I have been quiet on the forum for good reason…since 25th June I had been trying to get all those ‘ducks in a row’ in order to board the repat flight organised the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Dubai. I had actually been pushing to return since mid-April

I retired at the end of March, and had a flight booked for April 2nd. Fate played its part though – Suvarnabhumi was closed to international flights in the last week of March, rendering my flight useless. My Company graciously re-employed me for April because at the time we had no idea of what this COVID19 disaster was to become. After that, they could not employ me so I sat in Dubai, with no pay for May, June and most of July. The cost was one thing but…the boredom was a killer – nothing open remember? Beaches, bars, even Malls, restaurants, etc etc etc etc… all closed.

The path has been trodden many times by returnees in the initial groups before me but, to summarise… each non-Thai repatriate needed: the Certificate of Entry, valid Insurance covering 100,000 USD and stating cover for COVID-19, the T8 form, in paper, the valid covid-19 swab test showing a negative result and the associated Fit to Fly certificate, and the confirmed 15 night ASQ booking. I know different Embassies around the World are asking for different things and some are wanting money spent up front – we were lucky in UAE.