Rants, Stupid Shit and Coronavirus in Thailand

[Chimpo Chinn]

There is still no official announcement in regards to the current suspension of "Test and Go" and "Sandbox schemes" etc.

Numerous sources have stated that the "test and go" suspension will continue, however the delay in the official announcement suggests there is still wrangling in the fine details.

There is a Friday CCSA meeting where the final details will probably be announced.

Please name numerous sources.

Usually it's Noi from Buriam or Nip from Kalasin. Get my point.

[Chop]

Ignore what I said about the airbnb, residency etc. That was just to show how I got their LINE ID. I am on a 60 day tourist visa and this visa agent knows that. So on the LINE chat I said I'll be coming by to do my 30 day visa extension. And they replied 'you can now extend 60 days due to covid'. I then made sure they understood I was already on a 60 day visa and they said 'yes, you can now extend another 60 days'. A 30 day extension using the visa agent services is 4000 baht, saves you from waiting in line. They take your passport and all the paperwork and get it stamped without you needing to be there. Now the 60 day extension will cost 6000 baht, my bet is the same 2100 fee plus two 1900 visa extension fee's at immigration. Or might the 60 day extension only cost 1900 baht and the visa agent is trying to collect 4100?

Now on a different subject, just love the photo in this article below. Nothing says social distancing like putting sick people into an open area with fans blowing all of the covid all over the place.

https://thethaiger.com/news/bangkok/...ovid-19-uptick

OK, I misread your original post as you'd get the 30 day extension for 500 baht. Impossible at that price. That's what I was trying to get at. My misread, my bad.

The 60 day extension is a special exception they made "temporarily" for Covid. Temporary is going on two years now. The fee at the Immigration office for it is 1900 baht, same as all the other extensions, including the regular 30 day that everyone used to do in the before times. So yeah, your agent is clipping you for double (ish) the price. 6000 baht for a 60 day extension is pretty steep, but not completely outrageous. To be fair, the 60 day-er requires two trips to the office (although still, you only pay the 1900 baht fee on the first trip I. E, once. LOL at Thai bureaucracy), and if that pic you linked makes you uncomfortable about covid protocols, or lack thereof, you'd absolutely shart yourself walking into the immigration office. Might be worth it for that alone. I'd still take the deal, especially if you're pressed for time.

[Member #4753]

There is still no official announcement in regards to the current suspension of "Test and Go" and "Sandbox schemes" etc.

Numerous sources have stated that the "test and go" suspension will continue, however the delay in the official announcement suggests there is still wrangling in the fine details.

There is a Friday CCSA meeting where the final details will probably be announced.

[Breadman]

I'm no visa agent, so take this with a grain of salt: Whatever residency paperwork you needed for your initial visa should already have been done as part of sandbox / COE / ASQ / T&G, however you made entry (really, just put the name of the hotel in the blank and get your stamp.) Visa *extensions* require a residency doc of some sort. Condos, hotels, and I guess AirBnBs (never personally done one) are happy to make you up a doc. The fee at the Immigration office is 1900 baht, no matter what the visa is. 30 day, 60 day, 1 year, all 1900 baht. The last 2 times I went for the extension there was an officer standing in the doorway to the 30 day office waving everyone upstairs to the 60 day office. They can't be bothered with the 30 day extensions, and they're passing the 60 day ones out like jelly beans here in Phuket. In any case, there's no way you were ever going to get an extension, any extension, for 500 baht. The 1900 baht fee is impossible to avoid.

I think maybe you've misunderstood your agent. They want 500 baht do do the running around and paperwork for you, plus another 1900--rounded up to 2000 and clipping you for another 100 baht--for the fee they'll have to pay at the office. It's a bargain. Take it.

Ignore what I said about the airbnb, residency etc. That was just to show how I got their LINE ID. I am on a 60 day tourist visa and this visa agent knows that. So on the LINE chat I said I'll be coming by to do my 30 day visa extension. And they replied 'you can now extend 60 days due to covid'. I then made sure they understood I was already on a 60 day visa and they said 'yes, you can now extend another 60 days'. A 30 day extension using the visa agent services is 4000 baht, saves you from waiting in line. They take your passport and all the paperwork and get it stamped without you needing to be there. Now the 60 day extension will cost 6000 baht, my bet is the same 2100 fee plus two 1900 visa extension fee's at immigration. Or might the 60 day extension only cost 1900 baht and the visa agent is trying to collect 4100?

Now on a different subject, just love the photo in this article below. Nothing says social distancing like putting sick people into an open area with fans blowing all of the covid all over the place.

https://thethaiger.com/news/bangkok/...ovid-19-uptick

[Chop]

Staying at an airbnb for the first time ever in Thailand and the owner upon me checking in informed me that I had to file paperwork with immigration with my passport showing my current residency. But I recalled reading in the Cambodia forum that travel agents would for a fee go to immigration on your behalf for a fee. So I stopped by a local visa agent and for 500 baht they went and filed the paperwork with my passport, just had to pick it up the next day. Anyway got their LINE ID and said I would be stopping by to do the 30 day extension and was informed I could now increase that to 60 days for an extra 2000 baht. Have plans to go to Cambodia but for 2000 baht this gives me some extra insurance if I am delayed, flight cancelations etc.

I'm no visa agent, so take this with a grain of salt: Whatever residency paperwork you needed for your initial visa should already have been done as part of sandbox / COE / ASQ / T&G, however you made entry (really, just put the name of the hotel in the blank and get your stamp.) Visa *extensions* require a residency doc of some sort. Condos, hotels, and I guess AirBnBs (never personally done one) are happy to make you up a doc. The fee at the Immigration office is 1900 baht, no matter what the visa is. 30 day, 60 day, 1 year, all 1900 baht. The last 2 times I went for the extension there was an officer standing in the doorway to the 30 day office waving everyone upstairs to the 60 day office. They can't be bothered with the 30 day extensions, and they're passing the 60 day ones out like jelly beans here in Phuket. In any case, there's no way you were ever going to get an extension, any extension, for 500 baht. The 1900 baht fee is impossible to avoid.

I think maybe you've misunderstood your agent. They want 500 baht do do the running around and paperwork for you, plus another 1900--rounded up to 2000 and clipping you for another 100 baht--for the fee they'll have to pay at the office. It's a bargain. Take it.

[Banana Boi]

Don't assume just because you have medical insurance your hospital bills will be paid. Don't leave your hotel if you are told to.

"Hotels want them off the premises and sent to hospitals but the insurance companies are refusing to honor policies saying they have to pay for hospitals. The foreigners are pointing out that they are insured and won't pay for hospitalization. This, said the source, meant that a large number of foreign tourists are refusing to budge at hotels."

https://aseannow.com/topic/1245465-p...tage-admitted/

[Breadman]

Staying at an airbnb for the first time ever in Thailand and the owner upon me checking in informed me that I had to file paperwork with immigration with my passport showing my current residency. But I recalled reading in the Cambodia forum that travel agents would for a fee go to immigration on your behalf for a fee. So I stopped by a local visa agent and for 500 baht they went and filed the paperwork with my passport, just had to pick it up the next day. Anyway got their LINE ID and said I would be stopping by to do the 30 day extension and was informed I could now increase that to 60 days for an extra 2000 baht. Have plans to go to Cambodia but for 2000 baht this gives me some extra insurance if I am delayed, flight cancelations etc.

[Chimpo Chinn]

The semi-official announcement is that bars will not open on 16 January.

There was never a statement that said anyone but Sex Started Mongers were target ing Jan 16.

Govt said will assess situation.

[Member #4753]

Seems you missed the announcement that was already made that said they would wait until January 31 to make an announcement.

"Anutin Charnvirakul, Minister of Public Health and Deputy Prime Minister, confirmed this morning to the Thai press, January 3rd, 2022, that he has proposed on behalf of the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) to delay any resumption of the Test and Go program until at least the end of January, scheduled for a review by the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration, or CCSA, tomorrow, January 4th."

This is not the official announcement. It is a 3 step process.

Step 1: All ministers put forward their recommendations to the CCSA. The Health minister has the loudest voice as it pertains to public health but not all of his recommendations are followed verbatim. Probably between 60 to 80 % of his proposals have been followed during the current Pandemic.

Step 2: The CCSA meets, which is the meeting today to which I was referring to.

Step 3: It becomes official law when it published in the Royal Thai Government Gazette, usually a few days later.

Along each step of the way things do get dropped and added. For example, on December 22 the CCSA stated that current Thai Pass's would be valid until Jan 10 only. However this was never stated in the Royal Gazette, hence there was no official cut off date. However, this may be corrected today.

[HorseTrader]

This TikTok girl is documenting her Thailand quarantine on TikTok. This could be you.

https://www.tiktok.com/search?q=Mega...=1641268634023

She wanted water. Hotel says she has to pay cash. She has no cash. Who enters a foreign country with zero cash in that currency? Not smart. Guess she's drinking from the tap.

I exchange all my baht at the Thailand airport in favor of USA dollars, better baht to dollars exchange rate there. I have zero baht at home so upon return to Thailand I normally hit the Thailand airport ATM immediately after gathering my luggage and before going to transportation.

Is that concept still possible in the age of Test and Go and Sandbox?

I'm also wondering if it will be possible to buy a Thai SIM card before going to my Phuket Sandbox hotel.

[Banana Boi]

This TikTok girl is documenting her Thailand quarantine on TikTok. This could be you.

https://www.tiktok.com/search?q=Mega...=1641268634023

She wanted water. Hotel says she has to pay cash. She has no cash. Who enters a foreign country with zero cash in that currency? Not smart. Guess she's drinking from the tap.

[Explorer8939]

The semi-official announcement is that bars will not open on 16 January.

[Banana Boi]

For those who have approved QR codes for Thailand Pass and think you have an indefinite time to use them Thailand is now considering putting a time limit on when they can be used. They will make the announcement on January 10 and your approved Thailand Pass could be invalid as early as January 10.

[Mr Enternational]

The Thai Government is making an announcement today in regards to "Test & Go", "Sandbox" and other ways to enter Thailand.

Seems you missed the announcement that was already made that said they would wait until January 31 to make an announcement.

"Anutin Charnvirakul, Minister of Public Health and Deputy Prime Minister, confirmed this morning to the Thai press, January 3rd, 2022, that he has proposed on behalf of the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) to delay any resumption of the “Test and Go” program until at least the end of January, scheduled for a review by the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration, or CCSA, tomorrow, January 4th."

[Member #4753]

The Thai Government is making an announcement today in regards to "Test & Go", "Sandbox" and other ways to enter Thailand.

It is anticipated that the current suspension of "Test & Go" and the "Sandbox" schemes except Phuket, will continue.

Currently the only way to enter Thailand is through hard qurantine 7,10,14 days depending on country and vaccination status. Or through the 7 day Phuket sandbox scheme, where you are free to leave hotel during the day and have to get PCR tested twice at your expense.

People that lodged their Thai Pass before December 22 and have been approved can still enter under the suspended "Test & Go" or other "Sandbox" schemes, however it is expected that then Thai government will announce you must enter before January 10 or it will expire.