Caldera

51 minutes ago, drbeach said:

How can 66000 Thais have left the Kingdom? To go where? Foreigners aren't allowed to enter most countries now. I don't believe this figure whatsoever.

Many countries, including my home country, have excluded foreigners who are legal residents from their entry ban. A Thai citizen who e.g. works or studies in my country could have entered all along. The same applies to foreign family members of citizens and legal residents.

Maybe a number of these arrivals are Thais living abroad who didn't have Thai passports. So they got stamped in on their foreign passports, but were only allowed to come because they are Thai. Just a guess, of course.

In the spirit of the OP, if I suddenly became rich I wouldn't dwell on the First Civil War, I would fund the next one and travel from battlefield to battlefield.

1 hour ago, DanangBanaHills57 said:

How do you explain this then.

Prachuap: German retiree caught on 2,528 day overstay

I'd explain that as, "luck that eventually ran out". There are many similar cases.

I've yet to meet a Thai person "affordable enough" for such a job (!) whose written English is "good enough" to answer business emails adequately.

Thais who do have that skill obviously exist, but they are rare and tend to have other qualifications which means they would be overqualified and underpaid in such a "virtual worker" job - not going to happen!

That sounds like a rather optimistic outlook to me, I must say!

We've been hearing a lot about Thailand's plans to create a travel bubble. What I'd be interested in is China's take on this - would they let Chinese travelers who return from Thailand enter without quarantining them? Otherwise whatever Thailand does is as good as irrelevant. China seems to be very cautious at this point, and rightly so.

That list is a joke if for no other reason than the fact that Thailand ranks higher than New Zealand and Vietnam.

33 minutes ago, HashBrownHarry said:

But no banging - lol

Actually quite the opposite, that's pretty much the only thing you could still do.

Oh, that and watching Netflix.

Luckily, I never had this problem myself. When I was dragged to church as a child, I just went through the motions as expected from me and wondered to myself what that nonsense is all about. I've never found out, so once I was no longer a child that could be dragged to church, I reduced my visits to the absolute minimum deemed acceptable: weddings, funerals, the likes.

I haven't missed anything since, and I'm still wondering: Am I missing something substantial, or are the believers weak and gullible sheep who need an imaginary friend to make it through their lives?

Oh my, there goes the travel bubble pipe dream...

Kasikorn Bank's K-Plus app is way better. I'd say this is a case of too little, too late.

In the case of the US where this pandemic has been mismanaged right from the start in a spectacular way, any talk of a 2nd wave at this point is just nonsense - the 1st wave is still in full swing!

11 hours ago, JackedUpAndgoodToGo said:

They are saying they will not give it to me even if the borders dont open after July 31st (the stamp) and that the only solution is getting a tourist visa for an additional 2000 BAHT.

How or where will you be able to get a tourist visa if the borders don't open? They can only be applied for abroad.

As AIS likes to put it on prominently displayed posters, "The future is coming for you".

I would like to travel from Thailand to Japan and Vietnam, but I won't get my hopes up that foreigners will be included in any such deal between those countries.

For me it's the tropical climate, easy and fast access to many nice beaches, seafood and Thai food, lack of social pressure (for me as a foreigner) to live a monogamous and boring life.

I wouldn't merely whip them, but it would be a good start!

I think once the pandemic has blown over (in whatever way), immigration policy really could go both ways and it remains to be seen. They could continue with their ongoing tightening campaign, or they could relax for a while to make up for lost income.

This is quite mind blowing, an arrival stamp with a permitted to stay date in the past. It does seem sensible along the lines of what some posters have written though. Good on them for being surprisingly pragmatic! Let's see if there will be more reports / consistency.

Very tricky to predict at this point. They might see that as their chance to finally sell tourists their own compulsory insurance, or require insurance upon entry with specifics TBD. With that in place, they might be willing to waive quarantine for those coming in from low-risk areas.

I don't expect a full return to (the old) normal anytime soon.