Thailand Pass scam: Authorities warn not to pay third party

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs put out a warning today via their spokesperson urging people not to be taken in by any scam attempting to charge you for registering for the Thailand Pass. The announcement came on the heels of the Covid-19 task force investigating reports of people claiming to have paid registration fees in order to apply for the Pass needed to enter Thailand

First of all, the Test & Go programme has been suspended since December 22 due to a sharp rise in Covid-19 infections as the Omicron variant takes hold of the country. And second, the Thailand Pass has always been issued, since its inception, free of charge through their online registration process.

The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs laid out clearly and concisely that if anyone attempts to collect money for a Thailand Pass registration, it’s a scam.

“To reiterate again, there is no registration fee for Thailand Pass. There have been reports of people asked illegally to pay registration fees. It is a service rendered free of charge.”

While many services in Thailand may offer help for a fee for potential tourists trying to navigate the system to make their way into Thailand, the ministry specifically warns that travellers should not be paying any service fee for the actual Thailand Pass registration process.

The spokesperson did not go into any detail about how many reports they had received of people being scammed or how the Thailand Pass scam works specifically. But they took the opportunity to remind that once the Thailand Pass programme does reopen, those interested in travelling to the country should only apply for the Pass on the official website and not through any third-party site, agency, or middleman.

Those who have already received a confirmation and QR code may still travel and enter as planned. Anyone wishing to come to Thailand who hasn’t already been approved must now enter through one of several Sandbox programmes throughout the country, with Phuket being the most popular option

SOURCE: Coconuts