PizzaBoi

You have absolutely no idea about my work, savings or property situation in the UK, or what I do or do not own. In fact you know absolutely nothing about my financial situation at all. Just because I'm looking to rent somewhere now, doesn't mean I don't own property. Perhaps you should stop making silly assumptions and stick to the discussion at hand. You said you can't rent premium apartments in Bangkok for less than £2,000/month. That's nonsense, plain and simple. The variety and choice of apartments in Bangkok is insane right now. It's 100% a buyers/renters market, as are other parts of Thailand too

Let's not assume what I have or have not planned. Sometimes life is very unfair and you have to make decisions and choices you would not have usually made. I agree the NHS is amazing. The hourly rate is 9.50 an hour because it needs to be. I know plenty of people with full-time jobs here slogging it out Mon-Fri barely able to pay their mortgage. Just because the minimum wage is higher, doesn't automatically mean you have a higher quality of life or that you aren't completely miserable. You can also have a visit from the police for hurting someone's feeling on Twitter in the UK. It's all relative. Freedom of speech here is all but dead. Of course I wouldn't move to Thailand to find work or start a business. But for someone who already has money, or perhaps works online or has an alternate source of income, then in my mind Thailand wins hands down. I see absolutely no reason to stay in the UK in those cases. That was my only real point

I'm going to bed but I'm sorry to say your post is mostly nonsense. I've rented lovely apartments in Thailand for the equivalent of $600 a month. That's in an expensive area like Phuket and my friends told me I was being ripped off at that rate, other areas of Thailand are even cheaper. And the notion you can't rent anything premium in Bangkok for less than £2,000/month is complete and utter BS. The whole post was not just about prices. It was also about the availability and ease of attainability of things too. Yes hotels are at discounted rates now, but even if they double post-COVID, they will still be far cheaper than their Western alternatives. Not quite sure why that's sad... If anything my post encourages people to visit/live in Thailand, which is exactly what their economy needs right now

Oh how about booking a private transfer for just 200 km, being charged 12,000 Baht in advance (paying online) and then getting a call 6 hours later and being told there are actually no drivers available for when you want to travel. Meanwhile the cash is blocked for at least a week. Welcome to the UK

Not true at all. A lot of the 5 star hotels/resorts in Thailand are some of the best in the world, at least where I've been. The level of service you get is world class. As for my example, I stayed in Oakwood Suites Bangkok. Right now you can get it for 2,000 Baht a night (£46). It was slightly cheaper a few weeks ago (perhaps because I stayed longer). Go read some of the reviews on Booking and see how happy people who have stayed there feel. I can tell you the same quality of room and service in the UK would cost you at least 4x-5x more, assuming it was even available

Except it's not that simple. As I stated you can have money and for example it's still a nightmare to rent here. It's not just about being less expensive, it's about the products/services offered, the ease at which you can obtain them and just the general quality/sentiment to which they're offered. Yes cost is a major factor, but it's more complex than that

It's not just the UK though. I'm sure most if not all Western countries aren't far off. The US is just as bad. Australia is probably worse. Western European countries like France and Germany are similar. Thailand is unique in that it offers so many Western comforts in terms of quality/service/availability, but at 1/3 or 1/4 the price (bare a few things such as imported foods or luxury cars). In fact in most cases the services offered are usually better and have way less hassle to obtain them than their Western alternatives

My pleasure. I realize I went on a bit much, but this trip back has made me realize how lucky most Westerns living in Thailand really are. I think many have forgotten just how expensive their Thai lives would be back in the West. Another very quick example... Our Airbnb is basically £125 a night. Crappy Internet. Crappy heating. Old useless TV, old furnishings. Tiny bathroom. Overall not very clean at all. Compare that with the 5 star hotel we were staying in for £40 a night in Bangkok with the best bed ever, massive bathroom, all modern equipment and amazing staff. The difference in value for money and quality of life is just crazy

I see a lot of people complain about the problems Thailand has, but I just wanted to share my experience coming back to the UK recently and how absolutely insane the cost of living has become here. Unfortunately I had to leave Thailand for personal reasons shortly after getting settled and it's been a number of years since I've been in the UK (I've been living in Eastern Europe for around 5 years) and I honestly can't get over how ridiculous prices are. Taxi from the airport for a 40 minute drive? £100 (4,500 Baht). What's the 2 hour drive from Bangkok to Pattaya? 1,200? Chinese takeout for 2? £35 gone (1,500 Baht). A basic lunch at Pizza Express with just 1 starter, a small main and a couple of drinks... Another £25 gone. Any sort of trip to the supermarket is almost impossible without spending £40 (1,800 Baht). We were going to hire a car, but for 5 days it would have been close to £400 plus £250 security. £650 for 5 days! Compare that with the almost brand new car I rented in Thailand for £300 for the entire month with just £100 as security. Renting an apt/home here is just plain awful. Aside from there being almost no choice and very few modern/new places, you'd be incredibly lucky to find anywhere for less than £1,000/month in any city or remotely central location. Then add on council tax and your bills... £1,500/month at least for even a simple place. And you can't just rent somewhere, even if you have the money. You need to be thoroughly checked out, as though you were joining the CIA. Credit check run, background check, the whole process takes 3-4 weeks if you're lucky. Compare that with literally anywhere in Thailand where for £300/month you can find nice new clean modern apartments with everything you need. And in the majority of cases get the keys the same day you view, with little to no questions asked. It's cold, grey, wet and miserable here. The people are miserable. The cities are miserable. Everything is outrageously expensive for even the entry level <deleted>. So next time you're going to complain about it being harder to get a visa or not liking the PM, just remember all the benefits to living in Thailand. In my mind there's no comparison and it's a stark reminder of what not to take for granted

40,000 visitors in 3 months is not "very successful", it's a complete and utter failure. During that same period in 2019 Phuket had over 2.5 million visitors . There's no comparison. And that's not even considering a significant % of those 40,000 weren't even tourists

In 2019, 40 million foreign visitors entered Thailand. 10 million (25%) of those went to Phuket. So by those numbers this plan means little to nothing even if it does go ahead, because Phuket has already been "open" the last 3 months to international arrivals and almost no one came. So far the Phuket Sandbox has attracted roughly 6,000 actual tourists (the rest were just people using the Sandbox to get back into Thailand for other reasons), that's 24,000 people a year, or 0.24% usual numbers. 0.24%! It's completely insignificant and means nothing to local businesses, hence why most of Phuket is still shut. Why would other parts of Thailand be any different?

Unless they drop the curfews and other restrictions it means very little. I highly doubt your average 2 week tourist is going to be spending all their holiday money to place themselves back in a situation they've spent the better part of the last 2 years trying to get out of. Fact is, most of the West has already returned to normality, or close to it. Unless Thailand does the same it shouldn't be expecting any decent number of tourists returning

Promoting or allowing? They're two very different things. You can enter Thailand right now unvaccinated. And there are plenty of other countries that allow international arrivals for unvaccinated people, you're just probably going to have to do some form of self-isolation or quarantine. Either way this thread is specifically about domestic travel within Thailand, not international arrivals

That might be so, but this thread was about domestic travel, not international

Well right now I think it's only in play because of the Sandbox, which is specific to just Phuket and Samui (the Sandbox which has been proven to do little to nothing for local businesses). I guess a few hotels are doing alright out of it, but most have suffered massively. That's probably why they are "reducing" domestic restrictions on October 1st, it's finally kicking in that the whole thing is basically a waste of time. IMO a recent negative test and proof of insurance to cover you from C should be enough to enter Phuket domestically. Makes no sense keeping people out under those circumstances, especially when the rest of Thailand is open up

I realize anything with the word vaccine in it is a dangerous subject, so I really don't want to get into discussions about that specifically. I'm not anti-vax, but I wanted to know what people here thought the likelihood is that Phuket will drop the vaccination requirement for domestic travellers. Barely now on October 1st they will allow domestic entry again only if you're fully vaccinated and with a negative test result. Will we ever go back to just requiring a negative test result? Part of me is doubtful, but then you look at the rest of Thailand and it's only Phuket and Krabi (and maybe Samui?) that have this requirement, so surely it's not completely off the table?

Great, thanks again for the help. One last thing... Will all this be possible at immigration in Pattaya instead of Bangkok? I've never been before, so is there a preferred location that doesn't make things harder than they need to be?

Thanks for the info. Definitely doesn't sound too bad what you had to do. I guess having a negative COVID test with me wouldn't hurt either. Had no particular plan. Was just thinking to spend some time in that area and take advantage of the very low hotel/apartment prices available at the moment. Rarely drink anyways, so the bars being closed isn't a huge negative to me

Thank you for the reply NancyL and taking the time to explain what you went through. I think given everything I might just chill somewhere else for now and then hopefully next month domestic travel restrictions ease a bit, or at more provinces will move out the dark red zone

Thank you for the reply. So in my case it would be best to get the standard 30 day extension at the end of my visa exemption (in 25 days) and then the COVID extension at the end of that 30 day extension, since now the COVID ones are lasting into November. Therefore in theory I'd be able to have 25 + 30 + 60 = 115 days (nearly 4 months). Seems a bit too good to be true, but I guess it's possible?

Hello, I recently finished ASQ and my plan was to hire a car and drive from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Given Bangkok is a dark red zone and Chiang Mai is not, it's my understanding that "getting in" could be troublesome. Finding any real-world information seems quite difficult and understanding what's actually necessary is never easy in Thailand, as many of you probably know. For example I've checked numerous airlines and they state you need either a recent negative COVID test OR to be fully vaccinated, whereas some other sources state full vaccination is mandatory and even 14 days quarantine is necessary. I also contacted a prominent medical clinic in Bangkok and they stated just a rapid ATK test with certificate would suffice. I've also read that some sort of tracking apps are necessary to be installed, but suggestions on that vary too, from just using the covid-19.in.th site for registration of your trip, to the full MorChana app logging every time you go to the toilet. Has anyone here recently made this trip via car and if so would kindly share your experience and the requirements you had to meet? Thank you

I'm currently on a visa exemption (45 day) and about 20 days in after completing ASQ, so have roughly 25 days remaining. I wanted to try doing the COVID extension for 60 days now just in case they don't continue it past this month, however I was curious to know if my existing exemption will be cut short and I'll just get 60 days from when the COVID one is issued, or if it will continue at the end of my current exemption, thus giving me 25 + 60? Seems to be a lot of conflicting statements on this. Was also curious if the Pattaya immigration was better than the Bangkok one? I heard that the official place in Bangkok, is, well, very official and more difficult than other provinces. Any advice or thoughts on the above would be most appreciated Thank you