DoctorB

What used to confound me was the confusion between "more" and "more than". I would give my live-in some money to buy something and when asked why she had not she would say "it cost 1000 baht more" when she really meant "it costs more than 1000 baht". She would seem to be asking for more money when she was really trying to say it was too expensive. This could lead to some lively discussions depending on the sums involved. Also the failure to distinguish between borrow and lend: as in "can you borrow me some money" or "I borrow my friend some money; she not give back".

What he says is irrelevant. What matters is what the politicians and others with an interest in keeping their hands on the levers of power decide. As some cynic remarked, "Power is a ratchet, not a pendulum". Or, to quote Winston Churchill, "Never let a good crisis go to waste". They will keep this going for a long time yet.

Decimates?? A headline written by someone else who doesn't know what's "decimate" means. For those in doubt, it means "to remove 1 in 10"; ie reduce by 10%. If only that were true!

The article speculates on "a temporary pause with a view to reopening quickly in January or February". But why would that be feasible? Covid shows no apparent signs of going away and variant will surely follow variant. If governments worldwide adhere to their current mode of hysteria and panic every time a significant new mutation appears nothing will ever change. Unless policy makers can develop a new strategy that allows them to move away from border closures and restricted social contacts we will be stuck in an endless cycle of stop/go restrictions with disastrous economic consequences. Interestingly the article also suggests a fourth wave would be disastrous for Thailand. Well the bad news is that most countries in Europe are already up to six or more and the Covid sea shows no signs of settling yet despite all the lockdowns, closures and masking.

One really shouldn't be too hard on this guy. Anutin is only proposing doing what other politicians of much greater education and sophistication are doing world wide. Last year Britain went into lockdown one week before Christmas and people were forbidden to entertain their loved ones on the most important holiday in the Christian calendar. The last restrictions were only lifted in July. That was seven months of legally enforced regulations unprecedented in peace time. People went along with it on the promise that it would be the last time. Yet now the usual experts are demanding that it is all put in place again; as if for some reason the outcome will be different this time. It does seem that world wide our masters have learned nothing and forgotten nothing.

There was a very brief remark on the BBC news, 1.00 pm Saturday, that so far, Omicron cases had been mild, with no hospitalisations. One can only pray that this remains so. Fingers crossed.

Fine provided you have access to a printer in the limited time between receiving the email and boarding the plane. Most UK labs tell you to allow up to 48 hours for the result. That leaves just 24 hours to get everything in order and get off to the airport in good time. But why is it necessary? The site advising visitors to the US advises that the PCR result can be presented in hard copy or electronic form. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/before-you-go/covid-19_testing_required_US_Entry.html#ExternalPopup Why does Thailand have to be so obstructive; presumably so that a piece of paper can be filed away "just in case etc".

Also, another issue regarding the pre-flight test: on the Uk Thai Embassy site it says "Please note that your test result must be in hard copy and in Thai or English language only." (note 14 under "Registration and Approval Process", link below). Why does it have to be hard copy? Most labs send the result by email; the last thing you need when rushing round to get away is having to fart around looking for a printer. Does anyone know if this nonsense is being strictly enforced? And if you are leaving from France, Germany etc. does it still have to be in Thai or English only? https://london.thaiembassy.org/en/publicservice/requirements-for-foreigners-travelling-to-thailand-during-covid-19-tra?page=5d6636cd15e39c3bd00072dd&menu=5f4b6eb3f6ae4b236972c562

Link as requested:- https://london.thaiembassy.org/en/publicservice/requirements-for-foreigners-travelling-to-thailand-during-covid-19-tra?page=5d6636cd15e39c3bd00072dd&menu=5f4b6eb3f6ae4b236972c562 See note 7, right hand side.

The current update to the UK Thai Embassy website says "Please apply for a visa at least 4 weeks in advance before departure" - item 7 of the "Requirements For Foreigners...etc" list. All a bit of a deterioration from the old days.

Why do you say that the visa is no longer available? I've just checked on the Embassy website. If you click on 'Visa & Consular Services', scroll down to Non-immigrant Visas, DO NOT CLICK ANYTHING IN THE BOX but scroll down to Non-imm O and keep scrolling. You will find the retirement option listed there with its required documentation. Also I logged onto the visa application site thaievisa.go.th/Home and the option is listed under 'Purpose Of Visit', though you have to scroll a long way down to find it. I exited at that point so I don't know if it would actually go through, but I don't see why not. Please keep us informed it there is anything to add.

Eh?? Then how do you define the longterm O-A and O-X visas obtainable from overseas embassies and consulates, and available only to the over 50s? Try reading the original article. It makes the distinction between the O-A, O-X visas and the in-country extension to the non-immigrant O quite clear. These are the visas with the stringent health insurance requirements, preferrably from the approved list of Thai companies.

Why don't you just read the original article which clears up the confusion nicely. How many times does it have to be said, there is no ''O non immigrant retirement visa' as such; there is a retirement extension that can be applied for inside the country by non immigrant O visa holders. The O-A long-term visa regulations are quite different, at present at least.

No, they can't get cover from the companies on the approved list due to age restrictions. Most won't cover anyone over 65, a few will cover existing policy holders over 70 and non will cover over 75s. Given that few get to retire until their 60s they have created a retirement visa system only available to those who can take early retirement. Absurd or what?

I checked online for UK travel cover yesterday and even the cheapest policy offered covid medical cover as standard. For slightly more this could be enhanced for cancellation due to covid related issues. As far as I could see no company offered a policy that excludes covid. The problem in the past seems to have been the Thai requirement for a particular wording. I would guess that from an actuarial point of view the covid risk is fairly trivial for insurance companies. The Thai Embassy site also made it clear that a policy bought in UK or Ireland is acceptable.

You'll be lucky. I did a trial run on the official Thai site - 77 year old for 3 months, from UK, only one quote came up, at 12,500 baht. That was on the original 100,000 covid cover site. On the other hand a basic travel policy issued in the UK with full 2 million GBP medical cover, including covid and repatriation came in at around £370, with a rather better cover policy (cancellation, lost baggage etc. at around £450.

Absolutely not true. There are all sorts of nasties that can be carried by fruit and veg. On one occasion some years back Thai health authorities expressed concern about the spread of e coli by street fruit vendors. See also health line.com/nutrition/foods-that-cause-food-poisoning which lists e coli, salmonella and listeria poisoning as hazards associated with fruit and veg.

In the 30 years that I have been a Thailand regular the night entertainment scene has always allegedly been under threat. Economic development was going to finish it, then Purachai and his Thai Rak Thai colleagues were going to do it etc etc. Trink preached the gospel pre-internet then Stickman took it up in his weekly sermons. Now seems to be the TVF regulars' mantra. Perhaps Covid will do it, perhaps not. Sadly it is true that the story of the Goose & The Golden Egg does not seem to be a part of Thai culture.

Why would next year be any different? It's been 2 years now and while vaccination has significantly reduced the death rate nothing else has really changed. Infection rates show no sign of improvement anywhere that allows any half reasonable form of socialising. It's not going away. Repeatedly kicking the can down the road will achieve nothing.

This the restriction that bugs me. I usually come for 90 days, booking into a hotel for 3 nights online first to get sorted. Then I look for a long term place. But this requires room inspection and face to face negotiation to get a good price. I would be very reluctant to book anything long-term on the basis of an online entry. A friend advised that the thing to do is make several successive bookings to cover the whole period, but make sure they all allow free cancellation; but what a farce. It really does look as though Thailand is determined to kill off the old free and footloose tourism; everything now has to be micro-managed.

Unfortunately in many ways the UK is its own worst enemy. The variants appear there not because they originate there but because the UK is a world leader in genomic sequencing. The high number of infections, a great many are totally asymptomatic, is partially due to the very high level of testing, particularly at present among school children (ie. daily). The country would do itself a favour by cutting back on random testing and focusing on hospitalisation and death rates.

Reflecting the relentless testing of school children. See the following:- https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/coronaviruscovid19infectionsurveypilot/15october2021 The tables, about halfway down the article at 'Section 4. Age Analysis,' clearly show that by far the greatest increase in infections is in 'School Year 7 to 11'. They are largely unvaccinated but thankfully will be unlikely to be coming to Thailand. The rises for the 4 groups ranging from 25 to 70+ are 0.6%, 1.2%, 0.8% & 0.6%; hardly the Black Death.

Below is a quote from a Uk testing company:- "Our Clinic in ....................... offers Test to Release & PCR tests with a ‘Fit to Fly’ Certificate for international travel and work, with rapid and accurate results." The "Fit To Fly Certificate" comes with the PCR result. Hopefully this is what was meant by Anutin's comment. The document referenced by Captain Monday above is intended for the seriously ill or disabled and, as he says, appears quite inappropriate for a virus.

You've left off the amazing attitude of the rescued boys and their families. In the West they would have been claiming their lives were ruined and lawsuits would have been flying. In this case they seemed to have preferred to express their gratitude and shown great dignity.

If you mean the FCO advice against all but essential travel, that will be almost certainly be amended on 11 October when Thailand is dropped from the Red List. Until then the current advice remains unchanged. Both sets of provisions are government mandated and are kept in step.