KhaoYai

It would seem that the Phuket Sandbox is not in fact Open. It is not possible to apply at the moment.

It doesn't instill me with confidence - if they have changed their minds about the Phuket Sandbox, will my Test & Go Thailand Pass still be valid? I thought the worrying was over after yesterday's announcement. I could also end up with 'egg on my face' ???? - I've just come off the phone with the BBC. I told them the story they've been running all night that from today, all entrants to Thailand must go into quarantine was incorrect.

Have further restrictions been introduced? Last night the Test & Go 'Select' button on the Thailand Pass website was 'greyed out' - today the Sandbox scheme is also 'greyed out'. They said the Phuket Sandbox was still open - how can anyone apply?

I hate to be fair to him but plenty of world leaders have said the same - saying 'we have to learn to live with the virus' was very popular a couple of months back. Then a new variant comes along and its all forgotten. The only sensible response I've seen and again I hate being fair to this 'gentleman' too, is Boris Johnson's decision to remove all countries from the UK's Red List on the basis that Omicron is already widespread within the UK so there was little point in restricting travel - I hope he sticks to that.

Correct, I forgot about that.

Omicron is already in the country and more importantly, the first case of 'community transmission' has been found. Given the rate that Omicron spreads at it will be everywhere in a few weeks, regardless. Its not 200,000, I believe 80,000 or 90,000 have already entered. If they had closed the borders completely, what would they have achieved? bought a 2 or 3 week breather? They don't usually give a flying &8^& about foreigners and the relatively few tourists that do arrive will not make much difference to the plight of the tourist industry so why do you think they've taken this decision? Most likely because they've finally realised that if they had caused thousands to lose their flights and fight for refunds, it would do long term damage to business and make the recovery, when it does happen, a lot more difficult. They are no doubt aware of the power of social media and thousands of tourists posting their cancellation stories would cause immeasurable damage - I doubt this has been done as an act of kindness.

Pfizer have already conducted studies that showed over 90% efficacy against serious illness if double vaccinated and boosted.

Well if Richard Barrow is correct, some of us won't have to do the second PCR

I must have been having a midlife crisis for 50 years then. Last time I looked I was very much alive, and I don't seem to have lost anything. I also do 'give a hoot' about having a licence. a). because the law says you should have one and b). because I don't want to be paying for the rest of my life if I kill someone and my insurers refuse to pay because I don't have a licence. I got both my bike and car licences within 30 minutes, no multiple choice questions just an eye test and a reaction test because I had the required UK licences. Neither have I ever had to pay 'plod' on the many times I've been hauled over at the numerous check points I come across. My bike is my transport in Thailand, when I need a car I rent one.

You are clearly not aware that a Thai bike licence is just that. It doesn't cover you to drive a car. Cars and bikes have separate licences in Thailand so you won't have the problem with your wife that you fear. Just get a licence.

Just checked, you can now only select Sandbox or AQ.

Thanks for that but some parts of that are at odds with Richard Barrow's report. You would expect the version that you have posted to be the more accurate one but we are talking about Thailand, that's not always the case and nothing's ever clear. Whatever, for the majority of us that have already got our Thailand Passes and prepared everything, these announcements are much better than some (me) were expecting. The real losers are those working in the Thai Tourist Industry which must surely be breathing its last few breaths by now.

This is the one I mean: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g293916-d456170-Reviews-Lumpini_Park-Bangkok.html

Lumpinee but watch out for the lizards, Don't fall asleep in the sun.

Not quite. The cost of smoking to the NHS doesn't come anywhere near the amount of tax smokers pay. If everyone stopped smoking tomorrow, other taxes would have to rise.

Ha Ha Ha...... good luck with that.

Thanks for that, I hope it is correct but its not official and as you will know, anything can happen/change. Very reassuring though.

Given that there have already been deaths from the Omicron variant, I think its possibly a little worse than a cold.

Phuket is an island - easier to control. It also has its own pseudo government (mafia) which is very powerful. A lot of laws and regulations are different in Phuket.

I still don't trust this. In my opinion it is still possible that they will require people to quarantine until the results of the second test are known. It would not be the first time that government annoucements have contradicted each other.

You mean because of this: 'About 200,000 visitors who had previously registered for the quarantine waiver and sandbox programme will still be eligible, said government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana.' ?? Eligible yes. Made to quarantine? Could be - as with all Thai announcments since the beginning of this fiasco, the devil is in the detail and quite often the detail doesn't come until after the changes have begun.

Yes, and pay £1500

On the basis that the Reuters report is correct: What a set of bar stewards, the airlines really are - they deserve to go bust. I've just come off the phone with Etihad to ask if I can make a small change to my flights. My flight stops off in Phuket for 1.5 hours before continuing to Bangkok so I asked them if they could arrange it so that I, and my luggage could disembark in Phuket for the outbound leg only. To the best of my knowledge all that is required is a small barcode change so my luggage goes with me as obviously I can physically exit the plane. "Sorry sir, that would involve re-routing your journey and require a new tcket involving any fare difference applicable" - that is what I expected them to say. A new ticket at todays price is around £1500 - thanks Etihad. Up until a couple of years ago I knew one of Etihad's ground supervisors at Manchester and I know they are capable of making quite a lot of changes - she certainly could have made the miniscule change I'm asking for but she's left now, I can't rely on that anymore. If I became ill whilst waiting on the tarmac in Phuket, they would have no choice but to take me off the plane without any extra charges. The more I travel, the more I hate airlines.

If that report is confirmed, as I suggested in an earlier post, the Phuket Sandbox remains,

I would be so angry if the rules changed whilst I was in the air without giving me the choice to cancel. However, if people read the terms and conditions of Test & Go, we've all confirmed that they can change the rules at any time. 'I declare that I have understood all that is stated above and shall strictly abide by them, and shall comply with the provisions under relevant Regulations issued under Section 9 of the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situations B.E. 2548 (2005) and any other disease prevention measures prescribed by the Government of Thailand, acknowledging that failure of such compliance may lead to consequences and penalties under the laws and regulations of Thailand.' https://tp.consular.go.th/en/policy