After completing the mission trip in Vietnam, I traveled back to Thailand. This trip started with a flight to Ho Chi Minh (from Bangkok) with Air Asia and gradually made my way up north until I reached the capital city of Hanoi. I returned with Vietjet Air, a well-known low-cost airline that was one of the first to operate after Vietnam’s policy to open the country. However, there were no flights every day (as of April 10, 2022, and it is expected that there will be additional flights when both countries fully reopen in May 2022), so I had to plan this trip carefully. Despite the special circumstances, it was still within my ability. I traveled on a Wednesday, and there was only one flight back to Bangkok at that time. The flight information is as follows:
Route : Hanoi (Han) – Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (BKK)
Flight No. : VJ 901 (Vietjet Air)
Aircraft : Airbus A321
ETD : 12.10pm (GMT+7)
ETA : 14.00pm (GMT+7)
Duration : 1 Hour 50 minutes
Cabin : Economy
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This trip started with me arriving at Noi Bai International Airport at around 9:00 am (approximately 3 hours before the flight). I arrived a bit later than expected due to the airport being quite far from the city, and traffic in the city being congested. Therefore, for those traveling to the airport, I suggest allowing extra time as during the COVID period, checking documents at the check-in stage may take longer than expected.
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When I arrived, I took care of my personal business such as exchanging money and preparing documents for a while until the check-in counters opened. My flight checked in at row A, and everything went as expected because each passenger took adequate time to check-in and could not check-in online due to the staff needing to check documents carefully. For those who will travel to Thailand without quarantine, each passenger needs to have the following items:
- Vaccine Certificate (For Thai nationals, use the international certificate obtained from the Mor Prom app.)
- Thailand Pass QR code (Registration must be done at least 7 days prior to travel as it requires time for consideration.)
- Hotel booking for Test & Go measures for at least 1 night (the hotel must be government certified) including airport transfer and an RT-PCR test package and ATK test kit for self-testing on the 5th day after arrival in Thailand. (Updated as of March 1, 2023: COVID entry regulataion of Thailand has been lifted)
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It took almost an hour to check in and receive the boarding pass, even though there weren’t many passengers. This was due to only two check-in counters being open. After that, the passengers went through the security check and immigration smoothly.
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After completing all the processes, there is time to stroll around for some food and shopping. There are a few tax-free shops and restaurants open here, but most of them are closed because there are not many flights yet. Today we will be boarding at Gate 28, which is not too far away.
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I walked around looking for food and eventually found a food stall with coffee to fill my stomach because nothing else appealed to me. Then, I arrived at the gate on time, but… there was an announcement saying “Delay” for about half an hour due to a late arrival, which made me doubt if the plane would be able to depart on time. We had to wait for the plane to take off until about 1:30 pm, and the flight finally boarded the aerobridge around 12:30 pm. I was relieved, thinking that there might be more delays, especially since this airline from Vietnam is infamous for delays. Vietnamese people like to call this airline “Sorry Airline” because they often hear apologies from this airline.
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And shortly after the plane arrived, the staff called for boarding. The flight didn’t seem to have a full passenger load; from a quick glance, there were probably around 80 people.
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Inside the plane, the seating arrangement was the standard 3-3 configuration, with seat width similar to that of a typical low-cost carrier. Although the seats were not particularly spacious, they were still manageable for short flights. Each seat had a magazine for passengers to read, with half of it in English and the other half in Vietnamese.
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Once all the passengers had boarded, the plane pushed back immediately. When the seatbelt sign was turned off, I had quick surveyed of the lavatories.
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Then I sat and enjoyed the view throughout the flight. The weather was relatively clear and sunny that day.
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After about an hour of flying, the captain began to descend and prepare for landing at Suvarnabhumi Airport. The captain announced that the temperature at the destination was 35°C, which was quite different from the departure city of Hanoi, where the temperature was only 22°C.
Afterwards, not long after, the captain safely landed at approximately 15.30 PM.
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After getting off the aircraft, I had to join the queue for COVID screening and document inspection for entry into Thailand without having to quarantine under the Test & Go scheme. The health officials checked my documents and if everything was in order, they stamped my passport for the immigration officer to check again upon arrival.
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After completing all the procedures, I collected my luggage at belt number 9.
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However, on that day, the entry process was not yet complete because I had to go find the hotel counter that I had booked to have them take me for a COVID RT-PCR test with the hotel shuttle and then take me to quarantine at the hotel until the results came out. If the result was negative, I could check out of the hotel (for this period, I used the Novotel Sukhumvit-Plenochit hotel service). Normally, it takes about 8-12 hours, but in our case, our flight was delayed and we arrived at the COVID testing location around 17.30 PM. The officer informed us that the results would come out around 2:00 AM. After the test was completed, the officer provided us with one set of ATK test kits for another test in 5 days, and the hotel informed us that they would let us know the result in the morning of the following day. While in quarantine, we were not allowed to leave the room, but we could order food from the hotel or outside and have it delivered to our room. When the result came out as negative in the morning, we checked out of the hotel around 9:30 AM. This means we had completed 90% of the Test & Go process, and we have the remaining process to go.
And on March 1, 2023, the Thai government has lifted COVID entry regulations. This is great news for travelers who can save a lot of time and money (as the cost of RT-PCR tests, one night hotel quarantine, transportation, and ATK test kits add up to approximately 4,600 baht or more depending on the luxury of the hotel).
All of this information is based on our travel to Thailand during the period when the government relaxed its measures, and it serves as a guideline for those interested. Due to the unpredictable nature of the COVID situation, government policies may change at any time. Therefore, travelers should always check for announcements from the government in order to prepare themselves and follow the proper procedures. Lastly, we hope that the situation will improve soon, so that we can enjoy traveling once again. 🙂
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Written by : SHIPY SIWARIT TIASUWATTISETH
Shipy-Ship 