Are you looking for a guideline on how to travel to Thailand?
Well,
With the current Covid-19 pandemic, things have been changed for safety measures.
This can be a real pain for travelers with such uncertainty.
No worries! By the time you finish our article, you will be well-prepared and ready to enter to Thailand.
In this article, we will explore current options on how to enter to Thailand including :
- Certificate of Entry (COE)
- Visa Exemption
- Entry programs for travellers.
Certificate of Entry (COE)
It’s a letter issued by Thai authorities allowing foreigners to enter to the kingdom of Thailand for safety measures during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meaning that if you want to travel to Thailand, you will need COE.
To obtain the COE, there are some requirements as follow:
- Valid Passport
- Valid visa, some countries there’s no visa required. We will discuss more detail in the next section
- Covid-19 Travel Insurance with a minimum coverage of 100,000 USD for your whole period of visit
- Alternative State Quarantine hotel booking ( Must be accredited hotels by Thai government)
- Negative result for Covid-19 test 72 hours before departure.
You will need your COE presented to the airline before departure and to the immigration upon your arrival.
Visa Exemption
The first step to travel to Thailand is to check if you need a visa or not.
If the purpose for your visit is for vacation, and you will stay less than 45 days. There’s a rule granting foreigners to visit the country without a visa requirement.
This is called “visa exemption”
If you are a passport holder from one of the exempted countries/territory, there’s no visa required to enter to Thailand.
(*please note that this will be in effect until 30 September 2021)
Click here to see the list of countries eligible for visa exemption.
In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand has developed a platform that you can check whether you need to apply for a visa before entering to Thailand.
Simply visit https://www.thaievisa.go.th
Keep in mind that, even if you are on the visa exemption list, you still need to apply for Certificate of Entry.
Entry Programs for Travellers
Like mentioned earlier,
There are some changes when travelling to Thailand. To cope with the covid-19 pandemic and still be able to accommodate tourists.
Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) have launched a few programs you can choose when entering to the country.
Different programs may have different rules.
Read on to find out.
Alternative State Quarantine – Bangkok
For those who wish to travel to Thailand and stay in Bangkok with non-immigrant visa, one option you have is to do quarantine 14 days at a hotel which accredited by the Ministry of Public Health Thailand.
With this option, you will have to stay within the hotel rooms until your quarantine is finished. Also, you will be required to do RT-PCR test for covid-19 detection 3 times during your stay.
1st time is within the first day of your arrival.
2nd time is within your 6th – 7th day of the quarantine.
3rd time is within your 12th – 13th day of the quarantine.
Kindly note that travellers shall absorb all cost.
Requirements for ASQ in Bangkok
- Visa (non-immigrant)
- COE
- Confirmed booking on your ASQ hotel
Phuket Sandbox Program
If you are coming to Thailand for vacation, or you don’t want to spend 14 days in a hotel room, you can choose to join Phuket Sandbox program as an alternative.
It’s a program that allow you to enjoy the beauty of the city as there’s no quarantine required for this program.
Yet,
You are required to stay in Phuket for 14 days before you can leave. We can call this travelling within sealed area.
Requirements for Phuket Sandbox
- Direct international flight to Phuket.
- COE
- Complete 2 doses of Covid-19 vaccination approved by WHO
- Confirmation of SHA+ hotel in Phuket.
- Thailand Plus Application installed on your mobile phone
- Coming from low and medium risk countries. ( See the list here)
Please note that you must be residing in the designated country at least 21 days before travel to Phuket.
Also, you will be required to test for Covid-19 by RT-PCR method 3 times just like it is for ASQ in Bangkok
1st time on your arrival date
2nd time on day 6th-7th
3rd time on day 12th-13th
Even you can go out of your hotel room during your first 14-day, facial mask must be worn at all time in public.
Samui Plus Program
Samui Plus program is similar to Phuket Sandbox. Within this Samui Plus program, you can enjoy Thailand’s 3 most beautiful islands including Samui island, Pha-ngan island, and Tao island.
Yet, Samui Plus is slightly different from Phuket sandbox.
Day 1 – 3, you can leave hotel room to a designated area within the hotel only.
Day 4 – 7, you can travel to a designated route within Samui.
After 7 nights at Samui,
Day 8 – 14, you will be allowed to travel around Koh Pha-ngan and Koh Tao.
Still, you need to stay at SHA+ hotel and need to make the advanced booking for no less than 7 nights.
Requirements for Samui Plus Program
- Direct international flight to Samui Island.
- COE
- Complete 2 doses of Covid-19 vaccination approved by WHO
- Confirmation of SHA+ hotel in Samui.
- Thailand Plus Application installed on your mobile phone
- Coming from low and medium risk countries. ( Same list as in Phuket Sandbox)
With Samui Plus program, you also need to do RT-PCR test 3 times just like other programs as well as the facial mask to be worn at all time in public areas.
Upcoming Program
With the success of Phuket Sandbox and Samui Plus programs, Thailand is on the way to reopen 5 new areas for tourists :
Bangkok, Chon Buri, Chiang Mai, Prachuap Khiri Khan (Hua Hin), Phetchaburi.
It’s the part of the roadmap in accordance with the prime minister’s policy that will reopen the country in phases. These 5 cities are part of the second phase.
This reopening is planned to launch with the new guideline against Covid-19 “Universal Prevention”
All these 5 areas are getting ready to welcome tourists including accelerating vaccination for local population.
Thai Government is also forming tourist campaigns such as Bangkok Sandbox, Hua Hin Recharge, Charming Chiang Mai to promote tourism in the country.
This upcoming program will be announced in detail once the government finalise everything.
Please stay tune!
So far, all we know is that they will likely to follow similar pattern to Phuket Sandbox.
No quarantine needed! You will be able to travel within sealed areas!
Thailand is preparing to welcome you again.
If you need assistance in anything, whether its document preparation, COE application, visa extension, hotel reservation and insurance.
No worries!
Aisa’s got your back here with all the extensive checklist before you travel to Thailand.
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