MaiChai

How about modernising the Tm30 system; its almost unusable and we have given up and just go to a police station instead. That is the report where you are staying in 24 hours process, which you need to do if you stay at your Thai wifes house (and not a hotel, etc, where they do it for you).

Probably easier to marry a Thai and then buy land; if it goes badly at least you can get half of it back. Foreigners can own land this way but are expected to dispose of it in a timely manner!

I believe Thailand needs a reality check; the majority of foreigners come here for the cheap easy living in a warm climate and not to stay in 5 star hotels for 2 weeks. Longer term visas would boost tourism, although the income maybe be less but at least it is foreign income.

Not had a coup for a while; must be due one soon?

Most car brands seem to be awful now for new cars? Too much value engineering and making parts out of plastic. Think I stick with my old pickup which has been faultless over the last 15 years. If you have a reliable vehicle stick with it!

Says something about Thailand: Parents should be more responsible and educating their children about the dangers of motorbikes, and not just let them do what they want. As another poster said: who bought the bike, who let their children go out on the bike, etc.

Hilarious. Whats the old expression: Don't spend more than you are prepared to loose? If you are a pensioner then rent and move around to different countries as the goal posts change. If you are married to a Thai and you think you have a good long lasting relationship, then build a house through your wife, which means you can get half of it back if the marriage does not work out. IMHO nothing changed, unless you are a complete idiot to follow through on this!

Take a trip to Thailand to take a trip! Maybe this won't attract those quality tourists we keep hearing about!

The 737-800NG is the one of the most safest planes in the sky. It is expected that airlines keep up maintenance and safety but they are suppose to do this anyway? I should wait until the initial assessment of the crash is done from the flight recorders before jumping to conclusions,

The first report to immigration they will fit the shackle and chains and a tracker...

Everywhere else its called a rapid antigen test. Only in Thailand is it not rapid!

Had fun filling this in at the weekend. It does not allow you to attach pdf files, so I had to convert loads of files into jpegs, which won't be easy for your average user. Then the vaccine part is really over complicated; why can't you just attach your vaccine doc, rather than having to split up into 1st dose, 2nd dose, booster, and then attaching a QR code for each one. Basically you are doing their admin by them making it complicated so that it fills in all the sections for them! Anyhow mine and wifes got approved within 2 days so I guess I can't complain.

Politician vs scientific fact? Who would you believe. ????

The world has to live with covid. Fully vaxxed arrivals should only need to have a pcr test before travel; most airlines require this anyway. We shall wait for better times. Sorry Thailand you won't be getting my tourist dollars until its easier to come, and I don't have the threat of being incarcerated in an expensive private hospital at my own expense.

Hope the international press pick up on this story up. What they don't tell you will happen if you arrive in Bangkok and test positive! Most people who are vaccinated will suffer bad flu symptoms for a couple of days if they get covid; they certainly don't need to go to hospital unless their health deteriorates.

Did you mean hotel?

Wife has joined quite a few Thai Wives Facebook groups and apparently the rule is if you are positive you will be sent to a private hospital. She also said nurses and doctors were up in arms about having to deal and put up with tourists considering the country is in the middle of a pandemic as they are already over worked, and the government should have come up with a better plan. The answer was was rather vague to me and could turn out costly, so coincidentally I emailed the Thai Embassy in London this morning before seeing this thread. They have replied to my emails in the past. When I get a response I will share with you here.

Got a flu vax yesterday. Better to be vaxed than suffer? Its scientifically proven you are less likely to get severe covid when vaxxed. Mostly you will get a couple of days of feeling really bad and then you will recover. Its all about numbers and stats; people can still get really sick if vaxxed but the chance of it happening is much reduced. Just saying get vaxxed if you have the opportunity!

They must be desperate...

ICUs are full in Chiang Mai and other parts of Thailand. Thailand opens up to tourism while covid is still raging; we left end of Aug when things were starting to ramp up; its going to be a while before it ramps down. The government blocks real news reporting and you only hear the leaks from disgruntled doctors and nurses on Facebook. Thailand was very complacent with getting vaccine orders in because they thought covid would not hit them because they made it hard for foreigners to visit, but that didn't take into account Burmese trafficked across the border to work in the factories, who contracted the Delta variant from the Indians next door. Most of my wifes relatives have received vaccines in Thailand donated from other countries.

Think it will become the norm: can't do anything unless you are fully vaxxed. For those still not convinced: there is hardly any polio in the modern world because of vaccination. Polio was common in the 1950s and terribly disfiguring.

What happens if you test positive on arrival? 14 days in a private Thai hospital at 10,000 baht per night, even if you have no symptoms? Need some clarity on this before they get my tourist dollars...

Big issue I have is if you test positive on arrival they cart you off to stay in a hospital for 14 days, irrespective of whether you are ill or not. This will not be cheap and I don't want to spend 14 days in a private hospital if I have no covid symptoms as I am fully vaccinated and unlikely to get very sick (although I understand there is still a risk). Hospital beds are for people who are sick not for fleecing foreigners!

ASQ is obviously a fail?

I suspect the government won't want to shoulder the pcr test costs at the airport, so they will palm it off to the hotels and you will end up paying alot of money for a 1 night stay in Bangkok (with pcr test included). Tourists will get milked in the process; be aware!