Coronavirus: Hong Kong travel agencies cancel Thailand tours amid fresh confusion over quarantine requirements

[webfact]

Coronavirus: Hong Kong travel agencies cancel Thailand tours amid fresh confusion over quarantine requirements

-- Thai authorities announce 14-day quarantine and health certification requirements for arrivals from Hong Kong and other ‘dangerous’ areas

-- Amid confusion, two major tour operators cancel trips to Thailand for rest of the month

Phila Siu and Ng Kang-chung

 

A health official checks the temperature of an arrival to Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok as Thailand announced more anti-contagion measures. Photo: AFP

 

Two major Hong Kong travel agencies have cancelled tours to Thailand for the rest of the month amid deepening confusion over the country’s quarantine requirements for arrivals from the city and other jurisdictions.

 

Thai tourism bosses on Monday announced a two-week quarantine for visitors from “dangerous communicable disease areas”, as the aviation authority said those passengers must also present a health certificate before boarding declaring they did not carry a coronavirus risk.

 

The Hong Kong office of Thailand’s Tourism Authority said all those travelling from South Korea, Italy, Iran and China, including Hong Kong and Macau, “will undergo 14 days [of] quarantine when they enter the kingdom”. “Details of quarantine procedures will be announced shortly,” the Facebook post read, without specifying when.

 

Full story: https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3074349/coronavirus-hong-kong-travel-agencies-cancel-thailand-tours

 

-- SCMP 2020-03-11

[ukrules]

38 minutes ago, webfact said:

Amid confusion, two major tour operators cancel trips to Thailand for rest of the month

There's no confusion on the part of the tour operators, the message has been sent and received and it's crystal clear.

 

Demanding 'health certificates' issued inside 48 hours before travel and then applying a quarantine on top of this will annihilate what's left of the tourist industry.

 

 

Edited March 10, 2020 by ukrules

[Somtamnication]

Requirements of a quarantine on arrival. What a circus. These people have no clue.

[metisdead]

A post using a trolling video has been removed. 

[bluesofa]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

“Details of quarantine procedures will be announced shortly,” the Facebook post read, without specifying when.

Does that mean it hasn't yet been formulated? So there won't be an opportunity to explore your hotel room in intimate detail for fourteen days any more?

TAT could have put a spin on the hotel quarantine: Come to Thailand on a climbing holiday and explore the walls in intimate detail.

[RichardColeman]

I sure wish they would publish how the people to be quarantined will get to the place to voluntarily quarantine themselves without potentially giving it to anyone in the process without a hazmat suit !

 

And if they think that hotelliers will put up with mass people quarantining themselves in their hotels they have another thing coming

[cardinalblue]

Sorry but people travel for either business or pleasure so they are all over the place sightseeing or on a business mission to accomplish something...

 

no one hangs out in their room or expected to be told to do so for some ridiculous period of time

 

if thailand wants any travelers, Screen then on arrival upon arrival is the only way a traveler will travel...

 

health certificates Are meaningless and inconvenient and Q is a joke and impossible to enforce 

[Stargeezr]

Who wants to go anywhere just to be quarantined 14 days. The government officials that

came up with this announcement, need to do another one, saying, oops, so 

sorry we are all so stupid

Geezer

[Stargeezr]

Who wants to go anywhere just to be quarantined 14 days. The government officials that

came up with this announcement, need to do another one, saying, oops, so 

sorry we are all so stupid

Geezer

[jonclark]

I wonder how one goes about getting a health certificate in Iran or China. I ask as I know in the UK is it probably quite difficult as going to a GP and having the tests done would be quite time-consuming - simply getting the appointments would take weeks. 

 

Can Thai Immigration officials read Iranian thats' the next point as Iranian doctor's probably issues Helath certs in Iranian

[manhood]

All reactions of the government are done without using brain that is left. Ok lets say: all done brainless but good to kill the last people's decisions to visit Thailand!

[Thailand]

This government seems to be able to surpass what seems to be impossibly stupid by consistently one upping themselves.

[spinner2020]

Latest is that they will demand mobile-phone numbers from ALL incoming travellers and will track them for two weeks (yeah). "Warnings ... can be sent to people travelling by electric train service when risky people enter the system."

 

I'm amazed I can still be amazed by the idiocy of these clowns.

[Phuketshrew]

Maybe it's time to reintroduce the idea of visitors wearing ankle bracelets ?

[AhFarangJa]

[Bangkok Barry]

2 hours ago, cardinalblue said:

if thailand wants any travelers, Screen then on arrival upon arrival is the only way a traveler will travel...

The screening is pointless anyway, as it takes up to 14 days to show itself.

[thedemon]

On the face of it you would have to say it is effectively a ban without an official ban.

 

A bit like Thailand (with fingers crossed behind the back) declaring war on the Allies during WW2 and somehow managing to keep onside with both the Allies and the Japanese. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand_in_World_War_II

 

Whatever your opinion on that, you have to hand it to Thailand because it worked.

[Bkk Brian]

Important information here about the similarities between Dengue fever diagnosis and Covid-19. When the first confirmed death in Thailand from Covid was announced they mentioned that the patient had tested positive for Dengue Fever as well.

 

I hope Thailand is not making these errors but with such a high Dengue infection in Thailand then testing for COVID is absolutely advised if you test first for Dengue.

 

Southeast Asia at risk of missing coronavirus cases amid dengue outbreak: experts

• A report by Singapore-based doctors in The Lancet has warned of the possibility of false-positive results for dengue due to its similarities with Covid-19

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3074496/southeast-asia-risk-missing-coronavirus-cases-amid

 

 

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Two major Hong Kong travel agencies have cancelled tours to Thailand for the rest of the month amid deepening confusion over the country’s quarantine requirements for arrivals from the city and other jurisdictions.

Tripping over their own flip flops.... mixed messages from different agencies & officials... LOL

[dsj]

What about passengers that just transiting Hong Kong from a low risk country like Canada?

[WalkingOrders]

You know, comparing Thailand to everywhere else, Thailand is doing just fine.

[ncc1701d]

This is the latest

 

https://www.tatnews.org/2020/03/tat-update-notification-of-the-civil-aviation-authority-of-thailand-on-covid-19-control-measures/?fbclid=IwAR3VJt_ZT7h80520C4dcgSwb_X5X8G4752A8yywA7EYq_koQoZW2cvWJPmk

 

and the form required

 

https://ddc.moph.go.th/viralpneumonia/file/g_form/general01.pdf
 

 

[statman78]

My original travel plans had me returning to Thailand from the US this past Sunday on Cathay Pacific through Hong Kong.  Over the past 3 weeks the flight was changed 4 times.  The final itinerary offered to me was to fly into Hong Kong today (11 March), stay over night in Hong Kong, then fly into BKK Thursday morning.  I cancelled that and rerouted through London.  No way would I transit through any Asian country to get to Thailand. Right now I am sitting at Heathrow waiting for my connection to BKK.

[dsj]

This is the latest from Cathay Pacific Website 45 minutes ago.

Effective 11 March 2020, passengers departing from People's Republic of China (including Hong Kong SAR & Macao SAR), Korea, Italy and Iran are required to have the following at check-in:

• Health insurance document that provides at least USD100,000 coverage in Thailand (not applicable to Thai nationals)
• Health certificate, Link opens in a new window operated by external parties and may not conform to the same accessibility policies as Cathay Pacific issued within 48hours of flight depature certifying that they are free of COVID-19 (applicable to all nationalities)

Further, passengers from the above zones will be subject to a 14-day self-quarantine upon entering Thailand or the length of their visit (if less than 14-days).

Exemption: Passengers transiting through above countries are exempted from the above requirements

[Oziex1]

What happens in a crisis when the voice of these blathering fools is picked up and acted apon. What choice did the overseas travel agents have they had to act on the side of caution. I would think it unlikely they will change now regardless of the backpeddling and claims of misunderstanding.

[statman78]

dsj,

 

Thanks for the updated info.  If I would have kept my return flight on Cathay I would have been stuck in Hong Kong since they had me staying overnight in Hong Kong.  I can’t wait to get home to Chiang Rai.

[tifino]

6 hours ago, Phuketshrew said:

Maybe it's time to reintroduce the idea of visitors wearing ankle bracelets ?

or a variation of that new car pollution testing paint... goes purple if the skin reveals person has gone sicko mode

 

 

still... how do the Chinese for example get around the 14 day quarantine, if they were lucky to even get 7 days Annual Leave?