Billybaroo

It's basically the COE, with a one-day reservation in a government sponsored hotel. That was predictable.

I believe reopening after November 1st in the designated districts (eg. Bangkok) is WITHOUT quarantine.

The reports are the infection rates are due to workers, not vaccinated tourists. Geez

"A good proportion of people having had two shots of vaccine is not guaranteed to bring infection rates down, as has been seen in America and European countries." Is he actually looking at the numbers in the US. Infection rates are down in areas with higher proportions of the population receiving vaccinations versus areas with low vaccination rates.

Exactly. You can't properly open up tourism and businesses (it's all trickle down economics in large part from tourism) unless the measures to lockdown tourists after arrival for more than 2 days is abandoned. I would come from the US, be double (likely triple) vaxed, have health insurance, be tested before I leave the US, tested again when entering Thailand and on lockdown for 2 days. There is NO science, with all of the aforementioned criteria, that supports a prison sentence in a government hotel for 14 days. The government logic of, everyone is safer after 14 days of lockdown is illogical. I could travel after 14 days, and still be as likely to catch and spread COVID-19 as I was after 2 days; which is very low in either instance.

Is vaccination required in Thailand?

"Though he admitted that its efficacy had dimished a little when the Delta variant came into Thailand. But this was not Sinovac's or his fault." So, you court the Chinese, say that the efficacy is not the vaccine's fault, your fault, and by logic, the Chinese fault, and yet Sinovac was never the best option to protect your citizenry from COVID-19. It just allowed you to court the Chinese. It's your fault.

The issue is that if one doesn't REQUIRE vaccination there will be less desire or need to GET vaccinated

"Since February 28th, a total of 30,420,507 doses of vaccines have been administered across the country." Assuming generously 15 million people being fully vaccinated, that is more that 20% of the population of Thailand. What vaccines are those?

Precisely. If I travel to Thailand, I will be double dosed with Pfizer, passed a 72 hour COVID PCR test, have insurance, and get re-tested in Thailand. Why I would need to quarantine for 14 days defies science.

That's not entirely true. While I believe lockdown measures should remain in place in part, in California pre-vaccine, we opened up with strict mask and social distancing restrictions and reduced infection rates. But, the infection rate also has a time component, so numbers declining now are a greater reflection of stricter measures imposed weeks ago. It took a month or more in California to see the effects of mandatory mask and social distancing measures for indoor environments. The trick in Thailand seems to be compliance and not whether measures to reduce infection spread will work in a decision to re-open indoor facilities.