CoE will be replaced by Thailand Pass, in development
The much-maligned certificate of entry is on its way out, with the digital Thailand Pass set to replace the CoE for most – but not all – people from November 1. The Digital Government Development Agency is working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to create an online system to replace the CoE process for international flight arrivals.
The Thailand Pass would be a replacement for international travellers, both foreign and Thai, who enter the country by air. A spokesperson for the Ministry said that those entering by land or by sea would still require the CoE, and vaguely left the door open to the idea that not all international flight travellers would be eligible to enter without the certificate.
But development is underway for the Thailand Pass system, a web-based application that would guide people through the process of gathering and uploading all the necessary documents for entry.
The digitising of the immigration process will address the challenges of expanded documentation requirements the Covid-19 pandemic brought on, including vaccination certification that will be handled online by the Department of Communicable Disease Control under the umbrella of the Public Health Ministry.
But it will also help facilitate the filing of the traditional TM6 immigration form as well as the T8 health declaration form.
Before the development began on the new Thailand Pass to replace the CoE, the Foreign Affairs Ministry had approved over 400,000 CoEs for people to travel internationally to Thailand, a figure 25% higher than the total number of predicted arrivals for 2021, despite the government’s generous expectations.
The CoE has often been maligned as a difficult process that is driving away potential visitors to Thaialnd and hurting programs like the Phuket Sandbox.
SOURCE: The Phuket News
