to be clever by pretending that because @dmacarelli agreed with your "interpretation" I must have dropped a point and had a different interpretation.  I DIDN'T.

Don't try to be clever - it doesn't suit you.

... and don't bother to apologize - that wouldn't suit you either.

@Stonker aka the Oracle that is never wrong and always right (even if it isn't).   And close family of @THETRUTH by the way...

[Stonker]

36 minutes ago, King Cotton said:

Oops, it's the Stonker memory failing again, as today's post confirms.

Further to my preceding post, it does look like, in your desperate attempts to look smart, you're now out-smarting yourself.

What was that, about not mentioning "the Phuket and Pattaya tourist centres specifically", when, only 16 hrs ago, you said "as they realise that however much Phuket and Pattaya want tourists to return, etc . . ." ?

I'm not the on trying to look smart, @King Cotton.

 

As I said, trying to be clever doesn't suit you but there's no need to be even more stupid than you are.  

 

You said (now twice) that I had referred to "the Pattaya and Phuket tourist centres specifically" as being "they".

 

I didn't.  I never mentioned the "Pattaya and Phuket tourist centres specifically". 

 

I never mentioned the "tourist centres specifically" or at all.

 

You made a mistake, so now rather than apologizing and admitting it you've tried flaming instead.

 

Pathetic.

[Stonker]

26 minutes ago, AlexPTY said:

This book is already bigger than the Yellow Pages. Pathetic really, feel sorry for those who got rejected because they didn't watch late night news. 

You're right, @AlexPTY.   Who's the bigger fool - the fool, or the fool who argues with him?

[Stonker]

11 minutes ago, BlueSphinx said:

@Stonker aka the Oracle that is never wrong and always right (even if it isn't).   And close family of @THETRUTH by the way...

No, @BlueSphinx, frequently wrong and only too happy to admit when I am  -  show me an instance when I haven't done so and I'll depart the forum never to return, as long as you'll do the same.

 

Money / mouth time.