Illegitimi non Carborundum
OK - I hope to be on an aeroplane from London to Thailand on October 22nd.
For 6 weeks the whole thing has taken over my life. Crazy beyond belief and totally unfair and unnecessary.
I think it is worth giving a start to stop summary, listing the problems and lessons learned, because some of them are not going to go away, even if and when Covid does.
1) I left Thailand in June when my 1-year multi-entry visa ran out and there was the "unofficial" Sunday EVA air flight that came empty from Taiwan.
Before leaving I was assured that the Thai Government Officer Medical Insurance that I had (via my wife) gave me everything I needed for coming back. I organised a certificate for it, with an authorised translation into English. THAT ASSURANCE PROVED TO BE WRONG. What is correct in Thailand is not necessarily what is understood at the London Embassy.
2) Because the multi-entry non immigrant O visa has been stopped, I applied for a 1-year O-A visa. £150 plus £40 for Medical Certificate, plus £25 for No Criminal Record Certificate and booked an appointment at the Embassy. There is no visiting access to the Embassy other than prior appointment for "Delivering a Visa Application" which has been done on line anyway and they have the only copy. Cost of travelling to London for that £100.
THANK GOD I WENT TO THE EMBASSY. Otherwise the application would have been refused - full stop.
3) The Visa application form is not fit for purpose! Only one small file can be scanned in for answering each section. Not only must everything be pre-scanned but your scanner must be set to minimum quality because ONLY SMALL SINGLE PAGE SCANS ARE ALLOWED! As an example, I have two pensions, but I could only give one as financial evidence. There is no facility to add any extra pages or to make any helpful explanations. That is ludicrous.
4) The interview was in the basement, with a long screen as in a bank with one robotic lady handling visas. No chairs, one stood there opposite herself.
"YOUR VISA IS REFUSED BECAUSE YOU HAVE NOT SUBMITTED THE CORRECT INFORMATION"
(i) You do not have Covid Insurance. It must say "Covid-19 Value $100,000. It must be for 1 year". Twice I got her to go to her boss. NO!
(ii) Your finance info is no good. They did not understood my annual P60 form. I gave them a copy of my Govt Pension info. Still no good. I gave them a copy of bank statements from the past 12 months with the two pension payments highlighted for each month. YES OK
(iii) Your Police Certificate is only the basic one. (I have no idea what she was talking about). I suggested that a detailed one would still say I did not have a criminal record. Special dispensation from her boss - YES OK.
(iv) They agreed to keep my passport and application "on hold" while I got the 12-months Covid insurance.
5) My wife made calls in Thailand.
(i) The Govt Officer people said the Embassy was wrong, they should accept it. No they could not send a letter because there was no need. The Embassy should know.
(ii) Thai Embassy HQ said that special tourists would be coming and they would need Covid Insurance for their 9 months. The answer to "he is not a tourist" was "It is up to the Embassy" and the phone as put down.
FORGET ASKING FOR HELP FROM THAILAND AUTHORITIES.
6) Covid-19 insurance from Thai companies.
(i) the cheap Covid-only offers around in March/April are now no more. The only remaining ones require you to have already been in Thailand for 6 months.
(ii) Many Thai companies offer general medical insurance with Covid-19 highlighted. The price/month increase steadily in 5-year age bands. Some companies have an age limit of 65, some 75. For 71-75 a typical price is maybe £400/month - £4800 for the year!
(iii) I am 76. I could get no insurance. For once I got an answer on the Embassy visa phone line, just before 5.00pm closing. Their comment - MAYBE YOU CHANGE TO APPLY FOR SINGLE ENTRY VISA
(iv) Separately my wife made calls in Thailand. April Insurance which had refused me, told her they would provide insurance £300/month, age 71-80. LESSON- ASKING IN THAILAND SPEAKING THAI GIVES DIFFERENT AND BETTER ANSWERS WITH COMMERCIAL COMPANIES. I did not wish to pay that money, and haven't.
7) Certificate of Entry
Separately I had applied for the Cert of Entry, which used an email application system.
The confusing auto reply asked me for things I had already sent. Therefore I emailed specifically asking whether my Govt Officer Medical Insurance had been accepted for this. Their answer was that I only needed Flight details and Quarantine hotel to get my Cert of Entry.
I then wrote asking why it was ok for C of E but not for Visa - no answer whatsoever.
THEREFORE DO NOT EXPECT ANSWERS OR LOGIC FROM THE EMBASSY
8) Single Entry Non-Imm O-visa, cost £60, valid 90 days.
(i) I sent in a new application. No acknowledging email this time. I emailed asking what was happening. A response - please send urgently original copy of marriage certificate. What? Their instructions ask for all foreign language documents to be translated into English.
I explained that the original was in Thailand but a copy had always been accepted and sent it.
That was what they wanted - the embassy people have poor grasp of English language.
(ii) After a few days my passport came in the post with a 90-day visa. That alone was a surprise because I had paid £8 for a Special Delivery. Signing for its receipt wouldn't work on the postie's machine. No tracking info, no security. BEWARE THIS
(iii) Either I am dreaming or the single-entry visa used to say 6-months validity for max 90 day in Thailand, use within 3 months of issue. Not any more. It is now 3 MONTHS FROM DATE OF ISSUE. Mine is October 1st to December 31st.
You are advised to apply at least 15 days before a flight, you do 15 nights quarantine. You have maximum 2 months use.
9) Flights
(i) Thai repatriation flights for which I had registered have disappeared with no explanation. In theory there is a Sunday Thai Airways flight - single fare was near £700 in September. I am sure there were listings for this month a bit cheaper than that but they have disappeared and there is no explanation. Thai Nationals wanting free quarantine in Thailand have to use the Thai airways flight. They do not have insurance complications or anything like that. I guess they must be fully booked. FOREIGNERS NOT WANTED ON THAI AIRWAYS.
(ii) On the other hand Emirates have a daily flight, change in Dubai, £476 single, a bit more Fri/Sat. At this time you also get 31 days free Covid-19 cover value 150,000 Euros, therefore better than Thai authorities require and covering all quarantining. (But 31 days, not the whole period of a visa.). The flight is fully flexible up to 2 years at no charge for changing it, £100 for cancellation. EMIRATES WERE BRILLIANT IN MAKING MY BOOKING. Efficient, clear, knowledgeable and pleasant. I have changed it already. I CAN RECOMMEND EMIRATES.
10) ASQ Quarantine hotels.
(i) there are now 77 on the list in Bangkok, varying from 28000 to over 100,000 THB for the 15 night package. Plus 4 hugely expensive ones in Phuket/Pattaya. The Buriram one is no longer provided as it was for VIPs and members of the football club only !!!
(ii) This is 15 nights in solitary confinement until maybe the last couple of days. The package is arranged through a Private Company which is Government owned (according to ThaiVisa info) but hotels can put their own additional provisions and requirements. IT IS ESSENTIAL TO SEEK OUT CUSTOMER FEEDBACK AND EVEN BETTER FOR YOUR WIFE TO CALL THEM. Cheaper ones are rooms without windows, inferior food and poor service, maybe all three - 15 days in a prison cell and you are paying a lit of money for it !!!!!!!.
(iii) The system is compromised yet again. To quote one newly listed hotel which I know well. The 50,000 THB listed price was for Thai Nationals only. "The Government has asked us to help the Thai people by charging less, and so it is 57,000 for Foreigners". And, "yes there is a big window but we have been asked to cover it with netting so that it cannot be opened, because people may get stressed and want to commit suicide". Unbelievable.
(iv) I have booked a hotel I never heard of called The Vertical Suite. 60,000THB, much bigger room than normal, separated between living and sleeping areas, good customer feedback, pleasant to my wife on the phone. Hopefully I will be able to find out.