News Forum - Bangkok, Pattaya, and other destinations still planned to reopen in October

[PapayaBokBok]

13 hours ago, VirtualRecluse said:

I too seek to return to CM in October on an O or OA visa. If I don't enter via the 14-day TAT plan, is the other option to do standard ASQ in BKK then fly up to CM? 

so it seems..

[HiuMak]

On 9/3/2021 at 11:47 PM, Majestic said:

I can't wait to travel again to Thailand. But not if I have to organize tons of papers before, and get tested 4 times in two weeks when Im there. Im vaccinated and willing to test myself once before entering the airplane, but after I'm there, I want to enjoy holiday and thats it. Anyway, why only Tourist get tested so often? Once at least 70% of the Thai People, just let the vaccinated people enter again.

It's an administrative nightmare. If it's more simplified, vaccinated tourist will come.

[King Cotton]

On 9/3/2021 at 10:47 PM, Majestic said:

I can't wait to travel again to Thailand. But not if I have to organize tons of papers before, and get tested 4 times in two weeks when Im there. Im vaccinated and willing to test myself once before entering the airplane, but after I'm there, I want to enjoy holiday and thats it. Anyway, why only Tourist get tested so often? Once at least 70% of the Thai People, just let the vaccinated people enter again.

Fair comment, for sure, re the 'Opening-up Thailand' fiasco. And your debut post, too, that I'm a little late in spotting, but thanks for that!

Hello, Majestic and welcome to Thaiger Talk

Please feel free to tell us a bit about yourself in 'Introductions'. It's good to pick-up on those sometimes differing regional or geographical perspectives.

And check-out the Guidelines, too, when you get a free minute. They're there to help us all enjoy our time here.       https://thethaiger.com/forum-guidelines-and-rules

Happy posting

King Cotton

[PohTou]

I am 78 years old. I last visited Thailand and Laos in 2020 - leaving after a 5 week visit to both countries on February 18. I am hoping to get back to Bangkok in November to see my son and his wife and their 2 little ones.  Under current re-entry requirements we must buy Covid 19 health insurance. HOWEVER, I am 78 and the cutoff age for purchase of insurance is 74-75. Therefore I cannot get back to Thailand to visit my son and his wife with their 2 little ones. Is there a possibility that this insurance requirement, or age limit, will be be rescinded in the near future? I think it is inevitable that my plane ticket will have to be converted to a voucher. It is incomprehensible to me why the Government thinks that fully vaccinated tourists will contribute to the spread of Covid 19. The spread in Thailand is taking place because of community spread among unvaccinated people. I am  fully vaccinated with Pfizer vaccine and plan to request a booster when they become available. I will not be a Covid-infested zombie trying to infect the poor Thai people. I am a reasonably healthy Canadian who is fully vaccinated with an excellent and approved vaccine. What in heavens name is the problem with me entering Thailand. It makes no sense!!!!! THailand needs tourists and visitors!! The Thai people need the tourists and visitors to go to Thailand and spend money!!! Get real and get reasonable!

[Fluke]

9 minutes ago, PohTou said:

I am 78 years old. I last visited Thailand and Laos in 2020 - leaving after a 5 week visit to both countries on February 18. I am hoping to get back to Bangkok in November to see my son and his wife and their 2 little ones.  Under current re-entry requirements we must buy Covid 19 health insurance. HOWEVER, I am 78 and the cutoff age for purchase of insurance is 74-75. Therefore I cannot get back to Thailand to visit my son and his wife with their 2 little ones. Is there a possibility that this insurance requirement, or age limit, will be be rescinded in the near future? I think it is inevitable that my plane ticket will have to be converted to a voucher. It is incomprehensible to me why the Government thinks that fully vaccinated tourists will contribute to the spread of Covid 19. The spread in Thailand is taking place because of community spread among unvaccinated people. I am  fully vaccinated with Pfizer vaccine and plan to request a booster when they become available. I will not be a Covid-infested zombie trying to infect the poor Thai people. I am a reasonably healthy Canadian who is fully vaccinated with an excellent and approved vaccine. What in heavens name is the problem with me entering Thailand. It makes no sense!!!!! THailand needs tourists and visitors!! The Thai people need the tourists and visitors to go to Thailand and spend money!!! Get real and get reasonable!

Even if you are fully vaccinated , you can still contract the virus and spread it and you can also get sick and even die from the virus, a vaccination just means you are less likely suffer a severe reaction , a vaccination just means you wont get as sick as if you were not vaccinated 

[farang]

i understand the 78 year old.im in the same boat.im a healthy 75 and no one will sell me the 100,000 usd insurance. why dont thai govt just charge each visitor an insurance fee when entering the country?be it 2,000 baht or 5,000 baht? most would never use it and thai govt would make  profit off it.so many wanting to return thats over 74,75 and cant buy the insurance even they are healthy.i hope this will be addressed soon.thanks,75 dave

[King Cotton]

41 minutes ago, farang said:

i understand the 78 year old.im in the same boat.im a healthy 75 and no one will sell me the 100,000 usd insurance. why dont thai govt just charge each visitor an insurance fee when entering the country?be it 2,000 baht or 5,000 baht? most would never use it and thai govt would make  profit off it.so many wanting to return thats over 74,75 and cant buy the insurance even they are healthy.i hope this will be addressed soon.thanks,75 dave

Excellent post and, being in the same age-boat as you @farang, I fully empathise with your perceived wisdom of the Thai visitor protocols including an 'Insurance fee'. What a great idea which, sadly, will never even be contemplated, let alone adopted.

[BlueSphinx]

On 9/6/2021 at 5:34 AM, PohTou said:

I am 78 years old. I last visited Thailand and Laos in 2020 - leaving after a 5 week visit to both countries on February 18. I am hoping to get back to Bangkok in November to see my son and his wife and their 2 little ones.  Under current re-entry requirements we must buy Covid 19 health insurance. HOWEVER, I am 78 and the cutoff age for purchase of insurance is 74-75. Therefore I cannot get back to Thailand to visit my son and his wife with their 2 little ones. Is there a possibility that this insurance requirement, or age limit, will be be rescinded in the near future? I think it is inevitable that my plane ticket will have to be converted to a voucher. It is incomprehensible to me why the Government thinks that fully vaccinated tourists will contribute to the spread of Covid 19. The spread in Thailand is taking place because of community spread among unvaccinated people. I am  fully vaccinated with Pfizer vaccine and plan to request a booster when they become available. I will not be a Covid-infested zombie trying to infect the poor Thai people. I am a reasonably healthy Canadian who is fully vaccinated with an excellent and approved vaccine. What in heavens name is the problem with me entering Thailand. It makes no sense!!!!! THailand needs tourists and visitors!! The Thai people need the tourists and visitors to go to Thailand and spend money!!! Get real and get reasonable!

 

Hi @PohTou > Even when over 75 years of age there are two options to meet the 100.000 US $ covid-19 treatment insurance that everybody entering Thailand needs to comply with. 

That insurance is MANDATORY for anybody currently entering Thailand and needs to cover the period of the permission to stay for which you will be stamped in by Thai border-immigration on arrival.  Depending on the Visa on which you enter that permission to stay will be 45, 60, 90, 180 or 365 days.

If your current foreign/international health-insurance or your travel-insurance does not meet the covid-19 coverage of at least 100.000 US $ (for the required period), there are several options for meeting that insurance requirement. 

1 - The Thai TGIA insurance < https://covid19.tgia.org/ > is rather expensive as it ONLY provides coverage for covid-19 treatment.  But the main advantage with that Thai policy is that you can subscribe to it till 99 years of age (and there is NO difference in premium per age-category which is of course ridiculous from an insurance perspective).

2 - When flying Emirates, you will get FREE 100.000 US $ covid-19 insurance included in the ticket-price.  This for 30 days when booking one-way (which is not sufficient to cover the permission to stay you would receive on entry), but the insurance would cover the full period of your trip when booking a return-flight.  In his case, booking a flexible return-ticket with return date after permission to stay expiry could be a worthwhile option, if you intend to fly back say within 12 months.

3 - If you are under 75 years of age you might also consider AXA Sawasdee travel-insurance < https://direct.axa.co.th/TA-Inbound/CoverageOptionPlan?tag=axa-sawasdee-thailand-travel-insurance >.  That - very reasonably priced - full travel-insurance policy provides covid-19 coverage as part of its very decent coverage of any accident/illness you might encounter while in Thailand.  You can subscribe to it for 3, 6, 9 or 12 months (it has to cover the period of the permission of stay you will receive on entry).  Note that this policy actually also meets the 400K/40K health-insurance requirement (which might be required when entering on a Non Imm O < retirement >, O-A or O-X Visa).

4 - When under 70 years of age, the SafetyWing travel-insurance policy < https://safetywing.com/nomad-insurance > is also a worthwhile option as it will provide accident/illness cover of 250.000 US $ (including covid-19 coverage).  And that FULL travel-insurance policy sells at at premium of 40 to 130 US $ per month depending on your age, which is even LOWER than the limited covid-19 only Thai insurance premium (#1).  Additional advantage - compared with Axa Sawasdee - being that you can set the end-date of that policy (so no need to subscribe for a period longer than ther permission to stay, you will receive on entering Thailand).

>> If you do not have an international or travel-insurance policy that meets the 100.000 US $ covid-19 coverage requirement for the required period, I would recommend following:

- When foreseeing to return to your home-country within 12 months of your departure, to consider flying Emirates and use their FREE covid-19 insurance policy;

- When over 75 years of age, to make use of the TGIA Thai insurance as you will not find any other insurer willing to provide such a policy at that age;

- When under 75 or 70 years of age, to compare the conditions of the Axa Sawasdee travel-insurance and the SafetyWing travel-insurance policies, and opt for the one that provides best value for money.

Cheers, success and welcome back to LoS!

 

[BlueSphinx]

1 hour ago, farang said:

i understand the 78 year old.im in the same boat.im a healthy 75 and no one will sell me the 100,000 usd insurance. why dont thai govt just charge each visitor an insurance fee when entering the country?be it 2,000 baht or 5,000 baht? most would never use it and thai govt would make  profit off it.so many wanting to return thats over 74,75 and cant buy the insurance even they are healthy.i hope this will be addressed soon.thanks,75 dave

@farang > See my post in response to PohTou re your options for entering Thailand as 75 year old.

https://thethaiger.com/talk/topic/4734-news-forum-bangkok-pattaya-and-other-destinations-still-planned-to-reopen-in-october/?do=findComment&comment=53192

 

[Bert]

About complimentary covid insurance, take a look at Ukraine... Fill in online form , enter the number of days you'll spend in the country.  You'll have to pay the insurance fee accordingly (which is very affordable btw, like 1€/day or so) and that's it ... Haven't tried but seems to be working fine...

Edited September 7, 2021 by Bert