Letseng

On 7/21/2020 at 9:24 AM, AKJeff said:

Thanks oracle.   I say that with true appreciation for your knowledge on this forum.   

 

It is an interesting ride so far the embassy hasn't answered any questions other than to say that only non-b visas can enter right now (we know that isn't correct)  and that more information will be coming soon

 

I have been looking into this option. My hurdle is that they require a doctor (I'm in Austria) to give me a letter to say that I need to get treatment in Thailand. Impossible to get. Then I need to find a hospital in TH to agree to do the treatment. Whether your treatment takes 3 days or 4 weeks, you need to do the 14 days in hospital quarantine. Unless you have a visa, you need to apply for a nonO acc. to info I was given. There are a bunch of hoops to jump through. 

May I ask which hospital you contacted? My choice is St Louis. They applied for the program but still in preparation. 

11 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

They will no safer in Thailand.

 

If China wants them extradited they will be extradited. This government has a history of extraditions to China upon request.

 

The Elite card offers no residency rights nor any citizenship pathway and thus no protection or viable solution whatsoever.

For Thailand it is all about money. Retirees with money in Thai banks don't matter.

On 7/19/2020 at 7:39 PM, Banana7 said:

Not possible at this time. No foreign tourists are permitted into Thailand at this time. I doubt you could even get a Thailand tourist visa at this time at an Embassy or Consulate. Check with a Royal Thai Embassy.

 

Also, you should of posted your question in Thai Visas section, not "... to other countries"

Every Embassy website excluds any visa but for specified travel. From Romania he can't enter Schengen legally without going into 14 d. quarantine or get neg. test. The OP thinks he doesn't need quarantine in Thailand? I think he also asked on Tripadvisor recently.

9 hours ago, yellowboat said:

It appears that if you have a healthy diet and no existing ailments, the virus is either unnoticable or acts just like the flu and is gone in a few days.  Other than businesses struggling, normalcy is returning to Saigon.   

It has been found that in asymptomatik cases there was still damage to lung, blood vessels. You will feel consequences at some stage.

6 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia...

 

Sign me up!  ????

Not worried about anybody bringing an infection in? Really? Guess as long as they bring in money no problem.

5 hours ago, Berti said:

How should this be possible when only repatriation flights organized by the embassies are allowed to bring in passengers?

 

The embassy told me, only urgent cases are considered and you need a confirmation from your home hospital that the treatment must be done in Thailand.

This means people from low standard countries coming in. ???? Wow, I'm speechless.

 

They can fill business class on repat flights.

4 hours ago, tribalfusion001 said:

They really are clueless, the middle eastern countries are full of covid-19, might as well invite everyone and have 14 day quarantine.

Mind boggles. Just look at infections:population. Are they really concerned about keeping infections out?

3 hours ago, Yorkshire Tea said:

I agree.  From the OP "The visitors, arriving under a special visa, will be provided with massage and spa services, fitness programmes, healthy meals and herbal products."  That doesn't sound like your usual medical treatment, & probably done at a luxury spa resort...

Spa etc is for accompanying persons while the patient gets all thd medical treatment he is willing to pay for. 

Which are these 62 hospitals?

Problem is that it is difficult to contact hospitals unless you want to use the most wellknown ones.

My usual hoslital is St. Louis. But they cannot be contacted from overseas. Email within Thailand works. 

Can anyone help with info?

5 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

I really do hope this poor child wasn't just brought here for treatment - Just saying.!!

Would not be surprised if this was the case. Was foolish to trust a Sudanese neg.test

13 hours ago, rvaviator said:

I like that idea ...  New entry requirement. Learn the Thai national anthem and sing it on arrival and at any Police or Immigration check points.  

Don't give them ideas

7 hours ago, Rick Sanchez said:

let's hope till end of year, would be great... we can dream

Carry on dreaming. 

4 hours ago, jumanji said:

Did anyone on this forum got their second extension by presenting the certificate by an embassy?

 

I am a Lithuanian citizen and entered Thailand on 2nd Feb, I then extended my tourist visa in the end of March. As my visa was about to expire, covid amnesty kicked in and then was prolonged to July 31. So, I have already extended my visa once and essentially by the end of July should leave the country.

 

Now, there are no direct flights to Lithuania and getting back through other countries is complicated. Thus, my embassy issued a certificate which I could bring to the immigration and ask for another extension. However, I have not heard of anyone, nor did I see an official announcement that bringing in a certificate from embassy grants you an extension.

 

Did anyone personally encounter such situation in the past few weeks? What was your experience? Were you granted the extension? 

You cannot get in via Scandinavian countries, via Germany? Isn t Lithuania Schengen Area?

On 7/11/2020 at 3:50 PM, BritTim said:

This. A Covid-19 test whenever someone develops symptom and, failing that, towards the end of the quarantine period is also probably prudent. Certainly, though, the 14-day quarantine is known to be the most important measure. The challenge here is that providing secure, safe quarantine facilities is nowhere near as easy as people imagine. Even New Zealand (which has handled the pandemic as well as any country) has struggled to provide enough quarantine places and keep them secure and safe. That is to manage hundreds of daily arrivals. If Thailand wants to allow thousands of people to enter Thailand daily, it will be a huge organisational challenge.

Everybody worries about tourists clogging the system if allowed in. What about Elite Visa or non O visa holders who are not married to Thais? Quarantine would not be an obstacle for me. I'd just do it.

1 hour ago, yuyiinthesky said:

Why? Zero infections in the neighboring countries, Laos, Cambodia, even Vietnam. Vietnam and Cambodia have kind of reopened already to let children living on one side of the border go to school on the other side of the border. You cannot spread any infection if you‘re not infected.

how do you know you are not infected? Kids rarely show symptoms, adults don't always show symptoms but spread far & wide. Just had such a cluster in our local Rotarians. 23 out of 26 meeting participants infected by one person on one evening. Was not in Thailand. 2 doctors amongst them.

3 hours ago, rabas said:

He is not saying the new G strain leads to less severe cases. He's not talking about decreased live viral particle shedding in patients.  Rather, he sees  less shedding of the S1 protein (one small piece of the spike) from his test-tube experiments, suggesting the S protein structure is more stable.

 

Increased S protein stability leads to greater infectivity because  there is more S protein available, not because the S protein attacks the ACE2 receptor better. Same old bullets just more of them. See here. He also shows the new S protein should not be any more susceptible to antibodies and does not suggest it is less severe. A couple comments from the paper:

 

(Fig. 1b), indicating a transmission advantage over viruses with D614. Korber et al. noted that this change also correlated with increased viral loads in COVID-19 patients[22]

An interesting question is why viruses carrying the more stable SG614 appear to be more transmissible without resulting in a major observable difference in disease severity[22,27]

 

So, it's basically the same old virus but now on a Ducati rather than a Honda Wing.

 

 

Everyday I follow the no. of new cases. Don't see arriving Europeans on the list nor Thais returning from continental Europe. So how many infected Europeans did this good doctor actually get to test to see the new strain? Sounds more like keep foreigners out.

6 hours ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

And people are wondering why Thailand isn’t letting foreigners in. Please, protect us from all those stupid westerners. Let Darwin do his job first. 

Unless the govt. lets "speciak" flights in like the Egyptians into U Tapao.

6 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

keep the borders closed. 

 

good job Thailand. 

Except for this Egyptian airman  landing at U Tapao. & running round Rayong with his mates. Once he left they found the test was positive. No quarantine for them.

Non-visa holders are too risky.

On 7/11/2020 at 10:18 PM, unheard said:

You could book regular flights from anywhere to BKK in any prior months.

How many of those have flown with passengers on board?

Zero.

No you can not board any of those regular flights, regardless of paperwork.

This is not true. Richard Barrow on his blog mentions ppl arriving on flights which transit in BKK. You can get off with correct paperwork

4 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Costly indeed....

 

Covid-19 PCR Test and Certificate £190 (THB 7515)

Repatriation flight: £2514 (THB: 99,440) (from UK with Eva Air - only business class available)

Quarantine Booking: THB 45,000 (£1140)

 

Total: £3844 (THB: 152,050) 

 

We have to wait for the repatriation flight (potentially on 19th or 26th, depending on availability and approval)

 

So, for the pleasure of paying  about 150,000 baht we get to see our family in about 3 weeks !!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is this "Fit to Fly" cert. a special form a doctor has to fill in? Or is it just a letter? Tks

4 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Costly indeed....

 

Covid-19 PCR Test and Certificate £190 (THB 7515)

Repatriation flight: £2514 (THB: 99,440) (from UK with Eva Air - only business class available)

Quarantine Booking: THB 45,000 (£1140)

 

Total: £3844 (THB: 152,050) 

 

We have to wait for the repatriation flight (potentially on 19th or 26th, depending on availability and approval)

 

So, for the pleasure of paying  about 150,000 baht we get to see our family in about 3 weeks !!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How many ppl travel? You talk about "we".

5 hours ago, SVC Porter said:

Yep agreed not for tourists at the moment though as someone trying to get out for work it is becoming far too convoluted and costly.

medical tourists can get entry.

5 hours ago, Donga said:

What about Credit Card Travel Insurance? I'm well covered for medical attention with MasterCard when I'm in Thailand. Is there any reason this won't satisfy Thai Immigration?

Travel insurance is usually time limited. You need confirmation they cover Covid19 care. Beware, they will not pay if there is a travel warning for Thailand.

4 hours ago, moon0205 said:

I guess those daily media reports of "no further cases" makes people ready to neglect protection. Today in my routine park (Bueng Kum) massive numbers of runners as never seen before. My guess is that 85 % did not use face masks, and of those indeed 50% did not even have it at all. Temperature check at the entrance ok, but what for if people from there just walk through? Many guards around, but none would ever dare to approach those unprotected. 
The whole experience was frightening. 

How can you run with a facemasks? You should NOT run with a mask but keep distance to fellow runners.

On 7/10/2020 at 2:42 PM, bluesofa said:

Have you got a link to the above, regarding 20% of people in random tests were positive - is this Thailand you're talking about?

20% would be rather high compared to other countries' results when doing blanket testing.