On November 16, 2021, I began my plans to travel to Thailand in early March when I learned that they had opened their border to tourists. As a retired government employee, I figured that I could figure out all of the required documentation needed for this 2 month's trip during the COVID-19 era—-I was WRONG.
Ao Pudsa Bungalow View of Ao Pudsa Bay
I first booked a flight on November 16th using my 84,000 United Air Frequent Flyer miles which cost $54 in fees. The United flights were on January 6th from Seattle to Singapore via San Francisco arriving in Singapore on January 7th and on Thai Airways on January 8th.
The following day, United informed me they had canceled the January 6th flight and had me rebook it for January 5th which was the first United flight there in 2 years. That gave me a need to stay at the airport transit hotel for my January 8th flight on Thai Air.
I spent the next few days obtaining insurance and hotel bookings so I could apply for the Thailand 60-day eVisa which required documentation of a one-night Test and Go approved hotel, COVID-19 vaccination proof, passport information page, head photo, income proof, arrival, and departure airline proof, biographical information, medical insurance information with proof of $50,000 coverage for COVID 19 related expenses. Fortunately, Travelguard Insurance had developed a letter that described such coverage
When I tried to get annual insurance from Travelguard which generally costs about $260 per year, the representative told me that WA State Insurance Commissioner had not approved the annual insurance plan, so I asked about getting trip insurance. She asked me how much “out-of-pocket” reservation expenses I had. I said it was just $193.34–airline fees and $141 for the one-night Test and Go hotel reservation. She said their travel insurance from January 5 to March 7, 2022, would cost me just $16.20. What a surprise. Additional savings by using frequent flyer miles rather than money for international air tickets. They even sent a letter that described COVID-19 $50,000 medical coverage that was generally required by most countries.
I was pleased to get the eVisa approval on November 23rd for a 60-day period which included a QR code on the lower right side of the Visa. Unfortunately, I had thought this QR code was the Thailand Pass which replaced the Certificate of Entry. The Thailand Pass QR code was required to enter Thailand. I did not find out my mistake until I arrived in Singapore and tried to get a boarding pass from the Singapore desk receptionist.
I ended up getting two PCR tests, one at the Seattle Center on the 3rd and the second at the Polyclinic on Madison on the 4th. I received the Polyclinic results the same day but the Seattle Center one was not sent to me until the 6th—the day after my flights from Seattle and San Francisco. If I had relied on this one test, I would have been denied boarding in Seattle and San Francisco—not good.
As I took the Metro and Light Rail to the Seattle Airport, I was pretty confident until I got to the United ticketing desk where I was told I needed a Singapore SG Arrival Card and to download the Singapore “TraceMe” app on my iPhone. Both of these required more uploading of biodata, vaccination proof, COVID-19 negative test within 72 hours, insurance proof, and credit card information. The SG Arrival Card and the TraceMe App came through quickly so I got the two boarding passes to San Francisco and to Singapore on United Air.
I was worried about the high number of canceled flights, especially since Seattle was one of the places where canceled flights were among the highest. My Seattle to San Francisco flight was delayed by an hour, and not canceled and I had plenty of time to take the first United flight to Singapore from the US in 2 years, titled UA 1.
When I got to the boarding gate, the ticket agent, Anwar, told me that United had mistakenly booked me for a Thai Airways flight from Singapore to Bangkok. With COVID-19, Singapore only allowed transit travel on United and Singapore Air. Anwar spent over 1/2 hour trying to rebook a similar Singapore Air flight and once she found it, I had to provide more documentation to complete the booking. These agents are wonderful under pressure from stressed-out travelers like me.
There were no available economy seats to select from for this flight so my boarding pass generated a coach premium plus seat which was good because this flight was the longest United flight at just over 17 hours and landed on time. The eye mask they provided and the more comfortable seat allowed me some sleep time on this long flight.
After deplaning, I was met by a masked and plastic garb staff who escorted me to the Singapore Transfer Lounge. Other passengers were likewise escorted in a similar manner to their gates or Immigration.
The San Francisco United agent had booked me on flight SQ 712 leaving on the 8th at 3:25 PM, but the Singapore ticket agent, Hariyani, changed it to SQ 710 leaving earlier on the 8th at 1:05 PM. However, she informed me that the QR code on my eVisa was not the Thailand Pass. She explained the Thailand Pass was needed to board. Since I had over a day to apply, I did not think this would be a problem.
She showed me what the real Thailand Pass looked like and how to apply. Once I went online to apply, I discovered that Thailand had suspended the one-day Test and Go on December 21st—most likely to the rise of the Omicron variant, and I then realized that my booked one-night stay at the Kingston Suites which included a private car from the airport, PCR test, nurse temperature check and a night stay pending results of the PCR test was not good to qualify for the Thailand Pass.
Instead, I now had to book a seven-night stay at an approved hotel so I went to Agoda booking and booked the Ambassador. With that confirmed booking, I went back online and restarted applying for the Thailand Pass under the Ordinary Quarantine provisions. I needed to download and fill out a few forms and Hariyani, the ticket representative, printed out copies for me. I finished doing this at 9 AM and was worried that the instructions indicated that it may take from 3 to 7 days for approval. Around 9:20 am, I got an email that my application was rejected because I did not go directly to the Ambassador Hotel to be sure the 7-day quarantine requirements were met. Hariyani kept reassuring me that everything would work out OK.
With that unfortunate news, I then booked directly with the Ambassador Hotel and they agreed to credit me for the mistaken booking with them I made through the Agoda booking website. The cost for this 7-day quarantine booking was 20,800 Baht—about $626 USD which included a private car from the airport to the hotel, 2 PCR tests, nurse services, and three meals per day.
I reapplied for the Thailand Pass at 12:30 PM and it was approved 45 minutes later. I also had to add the Morchana app to my iPhone. I was required to keep my iPhone on all the time since this app tracks my movement throughout Thailand.
I then applied for my boarding pass by submitting my passport, Thailand Pass, United ticket itinerary, my COVID 10 vaccination record, Thailand eVisa, and my PCR negative test results. Hariyani immediately issued me the boarding pass for the following afternoon on the 1:05 pm flight SQ 710 to Thailand. I was worried that she would have had a problem with my PCR test since mine was done on the 4th and the 72-hour window was the 5th. She must have overlooked that issue or realized that if the Thai authorities had a problem with that, they could have me take a PCR test at the airport.
After getting my boarding pass, I spent the day wandering around the nearly empty airport until I was able to check into the Transit hotel for my 12-hour stay. The price of the hotel included dinner and breakfast room service where the food was dropped off outside my room by well-protected hotel staff at a cost of $248 USD—pricy, but comfy.
In the morning I spent time at one of the Transfer lounges near my gate and saw a group of Chinese travelers garbed in ghostbuster outfits that were also worn by staff at the Bangkok airport and at the Ambassador Hotel.
While waiting for my flight, I again thanked Hariyani for her help and reassurances that everything would work out fine and it did. I sent an email to Singapore commending her for her help and reassurance during my passage through the Singapore airport.
Flight SQ 710 was nearly empty. As I departed the plane and went through the Health check, I showed the fully draped staff my paperwork including the Thailand Pass and the Morchana app loaded on my iPhone, and hoped that she did not notice that my PCR test had expired a day before. She either didn’t notice or figured I would be in quarantine for the next 7 days.
Once I cleared immigration and customs, I was met with a long row of tables with signs indicating the hotels that were participating in the quarantine program where most of the staff were heavily garbed. I found my table and the representative had me wait to be escorted to my private taxi. Within 10 minutes, I was escorted to a minivan where the front driver compartment was sealed off with plexiglass and tape.
I was finally in Bangkok for my 7-day quarantine at the Ambassador Hotel. Outside temperatures ranged from 74 to 94 degrees with sunny skies.
As I made my way to my room, I noticed that they had covered the elevator buttons with plastic wrap, the walls and floors of the rooms set aside for quarantine were lined with plastic, and plastic chairs were set outside each room for food delivery to each room.
The hotel’s TV show featured beautifully plated food from the buffet and restaurant, but ours was delivered in plastic containers in a plastic bag and drinks were orange and pomegranate juices three times a day. I began responding to the expected delivery times by beginning to salivate just before delivery. The food was varied and tasty but it was generally just warm and not hot.
My TV was not working so this staff member got it fixed wearing his Ghostbuster outfit. I get at least four English language channels—BBC, Al Jazeera, NKK-Japanese, and CGTN-Chinese. I also get a Bollywood dancing channel.
During my stay, I rearranged my dental appointment for a crown and a filling at the Bumrungrad Hospital, booked another hotel for after the quarantine period, and read three mystery novels. While reading I ran the TV in the background and realized that much of the news keeps getting recycled throughout the day with little change.
Once I am done with my dental work, I am looking forward to heading back to Ko Samet and the Ao Pudsa Bungalows where I was when COVID-19 closed up everything back in late March 2020.
I took my first PCR test on the 9th and second on the 13th and plan to leave on the 15th. I was supposed to be able to walk around the pool area, but not swim once I had my first PCR results but I have yet to receive them. Information is hard to come by here.
While waiting here, the Thai government has increased restrictions on the use of alcohol in restaurants. In Bangkok, they use to allow drinking alcohol in restaurants until 11 pm and now have reduced it to 9 pm—in response to the Omicron variant. The bars have converted their places into restaurants so they can serve alcohol.
With all this time in quarantine, I have had a chance to reflect on how to approach travel during the COVID era.
1). Research all immigration and travel requirements of the airline and countries you are traveling to. Frequently return and review any changes to the travel requirements of the airlines and countries before you leave for the airport. Rely on official websites rather than just airline or private websites for current information.
2). Upload copies of all documents needed for your trip and save all emails regarding the trip. I travel with a mini iPad and upload many documents to iBooks or to Photos. Both the camera feature on the iPad and iPhone prove useful in uploading what is needed when satisfying travel documentation requirements.
3). Just prior to travel, find multiple places to take PCR tests on the day of travel and one, two, and three days prior to travel. There is no predicting which company provides the quickest results. For readmission to the US with the one-day antigen test requirements, I travel with two BionaxNow COVID-19 Ag Card Home Test that includes video monitoring of the testing process that I would use if there will be no convenient testing location the day before I return to the US.
4). Travel during the COVID-19 era requires great attention to detail in all requirements to make sure your paperwork is complete, double-check for changes in government and airline requirements, be flexible, be willing to adapt to unexpected changes, and enjoy all experiences that come your way.
I have recently uploaded all of my travel videos to YouTube now that they allow longer uploads and you may want to see my Peru Adventures there as well as my other travel videos. That link is https://www.youtube.com/c/huntforgold
If you do go there, please subscribe to my video channel since it will help me eventually get some income there and help with my future travels. Fewer people are using DVDs so I am transitioning to streaming my travels on my YouTube channel.
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