What is the process and total time for Americans traveling to Thailand, including visa and quarantine requirements?

What if you’re an American but have lived in Albania for the last year and a half.

I thought with visa exempt you just walk off the plane. No?

What is COE?

Depending on which consulate you will use ? I used the one in LA, I also used FB to message them and found the responses were same day,

Here is what I did in December for my January 10th trip

1. Booked a flight

2. Booked an ASQ hotel

3. Bought 3 month Covid policy online from Thai-Axa insurance

4. Went to LA consulate website and filled out all my COE request requirements, uploaded my documents when asked

5. Waited 3 days and got an email from Consulate with a COE attached

5.a sent a copy of my insurance doc and COE to the ASQ hotel

72 hrs before my flight (prearranged appointment with Dr) went in for my PCR test

6. Went to airport , had copies of all documents and flew to Thailand

7. Once in Thailand I told the immigration I was coming on a visa exemption, stayed in my hotel and while there made an appointment with an attorney to meet after quarantine

8. Two days after quarantine I met the attorney and went to immigration with him, he walked me through all the stations and 2 hours later I walked out with a one year non-O visa

Which country in America?

You don’t need a visa. Visa exempt is still working for Americans. COE took 2 days for me 2 months ago. Definitely do the Phuket sandbox unless you prefer prison. I don’t see why you couldn’t fly within a week. Just book sandbox hotel then apply for COE online.

To complete all paperwork 4 weeks

Yes. Just got out of Bangkok quarantine and currently quarantine at home in Lampang

The average time from when your first plane takes off until you land in Bangkok averages about 20 hours, and you also cross the international date line, so add one extra day to the date you left.

Put an entire day aside for the trip easy to check just look

At flight times and layover times

My experience from June arrival (Midwest USA to BKK) is in an old post :

This may not matter to anyone these days due to the "potential" loosened restrictions and the "upcoming" Sandbox, however I wanted to post my experience getting over - particularly for those that will arrive from the USA, fly with Delta/Korean Air, stay at Hotel J Inspired in Pattaya, or if you have certain medical needs.

First, wanted to thank Robert Jackson for setting me up with the required insurance. If anyone needs the necessary insurance to get in, or are currently in, def use this guy to get you squared away.

××Visa/COE process-

I applied online for my Non-B-Visa end of March thru the thaievisa.go.th website. This first step of the Visa process took 2-3 days (the delay was due to payment, which I had to notify the bank or use a different credit card since the transaction was determined as foreign or unusual). Upon confirmation, I printed the "booking appointment letter and payment confirmation" and overnighted these 2 documents all the other documents required for the Non-B-Visa, 1 week later.

Early April, I used Fedex to overnight (25$ one way) all my documents to Chicago Thai Consulate-General. They received it within 24 hrs, took about 5-7 days to process (there was a holiday also). I recieved my documents after 10 days of sending it off (because my Fedex return was a Thursday delivery so I had to wait a few days). I got only my passport and visa back, along with my original diploma/transcripts back - they kept everything else. **I recommend you make copies of everything you send in, just in case.

××COE headache:

First (yes, first) COE was applied for early May, which the pre-approval took 3 days, approval took 3-5 days thru Chicago Thai Consulate-General. ** for anyone with multiple transits, my original COE had 2 transit dates, however the COE contained 1 wrong date. I called the office to ask if they could amend or change it, but the representative said the transit doesnt matter and dont worry.

....however, Delta changed my flight route and I had to update it. I sent an email to the Chicago Thai Consulate-General asking to reopen my COE so I can update it due to flight change, which they did because I received and email 24-48 hrs after to do part 2 (flight info) of the COE process again. As predicted, the COE came back with the correct flight #s, but the same bad transit dates. I called the Chicago Thai Consulate-General again, got the same feedback to "not worry about the bad transit dates".

I didnt feel okay about it, so I researched this group and found folks that were able to create a second COE application by swapping their first and last names, etc. So, I reapplied for a second COE using my first and middle name together and last name as is. When this second one was approved, I entered the flight info (as shown in the pictures) to only show departure on 7June, transit 8June, arrival 8June (I decided to use only the 8June transit date since my original departure date and first transit date are the same, 7June).

...for example:

7June - I flew DL867 from MSP and landed 7June in Seattle.

7June - I transited DL9011/KE020 from Seattle and landed 8June in Incheon.

8June - I transited DL7852/KE651 from ICN into BKK and arrived 8June.

...What I entered for the second COE were as follows:

>Departure - 7June

>Transit - 8June (the flight info here included both my origin and first transit DL867/DL9011. **I managed to enter both flights on this same line by using a forward slash to separate the 2 flights, just so that all flights were included on the COE

>Arrival -8June (flight entered as KE651 (DL7852), to match the approved list of arrivals into Thailand).

...As a result. I received a second COE with my entire name, all the flights, and correct flight dates (despite missing a transit date - which occured on the same original departured date).

I used this second COE to check me in at all the boarding gates and at BKK - no issues.

××Boarding/Arrival-

At original departure and transits (Seattle/Incheon), the representatives at each gate I boarded had checked for only: Passport, Negative RT-PCR test, ASQ, Covid Insurance, Visa, COE. They also asked for a return date and who I flew with (didnt ask to see proof of return flight).

All flights required masks at all times. The flights from Seattle to ICN and ICN to BKK were close to 30% full. I flew Business Class, and in this section there were honestly 2-3 ordinary passengers and I, while the rest were flight crew that occupied the remaining Business Class seats.

On my last flight into BKK (Incheon to BKK), the flight crew provided me with the T8 and TM6 to complete before landing (it would be beneficial to complete the T8 atleast before arrival so you dont have to dig all your info out to complete it).

On arrival, we were loaded (crammed) onto a bus and queued through the airport and had to provide all of the above documents, and received either an ASQ/ALQ tag. The process was pretty easy, took about 40 minutes total to clear and then grab my luggages. While leaving the airport, there was a team outside that guided you to your personal taxi based on your ASQ/ALQ tag and confirming your name and hotel. From there, you go to your hotel.

××ASQ/ALQ

...I stayed at Hotel J Inspired in Pattaya. I checked in literally at midnight on 8June/9June. My Covid-19 tests (nostril and tongue swab) were on day 2, 6, 12 and all came back negative (hence, why Im writing this now and on my last 2 nights of quarantine).

...I was jetlagged for the first 3-5 days, so these days flew by kinda fast. But after sleeping most days my lowback to my knees hurt so badly that I needed to sleep on the couch. I eventually took the couch cushion off and topped the bed with it and slept on it since it was much more firm. **So, anyone that is a firm sleeper like me, it's best to ask the hotel in advance for accomodations or bring enough pain medication to last most of your stay to help manage any pain (hotel may suspect Covid-19 if you're buying pain meds from outside).

...Food is good and fresh, fairly portioned, but got old really quick. I went from eating the entire meals, to half, to a quarter over the course of 16 days. I lost about 3-4lbs within this 16 day timeframe due to lack of appetite.

...I rented a treadmill, which made the stay much more tolerable because there was absolutely no outside relaxation time. The treadmill was small and portable. Its' max speed was 7.5mph (12kph) and skipped a few times while using it. I got used to it and was still able to put 70-80 miles (112-128km) on it.

...Customer service is great, from booking to check-in, to room service, etc., despite no house cleaning. Hotel made free daily trips to 7-11 to buy whatever you needed and deducted the difference from the deposit that was put down. I only bought enough water to last my entire stay and batteries.

...My partner came by and dropped off some stuff (no medicine of any kind accepted, even vitamins). The handbook states you cant accept anything but dried foods, but the hotel was still lenient enough to allow 1 plate of outside food, fruits, cereal etc to be brought in by my partner.

...I posted photos of my daily view and my cropped dogs for shits and giggles.

Anyway, Im released on June 23rd at 0600.

Thats it.

it's not really a night mare here in Chiang Mai most things are open other then. bars n clubs oh and if your customers are tourist say a hostel guesthouse or hotel of course it's closed but it's not all that bad 40 covid cases in Chiang Mai I EAT THAT FOR BREAKFAST