Like every other country in the world, Thailand has been heavily affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. This is due to Thailand having over 40,000 cases since the outbreak started.
Thailand has also suffered financially because of COVID. This is because countries including Thailand had national lockdowns so there was essentially no travel to Thailand which affected Thailand as travel is important to the Thai economy.
However, the collective effort of the Thai citizens helped to limit the spread of COVID in Thailand meaning that Thailand can be a choice of destination for when lockdowns are lifted.
In today’s blog, I will give you advice on visiting Thailand after COVID so you can start planning your summer holidays.
Applying To Enter Thailand
To be able to visit Thailand now, there is a process that you must go through.
- Register for Certificate of Entry – You must fill out an application form to inform the Thai government that you wish to visit Thailand. You then have to wait for 3 working days for a response from the Thai government to whether you are approved to visit Thailand.
- Once Approved – You then have to book your flight and find an Alternative State Quarantine (ASQ) within 15 days. An ASQ is a process that a traveller must partake in before being permitted to fly to Thailand. This means you must find a government-accredited hotel at your own expense that you complete your quarantine on arrival to Thailand.
- Confirm Application for Certificate of Entry – After completing these steps, you must show your evidence of ASQ, insurances and flights so that a final decision can be made on whether you can travel to Thailand. This decision takes another 3 working days to process.
- Once Certificate of Entry (COE) is approved – Once your COE is approved, you must then print it off to show to Thai officials on arrival. You also have to obtain a medical certificate saying that you are free from COVID-19 that has been issued no more than 72 hours before travelling. The failure to have these documents will lead to you being denied entry to Thailand.
On Arrival And Quarantine
On arrival in Thailand, you must then take another COVID-19 test when you arrive at your ASQ.
At the moment, the requirements are that you must complete 10 days (11 nights) in quarantine at your ASQ which includes UK travellers.
Also, Thailand has issued a new requirement that if travellers arriving in Thailand as having COVID-19 variants will still be required to complete 14 days (15 nights) of quarantine.
However, if you hold a valid vaccine certificate and are entering Thailand from a country with no COVID-19 strains then you may only be required to complete 7 days of quarantine.
To be eligible to only have to complete 7 days of quarantine, your vaccine must be approved by the World Health Organisation and you must have had the vaccine 14 days before you travel.
Testing Positive
When travelling, obviously there is that slight chance that you test positive whilst completing your quarantine.
If you test positive whilst in your ASQ:
- You and anyone you are travelling with will be transferred to hospital and held in isolation.
- You are required to remain in the hospital for 14 days, even if return a negative test.
- In order to be released after testing positive, you are required to provide 2 negative tests, 5 days apart, before they will consider releasing you from hospital.
- you will be required to provide 2 negative tests, 5 days apart, before being considered for release
Extra Information
As well as completing the necessary steps for a COE with COVID, you must also adhere to any other requirements such as having a visa if you plan to stay in Thailand for over 30 days.
Also, the information given in this blog can change depending on the status of COVID-19 and Thailand can also change its laws regarding entry.
If you are still unsure about visiting Thailand because of COVID, read the governments foreign travel advice here.
Stay safe everyone and I hope you all can get back or visit this amazing country as soon as possible!