Thailand July 2022

No actual experience, but the official tourism site has it explained pretty clearly. https://www.tatnews.org/2022/02/thailand-reopening-exemption-from-quarantine-test-go/
Looks like you have to book your test for Day 1 and Day 5 plus stay overnight till you get your results back. But not in between. It says you don’t have to be in the same hotel both nights.

I was in Chiang Mai for a week in late October, 2019 and in Phuket for Christmas in 2018. I would say Phuket is very touristy during high season, although I stayed in a villa on a mountain and never saw the crowded, party places. And Chiang Mai was very enjoyable (I would return). I don’t know if Chiang Mai has a high season or not…. But I can only imagine how different it is from 20 years ago. :)

I used the Grab app to get around easily and well. However I was MELTING in October and can’t imagine going in July.

If you have not been back to Thailand for 20 years, you should expect a lot of changes; IME it's dramatically more "touristy" in some ways than it was 2 decades ago (and honestly, what place isn't? Much of Asia has changed pretty dramatically in the past generation, Thailand certainly has). Mass tourism on a big scale is well-established in Thailand, it's a very popular destination, so calibrate your expectations accordingly. That said, a lot has not changed.

The COVID protocols are a moving target. Thailand does not have a good track record for consistency on this -- they change the requirements pretty quickly, and I expect that to continue. I have family in Thailand and speak with them frequently, my spouse and I are tentatively planning a trip to Thailand in April (we'll see about that).

Here are the requirements today: Like many international destinations, you need to show proof of a negative PCR test within 72 hours of your arrival in Thailand (that's 72 hours from your arrival, not your departure). You will probably need to show this test result to board your outbound flight. Pretty standard so far.

Then it gets a bit more complicated: On arrival, you will need to show (and will only be admitted to the country) with a "Thailand Pass", which requires you to pay for and pre-book (and show documented evidence of) two nights (Day 1 and Day 5) in a government-approved hotel* and a PCR test at an approved hospital associated with your hotel(s). Without proper documentation, you will not be allowed to enter the country, no exceptions - so get it right. If you meet the documentation requirements (more on that below), upon arrival you will be escorted to your "Day 1" hotel (you can't just take public transport, you will be met at the airport by staff of your Day 1 hotel and they will take you there). You will get your nose swabbed for your Day 1 test; that may be a stop on the way to your Day 1 hotel, or it might be at a site adjacent to your hotel. Then you check in to your Day 1 hotel, and wait there for the negative test results. Results should arrive sometime within the next 24 hours (typically it's somewhat less than that, but depends on the time of your arrival and how busy the lab is); expect to spend your arrival day in the hotel -- maybe a few hours if you're lucky, but it often takes8-12 hours so don't plan on departing early (they will track you down and arrest you and make a big deal over it, possibly deport you, so take it seriously). Once your negative test result arrives, you are free to go, and can travel within Thailand with no additional restriction (you can fly domestically, use public transit, etc. - just follow local masking/social distancing requirements as all locals do). On "Day 5" you need to go through all that again: check into your pre-arranged, government-approved hotel, get tested, wait there for your negative results. Once you have the negative result, you are free to go, no additional restrictions (other tha those that apply to everyone, masking, etc.).

The hotel/test requirements:
For your Day 1 (arrival) and Day 5 tests, you need to book a "SHA++" aka "SHA Plus Extra" hotel. That's double-plus, not single-plus. This is a hotel that meets the government health requirements AND also has a partnership with a local hospital for the test side. There are LOTS (hundreds? maybe thousands?) of these. Important detail: look carefuly at the hotel's "certification" level. SHA+ (single plus) is not acceptable (that just means 70% of staff are vaccinated), it needs to be SHA++ or "Extra Plus".

Yes, the hotel and testing bit is pretty confusing and surprisingly complex.

...continues in next post, including critical details...

Thank you for all the detailed info. Sounds kind of a pain and somewhat discouraging...but like you said, its a moving target.

...continued...

Your "Day 1 hotel and test" and your "Day 5 hotel and test" does NOT need to be in the same location. You test on Day 1 where you arrive in Thailand -- usually Bangkok (BKK), but can also be a few other major tourist areas eg Phuket, but if going to someplace OTHER than BKK, you MUST have a single ticket taking you there. In other words, if you are headed to Phuket, your inbound ticket must get you to Phuket, you can NOT fly to BKK on one ticket, change to a local/cheap flight to Phuket and move on. You must be on a "sealed" (single ticket) flight if traveling onward from BKK before you complete your Day 1 testing. You can, of course, arrive in BKK, do the Day 1 test there, then AFTER you get your negative results, you can fly wherever you want.

We are planning to fly in to BKK, do our Day 1 test there, then the following day (assuming our result is negative...) we will move on, then we will do the Day 5 test in a different part of the country.

You must have both your Day 1 and Day 5 hotel + test package pre-booked and pre-paid in order to get your Thai pass to enter the country. They hotel stay can NOT be a "refundable" reservation.

There's a requirement to quarantine/isolate for (I believe) 10 days if you test positive at any time, or if you are deemed to have had "close contact" with someone who tested positive (eg, someone on your flight sitting nearby).

There's also an insurance requirement that I have not quite figured out yet (your standard insurance from home won't cut it - there must be coverage for COVID-related medical expenses, plus IIRC coverage for hotels stays in case you get stuck and have to isolate for 10 days).

I believe all arriving passengers must install a tracking app on their phones; they do track down and apprehend those who "escape" from their Day 1/Day hotels or from quarantine/isolation.

If you test Positive on the Day 1 or Day 5 test, you will need to quarantine in a hotel (under supervision) for 10 days. This is the great risk for most folks (unless you are going to Thailand for a very long visit). You also need to test before leaving Thailand for your flight home -- another time when it would be extremely inconvenient if you test positive (this is definitely happening to some people, so plan accordingly).

So travel to Thailand has some real risks right now. (/Captain Obvious)

Things will almost certainly change again at some point (maybe many times). The Thai tourism industry (which is a major component of their economy and is VERY powerful) is asking the government to simplify the requirements. They might. Or they might not.

It's worth noting that (IMHO) Thailand initially really bungled their vaccination program, getting a very late and very slow start, first sticking entirely to Chinese and Russian vaccines that proved largely ineffective; they've done a lot better more recently, but vaccination rates are somewhat lower than in the EU or even in the USA -- and the rate of vaccination with more effective mRNA vaccines is even lower -- the Thai population has a mix of every available vaccine. (Within my own family members, there are some with Pfizer, Moderna, Astra Zeneca, Sinovac, Sinopharm, one vaccine denier, and one who I think got Sputnik, so it's all over the place).

Finally, this: Omicron is still very much on the upswing in Thailand, and I suspect that will continue for a while -- they are often many months behind "us" with pandemic developments. Given the vaccination situation, I do not expect to see the same downturn in virus spread, relaxation of restrictions, and collective sense of (tentative) relief now spreading across parts of the EU, to reach Thailand for some time, maybe in the Spring, could be Summer or even Fall. We will see,

Right now, it's a very fluid situation. Hope all the above helps.