Travel Entry into Thailand

UPDATED 1ST APRIL 2022

Are you looking to book a villa and travel to Thailand in the coming months? If so you wil be pleased to know that the travel requirements to enter the country is gradually being eased and is now relatively close to entry requirements to other South East Asia countries and even to some European countries. 

The good news is that as from 1st April 2022 Thailand is now open to both vaccinated and non vaccinated visitors from all over the world under the Test & Go scheme or Alternative Quarantine Scheme who arrive by air or land.

The previous Sandbox Schemes are now redundant now that the country is open to everybody however, should any serious Covid-19 related situations arise in any individual country these schemes will need to be reintroduced the details of which can be found in our earlier blog https://www.thailandretreats.com/Blog/Article/Thailand-Entry-Schemes

TEST & GO SCHEME

The Test & Go scheme (also known as "Exempt from Quarantine") is available for all fully vaccinated visitors arriving by air or land. Operating periodically the scheme has given a boost to restart Thailand's tourism industry with one of the key requirements being a mandatory pre-booked first night stay in a SHA+ villa or hotel before having the freedom to continue your travels and stay in other preferred accommodation.

The increased number of tourists has enabled all the shops restaurants and bars to open in the majority of areas after struggling to earn a living for almost 2 years.

The requirement for a pre-departure RT-PCR Test 72 hours before a flight to Thailand has now been removed. This was causing considerable expense when travelling with a large family group. Some airlines however may still require a test to fly with them or to transit through some countries and would need to be checked beforehand.

The RT-PCR Test at the airport for international arrivals remains in place currently and additionally an ATK self administered test is provided to use on day 5/6 of your stay and result recorded. If you have already left Thailand on day 5/6 this obviously does not have to be used. A SHA+ villa or hotel would have needed to be booked prior to arrival to remain in whilst waiting for the results of your arrival test. 

If a traveller has already had Covid-19 between 14 - 90 days before travelling it is recommended that a letter/certificate from a health authority stating this fact is available to provide the Thai authorities should you receive a positive result on arrival. We also suggest that potential travellers limit their social gatherings 2 weeks before departure and even consider taking a pre-departure PCR test just as a caution.

The Thai Government will consider the scrapping of the mandatory RT-PCR Tests on arrival for international travellers in May, however before making that decision they will need to evaluate the situation after any impact of increased cases after the Thai New Year festival "Songkran" during April when the majority of Thai nationals return to their families or enjoy a domestic holiday. 

If the replacement ATK arrival test goes ahead, it may not be necessary to book the first night stay in a SHA+ hotel if arriving at the smaller airports of Phuket or Koh Samui, whereas in Bangkok the volume of arrivals waiting at the airport for results may still require this. We shall provide any updates in our next blog or please contact us direct.

Entering Thailand by the Test & Go Scheme requires application and registration to the Thailand Pass 

THAILAND PASS

To enter Thailand with the Test & Go Scheme for fully vaccinated visitors you need to obtain the Thailand Pass QR code and involves the uploading of certain required documents to a web based system https://tp.consular.go.th/en/plan

Listed below are the document requirements for applying Thailand Pass together with a graphic of the process.

• Bio page of passport (6 months remaining until expiry)
• Flight number & arrival date (can be changed & accepted by airlineswithin 7 days without changing the Thailand Pass
• Vaccination Certificate
• COVID-19 Health Insurance Certificate (minimum cover $20,000 specifically for Covid and cover the whole stay)
• Confirmed SHA+ villa/hotel booking confirmation (each member of the party listed)
• RT-PCR test payment document -2,200-2,400THB approx (hotels will provide a link to pay for the test individually or some villas will include the test payment purchase in the booking confirmation).

The SHA+ villa/hotel plays a key role in getting approval of the Thailand pass and will match the information on the Thailand Pass system with the booking they have for you.

There is a support email/telephone contact for the Thailand Pass should applicants experience difficulties

CHECK OUT OUR COLLECTION OF VILLAS APPROVED AS SHA+ HERE

To view all our Thailand villas please visit our Thailand Retreat website

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ALTERNATIVE QUARANTINE SCHEME

The Alternative Quarantine entry scheme is for international travellers from any country and territory around the world who have not been vaccinated and wish to enter Thailand by air, land or sea. 

As from 1st April 2022 a mandatory 5 day (5 nights) quarantine package at an ASQ Hotel must be pre-booked by all travellers to include the airport pick-up, meals and 2 RT-PCR tests. The tests will be taken on arrival and on day 5.  Should there be a negative result on day 5 you have the freedom to travel elsewhere in Thailand. 

To enter under this scheme it is necessary to register under the Thailand Pass and choose "Alternative Quarantine" to view the documents required 

ASQ hotels are not available in Phuket or Koh Samui and further information on ASQ hotels in Bangkok can be found on the following links.

• https://asq.locanation.com
• https://asq.ascendtravel.com
• https://asqthailand.com
• https://www.agoda.com/th-th/quarantineth
• http://entrythailand.go.th/en/

FLIGHTS

International flights arriving in Bangkok

There are a number of international flights operating to Bangkok's international airport and sealed flights are available for the Test & Go to Koh Samui & Phuket via Bangkok but must be booked on one ticket. Travellers are held in a transit area in Bangkok before boarding the onward flights that operate daily at the current time. If the two flights are booked on 2 separate tickets, the current rules are that the traveller will have to choose the Test & Go for Bangkok first before getting a flight to Koh Samui or Phuket. 

There are a number of airlines that also fly direct to Phuket and Phang Nga and Krabi provinces can be accessed by pre-arranged vehicle on sealed routes. 

The daily sealed flight numbers with Bangkok Airways from Bangkok to Koh Samui are PG 5125 (12.00pm) and PG 5171 (5.00pm) and from Bangkok to Phuket PG 5275 (departs 12.00pm) and PG5279 (departs 17.10pm). These flights do not carry any domestic travellers from Bangkok.

Bangkok Airways also operated flights from Singapore to Koh Samui 3 times a week and flights from other countries can transit through Singapore providing the particular airline is on Singapore's approved list. Again, if flying with an international airline to Singapore and onward travel to Koh Samui with Bangkok Airways, the journey needs to be on one ticket for baggage to be checked through unless you plan a long stop-over in Singapore.

CHECK IN

The Thailand Pass QR code together with copy printouts of the relative documents will need to be presented at check in and will be needed again by immigration on arrival at your chosen destination Thailand province. The documents can also be shown on your phone as images however it is quicker to pass over the printouts rather than search for each of the images with a queue growing behind you.

ARRIVAL

On arrival at the airport staff will check your temperature and double check your documents and place them in order for immigration. After collecting your baggage you will be guided to the testing area for a very gentle nose swab and given an ATK self-testing kit to use on day 6/7 the results of which needs to be uploaded to a Government Health App. Help will be on hand if guests have difficulty with the app.

Outside the airport, transport wil be waiting for you to take you to your chosen villa/hotel.

SEE YOU SOON!!