Greetings from Thailand! A few weeks ago I thought it might be a long time before I said that. Thailand was requiring 10-day hotel quarantines for vaccinated travelers and 14-day quarantines for non-vaccinated folks. You have to be an extremely determined traveler to invest that kind of time and money stuck in a hotel room before being allowed to see the sights.
The subsequent lack of tourists caused by quarantines devastated the Thai tourism industry and economy in general. Thailand tried or proposed several different schemes to restart tourism. Many of the proposals were never implemented. Until now, the closest Thailand came to reopening was the sandbox program for a several locations like Phuket Island.
Initially, the Phuket sandbox required staying at designated hotels on Phuket for seven days and undergoing multiple Covid tests before being able to roam the island. Later, when the percentage of vaccinated Phuket residents reached a certain percentage, the government waived the quarantine for vaccinated travelers, but they had to remain on the island in the Phuket sandbox.
Last month, I planned to visit Phuket as a vaccinated person. A couple of weeks ago while I was making the necessary preparations for that trip, the Thai prime minister announced that all of Thailand would open to vaccinated tourists with no quarantine beginning November 1, 2021.
When the PM made that announcement, he neglected to coordinate with the agencies and embassies and consulates that had to manage the program. There were no procedures in place to implement it. For a while it was unclear what would happen on November 1 if anything. The tourist authorities had to scramble.
I didn’t have confirmed hotel reservations yet for Phuket and was able to change my flight easily because I booked with frequent flyer miles. Assuming you can find available space, frequent flyer tickets offer the most flexibility during a pandemic because they can usually be changed without little or no fee and the miles go back to your account pronto unlike trying to get a refund with some purchased tickets.
The Thai program is billed as no quarantine; however it is really a one-day quarantine as travelers must book a designated hotel that will perform a Covid test on arrival. Travelers must remain at the hotel until their test comes back with a negative result. I’m awaiting my result now. I really hope the test is negative because if the test is positive, it will require a trip to a hospital for further evaluation and quarantine for an indefinite period.
I applied under the old system which required a Certificate of Entry (COE). The new system has essentially the same requirements but is called Thailand Pass. The process was simple but took time to coordinate all the parts. In the coming days, the blog will have posts detailing the application process and the experience of Covid travel including a amazing flight from Chicago, IL to Tokyo, Japan in first class on Japan Airlines. I also need to catch up on several post from my recent trip to Greece. Unfortunately it looks like I’ll be in kind of a self-imposed quarantine trying to get these posts done.
Final Thoughts
It looks like travel is opening again in many parts of the world. Thailand’s approach, if successful, will probably be copied more or less by other tourist-dependent countries that the pandemic has hit hard. Because it seems impossible that we’ll ever get 100% of the population vaccinated, vaccine effectiveness wanes, and vaccines aren’t guaranteed to prevent infection, it seems like Covid is here to stay. My layman’s opinion is travel restrictions of some type will be with us for the foreseeable future, and the only way of getting back to pre-pandemic status may be the development of treatments that, in terms of morbidity, make Covid like the other communicable diseases we live with.
Thanks for your like of my post on Revelation 16; you are very kind.
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My pleasure.
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Travel will never be the same as pre-COVID19, atleast until 2024, hopefully. In case of a positive test on arrival would mean a big hole in the pocket!
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It is going to be a while before life gets back to normal. I think Greece is wise to promise to pay for the quarantine for anyone who tests positive on arrival but negative on a pre-departure test. There should be very few who fall into that category.
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Thank you for this! I’m going in April so I’m always trying to keep tabs on the status.
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That is a good idea to keep checking. Things are always changing in the world of Covid travel restrictions. Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a great trip! 😊
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Hi John,
I can’t wait to go to Thailand but will wait until it sounds like smooth sailing ahead. Keep us posted. 💖💖🌷
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I hear you. Thailand still has some restrictions in country to deal with. Take care Cindy!
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for sure. thanks John, I will and you do the same💖
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Enjoy your time in Thailand! I’ve always wanted to visit. For now I’ll live vicariously through your adventures.
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I tested negative so I’m good to go. 😊 I think you’d love Thailand and the people and there’s something like 153 national parks here.
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Have the best time 🙂
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I hope to 😊
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Enjoy your trip! I hope you have a very nice time in Thailand.
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Thanks much Blanca! It’s really nice to be in such a beautiful country.
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Very interesting to see your photos of Bangkok Airport, which is the last non-UK airport I was in pre-pandemic (late February 2020). I hope your test proves negative and will be following your experiences there with great interest. We hope to venture long-haul again in early 2022, hopefully to Sri Lanka 🙂
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Getting through Suvarnabhumi Airport was actually a breeze compared to prior experiences. The document verification process was smooth and no lines at immigration/passport control.
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Good to hear!
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It must be good there in Thailand right? By the way enjoy your time sir.. Hope the test comes negative..
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Hi! Thailand still has restrictions in country but many things are fully or partially open. Thanks for visiting!
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How exciting! Hope the test comes back negative and we can all read about fun times 🙂
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I was negative! 😃 I’m looking forward to some fun tines here.
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Awesome!! Very excited for you and can’t wait to read all about it 🙂
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Enjoy your time in Thailand John. We will be waiting a bit longer to travel, but maybe in early 2022. Cheers. Allan
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Hopefully more places will open in the coming months. Thailand still has a lot of restrictions in country but it is great to be here.
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Really interesting insights on how to get into Thailand. Huge kudos for taking on the travel journey! The ever changing nature of the world certainly makes planning difficult
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I hope I’m not jumping the gun. It is nice to feel like travel is opening.
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I’m glad you can be in Thailand. I look forward to updates.
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Much appreciated! There are a lot of hoops to jump through but it is good to be able to visit The land of Smiles again.
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Have a wonderful trip, John. I loved Thailand. I’m sure your test will come back clean and looking forward to reading about your adventures.
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Thanks Leighton! The test was negative. 😊
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I have a upcoming trip to Dubai on feb 9th and the plan was to fly to Bangkok on the 18th. Based on the rules (21 continuous days), assuming if Emirates allows me on the flight, I would have to go through the sandbox if I wanted to go?
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Dubai will be a wonderful trip. The UAE is one of the approved countries so you should be okay. Just keep checking.
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Thank you for your response and hope you are having a great time. To be clear, I’m flying from usa to dubai on the 9th and then to Bangkok on the 18th. I understand that USE is one of the approved countries, but my issue currently is that I would not qualify for the 21 continuous days at one of the approved countries. So would that mean I would have to go through the sandbox program? Or can I just take the test, stay at the hotel while waiting for result, and if negative travel freely? What document did you have to show that proved you were in one place for 21 straight days?
Sorry for the long message. Any insight would be grateful.
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I don’t think it is a prohibition from all travel for 21 days but a requirement to remain in the approved countries for 21 days. Might be wrong but I was in Greece less than 21 days before entering Thailand.
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Assuming you had the Thailand Pass approved that would take care of the concern?
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I submitted my passport number when making the application and I provided the passport upon entering Thailand.
That was all that was required as far as the 21-day requirement. I think you will be fine going from US to UAE to Thailand as long as they are still on the list of approved countries. To be sure, you can contact the Thai embassy in DC or one of the consulates. They can answer over the phone. Good questions. Let me know if they say you can’t leave the US for 21 days before entering Thailand.
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Interesting stuff, look forward to reading your future blogs on this. We are ready go head off again. Before Christmas is our choice for 2 or 3 months but wont book flights till we have got our booster date. As it stands we are looking at Sri Lanka but with re-opening of Thailand we may have more choice when it comes to booking. Keep the information coming .
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You are bold travelers. Things may change rapidly as far as places opening. Best wishes for your journeys.
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All the best to you and a great trip 😊!
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Thanks for the good wishes! The travel has been great so far.
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Great! Looking forward to see wonderful photo’s!
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I’ll do my best with the photos. 😊
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Ahhh, I’m jealous. Enjoy your time there!
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I’ve already enjoyed some good food!😊
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wow! You made it to Greece and Thailand! Fantastic! looking forward to hearing all about it. So you are doing two separate trips? I thought you might fly greece to Thailand then home.
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Flying from Greece would have been nice if there was a solution with frequent flyer miles. Plus I don’t like to be away from home for more than two or three weeks at a stretch.
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Where there’s a will, there’s a way! Good luck with your test, and I look forward to seeing many fabulous photos.
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Thanks Pete! So far so good.
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Have a wonderful time, I doubt you will be positive
Looking forward to hearing about your next destination ☀️
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I haven’t been out of the hotel yet; so it will be interesting to see what things are really like here. Have a great week Alison!
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🙂
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How are you doing Alison
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Great!
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Hi
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😃
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Have a great time!
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Thanks. We’ll see. Many things are still closed.
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I know you love it there, so I am sure you will have a great time…
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I hope so. There is no set itinerary.
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look forward to reading baout your trip…
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