chang1

The London embassy wanted everything paid for and confirmed for preaproval and then entered again after that was approved. Even the flights for a visa on arrival. Each submission was approved or disproved within about 4 hours in office hours. If you need to change an already approved coe you need the embassy/consulate to reset the application. This was for ASQ and sandbox COEs. I did both but not just for me and had to do a date change after gettingmy coe.

A good mix to suit all budgets is required. The sandbox is not for budget travellers. The testing alone cost more than our hotel. Hotels have to compete for customers those that can't fill enough rooms will stay closed. I hope they have an equal chance and not having some getting special treatment. As tourists are seen safe the testing can start to be relaxed. 4 PCR tests is over the top at least 2 could be changed to cheaper less reliable lateral flow tests. Budget tourists like, backpackers, spend their money in different places and often stay longer helping Thais that well off tourists don't help. 20 years ago Samui was full of small family run guest houses. They soon got bought out and replaced by larger hotels funneling money to wealthy Thais instead.

1 - sorry, anti vaxers wind me up and certainly not all of them are thick but I despair at what some have fallen for 2 - https://www.modernhealthcare.com/safety-quality/new-data-reassuring-covid-19-vaccination-pregnancy I meant preliminary results are in like those referred to in the link above. If no learning difficulties are found they will need to wait for reproductive studies then it will be life expectancy studies then are people's great grand children affected. There will never be enough evidence to prove vaccines are safe as they will always find some dodgy website claiming an African witch doctor saw a vaccinated person's descendant turn into a goldfish and fly away proving no-one should ever have been vaccinated, despite thousands of studies proving any minor risks are far outweighed by the real benefits. If I called myself Dr conspiracy, an ex government researcher and put out a YouTube video claiming nanobots are being added to vaccines to enable governments to track and control people many would believe it.

You credit them with far too much intelligence. If they just said they were concerned I could go with that but no they have to use the most stupid reasons to justify their concerns. These same people don't take the risk of dying from covid or getting long covid seriously yet do take the totally unproven minute risk a vaccine poses as a far higher concern. Then they lump all vaccines as one when there are actually many already around and more on the way. Apart from a few very rare cases this rollout of all the various vaccines has been a fantastic success. The only real problem has been getting it into people fast enough. Studies have already been done showing vaccines are safe to be given during pregnancy. I have not looked at the details but certainly some results are already in. Even if no birth defects are linked to vaccines, they will say it is a cover up and find a case of a vaccinated woman in Brazil or elsewhere having a baby with a problem of some kind to "prove" they were right all along even though the woman had been infected by the zicka virus just after getting pregnant. Are these people not concerned that the Delta variant could cause birth defects when unvaccinated people are infected? Easy for me to say that it is just as likely as I have just as much proof as they have for their mutant causing vaccines. In the UK we get them moaning that last week masks were not needed now they are, last month we were told to eat out now we are being locked down, last week we could go to Spain now we can't. We'll sorry if this confuses the stupid but covid or rather sars 2 doesn't follow the rules so the rules have to suit the situation. Hardly rocket science is it. Local lockdowns are the best things to show how stupid people are. Areas with high Asian populations became infected with the Delta strain and were locked down. It is known Asians are reluctant to get vaccinated and flout the rules like social distancing. Then people start moaning that they are unfairly being locked down more than other places (that follow the rules), I also have my criticisms of how things were handled such as - there should be a single website with all covid related information instead of it coming from multiple places - try finding out if a 12 year old counts as part of a group when groups are limited to 6 in a restaurant in England (not Scotland).

While in the sandbox we are all tourists. Where we go after is a different question and does it matter anyway? A more relevant question is - How many more people are coming to Thailand because of the sandbox than would have stayed away? I am here with my family and will soon go to stay with the in-laws. We normally combine seeing them with a beach holiday so no difference for us except the added restrictions. Would we have come if it meant being locked up in a Bangkok hotel? No definitely not, we would be in Greece. So Thailand gains us for 5 weeks purely due to the sandbox. Are we genuine tourists? Depends on your definition but we are in Phuket enjoying - repeat enjoying, a beach holiday.

It is not just about profit. Keeping hotels, restaurants etc. ticking over with employees kept on is just as important. If a hotel goes under there is a massive problem for all connected to it from the owners right down to the cleaners and the supply industries like delivery drivers and farmers etc. Keeping hotels up and running ready for opening up is more important than making profit now. This is about reducing losses. The more important question is how many jobs are being saved?

I think I can disagree with everything you say. You don't need to increase volume or prices to make money, only to make more money and neither is certain to do that. Increasing prices may end up reducing volume giving a net reduction. Increasing volume may require dropping prices giving a net reduction. Forcing people into 5 star hotels may cut down visitors drastically reducing net spending. Making small guest houses SHA+ compliant could encourage many backpackers to come which would help the poorer locals far more and give a larger net spend. How does the sandbox affect the rest of the country adversely in any way apart from diverting an insignificant amount of vaccines? How would tourists and others not going to Phuket help the rest of Thailand? Finally - would you give up your first holiday in 2 years and give the money away thus ensuring another year stuck at home? I think you can guess what I think about that idea. If I was not here in Phuket now all that money would have gone to Greece instead of Thailand. Maybe you should canvass the locals here in Karon about what they think of your ideas.

They do seem to fit a pattern with one or more of these traits - Trump supporters Religious Conspiracy theory believers Obviously the common link is a total inability to think critically. If it is said by Trump, a minister or on YouTube it must be true - no need to question it and anyone who says different is the enemy to be shot down without even trying to understand their facts. I'm sure some would even believe the world is flat if their gurus said so.

If that is their genuine reason then yes they should have a choice. The problem is these people are mostly just jumping on the latest excuse they can find and are being influenced by the most stupid and at best flimsy evidence from the least reliable sources while rubbishing proper scientific studies and claiming "covid is no worse than flu used by elites as an excuse to control us". Everytime their arguments are proved groundless they move the goal posts. "Long term" will become a lifetime which will become several lifetimes. I have no time for these muppets now and it's time they were made to suffer the consequences of their anti social behaviour. These are the same people who refuse to wear masks even though it is proven they reduce transmission at least in places with poor ventilation or inadequate distancing. Young men come into restaurants claiming they are too disabled to walk a few metres from the door to a table wearing a mask yet are quite happy to mix with people who could give them a severe respiratory disease. They are selfish A-holes that don't deserve respect. If a new variant comes along that only affects them, I won't be anymore concerned for them than they were for me before I got vaccinated. Forcing them to get medical insurance to cover them for their increased covid risk may be a good start.

https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/crime/update-suspect-in-swiss-murder-in-phuket-is-a-thai-man The linked article says he admitted attempted rape. At least they have a plausible suspect this time. It is always a worry when something like this happens that they may pickup anyone with say a bit of cctv video of them in the area and then tailor the evidence to suit. I was in Lamai on Samui when the lass was raped and killed. There was a big fuss and Taksin even went there. Two fishermen soon got caught with her shirt on their boat. When the man who had thousands of suspected drug dealers killed by police turns up expecting results you don't keep incriminating evidence around. I don't know what other evidence there was but it all seemed a bit too easy to me.

I still don't understand. Are you thinking a new harmless yet highly transmissible variant will stop all new variants evolving or it will give us immunity to Them? The countries that have rampant delta strain are suffering unless their population is well vaccinated like the UK where despite high infection rates there are relatively few deaths and hospitalisations. The young and other unvaccinated people are now at most risk. I was in our local hospital ICU a couple of weeks ago and there were no covid cases at the time. A massive difference to earlier this year when I saw a constant stream of undertakers going in and out of the same hospitals mortuary. I think the more likely outcome is a regular vaccine booster like we have for flu.

We live in the UK so get a different view on what goes on in Thailand. I don't know why that is a major concern for her especially here.

The facts that she was reported to have been raped and her shorts were removed. This guy is the son of an ex headman so probably not on the breadline. She only had 300 baht so why put up a fight over that? Lastly, drugs are also involved which can make people act differently. No proof just speculation. I am with my wife and young son going around on a small Honda. We don't go far from roads and are aware of the risks here.

I am just looking at if the situation is getting better or worse. How it affects people is important but also those numbers I would expect to be proportional to the death rate.

The cult is strong with you! First you need to define "work". If you are expecting no infections or transmission then of course they don't "work". If you mean they don't reduce hospitalizations and deaths of vaccinated people then that is a bold statement indeed. Unfortunately these kind of anti vax statements are ALWAYS A CROC OF <deleted>. as usual I will give a chance to show the source of this devastating revelation. So please provide a link or two to reputable sites with the studies that prove your claim.

How will that help anything?

Thanks. My wife's biggest concern is that our 7 year old will be abducted for organ harvesting in China. Although I share this concern I doubt they would want him for that as there are kids much closer with easier routes to China than a locked up island.

Do you have any figures to show it is more dangerous now? I have my doubts she was killed for money. After 10 days of biking around I have not felt at risk anywhere but we don't go far from tourist routes. I have not heard of people being mugged here before and not heard it is a problem now. Bag snatchers on bikes are a known problem so don't carry a bag of goodies around.

Many posts around like this although this one doesn't mention the rain. I am here in the sandbox and on day 10. We hope to visit the in-laws but it may cost to get there. This is the real problem apart from the costly tests. Phuket is lovely now - not what you want to believe but we are enjoying it here. Addressing your points - Everything shut down - no jet skis, speed boats, McDonald's etc. - Great! No alcohol - this is Thailand so just don't have it on show. No entertainment - we're having a beach holiday so not looking for entertainment. We did do Patong last night which was an experience. 2 bars open in Bangla Road. Had a couple of drinks in one with the family before closing. The beaches are lovely although swimming is restricted to a few which are quiet and clean. I once counted 20 people in the sea at the same time at Paradise beach! UK beaches are a nightmare with overcrowding - absolutely no comparison. Food and drink all easily available. Roads are quiet and great for exploring on a rented bike. We had not visited Patong before due to taxi van prices 400 baht each way and I avoid the roads at night on a bike despite them being relatively safe. There are one or two vans parked all day outside the hotel which get hardly any punters. Yesterday I discovered the Hello Phuket app. This is great for getting taxis. 220 baht each way from Karon in Nice cars and hassle free. I have not tried Grab but I presume it is similar if available. Everyone is friendly, noticeably different to my previous pre covid visits. Plenty of restaurants open. Of course there are downsides the expensive tests, having to self isolate before flying to reduce the risk of a pre flight positive test. The small risk of being with a positive case on a plane or testing positive here. Other tests needed to go home but by far the biggest problem is the onward travel restrictions. 4 tests, staying with largely vaccinated people, another test to travel and they limit flights to only Nok Air to U Tapao at nearly 6000 baht each and similar prices from there - WHY? We are probably the safest people in the country. This is what will kill off the sandbox not a murder. We still have the option of a van to Ubon costing 22000 baht which for 3 is expensive but doable. We will probably have to change our return flights from Phuket to fly out of BKK. So is quiet Phuket better than going to crowded UK beaches - way better and with the stupid prices being charged, not much more expensive. Edit - forgot the rain - a few heavy showers which have not affected us but today is the first day it rained all morning. So we're having a lazy day in the hotel today.

The only numbers I look at are of deaths. Number of deaths X 1000 gives a good estimate of infections of unvaccinated people 2 weeks ago. Infections of vaccinated people can be ignored as they are at low risk. If no-one is dying who cares if the whole population is infected? That is the UK's strategy now.

To stay safe is impossible, just look at Thai roads. Sooner or later you have to weigh up the risks. I'm fully vaccinated and doing the sandbox thing. I have put off things and kept away from people but now judge travel is safe enough for us to get back to normal. Until a vaccine resistant strain comes along there is very low risk to us or our hosts. The anti vaxers have done their best to keep us locked up but we are now free and they are the ones who get left out.

You both seem to be saying the same thing - vaccines save many lives and reduce infections but don't help everyone. All common knowledge.

Similar to what I was saying in one of my previous posts. There needs to be a big drive to change the culture but as in the US with their idiotic gun culture, until it is a personal problem few will be bothered to stand up and be counted. Probably the best thing my wife says about living in the UK is that she feels safe. Now here in the sandbox she says she wouldn't even dare to confront a taxi driver who rips her off. This means it only gets worse. That taxi driver gets used to being untouchable and much more likely to do something like this.

I would like to know how the amount is known? A small point but could be important.

Rape and possibly drugged up sounds plausible and money just a bonus for him. Were you led there or did you find it yourself? Is the area mentioned in guide books?