Can I enter Thailand if I tested positive for Covid-19 on January 1, 2022, but am now symptom-free?

A sensible question. Picture the scene, you arrive at Bangkok from London Heathrow and you test POSITIVE. Can you refuse the hospital quarantine and say sod it Then take another test which comes back Negative and ask to take the next flight back to London Heathrow.

In almost every country, you can not board a flight with negative RTPCR test. Regardless of previous covid infections. The airline would be assuming to much risk allowing a person with positive covid test to board. I'll leave a fraction of doubt, but I'm 99% sure a letter of recovery does not overrule PCR test.

Hi, Randy.

As someone who was recently in your position, and who was very grateful for the advice received here, I'm happy to share my experience. All three of my family faced the same dilemma recently, testing positive over Christmas in the UK. Others may provide different advice, but from my perspective, I understand the case to be…

You will not be able to board a flight if you have a negative PCR result. And you have to take the test. That would be step one completed.

I have heard people say (though I have no definitive proof) that the Thai PCR tests are more sensitive, so there is also the risk that you could test negative in your country of origin then test positive when you land. If that is the case (and again, views vary here - check out other posts) you may have to quarantine in a government approved hotel for ten days. I have no experience of this.

Some people have also spoken of using a Certificate of Recovery that you can get to show that you have passed through the infectious stage and are fit to travel, even though a PCR test may be reflecting dead virus that may not yet have been shed. I purchased these for my family (in the UK it's an online process and you just have to show evidence of your original positive test so that they can see that it has been 11 days since you were infected; and pay £££, obviously). I thought that this might be critical if any one of us had tested positive on landing, and was geared up for a sensible 'conversation’ with the authorities. Please note - I do not have any hard evidence that anyone has managed to use a Certificate of Recovery to get out of going to hospital. Others may be able to advise on that.

Of course, the biggest stress is that - if, like us, you were desperate to travel - you have to start the Thai Pass process without knowing definitively that you will be in the clear. There’s just no way round that.

In our case, we decided to leave a week between the end of the likely ten-day Covid period and flying, to allow a bit more of the virus to shed. This was a pain, but I thought it would be better to enhance the chances of it all going through than having to start the whole Thai pass / booking process from scratch at the last minute. All I can say is that that worked for us.

If there’s any comfort I can offer, I too read the stat that you can test positive for up to 3 months. However, I haven’t actually seen any anecdotal evidence from anyone that that has been the case for them.

Hope this helps. I wish you well!

Second time asked today and probably one of most asked questions this month look through topics positive results to see previous discussions, have tagged your post