Foreigners able to register on vaccine site despite data leaks, glitches
The debut of Thailand’s new vaccine appointment registration site expatvac.consular.go.th has now opened to mixed reviews. Many reported a host of problems, but quite a few people said that in the end they received emails confirming their registration and forthcoming appointments. And of course, it opened to a data breach.
The vaccine registration site launched at 11 am and within minutes people were reporting crashes, errors, and that people’s private information was unprotected and visible online. Screenshots of publicly accessible backdoors that revealed the emails and personal details of over 20,000 applicants started appearing online raising safety and privacy concerns. It appears the data breach has now been patched.
Many people said that the system failed at the stage where they submitted their email, reporting that the vaccine registration site would crash or an error would be received requiring them to start over or refresh the page. When they did, the system would not accept their email address. While the site crashed, the backend database had saved their input and, as a result, the email address had already been used previously and was rejected.
Some suggested using the same email address you gave immigration worked better. Many warned to make sure you have saved images of your passport and your visa, as well as any relevant medical documents.
People did report that amid the crashes, errors, and site outages, they were able to try again and again and did eventually make it through the process. A user posted their confirmation email that explained that they were successfully registered and would receive another email later offering a vaccine appointment that must be confirmed within 24 hours. Of note, the message confirmed that the site will set appointments for vaccine centres outside of the greater Bangkok area.
| Registration SUCCESS Please constantly check your email. Once available appointment slot is sent to your email, please confirm within 24 hours. Failure to confirm within 24 hours will result in the cancellation of your preregistration. For those residing in provinces other than Bangkok and neighbouring provinces (Nakorn Pathom, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan and Samut Sakhon), the Ministry of Public Health will assign a vaccination site in your area. Your vaccination allocation will be provided according to priorities set by the Ministry of Public Health, i.e. age group, vulnerability, high risk zone e.t.c |
Depsite numerous problems, it appears that officials have been working quickly to resolve issues and registrations are going through. Foreigners are advised to keep trying if they encounter errors as the vaccine site launches and stabilises.
SOURCE: PR Thai Government
