Entering Vietnam on e-visa, May 2022
Posted: Wed May 11, 2022 10:42 am
I booked my Vietnam electronic 30-day visa two weeks in advance. It was promised in 3 working days. Ordered it on a Tuesday afternoon, and received it the following Friday morning. Cost US$25 using a credit card.
Got my PCR test done on a Saturday, 48 hours before the flight and received the negative result 10 hours later. Bit of a surprise, since it was supposed to come the next day. Provider MedConsult, Sukhumvit soi 49/9 Bangkok. Price a very cheap 1500 baht. That explains the very busy testing area. Still got in and out in something like 20 minutes. Got a PCR last October at MedPark Hospital for 4500 baht!
So, off to Bangkok Airport Monday this week. Very efficient Vietnam Airlines check-in: passport, ticket , VN visa and PCR result -- I held back on the PCR result to see if they'd ask for it. They did. But no insurance or vaccination check. Almost no passengers at security and passport control, not even 5% of the numbers, pre-pandemic.
Lots of standing around by airport staff and "duty-free" shop clerks and largely empty corridors to the gates.
Flew with VN Air, which is better (and a bit more expensive but worth it) than VietJet in my experience, the latter tending to always be late and not even having a gate number upon check-in.
Landed and parked our jet at SGN Airport at 12:58, very near the immigration area. Was out on the street at 1:18 pm -- 20 minutes, which includes 6-7 minutes waiting for my bag. No kidding!
Immigration officers, who had only just taken their positions at the desks, only had our VN Air flight VN600 to deal with. Handed him my passport and VN visa letter. Maybe 1 minute and a half, stamped in and done. Didn't ask for proof of insurance, vaccination, or PCR test -- the latter item was requested at BKK Airport.
The place was as empty as it was way back in March 2020 when I scooted back to Bangkok before Corporal Prayut shut the doors. Only 4-5 taxis outside, almost no customers.
Side report on BKK airport duty free shop: I asked for Mevius cigarettes. "There is none, in the entire airport. Only Thai and Chinese," said a clerk. WTF? It's true, I eyed many brands I've never heard of. So, looks like every premium western brand has been removed from sale at the airport. Marlboro, Mevius and Camel were nowhere to be found after opening every door of the "display" cabinets. Will be seeing more Chinese products replace western?
Oh, in another head-smacking development, every smoking spot in the outdoor drop-off for departures has been removed and big No Smoking signs erected. So I slinked over to the taxi drop-off area. No one bothered me.
(PS: A PA I heard later announced that the airport property, inside and outside, has been declared non-smoking.)
Bangkok Airport, always at your service.
Got my PCR test done on a Saturday, 48 hours before the flight and received the negative result 10 hours later. Bit of a surprise, since it was supposed to come the next day. Provider MedConsult, Sukhumvit soi 49/9 Bangkok. Price a very cheap 1500 baht. That explains the very busy testing area. Still got in and out in something like 20 minutes. Got a PCR last October at MedPark Hospital for 4500 baht!
So, off to Bangkok Airport Monday this week. Very efficient Vietnam Airlines check-in: passport, ticket , VN visa and PCR result -- I held back on the PCR result to see if they'd ask for it. They did. But no insurance or vaccination check. Almost no passengers at security and passport control, not even 5% of the numbers, pre-pandemic.
Lots of standing around by airport staff and "duty-free" shop clerks and largely empty corridors to the gates.
Flew with VN Air, which is better (and a bit more expensive but worth it) than VietJet in my experience, the latter tending to always be late and not even having a gate number upon check-in.
Landed and parked our jet at SGN Airport at 12:58, very near the immigration area. Was out on the street at 1:18 pm -- 20 minutes, which includes 6-7 minutes waiting for my bag. No kidding!
Immigration officers, who had only just taken their positions at the desks, only had our VN Air flight VN600 to deal with. Handed him my passport and VN visa letter. Maybe 1 minute and a half, stamped in and done. Didn't ask for proof of insurance, vaccination, or PCR test -- the latter item was requested at BKK Airport.
The place was as empty as it was way back in March 2020 when I scooted back to Bangkok before Corporal Prayut shut the doors. Only 4-5 taxis outside, almost no customers.
Side report on BKK airport duty free shop: I asked for Mevius cigarettes. "There is none, in the entire airport. Only Thai and Chinese," said a clerk. WTF? It's true, I eyed many brands I've never heard of. So, looks like every premium western brand has been removed from sale at the airport. Marlboro, Mevius and Camel were nowhere to be found after opening every door of the "display" cabinets. Will be seeing more Chinese products replace western?
Oh, in another head-smacking development, every smoking spot in the outdoor drop-off for departures has been removed and big No Smoking signs erected. So I slinked over to the taxi drop-off area. No one bothered me.
(PS: A PA I heard later announced that the airport property, inside and outside, has been declared non-smoking.)
Bangkok Airport, always at your service.