1st May reopen?

[newnative]

5 minutes ago, treetops said:

Obviously there are well off ones that do exactly what you say, but I think the majority ones Henryford meant were the tours whose payment for accommodation, food, shows, transport etc goes primarily in Chinese pockets.  It keeps some waitresses and hotel maids in jobs, but in a disproportionately low amount given their numbers.

    Well-off, independent tourists are certainly important but it's just not true that the so-called zero-dollar tourists contribute little.  Just look at your post.  '...payment for accommodation, food, shows, transport etc...'.  All those budget tourists are keeping many more than just waitresses and hotel maids in jobs.   And, not all the money is going into Chinese pockets. 

    Even if a tourist doesn't spend a penny out of pocket during his visit, he is contributing to keeping people employed from the moment he steps off the plane--pilots, flight attendants, all the thousands of airport employees, bus drivers, tour boat drivers, hotel desk staff, maids, laundry workers, maintenance workers, pool cleaners, food vendors, gardeners, delivery workers, restaurant staff, and entertainment workers, among thousands of others.

     When all these tourist-related people are working, they in turn have money to buy food from the vendors and markets, get haircuts, buy motorcycles, feed and clothe their children, pay their rent, etc.  Then, the beautician and everyone else can also eat that day and pay their rent.  And, so it goes, round and round and round.

     Until it comes crashing to a halt.  If nothing else, the virus has shown the importance of these mistakenly named zero-dollar tourists.  Think back to the time when the China budget tours were halted but other tourist travel was still allowed.  If you were in Pattaya at that time then it was very easy to see the big difference these tourists make.

    

[UbonThani]

2 hours ago, Chivas said:

What planet are you on here !

Fella open your eyes theres a MASSIVE worldwide pandemic occuring. Nothing will remotely be the same ever again.

The UK is expected to drop a third of our GDP this is not just Thailand !  Tourists wont be coming in free of ALL restrictions probably for 2 years (if we're lucky)

 

Nothing is ever going to be the same again with now the timelines for vaccines put back sadly to 18 months

Forget whatever we had before. 95% is and will be gone

rubbish. What planet are you on? Roads kill 1.25m a year. No panic.

 

 

[UbonThani]

Just now, UbonThani said:

Nothing is ever going to be the same again

bs. People will move on to the next panic led by big pharma or climate loonies or whoever.

 

18m heart disease deaths no action 5555

[treetops]

2 minutes ago, newnative said:

And, not all the money is going into Chinese pockets.

I didn't say all, but most of it does.  The hotel owners, bus company owners, restaurant owners (big ticket items) are predominately Chinese.  I mentioned the more menial tasks, you've just given a longer list, but it remains that the low spending tour groups are a scourge on Thailand's tourism scene they would be better off without.  The difference they make is to ensure crowded fume filled streets, a beach front you could not walk along and hotel buffets like a scene from a farmyard.  No thanks.

[Jingthing]

On 4/15/2020 at 10:13 PM, Chivas said:

Absolute certainty for at least 1 year

A long time for sure but it's too early to make specific predictions. Instead of bans or required quarantines upon arrival I can imagine a new travel testing specialty where people test shortly before travel and get a certificate saying -- previously infected and recovered likely immune now / clear now, no previous infection. Is that 100 percent? No, but it's over 99 percent better than temperature checks! This type of testing and travel certification doesn't exist now but something like it seems to me to be in the realm of possibilities before a year. Then countries that are dependent on tourism can make their own choices about whether that's good enough for them until there is a vaccine. 

[Jingthing]

On 4/15/2020 at 5:01 AM, cubism001 said:

Air travel in from US?  Much appreciate no jeers, sneers, jokes, but any mention of letting a Yank in.  Thanks.

Don't hold your breath on that but if you've got the Big 19 you might not have a breath. 

[treetops]

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

This type of testing and travel certification doesn't exist now but something like it seems to me to be in the realm of possibilities before a year.

Emirates implemented this type of testing on a flight to Tunisia yesterday.  I'm sure there'll still be lots to iron out on the test itself and the logistics, but it may be closer than we think.

[Jingthing]

On 4/15/2020 at 4:38 PM, brokenbone said:

im just happy it coincided with songkran, be grateful for that

Curb your enthusiasm. Word is they're consider doing that later in the year. I doubt that they will and I strongly oppose it. It's both absurd to not hold it on the actual date (Happy new year? Really?) and also not worth the risk. But that's under threat anyway.

[Jingthing]

3 minutes ago, treetops said:

Emirates implemented this type of testing on a flight to Tunisia yesterday.  I'm sure there'll still be lots to iron out on the test itself and the logistics, but it may be closer than we think.

Quick testing is under development from multiple companies but I'm thinking of something more formalized and organized specifically for international travel. Of course it wouldn't need to be that organized but I think it would be helpful for there to be agreed upon international standards. Accuracy of the tests is an issue so quality control could be better controlled if more organized. I'd be surprised if people in the airline industry aren't thinking about this already. 

Edited April 17, 2020 by Jingthing

[newnative]

1 hour ago, treetops said:

I didn't say all, but most of it does.  The hotel owners, bus company owners, restaurant owners (big ticket items) are predominately Chinese.  I mentioned the more menial tasks, you've just given a longer list, but it remains that the low spending tour groups are a scourge on Thailand's tourism scene they would be better off without.  The difference they make is to ensure crowded fume filled streets, a beach front you could not walk along and hotel buffets like a scene from a farmyard.  No thanks.

   Yes, the owners make more money.  That's true the world over.  The restaurant or hotel owner in Siem Reap--or anywhere else--is likely making more money than the wait staff and the cleaning staff.  No news there.  That doesn't, however, mean that all those thousands of lesser-paid jobs are not important to the local economy.  They are--and the evidence is clear to see right now.   I'm not debating whether Pattaya or Venice or Siem Reap or wherever else would be 'better off without' the budget tourists; I'm merely taking issue with the notion that they contribute little to the local economy.  

[Leaver]

3 hours ago, newnative said:

payment for accommodation, food, shows, transport etc...'.  All those budget tourists are keeping many more than just waitresses and hotel maids in jobs.   And, not all the money is going into Chinese pockets. 

All those jobs are 300 baht a day, some of which, gets sent to Issan.  Very little of it is ijected into the Pattaya economy.  Not to mention, the illegal cheaper labor, like Burmese, Khumer, and Vietnamese.  

 

Then, when the Chinese companies own the hotels, restaurants, bars, buses, boats etc, that the tour groups are taken to, where do you think that money goes?  

 

3 hours ago, newnative said:

Even if a tourist doesn't spend a penny out of pocket during his visit, he is contributing to keeping people employed from the moment he steps off the plane-

True, but once again, that employment is mostly low paid labor work.  

 

3 hours ago, newnative said:

pilots, flight attendants, all the thousands of airport employees, bus drivers, tour boat drivers, hotel desk staff, maids, laundry workers, maintenance workers, pool cleaners, food vendors, gardeners, delivery workers, restaurant staff, and entertainment workers, among thousands of others.

 

China Eastern and China Southern - Chinese pilot, paid in China.  

 

The rest of the workers you mention are low paid, many of whom send money back to Issan.  Pattaya's economy see very little of it.  

 

3 hours ago, newnative said:

When all these tourist-related people are working, they in turn have money to buy food from the vendors and markets,

Yes, 30 baht for some noodle soup.  

 

3 hours ago, newnative said:

If nothing else, the virus has shown the importance of these mistakenly named zero-dollar tourists. 

I agree they create a lot of employment, and that is being sorely missed now, but the profits remain in China, or a repatriated back to China.

 

A Chinese tour operator even built a fake Thai temple to take the tour groups to.  It was reported on TV.  That's the "zero baht tourism" Thailand is dealing with. 

 

 

[Sheryl]

On 4/15/2020 at 5:01 AM, cubism001 said:

Air travel in from US?  Much appreciate no jeers, sneers, jokes, but any mention of letting a Yank in.  Thanks.

 

I think that is still quite some way in the future...especially given the continue rate of infection in the US.

 

Will relax some internal restrictions first. IF that goes well may ll start letting in foreigners from places where the infection is under control, but it will be quite a while before that includes the USA I'm afraid.

 

And likely quarantine requirements on all people coming in from abroad, Thai and foreign, for a while yet.

[richard_smith237]

8 minutes ago, UbonThani said:

truth is crackpot?

heart disease will kill 100m next 5 yrs

 

no panic

 

amazing really

 

You have a choice about what you eat, how you exercise and live your life. 

The spread of Covid-19 is indiscriminate. 

 

Amazing really that some people are using the flawed, illogical and unintelligent comparisons. 

 

That is not to detract from the seriousness of Heart Disease and the necessity for greater education, the same could be said of road deaths or any other preventable causes of death.

The same could be said of Influenza, a virus for which we have vaccinations and have researched for years. Imagine the spread and death rate without a vaccine. 

 

These well established causes of disease are not comparable to a new (Novel) virus in its infancy, the true impact of which is as yet unknown. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 17, 2020 by richard_smith237

[CharlieH]

Reported flame post and response removed.

[richard_smith237]

7 hours ago, Jingthing said:

7 hours ago, treetops said:

Emirates implemented this type of testing on a flight to Tunisia yesterday.  I'm sure there'll still be lots to iron out on the test itself and the logistics, but it may be closer than we think.

Quick testing is under development from multiple companies but I'm thinking of something more formalized and organized specifically for international travel. Of course it wouldn't need to be that organized but I think it would be helpful for there to be agreed upon international standards. Accuracy of the tests is an issue so quality control could be better controlled if more organized. I'd be surprised if people in the airline industry aren't thinking about this already. 

I flew into the UK on an Emirates flight last week - No tests.

 

No tests whatsoever were carried out.

We walked through a Thermal Scanner prior to check in (in Dubai) and that was it. 

We did have to wear gloves and a mask. 

Upon entry to the UK I don’t recall any Thermal Scanner. 

 

Testing is clearly necessary, if the tests are accurate and not invasive. 

 

 

[treetops]

20 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

I flew into the UK on an Emirates flight last week - No tests.

The Tunisia flight was the first (and maybe only one for a while) and probably more a publicity stunt, so no surprise a flight to the UK last week wasn't subject to it.

[sucit]

People in the middle of everything huge through history have thought "nothing will ever be the same again". Yet, it does go back to the same, every time. 

 

People are going to have to face the hard truth sooner or later that bad news is good, for the long term. New York for example is going to be the best off in a years time, because they have been through it. Start working it through your brain that wherever you are, you are probably going to have to go through a bad time. This is like making enemies with the mob, you are not going to hide your way out of it. You are simply going to have to face the music sooner or later. Of course there could be a vaccine but the top guys who don't feed us pig vomit are saying that could take ten years. 

[LongTimeLurker]

There's an immigration amnesty on visa renewals and 90 day reports until 30 April.

 

But what happens if it's business as usual after that and you are expected to show up at Immigration?

 

Are they really prepared for 1,000+ Farangs all turning up to do their business on 4 May???

[treetops]

1 hour ago, LongTimeLurker said:

There's an immigration amnesty on visa renewals and 90 day reports until 30 April.

 

But what happens if it's business as usual after that and you are expected to show up at Immigration?

 

Are they really prepared for 1,000+ Farangs all turning up to do their business on 4 May???

They have said there will be a "specified period" to renew/report so it's likely there will be no need for 1,000+ people on the Monday morning.

[topt]

1 hour ago, treetops said:

They have said there will be a "specified period" to renew/report so it's likely there will be no need for 1,000+ people on the Monday morning.

Will they even be open as 1st, 4th and 6th are holidays?

[treetops]

2 minutes ago, topt said:

Will they even be open as 1st, 4th and 6th are holidays?

No idea, just the post I responded to said the 4th May which is the Monday.

[jacko45k]

16 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said:

There's an immigration amnesty on visa renewals and 90 day reports until 30 April.

 

But what happens if it's business as usual after that and you are expected to show up at Immigration?

 

Are they really prepared for 1,000+ Farangs all turning up to do their business on 4 May???

Fear mongering, it appears extremely likely the April 30th date will be extended out. 

[SidJames]

With the national airline now being shut down until July it would appear we are here for the longhaul so they must make announcement very soon about visa extensions.

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1160510-thai-airways-cancels-international-flights-until-1st-july/

 

[kinyara]

Current visa situation extended out to 30th July

[LongTimeLurker]

5 hours ago, kinyara said:

Current visa situation extended out to 30th July

Just saw that today.

 

And that "everything will be done for you automatically" whatever that means?

 

Begs the question if they can do it automatically then why not do that all the time?

[Leaver]

On 4/22/2020 at 4:08 PM, LongTimeLurker said:

Begs the question if they can do it automatically then why not do that all the time?

Probably because immigration officers own all the photocopy shops in Thailand.  ????