JCP108

They didn't clarify that it's 500 actual tourists and 6,500 expats returning to their Thai homes.

Right. And, you show the results of the test on day 6 to the staff at your accommodation (in my case at that point will be my wife).

Hotel wouldn't complete the booking before receiving flight information? Good thing the airline didn't refused to complete their booking before receiving hotel confirmation! Some of you will think I'm crazy for saying that. Those of you who have lived in Thailand for some time know I'm not.

I wonder if you arrive in BKK under the "no quarantine" plan and go to your quarantine hotel on your first day...if you don't get your test results back by checkout time, do they charge you their regular rate for the second day? Or, will they charge you another $6k same as the first day?

Playing Spin-the-Bottle at such a party is strictly prohibited.

I would assume that since 14 is less than 21, you would be considered coming from a high-risk country (Thailand) and would follow those rules.

I think those of us who live long-term in Thailand who are not typical tourists are more affected by some of the anti-farang attitudes. Tourists will always be treated as "the other" but the arrangement is more cut-and-dried and everyone accepts it as part of travel. Those of us outside that tourist scene face other issues with this treatment. For example, I was in Thailand before the pandemic started. I am the only farang in our part of Lad Prao. Shortly into it (and after so many news stories painting farangs as scary), the neighbors (the ones with more power in the local community) communicated to my wife that they wanted me to do a 14-day self-quarantine in our apartment.

It was a misunderstanding.

You are more optimistic than I am. I'm wondering if the labs can handle all these extra tests as efficiently as they have been processing the handful of samples they've been doing so far. Also wondering when the swabbing team will get to each traveler after they check in. I'm guessing they don't work 24/7 but probably 10-5 with the same type of work flow efficiency we see everywhere in Thailand. If they get to you later and the result takes 12 hours to come back, seems like many will get past check-out time of their first booked day and have to book another.

How so?

So many ways to finish that question.

Nope. The testing is not done at the airport but at the hotel after you check in and after the medical staff arrive (probably not working 24/7). Then, you start waiting for the results. For many it will be a two-day quarantine.

Yeah. I know it's a lunch pail. And, maybe that's why some people look at me funny (okay with me). But, it's stainless and very convenient for taking food out of the market without it being in a plastic bag.

We are talking about Thailand, right?

They have the highest testing rates and also less barriers to going to the hospital.

Prob not that easy if you arrive at night. It's likely the staff who will swab you don't work 24/7. So, you have to wait for them to come to work and get to you. Then, they send that sample to the lab and you wait. Could be two nights if you arrive at night.

I noticed that, too. Finally being honest about it.

I think it's 14 days, not 10.

The general false positive rate for the PCR tests for Covid is 0.6%. The reports positive rate for people entering the Phuket sandbox scheme is surprisingly 0.17%! Someone could interpret that to mean that most, or all, of those positive results were false. If that were true, then the testing before flight was effective at screening out infected people.

They aren't limiting flights that way. I just booked a flight that arrives in Bangkok at 00:05. I expect that that will likely mean I have to book the "not" quarantine hotel for two days instead of one.

They could vaccinate the people in Thailand thus reducing the need for such strict testing of fully-vaccinated arrivals.

I have been taking my reusable bag to the markets for years and I also take a metal tiffin (see photo) to the night market to buy my curries. Every single time, they look at me like I'm completely crazy. The bag is better now that the concept of such at the super markets is understood (though not practiced much). One of my biggest annoyances is when they put something in a plastic bag....then, put that into another plastic bag.

Changing it to make it even more cumbersome might dissuade even more travelers from coming to Thailand.

That has happened in the sanbox on Phuket. Seems that they didn't quarantine the whole plane but only people sitting near the person who tested positive. So, seems to be a real risk though with ambiguous consequences (like so many things in Thailand).

Where did you see that?