Hi

@Roger *******

(and anyone else interested!).

It turns out that you can T&G in Phuket. This direct from the horse's mouth, a hotel on the island. Not only that, but you can do your test on Day 1, then fly to Bangkok (or anywhere else), so long as you end up at your booked Day 5 hotel and follow due process there.

@Roger *******

So you can't do Test and Go in Phuket?

@Roger *******

Thanks. But I'm trying to confirm that you don't *have* to do the sandbox in Phuket, but that you can choose to do Test and Go there instead?

Sorry, that should end with 'lose that Day 5?'...

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!

Following!

Alternatively, can anyone share how long it took for them to test negative on a PCR after having the virus? I realise we're all different (as it's Omicron) but any benchmark would be greatly helpful.

Hi, folks. Can anyone say definitively that they have travelled with a negative PCR result but with a certificate of recovery after having Covid to get them through?

@Brandon ***********

Ooh. Didn't know that. Thanks.

@Gordon ******

Thanks, Gordon. So sounds like we should wait until we absolutely know that we will pass a PCR test. So a little guesswork (and luck) needed to start the Thailand Pass process to coincide.