SURVEY: Should Thailand close the borders to foreigners?

[Scott]

In your opinion, which of the following options will result in the best outcome to the spread of Covid-19?

 

Please feel free to leave a comment.

[pacovl46]

All borders should be closed for EVERYONE! 

[actonion]

Closed to all foreigners,     does this mean Thai's can come & go without checking ?

[SteveK]

Certificates are pointless - unless they are issued at the border they mean nothing, as in the hours or days since they were issued you could have been anywhere and in contact with anyone. Borders should have been closed months ago, no doubt the government's absurd decision to allow free travel of Chinese throughout the crisis will prove to be the worst decision yet.

[nobodysfriend]

The virus is already here and spreading .

Closing the borders will not help to improve that .

If the country would be virus free , than closing borders would be the right thing to do , but now it is too late for that already .

But health checks on people arriving is ok .

[terryw]

Vietnam will close all borders from today. The number of confirmed virus cases is 110. The government here is taking a lot of action to stop the virus spreading.

[Kadilo]

Closing now for foreigners is too little too late as the virus is already here and if they were going to do so I think they would have already. Can’t see them upsetting the Chinese anyhow. 

To be honest with all the current restrictions in place I doubt few will bother coming apart from those who need to get back for whatever reason. I’m off tomorrow and I know I won’t be back until this all calms down. 
 

Taking my hotel here in Udon here as an example, it has currently 9 occupants. They have closed the swimming pool, restaurant, gym and from this morning closed the breakfast area. They are now selling food on the road to all and sundry to try and bring in some money to keep it open and people on work, and this is one of the bigger, better hotels. 
 

So my 1700/night is a total rip off and only a matter of time before it closes and who on earth will be coming for that. .......and this before it really kicks off. 

Edited March 23, 2020 by Kadilo

[robert888d]

Close borders to everyone

THIS should have been done weeks  ago.Better late than never.

[tonray]

All borders closed globally. Global agreement allowing expats/tourists to remain in place during crisis without repercussions. Embassies provide support to citizens (Ok....I know that's a stretch). Stop all travel....why use half-arsed methods of lockdown when the stakes are so high ?

[Tarteso]

 Is there any reason not to close this country?
 Is there any reason not to close any province?

 OMG!  Are they waiting for another one COUP?

[justin case]

close borders and all stranded 90 day extension, to be paid when LEAVING as going to CW or immigration = more chance to spread = no brain again from government

[Darkside Gray]

I'm married with a multi entry visa, I am working in VN, I cannot leave here as if I do I cannot get back, if I could I cannot get back to my home in Thailand talk about catch 22.

[Snow Leopard]

2 hours ago, actonion said:

Closed to all foreigners,     does this mean Thai's can come & go without checking ?

Well said. 

[Snow Leopard]

22 minutes ago, justin case said:

close borders and all stranded 90 day extension, to be paid when LEAVING as going to CW or immigration = more chance to spread = no brain again from government

And if you run out of money? Free yes. 

[Jaxxper]

The CAAT requirements for COVID19 insurance of no less than $100,000 will stop a lot (most) foreigners due to probable unavailability of such insurance or it being so cost prohibitive if it is available, so I would have to say just be done with it and close the borders to all entering foreigners, and review every fortnight.

[NanLaew]

2 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

The virus is already here and spreading .

Closing the borders will not help to improve that .

If the country would be virus free , than closing borders would be the right thing to do , but now it is too late for that already .

But health checks on people arriving is ok .

Laos hasn't reported any Covid-19 cases and they've closed their borders... sort of. No visa-on-arrival means the are as good as closed.

 

So, with no evidence of Covid-19, we can assume Laos is virus-free so why have they restricted travel and border crossing?

 

(rhetorical)

[shackleton]

Agree all borders should be closed

the country has now to concentrate on containing the virus with in 

Not keep letting in people who could be carrying the virus 

[jimn]

Thailand has effectively closed its borders by insisting on a medical certificate stating you are virus free. In the UK this will be impossible to get and I suspect many countries. This will effectively force people not to travel and force airlines to supend flights because there are no passengers.

[NanLaew]

57 minutes ago, jimn said:

This will effectively force people not to travel and force airlines to supend flights because there are no passengers.

...which will make it easier to control the spread and get a handle on Covid-19. Put it this way, the virus didn't walk from Wuhan to Warrington did it?

 

Winning.

[Caldera]

A nonsensical survey after the fact. A month ago, that would have been a great question to ask, unfortunately those who make the decisions didn't give it enough thought back then.

 

[jimn]

5 hours ago, NanLaew said:

...which will make it easier to control the spread and get a handle on Covid-19. Put it this way, the virus didn't walk from Wuhan to Warrington did it?

 

Winning.

Why then dont they do it properly and close the border properly. Then everyone including the airlines know exactly where they stand.

[englishoak]

You forgot the option Thais returning have brought it with them but close the borders  to avoid more rapid infection rates 

Edited March 23, 2020 by englishoak

[cyril sneer]

They should close the borders and use the overstay money to help cover money lost in tourism 

[ericthai]

9 hours ago, jimn said:

Why then dont they do it properly and close the border properly. Then everyone including the airlines know exactly where they stand.

come on, you should know that already. It's the thai govt, they dont care about peoples safety they only care about money they can put in their pockets!

[pacovl46]

23 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

The virus is already here and spreading .

Closing the borders will not help to improve that .

If the country would be virus free , than closing borders would be the right thing to do , but now it is too late for that already .

But health checks on people arriving is ok .

Yes, it’s already here and spreading, that’s why it needs to be contained by closing down all the orders for everyone and putting people under house arrest instead of letting them in and roam freely. Since the incubation period is roughly about 2 weeks, people may come to Thailand, get health checked at the border, pass the test and then get sick later on, infecting possible dozens of other people along the way. People need to say in as much as possible now! 

[Don Mega]

No, if they close the borders it will decimate the tourist industry.