Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the Exemption from Quarantine Scheme here in Thailand. I want to go ahead and just throw this up. This is from the MFA website mfa.go.th and this is basically information regarding the different schemes, and I use the word “scheme” in the British sense; in the American sense it sometimes has nefarious connotations, but in the British sense it is just "program", the Exemption from Quarantine program. This is to provide a little bit of clarification. What is this?

We have been saying I guess euphemistically or colloquially, that we have gone to a "quarantine free process". Now strictly speaking, that is not quite exactly true. There is this brief interregnum for those who meet the requirements associated with the Exemption from Quarantine Scheme but there is still some testing required. As noted in this and prior videos for example one final PCR test where you have got to be determined to be negative for COVID-19 and then you are on your way. 

Just to quote directly from this Thailand Pass FAQ's, again this is an mfa.go.th. is provided by the Department of Consular Affairs Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Here on bullet point 11, "Can I travel in Thailand freely if I have entered through the Exemption from Quarantine Scheme?" And the answer: "Exemption from Quarantine Scheme: You can travel to any destinations in Thailand once the RT-PCR test upon arrival received is negative." So you go through this brief delay it appears. We are currently just seeing this come online so I don't know exactly how the practicalities of this are going to play out over the coming days and weeks but this is what it looks like. You come in, you do a final test and you move on down the conveyor belt if you will and off you go to enjoy travel here in Thailand. It is a massive improvement over the 14-day quarantine we were dealing with, a little less at least at the time of this video, a little less than a month ago and a lot of folks had to undergo that and that wasn't the most pleasant thing; it was keeping a lot of people from coming. Hopefully this new program will encourage more folks to come to Thailand because we certainly want to see you come through here. 

There are some folks who may find that some of the current aspects of processing to get not only a Visa but to also get the Thailand Pass to get into Thailand may be a little bit frustrating or overwhelming. For those folks it may not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.