The family, currently based in Paris, have been left hanging in hope that a Thailand Pass would be issued for the mother before they board their flight tomorrow (Nov 7).
The reprieve came via a notice posted by the Royal Thai Embassy in Bern, Switzerland, giving contact details for those needing assistance with their Thailand Pass applications through the website https://tp.consular.go.th/
Of note, the same support notice has now been posted on the home page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of Consular Affairs website.
“On Friday I managed to find the LINE ID of the Dept of Consular Affairs Thailand. So I tried my luck and sent them a message. Very quickly they replied asking for my details,” the mother told The Phuket News. (See gallery above for LINE ID QR code.)
“I replied immediately. About two hours later they also asked me for my phone number. Again I replied immediately. And then nothing,” she added.
“During the day I sent various messages but nothing. Then yesterday night I decided to call the call center, but no answers,” the mother explained.
“A friend of mine who just arrived in Phuket tried non-stop to call them since early morning today [Saturday] as well, but no answers,” she continued.
“Anyhow, they finally sent me my personal QR code as well as the QR code of my two children at 4:37am this morning, which is just about 24 hour before my departure,” the mother confirmed.
“I am so relieved you can’t imagine!” she said.
The last-minute reprieve for the one family gives hope to many hundreds, if not thousands, of people affected by the issues affecting the timely issuing of Thailand Pass permits to enter the country.
Many of the people affected were either already issued a COE (Certificate of Entry) under the previous entry requirements, or as with the family in Paris told to wait for the Thailand Pass system to launch when they originally applied for the COE with plenty of time to be issued their permit.