It is currently illegal for Brits to travel abroad if their motivation is to go on holiday. The penalties rise sharply from next week with fines of 5,000 pounds laid down in the most recent legislation. Wannabe travelers must fill in an airport declaration form listing their “reasonable excuse” and are advised to show documentary proof to substantiate their exemption from the travel ban.
The main reasons for exemption are work, study, births, marriages, deaths, medical appointments and legal obligations. There are also categories which are less definitive including “escaping the risk of harm” and “property”. Pattaya Mail spoke on the phone to four Brits, currently in mandatory 15-days quarantine in Thailand, who managed to survive the surveillance at Heathrow airport.
John is a 63 year-old former bank manager from Bristol who says he had obtained a 45-days visa-exempt permission to enter Thailand from the London-based Thai embassy earlier this month. He said Heathrow airport check-in staff clearly did not know the Thai visa/immigration system and were concerned why he did not have a Thai stamp in his passport and only an embassy-issued certificate of entry to show. He had written on his declaration form “to attend funeral” and had with him a photocopy of the death certificate of his Thai girlfriend’s mother with a rough translation. John admits he was a bit lucky.
Frank is a 55 year-old Brit who is also a “permanent resident” of Thailand. This means he does not need a Thai visa in his passport and can come and go whenever he likes. However, he does need a Thai re-entry permit in his passport. Permanent residents like him also carry a red police book which is equivalent to a Thai ID card. Frank says airport security staff were confused by the term permanent resident which they thought might be a one year extension based on retirement. However, he was eventually allowed to board the plane to Bangkok.
Philip and Gwen, a Welsh couple in their 70s, had more problems when they arrived at Heathrow airport clutching their one-year lease on a property in Pattaya. They said they were “moving” to Thailand on a permanent basis even though their Thai visas were only for three months. They told check-in staff they would be able to extend their visas once they arrived in Thailand. Initially, the airline was reluctant to grant permission to them and the police also got involved. However, when Gwen produced the receipt for the earlier dispatch of their household possessions by boat to The Land of Smiles, all was well.
Whilst the ban on Brits holidaying abroad is up for review next month with possible termination in May, the prohibition could well last throughout the summer. Health secretary Matt Hancock said this was because of the threat that the traveling public might bring back with them all manner of bug variants and nasties. But the British group Travelling for Miles said that viruses always mutate on an ongoing basis in any case, whilst the public had formerly been assured that the vaccination rollout could handle that issue.
In the meantime, Brits wishing to travel to Thailand must continue to seek the mandatory certificate of entry from the Thai embassy with all the voluminous paperwork described on its website. They must subsequently satisfy the British airport authorities that their journey is absolutely necessary and not based on enjoyment aspirations. That requires not only the declaration form scrutinized at check-in, but also explanatory paperwork. In the English language please.
