Sudden changes by aviation authorities leave Thais overseas and their families frustrated

By The Nation

 

 

The sudden two-day complete flight ban imposed by civil aviation authorities have been frustrating for Thai families whose members are abroad and want to come home amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

Watana Muangsook, a former Pheu Thai Party MP, expressed frustration about difficulties his US-based daughter faced when she tried to return to Thailand.

 

His daughter was told to leave the plane while it was about to take off from New York at 2pm local time on Saturday, he said on his Facebook page.

 

The government suddenly imposed a flight ban, prohibiting aircraft carrying passengers from entering the country for two days -- from April 4 to 6 -- in an effort to slowdown the spread of the Covid-19. On Friday, some returnees were involved in a standoff with authorities over the need to be quarantined.

 

Watana said his daughter had followed all requirements set by the government including getting the "fit to fly" health certificate 72 hours before the flight departure. He said she had got all the required documents before the government ordered Thais to delay their entry and plane officials told her to leave the aircraft because of a flight ban enforced by the Thai government.

 

To prevent Covid-19 people from entering the country, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) had earlier announced that Thais overseas who wish to return home must obtain a fit-to-fly medical certificate issued within 72 hours of departure and a letter issued by the Royal Thai Embassy or consulate.

 

The government has also asked Thais living abroad to delay their return until April 16.

 

Watana said the government order barring Thais overseas from returning until April 16 violated the human rights provision under the Constitution. As the health certificate is valid for only 72 hours, getting a new certificate will impose an additional cost burden on Thai travellers, he said.

 

The abrupt flight ban imposed by the CAAT is ridiculous and demonstrated the government's failure in handling the issue, he fumed.

 

Many other people shared similar views. Salintorn Thongmeensuk, a research fellow at Thailand Development Research Institute, also criticised the fit-to-fly mandatory requirement as imposing a high cost burden and also put Thais at risk of contracting the virus when they visit a hospital for the certificate.

 

The fit-to-fly measure forced airlines to deny boarding passes to people who did not have the medical document. Many overseas Thais complained about the complications of this regulation, while some of them have filed a complaint with the Central Administrative Court and started an online campaign #bringthaihome.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30385454

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-04-06

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Tough s#:t. Follow international law just like everyone else does.

It appears that this virus has exposed the decision making system in Thailand for what it has been for a number of years...dysfunctional...

 

Lots of chiefs...barking orders...without a central clearing house...

3 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

It appears that this virus has exposed the decision making system in Thailand for what it has been for a number of years...dysfunctional...

 

Lots of chiefs...barking orders...without a central clearing house...

Not just decision making. It is opening up cans of worms in just about area: procurement, any form of coherent policy, communication, policing, the ever expanding self defined role of the military, transparency in all the above areas, especially procurement, and of course the ever present desire, no matter how grave the situation may be ( for the above reasons we can only guess) to promote themselves, announce, and demonstrate their own importance.

 

 

Edited April 6, 20206 yr by JAG

This is the big, the huge problem of Thailand;
It is only the Thai people who know; the rest of the world does not exist.

Except that the rest of the world enacts laws that even Thai people must respect

Hiso karma is even a bigger bitch

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Watana Muangsook, a former Pheu Thai Party MP, expressed frustration about difficulties his US-based daughter faced when she tried to return to Thailand.

I will be the first to admit that I do not know the circumstances that require her to return to Thailand, nor is it any of my business. But if she is based in the U.S. as is stated, and not just vacationing, then why not just stay put until all this mess is over.

Of course, that does not absolve the totally incompetent Government departments issuing contradictory edicts on a day to day basis, thus ensuring that no-one, most of all those issuing the edicts, has a blind clue as to what is required.

Edited April 6, 20206 yr by AhFarangJa

If there was a ban on international flights, why did 5 international flights land yesterday before 9am?

Two from Frankfurt, one from Zurich, Tokyo and Doha

 

Should have made their way to Zurich....one TH flight just landed from there

 

 

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Watana Muangsook, a former Pheu Thai Party MP, expressed frustration about difficulties his US-based daughter faced when she tried to return to Thailand.

4 hours ago, webfact said:

The government has also asked Thais living abroad to delay their return until April 16.

 

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Watana said the government order barring Thais overseas from returning until April 16 violated the human rights provision under the Constitution.

Mr Watana is <deleted> off because his daughter had to delay her return due to Thai government orders ...

Apparently they do not know ' who he is ...'

 

These fit to fly certs are use less..BKK hospital clinic in Sattahip...charges 200 baht, test temperature, pulse, look in mouth and ear and hey presto you are fit to fly with no virus.

12 minutes ago, steveyinasia said:

If there was a ban on international flights, why did 5 international flights land yesterday before 9am?

Two from Frankfurt, one from Zurich, Tokyo and Doha

 

did they in fact land and did they have passengers. i think eva air br67 landed around the 11.30am mark, but would have had no passengers, it was showing as landed on flight radar24, but as cancelled on bkk arrivals.

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Watana said his daughter had followed all requirements set by the government including getting the "fit to fly" health certificate 72 hours before the flight departure. He said she had got all the required documents before the government ordered Thais to delay their entry and plane officials told her to leave the aircraft because of a flight ban enforced by the Thai government.

i can just imagine ...... Do you know who I am?

4 hours ago, Roy Baht said:

Tough s#:t. Follow international law just like everyone else does.

but they are thai .... and thais think Thailand is the only place in the world

26 minutes ago, steven100 said:

but they are thai .... and thais think Thailand is the only place in the world

No doubt, that would include the government and it's leader? ????

Now that THAI airways is no longer flying, the chances of a “Do You Know who I Am” tantrum at an airport checkin are probably quite low. When they do occur I suspect TSA or whatever airport police are responsible for security will not be interested in negotiating.

Over a million people around the world infected, thousands dead, millions out of work and or in self-isolation and these people think they have problems because princess was told "no, you can't"? 

 

It's at times like these, that people like those realise that they really aren't that special after all. 

 

 

 

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Watana said the government order barring Thais overseas from returning until April 16 violated the human rights provision under the Constitution.

And the government doesn't care, because no-one will do anything about it. Take Thailand to the Court of Human Rights? Take the Thai government to the Thai courts? Good luck with that.

Plenty of posts here along the lines of 'do you know who I am'. Yet nowhere is the report does the passenger or her father use that expression or even suggest the law shouldn't apply to them. He merely points out the way that the leaders of his country have <deleted> up again.
 

Still, let's not let facts get in the way of an unfounded rant.

Edited April 6, 20206 yr by metisdead
8.) You will not post disruptive or inflammatory messages, vulgarities, obscenities or profanities.

3 hours ago, AhFarangJa said:

I will be the first to admit that I do not know the circumstances that require her to return to Thailand, nor is it any of my business. But if she is based in the U.S. as is stated, and not just vacationing, then why not just stay put until all this mess is over.

Of course, that does not absolve the totally incompetent Government departments issuing contradictory edicts on a day to day basis, thus ensuring that no-one, most of all those issuing the edicts, has a blind clue as to what is required.

Of course she like to come back, she is afraid about the spread of the virus in the USA, in contrast to here.

Maybe the returnees who got back the other day would of done as they were told, and gone into quarantine, these people might of been able to come back.

They were advised to come back how long ago??? Stupid for waiting this long 

31 minutes ago, jimmjam said:

Maybe the returnees who got back the other day would of done as they were told, and gone into quarantine, these people might of been able to come back.

and why didn't the members here pick up on this before hi so thought they could just walk in

3 hours ago, djayz said:

It's at times like these, that people like those realise that they really aren't that special after all.

However, they still fail to realise that reality and their fantasies are not one and the same and one does not take precedence over the other especially when in another country.  I do agree with an earlier post, nobody, as far as I can read, has asserted the "Do you know who I am?" declaration.

'nuf sed

1 hour ago, jimmjam said:

Maybe the returnees who got back the other day would of done as they were told, and gone into quarantine, these people might of been able to come back.

 

Very true. These people - and I mean everyone, not just Thais (in case some snowflakes think this is another Thai-bashing episode) think they will not get infected and if they do, they will not be sick because of it. Be that as it may, they never thought of the people who would get the virus FROM them! Bloody selfish sods, if you ask me. And perhaps, like you said, because of these people, the government had no choice but to stop them from entering altogether. Hard ball yes, but it is what it is.

 

3 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Plenty of posts here along the lines of 'do you know who I am'. Yet nowhere is the report does the passenger or her father use that expression or even suggest the law shouldn't apply to them. He merely points out the way that the leaders of his country have <deleted> up again.
 

Still, let's not let facts get in the way of an unfounded rant.

Must have been too difficult to resist, given the reputation of self-importance of Thais. Given also that everything in his diatribe refers to Thais....  Even the reference to human rights provisions, not about affecting travellers, but affecting Thai travellers...

 

Watana said the government order barring Thais overseas from returning until April 16 violated the human rights provision under the Constitution. As the health certificate is valid for only 72 hours, getting a new certificate will impose an additional cost burden on Thai travellers, he said.

5 hours ago, steveyinasia said:

If there was a ban on international flights, why did 5 international flights land yesterday before 9am?

Two from Frankfurt, one from Zurich, Tokyo and Doha

 

Because the media, the Thai diaspora and all TV stress monkeys have jumper all over the over-simplified, headline-grabbing 'all flights banned tag line where, if they bothered to read the small print in the government edict.

 

"According to the order, all aircraft carrying passengers will be prohibited from entering Thailand from 0.01am on April 4 until 11.59pm on April 6, with exception for state or military aircraft, emergency landing, technical landing of aircraft without passengers, humanitarian aid, medical and relief flights, repatriation flights and cargo aircraft."

 

In also understand that like other countries with flight restrictions, aircraft turnaround must be less than 3 hours and all crew are prohibited from disembarking, even for a p!ss.

 

https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30385405

Oh dear. Somebody didn't think something through properly.

 

How very unlike Thailand.

 

Still, I suppose there is some kind of unsought entertainment to be had by acknowledging that the people mainly suffering at the hands of a Thai foul-up, are fellow Thais.

 

Now there's a terrible thing

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 6, 20206 yr by ParkerN

5 hours ago, baansgr said:

BKK hospital clinic in Sattahip

The what hospital where now?

sudden changes? lol - these folks sound like these brain dead tourists that are still here..