Tounge Thaied

It's amazing how many virologists we have here at TV forums. ???? ???? ????

More good news out of Switzerland... 

https://the-iceberg.net/

6 hours ago, CH1961 said:

They do not care your wife have a house in Isaan or you have a shoebox-condo in Pattaya, you have to follow the rules. Foreigner have to stay for 14 days in approved ASQ hotel in Bangkok. 

Why they should make an exemption for you? 

The exception should be the rule... this is common sense in a trusting world. Government doesn't trust you will lock in place. Because the government is already allowing "VIP" military and others to have these special privileges, but not the common man. Typical oligarchy rule. 

4 hours ago, Willy333 said:

The new form is up on the DC website: https://thaiembdc.org/onlinevisaapplication/

They seem to now require that you book the flight and the ASQ hotel before submitting your application.

I guess if they don't approve you in time or at all, you just lose your money...

I just went to L.A.'s website... apparently if you have a work permit Non-B you don't have to book your ASQ or flight before obtaining your COE. And L.A.'s website also still does not have a functioning online application button... they took it down about 5-6 days ago, but then I see it is back up again, but get the below message currently.

The entire world is BEING gripped in fear. 

Thank God for government to keep us safe. ????

2 hours ago, BritTim said:

Well, if you believe the US is successfully finding all its Covid-19 cases, it appears the fatality rate must be 8% (around 137,000 deaths and 1,516,000 recoveries. Does that seem about right?

 

Why should the increased testing be leading to an increase in the percentage of tests coming back positive. Surely, if wider testing is going on, presumably including people less likely to be infected, the percentage of tests coming back positive should go down.

.

2 hours ago, BritTim said:

The total number of Covid-19 cases in all of China since the beginning of the pandemic over six months ago is under 100,000. Right now, daily new cases around the world are over 200,000.

 

In the US, the pandemic is spiralling out of control:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/10/florida-coronavirus-cases-icu-beds-arizona-texas. The US (according to official figures that underestimate reality) has already lost nearly three times as many American lives as during the entire Vietnam war.

 

Some less advanced societies are almost certainly headed for a much worse outcome than the US.

 

In Thailand, aggressive action was taken fairly early, and this allowed community transmission of SARS-Cov-2 to be stamped out. I am relieved that the government here is committed to preventing an out of control epidemic.

I work in critical care... I am a traveling critical care paramedic that has had to come back to the states due to the covid immigration issues. The national U.S. average of ICU bed utilization under normal circumstances runs between 60-80%. Don't trust me go look it up. I don't need to look up that statistic so I am not going to go find it. So a statistic of 83% is only a slight uptic. And I will tell you, that it is well understood that covid19 "case" numbers are going up because of TESTING, TESTING, TESTING... the RT-PCR test which does not test for illness (tests for covid19 genetic material only) is becoming ubiquitous. States like Florida and Texas have also revised how they count a covid "case" as anyone who has had close contact with a covid positive case, even if that person later tests negative. Also the docs I work with have all confirmed when they will speak about it that they are being ordered by public health officers that they must put a R/O covid19 diagnosis on a patient with even one symptom only. A dry cough, a fever, shortness of breath all get an initial covid R/O and then get counted. The numbers are now conflated. 

So this article is conflating an emergency based on a mix of USUAL data and erroneous data. 

20 hours ago, andre47 said:

Maybe you don't read the news....the "emergency" is not over.... and the government is deciding how to manage the problem, not you. I don't think that you have enough information to form an opinion whether there could be added more hotels to that ASQ list or not. There are even many Thai people staying abroad who don't can come back at the moment. Your ownership don't entitle you to any privilege. Just be patient and wait a while.

You have no idea who I am or what I do. Let me ask you this. Where's the emergency? 

Where is it? Can you definitively tell me where an emergency exists? Where is the disaster? Certainly not in Thailand... and never has been. Even when all the Wuhan Chinese tourists were all coming for at least a month before the lock downs. So where's the emergency? I happen to know... that you can go to 99% of the hospitals on this planet and you will find no covid emergency happening there. There have been a few hospitals impacted from the outset during the seasonal flu period and that is it. 

25 minutes ago, RollUrDiceNMoveUrMice said:

Folks in LA:  isn't there supposed to be a link on the LA Thai Embassy website where you start the online process & then get sent a list of flights (and hotels)?   Where is it?   All I can find right now is the online Category O visa application, which requires that you put in your flight booking in order to complete the form.  The woman who answers the phone at the embassy actually helped us navigate to the appropriate link on Friday, but then by Friday night 7/10 it seemed to have disappeared.  Either that or I'm a bumbling idiot, one or the other.

They have removed the link. It was there two days ago. Now the link indicating the online form takes you to a "Registration form for Thai Nationals..."

"For those who wish to return to Thailand  Please register online at the embassy online at  [ registration form ]  to inform travel plans and urgent reasons  ( if any ) in  order for the relevant Thai government to have sufficient information to determine the need..."

https://thaiconsulatela.org/coronavirus/

12 minutes ago, Captain Monday said:

If you own your own Condo you should be allowed to stay there for 14 days

 

HA HA!! Exactly... I forgot to make this point. 

19 hours ago, vision said:

I used a company called Insubuy: https://www.insubuy.com/

I contacted this company... here was the quote. I confirmed this covers Covid19.

52 years old for "Save Travels Outbound Cost Saver" $500,000 in coverage/$250.00 deductible world-wide outside of home country coverage was $622.00 for 6 months. Can be renewed in 6 month increments. 

Same policy at a $2500.00 deductible dropped the price to $435.00 for six months.

1 minute ago, unheard said:

How you looked up the list of available ASQ facilities?

There are simply no available rooms to accommodate many thousands of property owners under the rules of quarantine isolation.

Unless the quarantine requirement is eliminated there is no available capacity under current mechanisms.

It seems to me the same effort that went into determining the current list of hotels accommodating could be employed once again to add more capacity. It just seems to me pretty straight forward. But I am not in that position of course... add more hotels, what is the problem?

1 minute ago, unheard said:

What if the policy statement doesn't specifically indicate Covid-19 but states that it covers any urgent or emergency treatment?

I suspect this is what the letter is for...

Whoever you get you will need to ensure they will give you a letter that will explicitly say that it covers Covid and the amount of 100K USD.

16 minutes ago, unheard said:

That is strictly a measure of priorities.

If you think that you should have the same "right" to see your condo as a parent of a Thai child to see his family then that believe is not shared by the majority.

I don't look at it as a moral issue. I look at it as a logistical issue. If the mechanisms are in place and can be done... then it should be allowed. Why exclude the condo owner? 

2 minutes ago, unheard said:

Other options?

There are no any other options for now.

The point is there will be. The point is when those options avail themselves we would like to know. 

15 hours ago, andre47 said:

Nonsense...

1. Not the government is selling the condos. The government decides about the immigration rules.

2. Nobody had any knowledge about the virus at the time of the purchase deal.

So...where is the scam?

I agree with the OP.

Maybe scam is not the right word. The point is purchasing a condo certainly does include rules set forth by the "government". So the government is certainly involved and Ownership should (my opinion) confer at least the same dispensation as those being allowed in right now. If business people, work permit holders, PR holders, Non- O family, etc., are able to be managed adequately back in during this time period, then persons who have made a commitment to Thailand by purchasing a condo should also be allowed in. If I purchase a condo and I live in it full time and then get told you cannot come back home... that is like getting scammed yes BY THE GOVERNMENT who is not letting me back in. Yes it is a crisis, but again, at this time the "emergency" is over. There should be no problem adding more hotels onto that ASQ list to accommodate the few more that this would apply too.. 

We've got a pretty good thread going here... you may find your answer there. A copy and paste from one of the posts. 

"

Also, relative to the US only, the Embassy has been clear that the only option for transport (in July at least) is via one of the scheduled repat flights that are currently planned.. They operate almost weekly, usually on Saturdays, and usually from LAX, JFK, ORD and IAD..  Korean Air and Asiana are the most common airlines used, but there are some Cathay Pacific flights and JAL as well.. Each day fights do operate, there is a daily cap of 200 total people - spread across all the repat flights that operate on that day (not 200 per flight)

In most cases, if you don't live in that city where your repat flight departs from (ie LAX, JFK, ORD, IAD) you have to buy a separate ticket and make your own way to the departure gateway city - and at your risk if the flight/bus/train etc that you chose, is late and due to their lateness you miss the repat flight.  Most people have been given a list of travel agents to contact to arrange, choose and pay for their repat flight... Once you have done so, you get a receipt and that's one of the 4 documents you'll need to upload before the CoE is cut... the ASQ paid booking, covid test and fit2fly being the other 3."

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1172056-certificate-of-entry-process-for-spouses-of-thai-citizens/?do=findComment&comment=15601914

11 hours ago, vision said:

I used a company called Insubuy: https://www.insubuy.com/

Whoever you get you will need to ensure they will give you a letter that will explicitly say that it covers Covid and the amount of 100K USD.

The below list was offered to me by an agent at the LA Consulate:

 

Health Insurance Policy Requirement (Statement must show the following)

1. Must provide coverage of at least $100,000US

2. Must indicate coverage includes COVID-19 treatment(s)

3. Must indicate policy provides coverage in Thailand

4. Must be valid for the duration of your stay

-----------------------------------------------

The following is not an endorsement or recommendation for any particular company. The information only serves as a sample of companies which were used by other applicants. The information in parentheses pertains to whether or not the companies were able to provide a statement showing acceptable proof of coverage meeting the requirements above.

Allianz Care (statement did not specify coverage amount, COVID-19 coverage, coverage in Thailand, and duration of coverage)

Trawick International (statement met requirements)

Seven Corners (statement met requirements)

Thai Setakij Insurance Public Company Ltd. (Thai company) (statement met requirements but the company might not issue the policy for the duration of your stay as required)

Pacific Cross Health Insurance PCL (Thai company)

GeoBlue Travel Insurance (statement met requirements)

TripMate – World Nomads (statement did not specify COVID-19 coverage or confirm coverage in Thailand)

AIG Travel Guard (policy does not state COVID-19 coverage)

AETNA (applicants report it is difficult to obtain a policy statement that satisfies the COE requirements)

Kaiser (applicants report it is difficult if to obtain a policy statement that satisfies the COE requirements)

Excellent! Thanks for this reply. I suspect this will be helpful for many in our current situation. 

3 hours ago, rct99q said:

Just waiting on confirmation of flights booked by said consulate.

Can you tell us what insurance you got? Did you have an existing policy or were you able to find a new one that covers Covid19?