Nightmare at Bangkok Airport
No, this is not a continuation of the BBC Three series at Bangkok Airport but the start of my return journey from Bangkok back to London in December on Scoot.
Thanks to the surge in Omicron cases globally, the UK government had re-introduced pre-departure and post-arrival testing for all passengers travelling to and from the country. This was frustrating but it has to be done to get home - we have done this before on our trips to Cyprus and Denmark with some teething issues, but it worked simply. In Thailand, just as these trips, we used Chronomics for our pre-departure lateral flow test. The service is pretty simply and you just snap a photo of the test and upload to their website to verify - it is open to abuse but we have always reported accurately. This method was accepted and approved by the UK government for use by travellers into the UK. Expecting some trouble, I printed off the government advisory prior to travelling as proof.
At check-in, there was virtually no queue. Our documents were all checked, and then the wait began as they looked over and over again at our negative lateral flow test - before being told that our tests were invalid. I passed over the document from GOV.UK, she spoke to her manager and we were told again - in spite of all evidence - we would not be allowed to board. I attempted to reason my case, alas we had not success. The only chance we had to get on the flight was to go to the testing centre at the airport which offered ART (Antigen Rapid Tests) along with a paper certificate.
The process was nigh on the same for what I did back at the hotel with my Chronomics test. In my head I was developing back up plans for what to do if we couldn’t make the flight which thankfully, we didn’t need to resort to. We had to wait 25 minutes for the result and made it back to check in with just a few minutes to spare before it closed - despite arriving 3 hours prior to departure. The test was accepted, and we could get on our way.
Waiting area for the Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Testing Centre
Super stressful experience and completely unnecessary. The staff at check-in, which is run by a division of Bangkok Airways were excellent, but they were being fed erroneous information. It just goes to prove sometimes that even if you follow all the rules to a tee, you can still come unstuck. Now we’re heading towards Spring and as testing requirements begin to be dropped partially or completely, I look forward to a time when travel becomes just a little less stressful again.
Although testing is not required for the UK anymore, if you are travelling from Bangkok to another country that does require a test - prices were very reasonable at the airport when compared to the UK. The prices as of December 2021 were:
THB 550 (GBP 11.50) for an Antigen Rapid/Lateral Flow Test
THB 3000 (GBP 70) for a 24h PCR test
THB 4000 (GBP 92) for 3h PCR test result
THB 5000 (GBP 115) for 2h PCR test result
Not as cheap as what you will get in downtown Bangkok, but convenient nonetheless if you need a fast turnaround of a test.
Keep an eye out for the review of the Scoot Plus flight from Bangkok to London - coming out on Friday - be sure to subscribe to email alerts or follow me on Instagram and Facebook for the latest updates.
