Hanuman2547

I would advise to not overstay. I once overstayed by one day about 5-6 years ago. They did not fine me or stamp my passport indicating that I overstayed.

The problem with your suggestions for the Thai government is that they did not come up with it themselves. I mean really, let older retired expats volunteer to be in schools a few hours a week to help the kids learn English? (sarcasm intended)

In Thailand, many Thai teachers know a lot about the English language. They know all the grammar exceptionally well. They have a fairly good vocabulary. However, they are unable to put it all together and communicate verbally in the English language. Then you take the local Issarn lady working in a bar in Pattaya or elsewhere. Doesn't know <deleted> all about verbs, plurals, or the present perfect tense. Limited vocabulary yet can converse in verbal English quite well.

Not only that, they weren't doing very well 35 years ago.

There's still a sizable group that doesn't want the country to open up to foreign tourism.

Yes, and without the bungee!

Yes, back in the "old" days it was very easy to open a bank account. Just show them your passport (Thais use their ID card) and your account is opened very quickly. Visa type/Work Permit of no interest to them. I have opened a few different bank accounts over the years, the first back in 1989 as described above. Do make sure that you open the account at a branch that is convenient for you to go to and is also accustomed to dealing with foreigners. This will help you a lot over time.

"If a tourist has a positive Covid test when they arrive or a negative test but is seated next to someone who had a positive test, they will be quarantined for 14 days at their own cost. This was not announced at the time of border opening. According to local media accounts, this has cost some travellers between Baht 50,000 and, in one example, Baht 350,000. The relatively high costs of Covid tests at the airport, the 500Baht entry fee that will be implemented in 2022 and collected from a booth upon arrival, are putting people off from planning a trip to Thailand." Additionally, "To visit Thailand, you must complete a slew of paperwork and processes, including full vaccination certificates, a pre-paid hotel reservation, a USD 50,000 health insurance coverage covering Covid-19, and an online application for the Thailand Pass. Applicants have complained about difficulties and approval delays on the Thailand Pass website." In regards to the above, I cannot advise anyone to plan a holiday to Thailand at this point in time. Who would want to risk being quarantined for 14 days at a minimum of $1,500? Not to mention the cost and inconvenience of being tested at the airport and the required health insurance covering Covid-19. Only certain hotels are used and at over inflated prices. This includes the one night mandatory stay for 12-30 hours and could possibly be two nights depending upon when your flight arrives. It seems that this is nothing more than a cash grab by the Thai authorities. In addition, the country is not fully open to tourism. My suggestion is to choose another destination until Thailand is ready to enter the global tourism market.

I would ship the bike by either post or air freight. Pretty fast to get from point A to point B.

I love Thai culture! I've been to many Thai cultural sites in a few different Thai cities. Some of my favorites are Nana Plaza, Soi Cowboy, and Patpong in Bangkok. Walking Street, Soi Bhukaew, Soi 6, LK Metro, and other places in Pataya. Bangla Road in Phuket. All fine places that exhibit Thai culture and are known world wide.

A lot of people in close proximity to each other and not wearing masks is the bigger problem no matter where you are. At least on the BTS and MRT people are wearing masks despite being very crowded. However, that could still be considered a risky environment. Alcohol is not really the issue.

Nothing new here at all and something most of us knew was going to happen anyway. Tourists aren't coming until Thailand removes all the barriers to make travel easy to the country. Opening up the nightlife areas and bars will make a huge positive impact as well.

Nothing in the article states that Thailand can't import the drug. Just hope China doesn't put pressure on Thailand not to import from other countries.

Covid-19: Pfizer to allow developing nations to make its treatment pill - BBC News It's a start but doesn't go nearly far enough. Unfortunately, some countries are left off of this list. Thailand is one of them.

Anutin Charnvirakul is nothing but another Thai blowhard politician. He has no medical training at all unless he took a CPR/Standard First Aid course while in the US studying engineering at Hofstra University. Therefore his stance on Sinovac is simply his non-medical opinion and should be taken as such.

I wonder if he will try to get Swiss citizens barred from entering Thailand?

Who is traveling to Thailand now that international airlines have returned 80% of their slots? 1) Families separated during the closure of borders. 2) Expats returning to work. 3) Thais that live abroad and are back to visit their families.

Thailand has along history of abusing violating the rights of refugees. Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians, Burmese, and the Rohingyas from Rakhine state in Myanmar.

What became of the 10 Rohingya that the 13 year old boy was "smuggling" into Thailand? Were they forcibly sent back to Myanmar? We know how the junta there deals with the Rohingya as they have continuously violated the human rights of this group of people for many years. Most likely they were beaten, robbed, tortured and very possibly murdered.

Statistically I would have a very small chance of testing positive. That said, if I were to test positive upon arrival the insurance that I would have would need to cover all the costs immediately. I surely don't want to pay first and then fight the insurance company to get reimbursed. A few horror stories like this spread on the internet would devastate the Thai tourism industry. Not saying it is going great right now anyway.

In nearly 40 years of entering and departing the Kingdom I have never once been asked anything about my financial situation. Like another poster stated, I too have at times just entered the country with maybe 700-1000 baht to insure I had enough money for the taxi ride home.

Sorry to see the Scala go. It was a great place. I have been attending films there since the early 80's.

Really need to get rid of the 90 day reporting, the TM 30 requirement, and dual pricing in any form. There are other things but this is just for starters.

20,000 tourists? I don't really think they are tourists in the classical sense of tourism. Very few would be first time tourists to Thailand. In my opinion most have some connection to Thailand through work, family, spouse is Thai, etc. Another misleading headline from the Thai government. I also wonder how many people that are coming to Thailand are actually Thai nationals but live in another country such as the US, Germany, and the UK. They may have citizenship in those countries and are in fact traveling on passports from those countries and not on a Thai passport. Hardly a tourist but the Thai government will classify it as that in order to boost their questionable numbers.

Try Spain then. You might just like it.