Blumpie

There will be pent up demand and a sudden surge, no doubt about it. Will it be ten million? Probably not. Of course a lot will have to do with entry requirements too. Once the initial surge is complete then it will drop again. We've seen this here and let me assure you, people get freaked out when they need to go home and need to test before getting on the plane. What I've heard is "Im not travelling again till this is over" time and time again.

Honestly I just had the new variant and let me post yet again what a frigging joke it was. Let this damned thing rip for the love of god!

So what? I just got the latest variant, it was a total joke.

Absolutely. It's a great country to visit but oh my goodness to retire there? No freaking way. I can't imagine anyone wanting to retire there and would love to hear of the story of those that did. Japan turns into a sentence after a while and yes, the social contracts are extremely exhausting to put it mildly.

Sri Lanka?!?! The entire economy has collapsed there is no fuel and food is scarce. Sri Lanka!?!? <deleted>!

This is something to be proud of?

I agree, but as someone who thought seriously of retiring there years ago I would never do it now given all this mandatory reporting, having to bribe officials to make things go easier, and unclear rules. There is nothing I despise more than corruption and I won't feed it. I did once in another country but the only other option was to come back 2 days later and I would have to stay in a city that was a total dump. So for me in that one case it was worth it. In a place like Thailand, an allegedly second world country this should have been gone long ago. It's shameful on the officials and it makes Thailand as a country look shameful which is a real pity.

No I'm not kidding. Samui sucks monkey balls and of all the places on earth I'd go again that would be dead last. You have to pay to get to a beach, it's flat, it's awful. There is nothing to do unless you just want to sit around and get drunk.

Well not everyone in the USA is morbidly obese but a large portion are and it's been proven those are the ones most at risk to die of COVID. Being obese will kill you with COVID, heart disease, stroke, whatever graveyard dead.. The world won't stop because of the morbidly obese, but that's not what was insinuated of course. I can't imagine being trapped in my body hardly able to move, sweaty... it's like a kind of hell these people have to live in. And as for some people insisting that lockdowns continue, well, I am of the opinion of "absolutely not". I just had BA2, omicron, whatever it is going around - it was literally a cold and after my 5th day of isolation I was back on my road bike doing a long ride no problem. (I am booster vaccinated)

Yep, Samui sucks big time.

I can tell you from a country with no restrictions whatsoever other than being vaccinated to enter our numbers are nowhere near what they used to be. The thing is opening up is only half the answer - where tourists come from often have significant restrictions upon return, including mandatory quarantines, or testing before leaving, or both. The sediment with travellers who are returning is one of stress over the testing they must do and they worry that they will have to quarantine here for ten days before returning home at a COVID hotel which is not cheap. Tourism is not a tap that will be turned on and I foresee the downturn to be significant for the rest of this year and perhaps next year too. (of course I cannot be certain) Pent up demand? Sure, there is some. After the initial surge you will see it drop like a rock again. And let me assure you, you won't see Chinese tourists for many many many many many years to come.

That's nice. I wouldn't fly Air Asia X if it were free so it won't affect me at all.

WhenThai doctors say not to worry you should be very very very worried.

I didn't realize that there were airlines that allowed unvaccinated people on planes. I digress, continue...

Depends on what "temporary" means. Thai version or normal version.

No problems here - no testing before or upon arrival, no testing before leaving. ???? Thailand is backwards and doesn't really want tourism back.

Ahmen, ahmen, and ahmen. What the **** are these guys thinking? It's culturally normal to do this and it drive me frigging nuts.

I can see it going up from here for sure. People are becoming more comfortable with travel. However, I don't think it will ever get back to what it was. And thank goodness for that! What it was was out of control tourism to the state of being sick.

And a dramatic change when least expected.

Look at the presumptuous red tape fairy tale take centre stage. The chickens will gobble this up.

When you want something better give him a warm welcome.... Democratically elected? Um, ok....

From a level 3 to a level 2. Incredible! The rules can and will change and all meaning is lost in a moments notice. This is Thailand where everything means nothing yet everything at the same time.

Oh my god do these guys realize how ridiculous they sound year after year?

Does it surprise you that it's unclear? This is thailand after all!

I agree with you about other places prices going up. Huge. Many of those websites are circle-jerk websites that rely on clicks, not on truth. There are websites that say that man was never on the moon after all.