News Forum - Successes and failures in the Thailand Pass programme

[Davefrombrisbane]

My Thailand Pass has a QR code,  great.

I don't even know what QR means   but it must be good

[francoa]

ThailandPass and my decision to visit Thailnd will cost me 16000 USD.

 

First they force you to buy accommodation, flights, insurance, then you apply and then it does not work.

They accept EU certificate, but we are getting one certificate..in the thaipass application, they want 4 documents :)

i have calnder year travel health insirance, for 2021 and 2022. Each is a different contract. Unfortunately, does not work either. Have to go and buy Thai insurance because, money kust be made.

I have last few days and if my pass is not approved, it will be the most expensive no-show trip I ever had. 

[Thommo]

On 11/10/2021 at 1:26 PM, Davefrombrisbane said:

yes, I am up to 4 applications, all with confirming emails.

Thommo how long ago did you apply and have you got the TP ?

My first application was Friday 5th  so hoping something soon.

Has anyone heard,  if you don't get the QR can you still rock up to airport with all paperwork and fly ?

i applied last friday and recieved my tp last night  10th for my 1st application which i had booked the wrong night for the sha+ hotel   my vaccine record is from thailand 

[ql423]

Any one checked their QR code and find out the information is wrong. My birth date and vaccine date are both wrong. I highly doubt I input the wrong information on both.

[Jeremy]

16 hours ago, Soidog said:

Hi @Jeremy and thanks for confirming that’s it’s not just me who finds this e-visa requirements a problem.
 

Like all things in life, a change always offers some upside  and downside. For you and I suspect many others, the e-visa cuts down on travel to embassies etc. For me, my local consulate is just 20 mins easy car ride, small office where the people know me and any problems are sorted out there and then. I’m usually in and out inside of 20 mins with my visa in my passport. The real downside of the e-visa process is the requirements to book and pay for hotels and flights. I can’t imagine many people who go to Thailand for 60 days travel will know their exact travel plans so well as to commit 59 hotel nights bought and paid for. I have emailed the embassy to ask if they really mean that or will the first few days accommodation be sufficient. I’m awaiting the reply!
 

I can’t update you on the TP as I’ve yet to start that process. From the feedback to date, I’m looking forward to it like I do a trip to my dentist! 
 

My travel dates are not until early or mid January and so I have a few more weeks before I need to finalise flights etc and get the applications underway. 
 

Good luck with your application and travels. Apologies about the Soidog biting you. I’m from a more gentle breed and only bite Internet and forum trolls  

Just got my approval QR code for the TP. Exactly seven working days after my submission. Hurray. 

I don't know what QR means either,  but it must be good.

[Soidog]

3 minutes ago, Jeremy said:

Just got my approval QR code for the TP. Exactly seven working days after my submission. Hurray. 

I don't know what QR means either,  but it must be good.

Congratulations. Hope all goes well on your trip. I’m sure it will
 

Ironically, QR stands for Quick Response code! Hardly fitting given you had to wait 7 working days. Maybe they should call it a TR code

[Davefrombrisbane]

Along with the QR code, quick response , thanks for that, my form also has a unique 24 combination letters and numbers Thailand Pass I.D.

I mean how many people do they anticipate will visit Thailand.  I think you could issue one of these unique combination of 24 letters and numbers to everyone in the world and there would still be combinations left over.

All good thought. For those people still battling away I would suggest using the latest "version" of TP, as it seems easier to use and instructions clarity the requirements. 

now all I need to worry about is where can I buy a beer there ?

You can buy a beer , visit the beach...... can't you ?

 

[Jijo]

On 11/11/2021 at 6:08 AM, Jeremy said:

u have to emerge the passport scan and visa scan copy online with this site https://onlineconvertfree.com/merge-image/jpg-merge/  then covert to jpeg ,it comes in png file when merged

 

[Jeremy]

Thanks for the advice. I thought about doing that too and if I hadn't got the QR code I would submit another time with the method you suggest. But fortunately I got the approval QR code couple of days ago.

[Alavan]

On 11/11/2021 at 12:29 PM, francoa said:

ThailandPass and my decision to visit Thailnd will cost me 16000 USD.

First they force you to buy accommodation, flights, insurance, then you apply and then it does not work.

They accept EU certificate, but we are getting one certificate..in the thaipass application, they want 4 documents :)

i have calnder year travel health insirance, for 2021 and 2022. Each is a different contract. Unfortunately, does not work either. Have to go and buy Thai insurance because, money kust be made.

I have last few days and if my pass is not approved, it will be the most expensive no-show trip I ever had. 

What 4 documents? take a jpeg from your EU certificate, and if they ask  the QR code, just crop the document so that it shows just the QR, That is all.

[aladdin]

 

First, many people who don't have patience, or, who waited till the last minute, applied for Thailand Pass more than once in their haste and worry.  So, numbers of applicants are probably inflated. Hope for the best but plan for the worst.

Secondly, The Thai ptb, powers that be, believe that the measures will limit the spread of covid. I don't think viruses observe boundaries, irony.  Once people become mobile tourists, covid will spread, folks will become infected with very low death rate. A new norm will develop as society adjusts and the economy recovers. The economies of countries which cower to covid won't recover quickly. Those who dust off and open up will recover more quickly. So when they change the rules again to require less paperwork, covid will spread, but that said, it's far less deadly than believed 20 months ago. Either do the paperwork that exists now, or wait till the requirements change. Go  for it regardless. Be thorough. 

 

[Davefrombrisbane]

I agree with Aladdin,

 

my view is , fresh air , exercise, sun shine,  good immune system and good diet. Also non smoker etc etc.

All of the above is what people in northern hemisphere either will not get or don't have.

So I expect the fatalities will be high.

[mattLT]

I have been working in Thailand for last three years. Had to leave it due to emergency back in my home country.

Applied for the Thai pass first time a week ago. got auto-rejected in 24hrs due to my expat insurance policy showing "comprehensive insurance" plan instead of amount I am insured for. So there is a failure of the system design #1. I am pretty sure that insurance companies would be sharing to Thai govt. that total amount i am insured for is $1M, but they seem to have completely ignored to connect insurance companies to their system for automation of this check.

System design failure #2 - there is no way to fix any errors under your current Thai pass application reference number and get this number at the back of the "waiting" queue or go to another queue, where re-submissions are being handled. Instead you have to go through the whole process again, which I did in panic and made a mistake by submitting my last years insurance policy instead of current one.

So next step, I called to Thai Pass hotline while my pants were getting "brown" that I will not have enough time to wait and resubmit again. I got advised by help line team to submit application again, which i immediately did. However, I then read through all FAQ articles in Thai pass Medium page and found that help line advice directly contradicts what FAQ says.

Failure #3 - help line operators don't know/understand the process themselves and are giving wrong advise to people, or application process is not fully defined / thought out and leaves areas of the application open to interpretation. Help line team was not aware you are allowed to upload .pdf files in insurance policy section "additional documents" field and kept insisting it needs to be a .jpeg file. This would not have been a problem, if an unlimited images would have been allowed to be uploaded. However, my insurance policy brochure, that holds insurance cover amount details is 50pages .pdf file. converting into .jpegs and then uploading them is impossible due to file size and file amount limits coded into the system.

Failure #4 - inconsistent user experience on the page. on my last application, I spent 15 minutes trying to put my insurance start date. It would allow selection of any year, month or day except the month of the year my insurance starts. after multiple tries, I ended up getting it to work by randomly selecting days in a month of this year that my insurance started until it accepted day of the month my insurance start

I have also emailed to Thai pass support however have not received any responses yet. To be honest, I am not really expecting to receive one as I am sure I am not only person in this position.

I've been calling Thai embassy in Copenhagen (closest to me) since Monday trying to see if there is a way of expediting the process, in case of anything else going wrong but had been unable to get to talk to a human being so far.

So now, I am waiting with a 1 day window between 7th day of application approval deadline and my flight, with a hope that they will approve my application. 

Final thoughts -

1. System is designed using developer logic where only "binary" 1or 0 answers are viable. Real life scenarios have not been considered at all 

2. User interface is poor and not thought out at all

     - no user error correction is allowed at all.

     - all text input fields have to be typed in manually - copy/paste is disabled in application which is a great opportunity for user input errors

3. Help line is not trained and do not have any tools to assist you. Help line is purely just to answer phones and read back to you what's already available in FAQs. Anything beyond, you're on your own.

4. 3 applications out of 92k total applications submitted are mine. That begs a question, what % of applications out of this total advertised number are people like me trying to get back home.

5. People must be very determined to spend holiday in Thailand to go through this process. If I were booking holiday and had to go through this process for two weeks holiday in country, I would say "F**k it, I'm going to Turkey" or any other warm country

[Bob20]

48 minutes ago, mattLT said:

I have been working in Thailand for last three years. Had to leave it due to emergency back in my home country.

Applied for the Thai pass first time a week ago. got auto-rejected in 24hrs due to my expat insurance policy showing "comprehensive insurance" plan instead of amount I am insured for. So there is a failure of the system design #1. I am pretty sure that insurance companies would be sharing to Thai govt. that total amount i am insured for is $1M, but they seem to have completely ignored to connect insurance companies to their system for automation of this check.

System design failure #2 - there is no way to fix any errors under your current Thai pass application reference number and get this number at the back of the "waiting" queue or go to another queue, where re-submissions are being handled. Instead you have to go through the whole process again, which I did in panic and made a mistake by submitting my last years insurance policy instead of current one.

So next step, I called to Thai Pass hotline while my pants were getting "brown" that I will not have enough time to wait and resubmit again. I got advised by help line team to submit application again, which i immediately did. However, I then read through all FAQ articles in Thai pass Medium page and found that help line advice directly contradicts what FAQ says.

Failure #3 - help line operators don't know/understand the process themselves and are giving wrong advise to people, or application process is not fully defined / thought out and leaves areas of the application open to interpretation. Help line team was not aware you are allowed to upload .pdf files in insurance policy section "additional documents" field and kept insisting it needs to be a .jpeg file. This would not have been a problem, if an unlimited images would have been allowed to be uploaded. However, my insurance policy brochure, that holds insurance cover amount details is 50pages .pdf file. converting into .jpegs and then uploading them is impossible due to file size and file amount limits coded into the system.

Failure #4 - inconsistent user experience on the page. on my last application, I spent 15 minutes trying to put my insurance start date. It would allow selection of any year, month or day except the month of the year my insurance starts. after multiple tries, I ended up getting it to work by randomly selecting days in a month of this year that my insurance started until it accepted day of the month my insurance start

I have also emailed to Thai pass support however have not received any responses yet. To be honest, I am not really expecting to receive one as I am sure I am not only person in this position.

I've been calling Thai embassy in Copenhagen (closest to me) since Monday trying to see if there is a way of expediting the process, in case of anything else going wrong but had been unable to get to talk to a human being so far.

So now, I am waiting with a 1 day window between 7th day of application approval deadline and my flight, with a hope that they will approve my application. 

Final thoughts -

1. System is designed using developer logic where only "binary" 1or 0 answers are viable. Real life scenarios have not been considered at all 

2. User interface is poor and not thought out at all

     - no user error correction is allowed at all.

     - all text input fields have to be typed in manually - copy/paste is disabled in application which is a great opportunity for user input errors

3. Help line is not trained and do not have any tools to assist you. Help line is purely just to answer phones and read back to you what's already available in FAQs. Anything beyond, you're on your own.

4. 3 applications out of 92k total applications submitted are mine. That begs a question, what % of applications out of this total advertised number are people like me trying to get back home.

5. People must be very determined to spend holiday in Thailand to go through this process. If I were booking holiday and had to go through this process for two weeks holiday in country, I would say "F**k it, I'm going to Turkey" or any other warm country

They're not looking to have large numbers of tourists yet because of the covid situation and it's all a big show to claim the country is open, whilst keeping the door nearly closed with lots of rules. Also, the system design was late and as most Thai IT that we see (like 90 day reporting) it's not exactly top-notch, or (again) designed to deter.

[Davefrombrisbane]

I am not sure there are other motives working against issuing TP. They are just doing the best they can. In relation to insurance issues I think it would almost be worth buying a 30 TP recognised insurance scheme.  While that is another cost, if it lowers the stress levels it's a good investment. 

When I arrived at Bangkok ,everyone was very welcoming,  organised and efficient.  They did a good job, and I was through and into a waiting vehicle in a very short time. The hotel was good, had a test within 30 minutes of arrival and just waited for result. I was pleasantly surprised with quality of room service. Have now caught a taxi couple of times , drivers were good, never had to argue about using the metre.

Thailand economy and people are suffering,  same same same other countries. 

[Davefrombrisbane]

Good and interesting comments Dave. 

 

Did I mention that on the flight Brisbane (which has closed borders and zero cases) to Singapore with Singapore Airlines there were 14 passengers.  I could stretch out over about 40 rows  and still got no sleep. 

[Metoo]

56 minutes ago, Davefrombrisbane said:

I think it would almost be worth buying a 30 TP recognised insurance scheme

I live in Thailand.

I was at an insurance broker yesterday (European broker), to discuss renewing my yearly health insurance.

I pointed out that I will be travelling very soon for 3 weeks and wanted to know the procedure for re-entering Thailand.

He described a couple of horror stories that have happened to some unlucky people (Tourists) when trying to enter Thailand......

This is what was described:

After arriving in Thailand with all the documentation required, if your RT-PCR test (1 night quarantine) comes back positive, and you are Asymptomatic, you are then shipped off to a hospital.

Thailand is the only country to do this.......every other country you are allowed to self isolate at home.

He told me most health insurance companies will not pay out in this circumstance.

They will not pay the hospital fees for someone who is Asymptomatic, and not requiring urgent medical care.

He described a couple who fell into this category.

It cost them both 300,000 baht......a total of 600,000 baht.....for their Asymptomatic stay at a hospital!

The way around this is to purchase the required 30 TP insurance scheme, which does cover you for an Asymptomatic stay in hospital (couple of thousand baht).

So I would suggest people should contact their health insurance companies to check whether the policy will cover a stay in hospital if you are found to be Asymptomatic on arrival.

[Davefrombrisbane]

yes, I meant 30 day insurance cover. 

you would have to be very unlucky to arrive in Thailand and test positive.  In Australian a "false positive " has happened and sent everyone into a panic.  

As you are required to have a RT PCR test 72 hours prior to departure,  I think it very unlucky you test positive.  I had to wear a mask from entering airport in Australia to entering my Thailand hotel room.  I  changed the mask a few times, for comfort and cleanliness.  Feel the odds of testing positive about the same as me winning $2 000 000

[aladdin]

We prepaid for 2 covid test in October. Govt changed rules, now only need one. ... For Thailand pass test and go after 24 hours of a negative airport covid test result. Got an email from them offering to refund the cost of the 2nd  no longer needed nasal test for covid. Funds promptly showed up into my credit card, glad to get it back. Once you are negative for your entry covid test you get a an update on your mor chan's app. Ok to travel.  Glad  no 2nd nasal swab and glad for refund

[Francis2674]

Im due to travel Friday. Ive recently had and recovered from Covid, and I have a "Recovery Certificate " from my doctor in the UK. I can test + ve for up to 3 months after infection (this is the way RT-PCR works), and my certificate spells this out. Does anyone have any experience of this situation?