El Matador

And then there are all those articles about that American guy who is in prison because of a bad review he wrote on Trip Advisor.

Good luck to promote those golden holidays with special charters.

I am always amazed by the creativity of Thai authorities.

I wanted to see if there was a chance to go there during winter as I've been in Vietnam since the covid started. But I am not too surprised it is a dead plan.

Why they just don't keep borders closed and offer extensions to the last tourists already inside the country instead of this non sense Phuket visa?

Anyway the tourism will be dead till next spring at least. There is not much which can be done unfortunately.

Gambling on rich tourists coming by charter who would like a golden prison for 2 weeks is so stupid.

They should better keep the few left and COVID free who are already there instead of dreaming.

It feels good to be in Vietnam right now.

Thailand is not great to fight the virus but let's be honest, Western countries have been disasters against coronavirus. They don't even have enough masks for doctors in some places.

It is a bet on Thailand political future.

Not very wise. And I hope he doesn't want to travel outside ASEAN countries either.

Having a first world passport is still a huge privilege for travelers.

Only a true democratic and sovereign country like Thailand could stop the coronavirus.

Congratulations to the amazing and incredibly bright government ruling that country.

" Sovereignty " is a word often used by people who don't know what democracy is.

Hanoi and Saigon have definitly bad air quality.

I felt worse in Saigon than Bangkok, mainly because there was no BTS.

Now I get used to it because I avoid main roads and peak time. The future metro will be a big plus when it opens.

But second tier cities like Da Nang are really clean. I was pretty amazed when I went from Saigon to Da Nang. I guess Da Nang easily beats Chiang Mai.

This travel agency just released this interesting video :

So that doesn't seem too bad. They will stop issuing 3 months tourist visas, only 1 month tourist visas will be available. But you can extend them inside the country.

And she said they will still provide 3 months business visas easy to get and you can extend them with a sponsor.

Quite what I expected : more bureaucracy and more money for travel agencies and inmigration guys. But you might still be able to stay a long time in the country.

Obviously, nothing is sure at the moment.

Anyway it will happen someday. It just a matter of time.

They want to replace Western tourists with the 2 new superpowers.

There will be more many more Indian and Chinese restaurants in the next decade and more of those hideous new buildings receiving exclusively Chinese customers who only speak Chinese. And probably more Indian tourists in Pattaya.

Don't hold your breathe, it is inevitable. And Thai smiles will become rarer in the next decade.

I am very jealous of you guys.

You will be free to eat those excellent English tomatoes as an independent country.

Khao San Road for some reason is almost only for Western tourists.

But maybe better wait one month or 2 to see how things evolve.

In Vietnam, official media reported that a village of 10,000 north-west of the capital, Hanoi, had been put in lockdown because of a cluster of cases there.

The online newspaper VN Express cited a senior official of Vinh Phuc province as reporting an increase in cases in the Son Loi commune.

Vietnam has confirmed 16 cases, most of them in the province.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/feb/13/coronavirus-latest-updates-deaths-in-china-pass-1300-with-jump-in-cases-live-news?page=with:block-5e453cd48f086a28115ab000#liveblog-navigation

Apparently, it was a Viet student who studied in Wuhan who introduced the virus to her family and neighbors. Vietnam doesn't give tourist visa to Chinese people and people who were in China in the last 2 weeks. They also stopped flights with continental China.

Vietnam is way stricter than Thailand, putting a whole small town under quarantine. I am quite amazed how Thailand is still resisting with open borders. The next 2 weeks might see a big change. We'll see.

At least China is doing the job of Thailand by cancelling many travels.

Now, we have to wait a few weeks to see how the mask protection has been so awesome... or not.

I am wondering if buying fast track at the airport is not a good way to enter a Thai airport once you've done let's say at least 5 months in a year in Thailand?

I can imagine you receive a better welcome. Has anyone done it?

At least, there is a bit more transparency.

I also read common Thai people start developping a real racist feeling towards Chinese people which is not good either for Chinese people who have been staying a long time in Thailand.

Stop giving tourist visa to Chinese people is necessary without being racist on the other hand to make things manageable in the next few months.

That health minister has no medical knowledge. Thailand might finish like Wuhan if they don't prevent enough. And Thailand will lose on both sides.

I wouldn't like to work the Thai Tourism Board at the moment.

With everything happening at the moment in Thailand, I would rather hang myself instead of saving the Titanic.

1 minute ago, expatinbangkok said:

All British are white? How racist of you, we are a diverse nation of immigrants well on the way to becoming over 50% people of color by 2050

Come on. I didn't say that. A group of British people got infected so yeah statiscally ethnicity doesn't matter unless it was a group 100% Asian British people to prove your point I am racist.

I am mixed so I couldn't care less about your nonsense.

7 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Any reports of white guys catching it yet?

Is it really a disease only Asians get?

Of course anyone can catch it, a group of 4 British people got it in France from a friend coming back from Singapore.

Don't listen that 3rd Reich propaganda.

<deleted>? He's still alive and killed some SWAT units?

The only one time I would like to see the Thai army doing what has to be done...