My experience arriving in Phuket

[Faz]

Posted on behalf of member @Sanch

 

 

Etihad flight, London > Abu Dhabi > Phuket. Landed Nov 12th. Flight from London to Abu Dhabi was very quiet with many empty seats. Flight from AB to Phuket was much busier with only 20-30 empty seats (B-787 both flights).

• 35 min from the plane landing to sitting in a taxi en route to the hotel
• Sat in row 16 so very near to the door and one of the first economy passengers off the plane
• left the plane and walked to the arranged chairs where about 10 staff were waiting to check all our paperwork. Waited in the chair for about 1 min.
• Moved on to a queue to see someone at a counter, they inspected the docs, presumably checking the details of TP. Took about 1 min. No queuing but a queue did begin to form behind. 6-7 counters opened.
• Straight through to immigration. Took about 2 min and no queue. They were opening more counters as the flow of people increased.
• Downstairs to the baggage collection. Bought a sim card for my mobile whilst waiting for the suitcase to arrive. It came whilst I was waiting for my sim to be set up. 30 days data for 550 THB. About 5-6 mins and out.
• Then out to the arrivals section and on to the pre-paid PCR test. Straight through as payment was already done in advance. They found my record on the system using my passport number. They gave me the testing kit and moved me outside where the team are ready and waiting to perform the test. Approx. 5-6 min.
• I didn't pre-book a taxi so had to arrange outside, this was very quick but very expensive (700 THB for what would normally cost 3-400 THB in a meter taxi)
• I didn't have enough case (price is non-negotiable), so had to go back inside to withdraw money. Without this last step, the whole process could have been completed in under 30 min.
• Check-in at the hotel, approx 5 min. Go to the room for about 5 hours before the hotel informed me of my negative test result. Free to go as I pleased! Able to order food to the room from the hotel kitchen or through a delivery app.

The main observation was that the various teams in the airport were ready and waiting for us and each team consisted of enough people. Counters were being opened to relieve bottlenecks. We were the only flight landing at that time so suitcases were available within 20 min of landing.

 

Tip 1. Bring a pen in your hand luggage for filling the landing card and another new form.

Tip 2. If taking a connecting flight, make sure the PCR was taken within 72 hr of the final flight, not just the initial one.

 

Printed docs required:

1. PCR result
2. Proof of vaccinations 
3. Thailand Plus QR
4. Insurance
5. SHABA certificate (Hotel)

 

 

 

 

[Faz]

11 minutes ago, Tjampman said:

I don't know how your friend would pay 300baht, unless he just needed to cross the street. Phuket and taxis goes hand in hand with quick motorbike rentals!

Read again, he paid 700 baht.