Update: 31st November 2021. Additional 17 countries were added to the no-quarantine list. Read here. Starting from the 1st of November 2021, Thailand will be lifting quarantine restrictions for fully vaccinated foreign visitors arriving by air travel from 46 countries. (List below). According to the details provided by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Tourism Authority of Thailand, these are the requirements and protocols that need to be adhered to.
Updated 21st October 2021.
No Quarantine: No quarantine will be necessary for citizens traveling from eligible countries. As long as the traveler has been staying at the eligible disembarking country for more than 21 days, they will be considered as eligible and will not need quarantining in Thailand.
COVID-19 test (RT-PCR) <72 hours prior to departure: Travelers will need a RT-PCR test taken at the disembarking country not more than 72 hours before the date of departure.
COVID-19 test (RT-PCR) upon arrival: Travelers arriving in Thailand must take a mandatory COVID-19 RT-PCR test upon arrival and 1-night mandatory stay at a SHA+ or AQ facility in Thailand. (See 4.)
1-night Mandatory Stay at SHA+ or AQ facility in Thailand: Regardless of the above, incoming travelers will still need to book for, and stay for 1-night state-quarantine or alternative-state quarantine hotel or facility, while they await the results of their RT-PCR COVID-19 test taken when they arrive in Thailand. If the results are positive, they will be subject to 14-days of quarantine or admitted for treatment. A SHA+/AQ hotel/facility Confirmation Booking will be needed. List of AQ hotels in Thailand can be found here.
Vaccination Requirements: Travelers will need to be fully vaccinated as per the regulations and guidelines of the WHO or Thai Ministry of Health, for a period of no less than 14 days before arriving in Thailand. The list of approved vaccines and the minimum dosage required in order to be considered "fully-vaccinated" is here (See Details).
Medical Insurance: Non-Thai, foreign travelers will need a medical insurance package/policy prior to entering Thailand, with a minimum coverage amount of not less than USD 100,000, and must include treatment costs for COVID-19. Thai citizens returning to Thailand will not require medical insurance.
Certificate of Vaccination: A Certificate of Vaccination will be required which is issued by a certified medical facility or government facility where the traveler was vaccinated. They should include the following details. (See here).
Certificate of Entry: Travelers will need as usual, as of this time, a Certificate of Entry (CEO) issued by the Royal Thai Embassy or Consulate.
Visas: Visas should be applied at the Royal Thai Embassy or Consulate at disembarking countries as usual, or can be done online at www.thaievisa.go.th.
The list of approved vaccines for COVID-19 as per the Thai Ministry of Health are as follows.
CoronaVac by Sinovac Biotech Ltd – 2 doses needed / 2-4-week interval;
AstraZeneca or Covishield by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, SK Bioscience (South Korea), Siam Bioscience, and Serum Institute of India (Covishield) – 2 doses needed / 4-12-week interval;
Pfizer–BioNTech or Comirnaty by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech 2 doses needed / 3-week interval;
Janssen or Janssen/Ad26.COV2.S by Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc. – 1 dose needed;
Moderna by Moderna Inc. – 2 doses needed / 4-week interval);
Sinopharm or COVILO by Sinopharm Co., Ltd. – 2 doses needed / 3-4-week interval);
Sputnik V by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology – 2 doses needed – 3-week interval).
According to the MoPH, travellers are considered fully vaccinated if:
They get their second dose of a 2-dose vaccine; such as, the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines, no less than 14 days before their travel date to Thailand.
They get a single-dose vaccine; such as, Janssen vaccine, no less than 14 days before their travel date to Thailand.
In case of mix-and-match vaccines, travelers should get their second dose of a different vaccine within the recommended interval of the first vaccine no less than 14 days before their travel date to Thailand. For example, if the first vaccine is CoronaVac from Sinovac Biotech and the second vaccine is AstraZeneca, the time between the two doses is 2-4 weeks.
Travelers who do not meet these criteria may be denied entry into Thailand. Further information about vaccines from the WHO can be found here.
As of 1st November 2021, as per the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the following countries will be eligible for no-Quarantine entry into Thailand.
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Belgium
Bhutan
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Cambodia
Canada
Chile
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greek
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
Malta
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Slovenia
Republic of Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States
Hong Kong
Further countries will be added to list in early-December.
For more information, you can read about "Important Things Travelers Need To Know when traveling to Thailand during COVID-19" here, at the Tourism Authority of Thailand website.
Production Services Asia is a multi-national, international Film Production Services Coordinator company based in Thailand, with a state-of-the-art Production Agency and Post-Production Suite, Evolved Cinema LLC in the United States, and offices in India, and Germany.
We have been performing remote shoots throughout the period of COVID-19, offering our clients remote viewing services via QTAKE, Zoom as well as having live streamed 360-video broadcasts from the set. We have also been providing 360-Virtual Tours and Google Streets scouting prior to the shoot, where we map entire roads, buildings, shooting areas for our clients to walk through in 3D world or using VR glasses.
Please have a look at our latest showreel, and do send us a message for any kind of assistance we can provide.
For more information about filming in Thailand and obtaining permits, read our forum, or information FAQ here. Information in Chinese 电影生产服务机构, read here.
This post was written by Manik Sethisuwan, producer, line producer and fixer at Production Services Asia, Bangkok.
22nd October 2021.