Thailand opened to tourists, here's how to get COE

From July 1 Thailand has reopened to vaccinated tourists from all over the world (or almost), the final rules for the Phuket Sandbox, however, were not published until June 29. Despite the short notice, hundreds of tourists managed to land without any problems on the Indian Ocean island.

Here at TFC we have followed all the Sandbox program developments, partly because Phuket is the pathfinder and, if all goes well, more such projects will come. The goal, in fact, is to reopen the entire nation by mid-October, Covid permitting, of course.

Everything has already happened in these first few days in Phuket: many companies have opened connections to the island, just over 2,500 tourists arrived in the first 10 days. The first positive tourist has already been discovered, and the first scoundrels have also been caught attempting to "break out" of the island to move elsewhere in the rest of Thailand.

What is COE and how is it obtained

Italian citizens before the pandemic could go to Thailand without any problems and obtain a visa directly at the airport, this possibility has been restored only for those traveling within the Phuket pilot program, however, it is necessary to obtain the COE from the embassy. To obtain the certificate, one must complete a online procedure which involves sending a series of documents:

• Certificate of vaccination
• Passport
• Health insurance with specific coverage for Covid

In addition to these documents, one must provide information about the presumed date of travel, emergency contacts, and other biographical info.

This is described in the following video tutorial.

Unfortunately, however, things are constantly changing, and so being able to fill out all the documents correctly and find them is something of a treasure hunt.

The requirements for entering the Sandbox program

• Certificate of vaccination/evidence of vaccination
• ThailandPlus APP installation on cell phone for contact tracing
• RT-PCR testing prior to arrival and during the stay in Phuket
• Covid-19 insurance
• Certificate of Entry (COE) issued by the Thai embassy/consulate.
• Stay in a SHA+ accredited hotel in Phuket only.
• Covid-19 RT-PCR tests prepaid in Phuket
• Currently you have to fly directly to Phuket no stopover in Bangkok is possible

My obstacle race to get the COE.

Let me preface this by saying, I am one of those people who never reads the instruction booklet and therefore makes puerile mistakes of inattention. The first day it took me an hour to realize that after uploading a file to the system, a second button had to be pressed to finally submit it. Of course, the platform does not help since it returns an error without highlighting it, but I could have noticed it earlier.

The second attempt, which failed, is again due to my inexperience in choosing the wrong type of visa requested. Again, the platform does not help, but I could certainly have been more careful.

The third attempt was rejected at the sender because of the lack of a specific rider in my travel insurance regarding Covid-19 coverages. As an American Express Platinum personal cardholder, I did not purchase any coverage and used the one included, and free, in my card's annual fee.

Finally, the fourth attempt was the right one, and I must admit that except for the last one, the first few mistakes were almost entirely my fault.

Upon receipt of confirmation 15 days are triggered to complete the procedure by entering into the platform the details of the airline ticket and the hotel or facility where you intend to stay, which we remind you must be SHA+ accredited.

When you enter the appropriate section to complete the submission, you are greeted by a reassuring giant countdown reminding you that you have 14 days to complete the process; once the deadline has expired, you will have to start from scratch.

One of the last changes made to the list of things to do to get the COE was to have the pre-payment receipt for all mandatory PCR tests: one on arrival and two over the next 13 days. Provided you stay more than 5 days, otherwise only the one on arrival is mandatory.

It is best to dialogue with the facility you intend to book and make the reservation directly with them. I chose the Phuket Marriott Resort & Spa, Merlin Beach and after asking for information via Facebook, booked the room I was able to proceed to pay for the tests at a cost of 2,400 thb, the one at the airport, and 2,800 thb the subsequent ones at the hotel.

Not even 24 h after sending the last required documents, I received the final green light to enter Thailand.

Importantly, it must be remembered before leaving:

• Having a negative PCR buffer made within 72h before boarding, at this time there are no direct flights from Italy so the 72h is triggered by boarding on the first flight not on when you will arrive in Phuket
• Print all documents: hotel certificate, medical insurance, embassy letter
• Fill out the self-certification form
• Install the contact tracing app on your cell phone to keep active until you leave the country

 

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