Hey friends, thanks for stopping by our channel. My name's Amanda Gedney, and I'm the founder and CEO of Settle in Abroad. Today, we're talking about what it takes to enter Thailand in 2021 as borders are still closed.
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In the past couple months, there have been new visa options that may allow you to enter Thailand that you didn't even know about. So now many countries can get the 60 day tourist visa, the 45 day visa exemption. These are all possible and ways to enter Thailand with a little bit less paperwork. But first, let's talk about the process.
(00:42):
So, number one, you have to decide which visa that you want. Are you going to get a long-term visa from your home country and enter Thailand? Or are you going to get the short-term visa and then get the long-term visa in Thailand? So there's a few things you can think about. If the specific reason you're coming to Thailand is for, say retirement, you may want to get the retirement visa in America, because then you can get that retirement visa and be in Thailand for a year, and then extend that in the country and not worry about anything at all. However, there is a lot of paperwork you have to do on your end in your home country to get this visa, but we are able to help you throughout the entire process. So please schedule a consultation call with us and we can help you decide what your options are and maybe what might be the best situation for you.
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Because you've been waiting to come to Thailand, and if you just want to get that visa and then sit on a beach for a year, that's great. We can help you with that. But if you don't want to get a long-term visa outside of Thailand because you want to just get Thailand quicker and do less paperwork, that's fine. Then the 45 day visa exemption or the 60 day tourist visa, may be for you if it's possible for your country. Not every country can get these tourist visas at the moment, but we can let you know what visa you can get so you can enter Thailand no matter what country you are from.
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So you have your visa, you decided on your visa, great. Next step, book your flight. So you have to book a semi-commercial flight because there are not commercial flights yet. So be very careful when booking your flight, because you cannot just go on Skyscanner or Google Flights and just book any flight, because the ones online might actually not be the ones that are available. Because it's semi-commercial, it's still technically a repatriation flight. So say you are in America and you're flying from Los Angeles to Bangkok. So Qatar Airways is one example. The flight from LA to Doha is not a commercial flight, but the flight from Doha to Bangkok is. So you have to look at the flight numbers to see if that is an actual semi-commercial flight. And there's spreadsheets online from the Thai government that let you know the airlines that are flying out and of course, this is something we can help with as well.
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So you got your visa, you booked your flight, now you need to book your quarantine. So Thailand requires that everyone does a 15 night quarantine when arriving. This quarantine, most of them are in Bangkok. There's a few options in Phuket and Pattaya, but they are quite expensive and it's most likely that your flight might be canceled. Because wherever your flight arrives in to Thailand, that's where you immediately have to quarantine. So most people are doing Bangkok because most flights are flying directly there and it's much more options. There's a quarantine for every budget. The lowest possible is starting at $1,000 per person. And one thing to know about the quarantine is that only if you're married and have children is when you can quarantine together. So two partners that are not married, unfortunately they will not be able to quarantine in the same room. And for families, depending on the quarantine, sometimes they require one parent with one kid, one parent with another kid in separate rooms.
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However, there are some luxury quarantine options for families that have conjoining rooms, so that might be an option for you. So as well, we can help you book the quarantine. We've had many clients come through and move to Thailand, so we've gotten a lot of feedback and everyone has a different opinion about the quarantine, but mostly everyone is happy with it. The food's great and it was just two weeks and now they get to live their life in Thailand. So you need to book that quarantine directly with the hotel as well. Do not book it through Agoda or booking.com. You have to book it directly with the hotel because they have their own cancellation policies that are very important. And you do want to pick one with a flexible cancellation policy in case your flight gets canceled, in case something happens in the paperwork process, you don't want to lose all that money you paid for the quarantine.
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So visa, you got your quarantine, your flight, and now some more paperwork. So the COE, the certificate of entry, so you need to show that you've booked your quarantine, that you've booked your flight and you have your visa and you have to upload it online. So first you get a pre-approval for the COE and that can come within 24 hours of you applying. And just be sure to do this on a business day, because it's most likely able to come faster. So you will be pre-approved and then you have to do the next COE, which could take up to five business days to be approved. So be sure to give yourself enough time. And in both COE's, you also have to provide COVID insurance covering 100,000 USD. So don't book any insurance that just covers 100,000 USD.
(06:00):
It has to specifically cover COVID. They want to see that it says covers COVID. And the government has a list of Thai companies that fit in this policy requirement and I would highly suggest using a Thai company so you don't have any issues. If you use a Thai company and they list it, the Thai insurance company will know exactly what you need and you won't have any problems. And we work with plenty of insurance providers that we can help you get the insurance that you need. That insurance is required that you have it for the length of your visa, so if you're entering on a 45 day visa exemption, you just need the COVID insurance for 45 days. But if you are entering on a one-year retirement visa, you would have to have that COVID insurance for the entire year. So that's a very important detail to be aware of. So yeah, all of this paperwork is required. The COE is very important.
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And then once your COE is approved, the final step is 72 hours before your flight you have to get a COVID test and it's a very specific COVID test. We'll write the exact wording so you understand. If you get a different one than the exact wording that they want, then it will not be valid. So you have to be very careful and make sure that it's within the 72 hour window before your flight. Because if it's anything out of that, they're not going to let you board the plane. And you did all the work, all the paperwork before those 72 hours, the last thing is the COVID test and the Fit-to-Fly Certificate. And the Fit-to-Fly Certificate you can only get filled out after you have your COVID test result. And of course the COVID test result has to be negative. And for the Fit-to-Fly Certificate, it is pretty simple. There are doctors online. It's like a video call and some aren't even requiring the video call anymore. You just email someone, you give them your negative COVID test, they make the paper for you, and then that's your Fit-to-Fly Certificate.
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So there are specific doctors online that are qualified to do this. And of course, this is something we can help with as well. Because at the end of the day, it is a lot of paperwork to enter Thailand right now and you want it done correctly the first time, because one slight detail off might make your COE not come in time, you might not be able to get on your flight and it will leave you frustrated. So if you work with us, we're here to make the process as calm and simple as possible, and to get your end goal to enter Thailand. That's the goal. There's a lot of paperwork in between that, but we'll get you to Thailand so you can enjoy your life and relax. So thanks so much for stopping by our channel, and I hope to see you next time. Remember if you're new, hit subscribe, give us a like, hit the bell to be notified every time we upload videos. And we'll see you again soon. Thank you.
