How can I enter Thailand?

[gaperking]

I am in state of sexual emergency, I need some Thai skin soon. How can I enter Thailand? 

[t0oL1]

Buy a Thai-elite visa. Good for 5 years only $16,000.

Are you a migrant worker? Invited by THE king. Married to a Thai?

[gaperking]

Can I marry someone in distant and immediately after entering country apply for and be granted divorce? This is serious.

 

16 000 USD is actually not that bad price for 5 years if you can stay in Thailand all the time and leave and return as you please.

[PeterRS]

26 minutes ago, gaperking said:

16 000 USD is actually not that bad price for 5 years if you can stay in Thailand all the time and leave and return as you please.

The amount for a 5 years Elite visa is 500,000 baht. You can stay permanently in Thailand or enter and leave as you please. Unlike the lump sum annual retirement visa, you only need a Thai bank account but with no minimum in it. 

Each year you are entitled to 24 free one way limousine airport transfers included in the cost. Once a year you have to purchase another multiple reentry permit for 3,900 baht. You do not have to bother with 90 day reporting as you can take your passport to the Elite Visa office on Sathorn and they do it for you. After 5 years you can renew, or take out a 10 year Elite visa for 1 million baht.

[spoon]

While entry is permitted, u still going to have to serve the 14days quarantine. Might be deal breaker for many

[anddy]

2 hours ago, PeterRS said:

The amount for a 5 years Elite visa is 500,000 baht. You can stay permanently in Thailand or enter and leave as you please. Unlike the lump sum annual retirement visa, you only need a Thai bank account but with no minimum in it. 

Each year you are entitled to 24 free one way limousine airport transfers included in the cost. Once a year you have to purchase another multiple reentry permit for 3,900 baht. You do not have to bother with 90 day reporting as you can take your passport to the Elite Visa office on Sathorn and they do it for you. After 5 years you can renew, or take out a 10 year Elite visa for 1 million baht.

slight correction: you do NOT have to buy a re-entry permit, because the visa itself, granting permission to enter, is valid for 5 years. Upon entry, you get a stamp in the passport giving permission to stay for 1 year. Therefore, only thing you may have to do is get an extension of stay if you stay that full year in the country (cost of extension 1900 Baht).

Also, there are other Elite options available which are better value for money. Who needs 24 airport transfers? Only the very busy business traveler presumably. The best value IMO is the 20 year membership for 1 million Baht, with no extra goodies such as the airport transfers (but still with priority lane at the airport).

However, while the Elite visa of course allows you to "stay in Thailand all the time and leave and return as you please", this is true for normal times and NOT guaranteed in this Covid time. You will still need all the obnoxious paper work like "certificate of entry" from the Thai embassy, which reportedly is considered "on a case by case basis", Covid-free test, fit-to-fly certificate, I think (though not 100% sure) the Covid insurance with min. USD 100k coverage, and of course the 14 day quarantine.

So Elite may be a way to get in now, it is by no means guaranteed nor easy and painless. 

[gaperking]

Do we have aboard someone with Elite visa? 

[vinapu]

7 hours ago, gaperking said:

16 000 USD is actually not that bad price for 5 years if you can stay in Thailand all the time and leave and return as you please.

all depends of how deep one's pockets are, no doubt it will be those who say 160 000  USD or even GBP is not a bad price for privilege

[Londoner]

....as long as there is no quarantine. A two week trip to Thailand would last six (or is it seven?) weeks under present circumstances. Having saved some money due to two cancellations (I'm assuming October is "off"), I'd willingly pay extra but not if I were to be imprisoned at home or even in a posh hotel

.Another issue, relevant to this....well, sort-of..... was well- expressed by an aids charity here , which recommended masks during sanuk (good for the guys perhaps) and no face -to face-sex, even if masks are worn.

Older readers may recall Captain Drebbin of the  "Police Squad"  film series enjoying sex with his floozie, entirely encased in a huge condom because it represented safe sex.  I laughed when I saw this, little realising that it may one day become a possibility!

 

 

[Guest]

12 hours ago, anddy said:

Also, there are other Elite options available which are better value for money. Who needs 24 airport transfers? Only the very busy business traveler presumably. The best value IMO is the 20 year membership for 1 million Baht, with no extra goodies such as the airport transfers (but still with priority lane at the airport).

 

Cost Years Baht/year   £/year Eur/year USD/year CAD/year  500 000   5  100 000    2 469  2 730  3 219  4 264 1 000 000   20  50 000    1 235  1 365  1 609  2 132
I did the maths based on figures quoted by Peter RS and Andy. I'd assume over 50% of board members could afford one of these options.       Whether it's a good use of our money is a very different question.   Would the government honour elite visas for 20 years ?    It's rather like buying bitcoin, because there is no guarantee that it has any value at all in 5 years time. How many of us would be entitled to retirement visas* or other options which, under normal circumstances cost less & give us very reasonable entry rights ?    [* Yes I know I probably got the terminology wrong] Most likely, the covid thing will blow over sometime in 2021 and none of this will be necessary.

[vinapu]

1 hour ago, z909 said:

Most likely, the covid thing will blow over sometime in 2021 and none of this will be necessary.

If we need to wait until 2021 hopefully by  " sometime "  you mean January, not December of 2021 

[Gaybutton]

For the time being the only way I know of for entering Thailand would be to get onboard the Star Ship Enterprise and beam down. 

Even buying the Elite card does not guarantee being permitted to enter Thailand.

Suppose you somehow get permission to enter Thailand.  How do you get there?  Are any passenger-carrying airlines currently flying to Thailand?  If there are any, I don't know them.  And from your present location it is probably a long walk to Thailand . . .

[reader]

Ten different international carriers are accepting bookings from NYC to BKK on Oct. 2. (lowest price $452 RT)

Is it possible that they know something we don't?

[PeterRS]

26 minutes ago, reader said:

Ten different international carriers are accepting bookings from NYC to BKK on Oct. 2. (lowest price $452 RT)

Is it possible that they know something we don't?

That there is a very good chance all of these flights will be cancelled unless the government lifts the international travel ban. At the rate the virus continues to spread within the USA I cannot see the Thai government permitting any flights from that and many other countries by October. But then, who am I to know? None of us knows.

 

 

[PeterRS]

17 hours ago, anddy said:

slight correction: you do NOT have to buy a re-entry permit, because the visa itself, granting permission to enter, is valid for 5 years. Upon entry, you get a stamp in the passport giving permission to stay for 1 year. Therefore, only thing you may have to do is get an extension of stay if you stay that full year in the country (cost of extension 1900 Baht).

A friend with the 5 year visa tells me that the 5 year Elite visa inserted into his passport has a validity of 5 years. There is therefore no need to renew the visa/permission to stay annually. That is only required of those on annual retirement visas. He believes the annual multiple reentry permit does need to be renewed and costs 3,900 baht. But if there is an Elite member here he will surely clarify this small issue.

[vinapu]

4 hours ago, reader said:

Ten different international carriers are accepting bookings from NYC to BKK on Oct. 2.

did you check which year?

but it looks that sun starts shining soon

[Gaybutton]

9 hours ago, reader said:

Is it possible that they know something we don't?

Foreigners flying into Thailand during the virus pandemic: the common myths

By Barry Kenyon

August 13, 2020

With the general ban on foreign tourism to Thailand, the internet is full of fake news and conspiracy theories sometimes designed to milk the cash of the unwary.  Here are some circulating in UK, mainland Europe and US.

If you can buy an airticket you can fly into Thailand

Not so.  The possession of an airticket does not guarantee you can even board a plane, yet alone actually get past immigration here.  Each and every foreigner wanting to come must seek the approval of their local Thai embassy which has the power to issue an all-important certificate of entry without which you are doomed.  If you visit the website of your local Thai diplomatic post you will see the documentary hill to be climbed.  There are no scheduled flights into Bangkok, but only repatriation journeys for Thai citizens and approved foreigners.

You can fly to a third country and cross into Thailand by a land border

Enterprising suggestion, but no way.  Even assuming you can fly to a country not too far from Thailand, all border crossings into the country are closed except to goods traffic and – at some posts – documented labourers from Laos, Cambodia and Mynamar.  Unless you can prove you have permission to mix the concrete at the construction of a Thai condo or are legally casting the nets on a Thai fishing boat, forget that one.  Swimming across a river in the middle of the night also not recommended, particularly if carrying a suitcase.

I own a condominium in Pattaya and usually live there.  Therefore, I am a resident

In your eyes for sure, but not in Thai law.  Ownership of property such as a condominium – and don’t forget foreigners don’t own land here – does not in itself bestow residency rights.  In the Thai language “residency” in effect means “permanent residency” as an expression.  Permanent residency is a long process in Thailand and requires you to have a recent history of working legally and successfully, to be able to communicate in Thai and likely to have proved your worth to the Thai economy or to Thai culture. You can always tell a permanent resident – his or her passport does not have an immigration stamp indicating an end date by which the holder must leave the country or seek an extension.

 

I’m an Elite card holder so I have precedence over the others

It is true that the Thai government did include this category of foreigner to be able to apply to their local Thai embassy to return or to visit.  Essentially, it is a long-term visa of between 5 and 20 years in exchange for a non-returnable cash fee of between 500,000 baht and in excess of one million.  However, the wheels of Thai bureaucracy turn slowly and, to date, Thai embassies don’t seem to have caught up.  The website of the Thai embassy in London, to date, does not list Elite card holders as eligible for the certificate of entry.  So everyone is waiting for clarification on this one.

To return, you need comprehensive medical insurance worth at least US$100,000 which is impossible to obtain in Thailand

Wrong on this one too.  There are several Thai insurance companies offering insurance which fits the entry requirements.  These can be applied for online.  The fees are on a sliding scale according to age.  However, if you are over 75 years, you may indeed find it impossible to be covered.  One or two US-based insurance companies offer medical benefits up to age 120 (with free annual premiums once you are a centenarian) but whether such a policy would satisfy the officials at a Thai embassy is up to them.  Not likely.  What is true is that advanced age foreigners are currently banned from entry to Thailand whatever their status or reasons.  That’s tough.

https://www.pattayamail.com/news/foreigners-flying-into-thailand-during-the-virus-pandemic-the-common-myths-310969

[reader]

OMG, the wrath of Barry 'don't-even-think-about-it' Kenyon has been unleashed upon my post The Pattaya expat takes unmitigated delight in dispelling any hope whatsoever that his fellow countrymen--and anyone else--might be able to return to the LOS. Relax, Barry. Take a load off. This isn't our first rodeo. We know the a ticket alone doesn't grant us access to the Kingdom. I was responding (not without a smidgen of jest) to Gaybutton's question "Are any passenger-carrying airlines currently flying to Thailand?".

If we all lost our sense of humor in these times, the situation would indeed appear more daunting than it already is. I find that checking out Expedia, or other of the travel sites, makes for a little diversion in these days when I'd normally be booking my Fall trip.

Barry, take some advice: Pull down your pants and slide on the ice.

[Gaybutton]

46 minutes ago, reader said:

The Pattaya expat takes unmitigated delight in dispelling any hope whatsoever that his fellow countrymen--and anyone else--might be able to return to the LOS.

None of us expats in Thailand - at least none that I know - take delight in this situation.  I don't know why you or anyone else thinks we do.  If you truly believe that Barry is wrong, exaggerating, or simply doesn't know what he's talking about, I'd like to know what makes you think so or makes you think anything is going to happen or is true other than what Barry is saying.

I'd also like to know what you think is going to happen and on what basis you think so.  If you have any information that contradicts what Barry is saying, I'd like to know what it is and what the source of it is.

I wouldn't be bantering this back and forth, but I don't like getting people's hopes up only to see them shattered when everything indicates it is going to be much longer than many, including me, thought before tourism opens again.

I'm sorry to see you putting down Barry.  Frankly, I never thought you were that type.

[10tazione]

Truth is, nobody, not even the Prime Minister, knows how the situation will be let's say at the end of october (2020, in case someone asks). So many things can happen in the next 3 months, especially regarding cure and vaccination. It's not very likely but can anyone tell for sure that the first vaccinated turists won't enter Thailand by the end of october?

In the end it depends on the individual, some people prefer the optimistic approach, others the pessimistic, no big harm in either case. I prefer the pessimistic approach and would be positively surprised if we can travel to Thailand again within 2020 and would then happily spontaneously book a flight, if all it takes is a sting with a needle and I am reasonably convinced about the quality of the vaccination.
Well unless Thailand discovers it is better off without any foreign turists anyway, but I don't hope so.

If I had time and a really urgent need to go to Thailand, I would probably try to enroll at a Thai university and play SOTUS

 

[reader]

2 hours ago, Gaybutton said:

If you truly believe that Barry is wrong, exaggerating, or simply doesn't know what he's talking about, I'd like to know what makes you think so or makes you think anything is going to happen or is true other than what Barry is saying.

Never said that Barry doesn't know what he's talking about.

I've pointed out before that he's writing his opinion about the topic in the same way you and me do. He reads the same news. But here's where we differ: I don't accept it as the final basis for believing what's going to happen 3-6 months down the line. I read the stuff with the same skepticism that I read pronouncements out of Washington, London, Beijing, Moscow, Brasilia, Hong Kong, etc. 

Thailand unfortunately is confronting one of its worst financial dilemmas. And exacerbating the crisis is the prospect of its worst political unrest since 1936. Therefor I don't think it's unreasonable to believe that decisions and positions are subject to change. Consider recent events in Lebanon and how quickly things can change on a dime. I'm not suggesting something so dramatic will happen in this case, but I cite it as an example of how unpredictable the future really is.

Trying to predict the whims of politicians is akin to trying to predict the movements of stock markets. You have to allow that you may be wrong. Barry could turn out to be completely right about the future. You and others can cite valid reasons for agreeing with him. Nothing wrong with that. I just don't particularly like the way he points out the absurdity of other possibilities.

2 hours ago, Gaybutton said:

I wouldn't be bantering this back and forth, but I don't like getting people's hopes up only to see them shattered when everything indicates it is going to be much longer than many, including me, thought before tourism opens again.

I'm sorry to see you putting down Barry.  Frankly, I never thought you were that type.

I'm not trying to get their hopes up; I'm trying to keep them up.

I'm not putting down Barry but I am taking issue with the way he interprets and presents his opinions.

 

 

[vinapu]

5 hours ago, Gaybutton said:

.... I don't like getting people's hopes up only to see them shattered when everything indicates it is going to be much longer than many, including me, thought before tourism opens again.

 

our hopes , if any,  don't depend much of what we read here on the forums as we all know it all will be political decision. It may or may not even be related to the virus.

Powers will or may even be forced to consider other factors, mainly economy but also population impatience. Mood may change fast - see what's happening in Belarus - all of the sudden population shed fear of authorities

There are  countries which closed  and locked everybody when they had,  say 200-300 cases a day and now are re-opening when number of cases is 600-800 a day.

This is not to argue as your arguments are right and logical  but to point out that all may be quite different , up or down in quite a short time. 

5 months ago all of the sudden we were locked down everywhere, at one point we will find ourselves unlocked the same way. Dream , yes but very realistic one, the same like on cold winter day we dream about summer heat, stupid but almost sure thing at the same time . 

 

[reader]

From Thai Enquirer

Government said a decision has not been made on Thailand shutting down until 2021

Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration said on Thursday that a final decision had not been made on shutting down the country from tourism until 2021, refuting earlier statements made by a TAT official.

According to the CCSA, numerous factors must be weighed before reaching such a decision and any decision should be made in increments rather than a blanket travel ban for the rest of the year.

A spokesman for the CCSA told Thai Enquirer that among the situations that must be assessed is the viability of a vaccine, the global pandemic situation and the situation at home.

Any statement which claims that a decision has been made is “premature” according to the CCSA.

The new reports on Thursday refute a previous statement by a senior Tourist Authority of Thailand who told reporters during a webinar that Thailand would not welcome tourists until next year.

[Gaybutton]

Have it your way, gents.  I haven't seen anyone disputing the facts Barry presents - only the way he presents them.  If you want to believe you'll be able to travel to Thailand any time soon, fine with me.  I hope you're right.

Some also seem to think expats living here are gloating over the fact the we're here and you're not.  That is not true.  We all want the gay venues to reopen, survive, and eventually become what they once were.  There is no way that can happen without gay farang tourists - lots of them - coming here to support them.  There simply are not enough gay expats to do it and it really is not much fun, at least for me, to go to gay venues and find hardly anyone there.  So yes - I would be delighted if every one of you could return to Thailand tomorrow.

It is not just Barry Kenyon presenting facts.  You might be interested in this article too:  https://thepattayanews.com/2020/08/13/fact-check-is-thailand-closed-to-all-foreign-tourists-until-2021/

[Up2u]

On 8/13/2020 at 7:46 AM, reader said:

Ten different international carriers are accepting bookings from NYC to BKK on Oct. 2. (lowest price $452 RT)

Is it possible that they know something we don't?

Not really. My buddy plays this game with United and EVA. They let you book RT ticket but a week or two before travel dates they cancel (with the option of full refund or change dates). This has happened five times during covid-19 crisis.