To be clear... there is no tourism at this time... There is no consideration for holiday travelers, and there are no commercial scheduled flights in to Thailand. The quarantine is for repatriated Thais and foreigners that qualify with certain visa types. Thai people can take the free state quarantine, but all foreigners must pay for an approved alternate state quarantine hotel. These vary from 3 star to 5 star and include options to go really fancy in presidential suites or pool villas.

There is not currently any information for when flights will resume and tourists will be allowed in. There is also no indication when entry will be available without a mandatory quarantine. At this time, there is a substantial waiting list for Thais and eligible foreigners on the government coordinated repatriation flights.

Should be plenty of time to apply if he gets started soon... Word around the campfire is that it is taking 3-4 weeks for background checks/processing for new members.

I don’t know if I am part of the crowd, but I can assure you that life is way better when you aren’t waiting with baited breath for announcements about amnesty extensions.

Contact the airline directly. Different airlines have different policies, and it is highly unlikely that any one here knows who your carrier will be and what their specific policies are regarding pets on these kinds of flights.

Another example that money is still the solution to most problems.

It can take a couple of weeks for your payment to post, and when it posts is when the program starts.

Between this and being charged 10 baht more than locals for noodles, I am going to have to seriously consider uprooting my entire life to start over in some other SE Asian country where these kinds of things would never happen. Those countries exist, right?

I concur with what Ivan said... The Thai Elite program begins when you receive your welcome notification (after approval and payment processing). The 5 year visa sticker is based on the date of the welcome letter. The "extra" year stamp is hotly contested, but I have not heard of anyone successfully getting a full extra year outside of the program. I am not sure if you could get a reentry stamp if you leave... To be honest though, I think most elite visa holders are not too bothered by renewing or changing visa types as required.

I didn't say which end of Sukhumvit... :)