After being a regional trailblazer with the launch of Test & Go in early-November, unfortunately the Thai authorities have now gone several steps back. Let’s take a look at what has changed.

Omicron irks Thai Ministry of Health

Thailand’s Ministry of Health established travel bans from African nations around the same time as the UK, EU and others - but maintained their Test & Go system. Test & Go, in short, meant:

• Fully vaccinated individuals apply for Thailand Pass

• USD 50,000 insurance coverage

• RT-PCR test 72 hours before departure

• Confirmed 1 night booking upon arrival inclusive of an on-arrival PCR test and private airport transfer

• Release from 1 night quarantine once negative test is confirmed and allowed to travel throughout the Kingdom

Unfortunately, Thailand halted new Test & Go applications from 21st December 2021 - and have not reopened yet. Having gone through it myself, I can say it was an extremely well-thought out process to protect Thailand’s public health and it is a shame that it’s been halted.

Sandboxes return

Before the wider scale reopening in November, several Thai provinces experimented with ‘Sandboxes’. This scheme is far more restrictive than the Test & Go scheme that is still - but still enables you entrance into specific Thai provinces. The requirements for Sandboxes are:

• Thailand Pass application

• RT-PCR test 72 hours before departure

• Insurance policy with USD 50,000 coverage

• Confirmed, pre-paid 7 day stay at approved

• One post-arrival on Day 1 (at hotel or airport) and a second test on Day 5

The Sandbox regions are within the areas of:

• Phuket

• Krabi

• Phang-Nga

• Surat Thani (Koh Samui, Ko Pha-ngan, Ko Tao)

After receiving a negative test on Day 1, you are free to roam around within the Sandbox region you arrive in - which makes it less restrictive than regular quarantine. Thankfully, after the initial 7 day period you are free to travel across all of Thailand without quarantine

Direct flights or connecting itineraries are a must

Although not confirmed for non-Phuket sandboxes, if the same logic is applied you will either need to be on a direct flight from outside the country to your destination or on a connecting sealed itinerary from Bangkok. In essence, this means you couldn’t buy separate tickets from your international original to Bangkok, then a separate ticket from Bangkok to Koh Samui - this would not be acceptable. This makes it quite difficult, as no foreign airlines serve locations like Koh Samui so you will be required to get a connecting itinerary from your international flight which isn’t always easy to obtain.

Let’s hope this isn’t a long term solution

Although Test & Go wasn’t even close to pre-pandemic travel, it did unlock travel to Thailand with relative ease. I honestly hope that once more science comes out on Omicron to prove the initial findings of it being less severe come true and the Thai authorities can resume with the reopening of the country fully. If you still want to get away to Thailand in the meantime, then you will have to jump through a few extra hoops.

And, thankfully, the video I made on Thailand Pass is still relevant - except you have to now select Sandbox instead of Test & Go.