androokery

This is just silliness. If he had suggested a phone app, at least there would have been some established standards for the format, there would have been a known platform, there would have been easily identifiable users.

But suggesting "gps wristbands" at this late stage, where is he going to source the hardware? What sim cards will be used? How are the tracking logs being saved? What identifiers and accounts will be used? What answers does he want from the data and how will he find them?

13 minutes ago, Promula said:

I don't think this is unique to Thais. My nephew gave up his job in a Starbucks in Bristol to become a holiday rep in Tenerife. Same same.  

I may have forgotten to include tags for <sarcasm></sarcasm>.

2 hours ago, Promula said:

That's exactly what my TGF said. A cousin of hers used to work in a restaurant in Koh Chang and had quite an unhealthy nocturnal lifestyle. She went back to Isaan a few months ago, is working on a farm, and seems happier and healthier.

If the poor people of Thailand were just a little bit more content and enjoyed the joys of manual labour working on the farm everything would be so much better. Oh, look at that happy girl, picking rice in the field, walking with her trusted buffalo. Oh the satisfaction that comes with knowing your place in society and not trying to get above your station.

https://covid19.tgia.org/

48 minutes ago, Flying Saucage said:

There are other people in the rich elite who are tired of losing billions of Baht of revenue due to the isolation of the country. But it s Prayut and Prawit who do not want tourists in the country now. They are the ones who create the hassles and keep to borders closed as much as possible. Because it is for their own financial benefit.

 

These current schemes of "reopening the country" are only made to appease the other side, to make them believe that the government cares of the tourism industry, while the real plan is to ruin the industry. There is a hidden agenda going on between Prayut, Prawit and their Chinese friends. And it's really easy to understand.

 

China uses the Covid crisis as part of their road and belt initiative. They pay currupt governments in the region to ruin their country, to make it a bargain for Chinese investors. Now in Thailand, they do not want foreign tourists here, because this would be against their plan to destroy the tourist industry here. And also, they want to keep the number of foreign observers as low as possible while they do it.

 

It's so cheap for China to buy a whole country, when they have the right friends in power there. It costs only a few million dollar and a handful of luxuary watches.

 

The wristbands are only one more hassle to reduce the number applicants for these toursts schemes. But you can bet that these Chinese investers who will be the first coming with their own private jet, will not have to wear the wristbands.

 

Highly unlikely. You're giving these clowns way too much credit. When it comes to opening up for tourism they don't have an overarching goal or a secret agenda or some nefarious scheme together with Chinese Yellow Peril overlords. Thailand's leaders are simply driven by fear.

One of FIVE hotels? And one more being considered? What is happening? Can people only do quarantine in Chon Buri, Phuket and Buriram?

I think the 500K requirement is for business people and it may be that the Thai govt sees this as a way to weed out any low-level managers/business people who are not allowed to actually enter into any business deals. I mean, I could pretend to visit Thailand in order to buy up some hotels, I could even get a company (even my own!) to write me a nice document certifying me - but the authorities are looking for a way to get only the big players in. So their thinking is: if they're important people, they have a lot of money in their bank accounts. 

9 hours ago, uncle_tom said:

A couple of hours ago, I received a text message from a low born, but very intelligent and successful lady I've known for nearly twenty years now from Issan.

 

Her message was simple: The people are getting desperate now - do the farangs want to come back?

 

I replied yes - 100%..

I get the same type of message from several people in Thailand. 

1 hour ago, AndrewMciver said:

What about all those that are being caught positive at day 13 

That’s when they do the second test. There are no daily tests in quarantine. They find cases at the beginning or end of quarantine. 

23 minutes ago, TheFreqFlyer said:

Ha! My prediction was right. The Bangkok post is reporting right now the government might consider a shorter 7 day quarantine in November if the number of infections in October is manageable.

 

Even earlier than I was anticipating. But there you go - Thailand is following the same trends as other countries. Vietnam too has stated that it will likely reduce the facility quarantine requirement down to 5-7 days for future arrivals, with the remainder to be done at home. 

The timeline seems to rely on them getting STV procedures up and running in October.

45 minutes ago, pantsonfire said:

Wanting until they show who is eligible and then the prices

It’s more than likely that a lot of the interest STV has generated so far is from people wanting to know the actual requirements and costs associated with the visa process. Instead of just the theories and rumours that are all over places like this. 

1 minute ago, SunsetT said:

Thailand Longstay Company? I havent seen any info. yet on the Thai agents where initial applications for a STV must be made. Have you info. on this please or a link?

I read in several posts that they were the first agency that had been tapped to handle the initial contact. I’m consuming way too much news about travelling to Thailand right now so I’m not sure exactly where I picked up this information. I think I also heard it on YouTube.

7 hours ago, lanng khao said:

I've had a email off them, they said there still waiting to hear what country's are yet to be allowed in.They can help with everything except you covid test before you leave.

Thanks for telling me. I’m very curious about both the parts they CAN help with and what parts I would be allowed to fix myself. 

4 hours ago, steven100 said:

why the heck would you even bother .... are you just trying to make a statement that already is know by everyone.  

your not interested in coming. imo

everyone knows how much it would cost approx'

There are still unknowns. We don’t actually know how the flights will be handled. Or what they will cost. I don’t know if there will be an easier process to choose among the now more numerous ASQ hotels, making it more likely that I can get a room in one of the cheaper ones. The insurance question: does it have to be one from the Thai cartel? And where would I then fall in their quite large cost range? Do I have to book accommodation for the whole trip through the agency or can I just use an AirBnB room?
 

You may have your own opinion. Thanks for sharing it. It means diddly squat to me. I still have questions. And if I don’t like the offer I think it would be very beneficial if the agency and the government knew exactly why the offer was turned down. It would give them a chance to improve. Wouldn’t that be great?

3 hours ago, Bkktodd said:

Can i trouble you for their email address are they a service?  Guess my existing valid retirement visa is useless now to return esp coming from the USA ???? thanks

http://www.thailongstay.co.th/contact.html

2 hours ago, AbeNormal said:

maybe you should explain what the measures are so that these so called foreign tourists you are expecting understand what will happen if they get caught up in it

 

The reality is there will be no foreign tourists, nobody is going to risk coming to Thailand and getting stranded for months, you are just now dumping those that got stranded from the first lockdown which saw curfews and entertainment venues and bars being forced to close with bans on alcohol sales and beach closures, who exactly is going to pay to risk that ?, never mind the existing measures of quarantine and as much as Bt300k expense to actually get here, only those that are determined to get back to Thailand will come, those with families, homes, businesses etc and they are not actually "tourists"

I just sent off an email to Thailand Longstay company to get some actual

numbers on the costs for going to Thailand in December. Eagerly awaiting a reply... But I suspect your estimate of THB 300K isn’t far off

2 hours ago, nemo38 said:

 

Stay home if you don't feel safe. 

 

Don't walk under any coconut trees. Don't cross the road. Don't swim in the sea in case of sharks. Life is a risk.

What you're ACTUALLY arguing for is the right to park other people under coconut trees, your right to throw other people into the sea where there may be sharks. 

16 minutes ago, condohope said:

Friend of mine just a minute ago wrote to me that he is going back to Puerto Princesa Philippines where he lived for 15 years but expects 5 days quarantine in gov. Hotel with one test before end of isolation.

Does your friend have children under the age of 18 in The Philippines? Otherwise it seems to be pretty closed according to https://travelbans.org/asia/philippines/

16 minutes ago, North said:

 

You forgot to mention the very high death-toll in Sweden, almost 6000 so far, so all-in-all their scandinavian neighbours have done far better !

It's not a game, it's not a competition, it's not the World Cup of Covid19 statistics. Whatever happened before is not very important right now. What is important is if a) the targeted visitors can afford to come and b) the targeted visitors can be assumed to pose only a moderate or low risk of bringing Covid19 into Thailand. 

If a country like Sweden, with 10 million inhabitants, would have had 8 million infected and 1 million dead those would be HORRIBLE numbers. But you could safely assume that the ones remaining in all likelihood are immune to the virus and therefore safe. At least for a while. 

16 hours ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

The STV, is better than STD, but Idoubt that the millions the TAT is hoping for

will happen.  Maybe some lucky Swedes and Norwegans and some Northern Europeans

will get out of Winter to enjoy Thailand.  People who have loved ones and property

will take the quarantine to spend the Winter there, but  not the hordes that TAT is

hoping for.  Trying to make quarantine fun will be a challange. The first few days are

easy with travellers getting over jet lag, then the boredom will set in.

Geezer

Hmm, how would I feel if, four days into quarantine, the Thai government declared that quarantine was no longer needed for new arrivals but those already in quarantine need to finish their stays...? ????

19 hours ago, TommyL727 said:

I dont know about Sweden now, but Norway does not have a travel ban. Only an advisory. Travel wherever you want, but you get a 14 days quarantine when you back. And travel insurances is void for corona related incidents, so you need to buy a separate insurance for that. 

Sweden's Ministry for Foreign Affairs also has an advisory against travel outside EU. I just called it a ban, since that's almost the same in Sweden. You can travel, but all travel insurances are void and there are no companies in country that will sell you separate insurance. There are no mandatory quarantines on return, but if you leave the country against the advice of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, your employer has grounds to terminate your employment. 

Sweden is under an international travel ban for destinations outside EU until mid November. I think it’s something similar for the other Scandinavian countries. No word yet as to whether the ban will be lifted in November. 

Just now, Pravda said:

Have been browsing some Canadian forums. 

 

Everyone is talking about Maldives and some nice discounts they offer as of late. Thailand is crickets. 

 

And really when you think about it Maldives is a giant made to stay resort. No place in Thailand can compete with this. 

 

The worst part is that staying in Maldives for 2 weeks seems to be cheaper (after discounts) than staying in Phuket. 

 

Food for thought, but then again what thought. 

Those Maldives resorts though: they're one to each tiny little sandspit. Aren't they all like quarantine hotels too? I mean you can eat at the same place everyday and dip your toes at the right side of the island every day, so it's bigger than the BKK hotel rooms, but you're stuck in the same place with the same person you came with. 

Scandinavia is just a world of unbearable pain during the winter months. Once you're deep into the long, cold, dark winter the offer of two weeks locked up in a Bangkok hotel seems like a small price to pay for a chance to get away. But then you look at the price tag for the quarantine, and the cost of all the other requirements. And you realise taking them up on this offer means you won't have much money - or time - left for when the borders eventually open up for real. So maybe, maybe, I'll put my head down, grind my teeth, and endure a few more weeks. Just a few more. Soon everything will be alright again.   

1 minute ago, Khun Yaaai said:

Wrong, Sweden was one of the most unsuccessful countries when looking at casualties per capita.

The Thais must be misinformed wanting to let them in. Norway, Denmark and Finland is a different story.

If you see this STV offer as a reward to countries for their handling of the pandemic, then of course you shouldn't invite Swedes to Thailand. 

But if you only look at the current situation, i.e. the result of the handling of the pandemic, by all means invite away.