Extension of temporary ban on all international flights to Thailand until 30 June 2020

[DrJack54]

7 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

Can anyone explain the logic behind putting close to half this country out of work and causing untold hardship

So how would have handled it, oh wise one.

Short road map would be interesting.

[ThailandRyan]

11 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

Can anyone explain the logic behind putting close to half this country out of work and causing untold hardship, possibly even bankrupting the country and causing numerous suicides, all because since the beginning of the year there have been a number of suspected virus deaths equating to less than half a person per day ? Fifty one people as against approximately 8,000 dying in road accidents over the same period, it just doesn,t make sense to me ????

I wish there was an easy answer.  However, the rest of the world has done the same exact <deleted>...

[uhuh]

8 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

Can anyone explain the logic behind putting close to half this country out of work and causing untold hardship, possibly even bankrupting the country and causing numerous suicides, all because since the beginning of the year there have been a number of suspected virus deaths equating to less than half a person per day ? Fifty one people as against approximately 8,000 dying in road accidents over the same period, it just doesn,t make sense to me ????

Good morning!

To understand the logic read any newspaper from any country of the world. 

Especially read up on New York or Guayaquil or Manaus or Bergamo.

Or watch some YouTube videos about Guayaquil.

[Tropposurfer]

On 5/16/2020 at 8:09 PM, tribalfusion001 said:

And probably an admission that their healthcare system will not be able to cope with a large outbreak

Ahhh, no health system could cope with a large outbreak.

[Berti]

1 hour ago, uhuh said:

Good morning!

To understand the logic read any newspaper from any country of the world. 

Especially read up on New York or Guayaquil or Manaus or Bergamo.

Or watch some YouTube videos about Guayaquil.

I think the answer is somewhere in between.

What are the ways the virus spreads the most and how can you avoid it without destroying the whole economy. Just to close everything is not an intelligent answer.

 

Regarding incoming flights all governments in this world should look for intelligent answers. Just to ban all flights is not an intelligent answer.

 

 

[uhuh]

50 minutes ago, Berti said:

I think the answer is somewhere in between.

What are the ways the virus spreads the most and how can you avoid it without destroying the whole economy. Just to close everything is not an intelligent answer.

 

Regarding incoming flights all governments in this world should look for intelligent answers. Just to ban all flights is not an intelligent answer.

 

 

Taiwan hasn't closed down much. 

They closed spectator sports and later brothels.

Schools, shops, offices, factories never closed. 

A lot of people work from home.  

Masks are commonplace, manufactured and distributed under government supervision. Students wear masks in class. 

No tourists can enter,  Taiwanese and resident foreigners can enter (14 days home quarantine).

 

Taiwan is the first sizeable country (24 million people) that has eradicated the virus.

 

2 things in Taiwan are different from US/UK:

Taiwanese fear the virus,  but "we trust our government".

US/UK seems to be the other way round. 

Edited May 17, 2020 by uhuh

[Adelphi]

Long article in Financial Times (UK Edition 16 May) by their Bangkok Bureau Chief regarding Thailand restarting its tourism industry.  Can't post a link as it is subscription.  Based on what sounded like informed sources the Thai government has a 3 stage plan.  1 - get domestic tourism started.  2 - within a few months open up to other Asian nations who have the virus under control which includes China.  3- towards the end of the year open up to Europe and North America.  No mention of having to quarantine on arrival. We will see.  

Edited May 17, 2020 by Adelphi

[uhuh]

41 minutes ago, Adelphi said:

Long article in Financial Times (UK Edition 16 May) by their Bangkok Bureau Chief regarding Thailand restarting its tourism industry.  Can't post a link as it is subscription.  Based on what sounded like informed sources the Thai government has a 3 stage plan.  1 - get domestic tourism started.  2 - within a few months open up to other Asian nations who have the virus under control which includes China.  3- towards the end of the year open up to Europe and North America.  No mention of having to quarantine on arrival. We will see.  

Mostly,  the article describes 5-star tourism and how they are going to keep their (rich) customers safe by less human contact, effectively social distancing. 

It's not about how they might want to keep the Thai populace safe from infected Westerners (that's what's quarantine is for).

How they will handle the plebs (backpackers, Chinese masses and Pattaya farang) remains to be seen. 

Edited May 17, 2020 by uhuh

[kiwikeith]

On 5/17/2020 at 1:17 AM, champers said:

I agree. Subject to new infections and deaths remaining low, I think pressure will be brought to bear on the Government from big business interests who are shouldering the burden for helping the poor whilst the Government has spurned the chance to do likewise. Revenues need to be generated from selected foreign visitors.

If stupidity rules and the gates are opened, bye bye tourism. The whole of Europe is rife with the C19 and if you believe China has cleansed their population as Thailand says it has this under control then your either looking at an divine intervention at best, or a disaster in the making. 

 

[Jumbo1968]

My Thai partner and son are with me in the U.K. she is on a Visitor Visa, I sponsored her. My son has a U.K. and Thai passport, would they both be entitled to apply for repatriation back to Thailand and if they were who would be responsible for the fareS ?

i appreciate currently if they did return they would be placedIn quarantine for 14 days.

[thainet]

20 minutes ago, Jumbo1968 said:

My Thai partner and son are with me in the U.K. she is on a Visitor Visa, I sponsored her. My son has a U.K. and Thai passport, would they both be entitled to apply for repatriation back to Thailand and if they were who would be responsible for the fareS ?

i appreciate currently if they did return they would be placedIn quarantine for 14 days.

Firstly, yes they are both eligible. As for the airfare..that's a good question, as I don't think anybody on TV has addressed that yet. As for the 14 days quarantine, I believe that is covered 100% by the government for Thai citizens (unless they are allowed to quarantine at home, but unlikely). So a good start to your post I think. Good luck.

[ThailandRyan]

2 hours ago, Adelphi said:

Long article in Financial Times (UK Edition 16 May) by their Bangkok Bureau Chief regarding Thailand restarting its tourism industry.  Can't post a link as it is subscription.  Based on what sounded like informed sources the Thai government has a 3 stage plan.  1 - get domestic tourism started.  2 - within a few months open up to other Asian nations who have the virus under control which includes China.  3- towards the end of the year open up to Europe and North America.  No mention of having to quarantine on arrival. We will see.  

You could see that already by the way the government has been doing things already. Yesterday malls reopened. Rumors and denials abouund.  Good luck to us all here in Thailand.  Let's hope the folks who are stuck outside can get to their families sooner rather than later.

[torturedsole]

36 minutes ago, thainet said:

Firstly, yes they are both eligible. As for the airfare..that's a good question, as I don't think anybody on TV has addressed that yet. As for the 14 days quarantine, I believe that is covered 100% by the government for Thai citizens (unless they are allowed to quarantine at home, but unlikely). So a good start to your post I think. Good luck.

I can address the airfare aspect.  You pay for your flights just like any other time and they're not going to be cheap.  

[Jumbo1968]

Just now, torturedsole said:

I can address the airfare aspect.  You pay for your flights just like any other time and they're not going to be cheap.  

I did look the other week, single £2500 !! we have vouchers from B.A. but currently they are not flying

[SVC Porter]

1 hour ago, Jumbo1968 said:

I did look the other week, single £2500 !! we have vouchers from B.A. but currently they are not flying

When are you wishing to fly? Qatar, Turkish and Cathay all have flights approx £400 one way in Aug...possibly July also.  I'm looking at Ex Dublin though.

[sahibji]

i doubt  it will be possible to start incoming international flights by end june as the covid19 situation is still not in control in overseas destinations.

[StevieAus]

On 5/16/2020 at 7:56 PM, BritTim said:

I do not find this announcement surprising. Perhaps, in the July to August time frame, limited services might be allowed from selected countries. We shall see, 

Qatar cancelled my return bookings to the UK two weeks ago leaving late August returning September.

That airline obviously isn’t expecting a return to normality anytime soon.

[Moo 2]

Thailand will get visitors from China but July and August it's holiday time for the French and they just have

been told they can only fly on French territory and its Islands, so they will miss out on Thailand.

Let's hope other countries won't follow that French idea.

It's good News for the Frogs!

[cornishcarlos]

1 minute ago, Moo 2 said:

Thailand will get visitors from China but July and August it's holiday time for the French and they just have

been told they can only fly on French territory and its Islands, so they will miss out on Thailand.

Let's hope other countries won't follow that French idea.

It's good News for the Frogs!

 

That would suck for the Brits... Gibraltar or the Falklands ????

[cheapcanuck]

I've booked an exit flight out of Thailand for mid June. I'm just concered with getting out of dodge and back to Canada. Just so long Thailand allows deadhead fights into the country I'm good with the June 30th ban for tourists arriving. 

[zzzzz]

1 minute ago, cheapcanuck said:

I've booked an exit flight out of Thailand for mid June. I'm just concered with getting out of dodge and back to Canada. Just so long Thailand allows deadhead fights into the country I'm good with the June 30th ban for tourists arriving. 

but airports are closed in June...

except for a select few people and repatriation flights 

 

Edited May 18, 2020 by zzzzz

[ubonjoe]

23 minutes ago, zzzzz said:

but airports are closed in June...

The airports are open. But there will not be any passengers allowed to disembark on the flights that do arrive unless the are repatriation flights. People can still leave the country on flights that do arrive.

[JackThompson]

12 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

So how would have handled it, oh wise one.

Short road map would be interesting.

Politically, is the issue of every death being blamed on govt if they don't "go along" with the WHO's "shut it down" plan.  That aside, with data from March showing what demographics are affected:

• All those in affected demographics encouraged to shelter in-place, and govt-financial support if they cannot work (~80% of salary paid, up to 2x median Thai salary)
• All not-affected continue life as before + masks
• Large group gatherings (stadium-events, large street markets) which bring people from large geographic areas together temporarily-stopped, to "flatten the curve" - purely for medical-system capacity issues  This could be adjusted to smaller groups, when/if hospitals were to get admittances above a specified threshold.
   

On foreigners - test on arrival as testing-systems become available.  Allow as many in as can be tested, first allowing all Thais to come home tomorrow (put up in the empty hotels until tested).  Re-test after 7-days if tourists stay that long.

Edited May 18, 2020 by JackThompson

[PingRoundTheWorld]

4 hours ago, sahibji said:

i doubt  it will be possible to start incoming international flights by end june as the covid19 situation is still not in control in overseas destinations.

Not entirely correct. China is "under control" - at least officially. Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam are all under control. Between these countries and China that's half the tourism market already. It's very likely regional agreements will happen before opening to the rest of the world. I honestly thought it would happen in June - still not convinced it won't - but we'll see.

[RPCVguy]

This certainly involves more than just passenger travel. Mail since early March between Thailand and a number of countries is affected.

I (and any fellow American retirees) have annual SSA forms mailed from the USA that may not either make it to me in a timely manner, let alone be able to mail back in their required 60-day turnaround window.
People need to consider proactively contacting SSA (and other agencies) that have such snail-mail requirements and let them know what's up. I'm mailing a copy of my 2019 form back with a cover letter announcing my current status and intention to comply whenever their snail mail form reaches me.

[Accidental Tourist]

The true's is that none can predict the outcome of precociousness matters for sure. Actions taken now will show some results only in two to four weeks time.

I am still stuck in Thailand as my company, which is dealing with local and international tourist in the EU prolong the openings every so week; there is't two days the same.

[Yorkshire Tea]

3 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

That would suck for the Brits... Gibraltar or the Falklands ????

Nowt wrong with caravan sites at Skegness ????

[Axios226]

3 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

The airports are open. But there will not be any passengers allowed to disembark on the flights that do arrive unless the are repatriation flights. People can still leave the country on flights that do arrive.

The problem is having enough passengers on the outbound flight to warrant an airline to send an empty plane to Thailand. I'm in the situation where my family and I are moving back to the states and have had to rebook 5 times due to the airline cancelling. We have been attributing it all to the fact that most people have already left and there aren't enough passengers to warrant an empty plane to come here to pick people up. fingers crossed June 3rd isn't cancelled!!!

[Lee4Life]

On 5/16/2020 at 8:50 PM, ThailandRyan said:

My Flights out on Delta were not canceled just date changed and re-routed, but why fly to the US when I can not return 2 weeks later like I was suppose to do...At least I have Delta E-credits good until September 2022

Your flights out on Delta are probably actually on Korean Air, a flight share partner of Delta. They still seem to be operating limited flights out of BKK to Seoul. They must be coming in empty, or maybe bring Thai Nationals or cargo and then picking up International departures.

               Your right, why leave if you can't return? (unless you figure a vaccine might be available back home before here)

[Markus Rider]

How comes that at the moment there are still several international flights every day to Suvarnabhumi? From Frankfurt, Tokyo, Muscat, Seoul etc.... Does somebody know?