ERROR during the Thailand Pass application — back to COE!
Our COE has been approved!
Who would have thought it, we have actually received our COE (Certificate of Entry). Now nothing stands in the way of our trip to Thailand in a few days. But it was really exhausting, complicated and uncertain the last days. Therefore, I am even more happy that we have now received the visa and the COE and can then travel to Thailand with it!
Review of the visa application
We had already applied for our visas about a week ago in Colombo. For this we drove 3 hours by cab from Galle to Colombo to the Thai consulate. For this we booked a driver for the whole day through the guide with whom we did the boat tour and also the safari. So we didn’t have to worry that we might not find a cab for back.
This is a legitimate concern in Sri Lanka, by the way! Despite apps like Uber or even Pick-me, you often just can’t find a driver and then have to hail a tuktuk on the street. But with the tuktuk from Colombo to Galle is also a much too long distance, so you are on the safe side with a daily driver. In addition, it is comparatively really cheap. We paid about 60€ for the whole day and were on the road for almost 6 hours.
Arriving at the consulate, we were a bit confused at first, because it is an inconspicuous building with two black metal doors. They look more like a public toilet than a Thai Embassy. But good. We signed in through a small window, were then waved in and our temperature was taken through a small crack in a window. Then it was on to another room.
There is a large pane on one wall, but it is mirrored, so you can’t see what’s behind it. Otherwise, there are only a few chairs at the edge and the room is otherwise empty. We were confused at first, because we were completely alone in the room. Until a hand appears under the mirrored glass and beckons us to join it. A bit strange, because you really don’t recognize that there is someone behind the glass.
But the visa application went very quickly. We handed in all documents and shortly after we were asked to pay the visa amount. In addition, we should come back to pick up the visa 2 days later. We had asked if we could pick it up a few days later to save us a trip to Colombo but this is probably not possible. Well, the main thing is that we get our visa! :)
We got our visas!
To save us unnecessary trips to Colombo and back to Galle and a few days later back to Colombo, we then rescheduled without further ado. Therefore, everything went a little faster than planned. Once again we did the laundry, booked a hotel in Colombo and sorted all documents. Then we packed our bags and two days later we went back to Colombo, where we will stay until our flight to Thailand.
We originally wanted to take a Pick-Me to Colombo, since the ride would only cost 25€ via the app. In the morning, when we then urgently had to go, we have — how was it to be expected otherwise — unfortunately no cab found. Therefore, we have turned to the driver from last time, which has also picked us up a little later. So we paid another 50€ for the ride but we didn’t really have another option.
On to the Thai consulate, short temperature check and then back into the room with the mirrored windows. Not even two minutes later we had our visas! We are now officially allowed to stay in Thailand until the end of January. This is also a bit strange, because we actually expected to get the visa only for 60 days (so until the end of December) but we don’t question that now. :-D
COE or Thailand Pass?
Now that we have the visas, the question was whether to apply for the COE (Certificate of Entry) directly or wait until 1.11 to apply for the Thailand Pass. The COE takes about 6 days to apply for (3 days for pre-approval and then another 3 days for proper issuance) and will be replaced by the Thailand Pass as of November 1. The Thailand Pass application is expected to take between 1–7 days and will require less documentation than the COE. In addition, the Thailand Pass will probably be issued by computer and so it is quite possible that you will receive it after just a few hours.
We thought back and forth for a long time about what is the best solution for us. Finally, we decided on the COE and applied for it online directly after receiving our visas. For this we had to submit a copy of the passport, the foreign health insurance and our vaccination certificates. Now we had to wait and see. While we were waiting, I read that the COE’s application will be automatically cancelled if no pre-approval has been granted by November 1.
Unfortunately, we then also had the misfortune that the 3-day waiting period for pre-approval ends exactly on November 1 and thus it could be possible that our COE application is then deleted and was in vain. Therefore we decided to apply directly for the Thailand Pass on November 1st.
Thailand Pass Error
For the Thailand Pass we then had to submit again the passport, the foreign health insurance, the vaccination certificates and also a hotel booking of the SHA+ hotel. After we uploaded all the documents and also filled out all the information, we got an error message. ERROR!
Marc then looked up the code to see what was triggering the error message and how we might still be able to apply for the Thailand Pass. It seems to be an error when uploading the health insurance abroad, because some number of the document is not taken over correctly. Something like that :D An error that makes it impossible to apply not only for us but for everyone who wants to apply for the Thailand Passport on November 1. There are some tweets on Twitter from people complaining as they also got up extra nights for it.
Yay, we got the COE pre-approval!
We got lucky then though. I checked my emails and saw that I got the COE pre-approval after all. Marc too. So we then submitted all the missing documents for the COE. Again, there was chaos and difficulty. The SHA+ hotel (Jasmine Resort Bangkok), which is marked as a SHA+ hotel on the booking pages, is not officially a SHA+ hotel yet. We only found this out by calling there, because we still needed a confirmation about the PCR test in the booked hotel.
Also a happy coincidence: we made sure when booking that we could cancel the hotel for free. So we were able to cancel the Jasmin Resort without any problems, because it is not a SHA+ hotel and therefore not eligible for us. So we searched again, called the hotel (The Berkeley Hotel Pratunam) for safety and finally booked the quarantine package including PCR test and airport transfer.
We have now also booked the flight. On 5.11 at 01.45 o’clock we leave for Thailand! We fly from Sri Lanka 4 hours to Singapore, then have about 2 hours layover there before we continue to Bangkok. Now only all documents for the COE uploaded and sent. Then it was again wait and see. We were not sure if we will get the COE, because we only booked one day in a SHA+ hotel, but more about that later.
Only about 1 hour later, the email came that our COE was approved! Yay!!! :) We didn’t expect to get the COE so fast now but all the better! Now nothing stands in the way of our trip.
Entry “without” quarantine
And there is more good news: Sri Lanka is now also one of the countries that are allowed to enter Thailand “without” quarantine from November on. That means, we don’t have to enter via the Sandbox program, as actually planned. Therefore we booked only one night instead of the planned 7 nights in a SHA+ hotel.
But since we had indicated to the COE that we wanted to enter via the Sandbox program and there a 7-night booking of a SHA+ hotel is mandatory, we were a bit worried that the COE would not approve with only one night in the SHA+ hotel. But yes, this worry was probably in vain, because we have already received the COE now.
Therefore, it now goes for us on 5.11 at night from Sri Lanka to Bangkok. There we will be picked up at the airport and brought to the Berkeley Hotel, where we will spend one day in quarantine. Whereby it is also not sure if it will really be a whole day of quarantine. At the hotel, a PCR test will then be done and as soon as the negative result is available, one is allowed to leave the hotel room and move freely throughout Thailand.
When booking, it said that the result of the PCR test at the Berkeley Hotel will probably only take 4–6 hours. We will see. If it really goes that fast, we could already go to a street food market in Bangkok on the evening of November 5. But that remains to be seen.
Now we only have to take care of a PCR test here in Sri Lanka. The negative result of this PCR test must not be older than 72 hours and must be presented before departure. A small thing, considering all the chaos because of the visas, the COE’s and the Thailand passport.
