1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

Geezus. Glad I'm not stuck out..

Feel bad for guys stuck outside.

 

Oh. Glad I'm not stuck in. Feel bad for anyone stuck in a foreign country ????

 

Was easy to convince my wife to come to Europe instead as there is no way I will fly to Thailand until the borders are opened again. Perhaps September, perhaps not.. Maybe next year better :)

 

 

25 minutes ago, JCP108 said:

Your lack of insight is stunning. Some of us have family here and elsewhere and competing needs. 

So needs elsewhere took priority over those in Thailand.

 

Everyone that left Thailand in February and March knew there was a risk that they wouldn't be able to come back. 

 

Those on longer term visas were likely very aware of the situation and chose to leave.

 

Personally, if it were me, I would have chose to forego work and stayed with my family but others made different choices. 

 

Thai Ministry of Public Health and Centre for Disease Control was very communicative since mid-Feb and was already stopping travel to and from high risk countries back then.

 

The choice to leave now looks like a very bad one indeed for those that cannot now return.

15 minutes ago, verticalift said:

Employed as a Helicopter Pilot flying to the offshore rigs in Abu Dhabi, I’ve been unable to get back home to Phuket since early March... despite having a 10yr O-X VISA, Thai I.D. Card and Yellow Book Tambian Baan with my name in it. None of it matters. If I can get back home to Phuket in October, great. I’ll submit my resignation here in Abu Dhabi and burn my suitcases. Int’l travel for the next 5 yrs will be too painful.

Why did you choose to go back to work in the middle of a global pandemic in the first place?

 

Odd decision given the circumstances.

3 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

Everyone that left Thailand in February and March knew there was a risk that they wouldn't be able to come back. 

Not at all. I left Thailand in February and there was no indication then that I wouldn't be able to get back. At that time I fully expected to be able to get back in May which was my plan. Still, my wife and I are used to being apart for months at a time, so at the moment it isn't a big concern. I'm expecting now it will be Aug/Sept and that is OK in the circumstances.

26 minutes ago, spiekerjozef said:

They can come, there are just no flights.

Commercial flights arriving daily, from lot's of destinations across the globe. Plenty of flights to be had. Which this announcement even dumber, as flights never stopped... Options are a more limited than usual, and fares might be more expensive, but again, plenty of commercial flights arriving and departing daily.

1 hour ago, Misterwhisper said:

Perhaps I should consider renting a container on a freighter to visit my family back in the "old country to arrive right in time for Christmas.

I think you would be able to fill it with others

@mjnaus:

 

As a person on a retirement extension with a Thai wife but no WP, I can get on a flight from the U.S., maybe. How do I get through immigration when I arrive? My understanding is that is not currently possible. 

Edited June 20, 20206 yr by JCP108

4 minutes ago, mjnaus said:

Commercial flights arriving daily, from lot's of destinations across the globe. Plenty of flights to be had. Which this announcement even dumber, as flights never stopped... Options are a more limited than usual, and fares might be more expensive, but again, plenty of commercial flights arriving and departing daily.

Thanks for pointing this out. This is my observation as well, looking at BKK departures and arrivals. Whether you're allowed to board the sporadic international flights to Thailand is what matters. As I understand, you're allowed to enter Thailand if you hold a WP? Does anyone know?

2 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Geezus. Glad I'm not stuck out..

Feel bad for guys stuck outside.

 

What about those tourists that have been stuck in Thailand since March and can't get back home.

8 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

25 minutes ago, verticalift said:

Employed as a Helicopter Pilot flying to the offshore rigs in Abu Dhabi, I’ve been unable to get back home to Phuket since early March... despite having a 10yr O-X VISA, Thai I.D. Card and Yellow Book Tambian Baan with my name in it. None of it matters. If I can get back home to Phuket in October, great. I’ll submit my resignation here in Abu Dhabi and burn my suitcases. Int’l travel for the next 5 yrs will be too painful.

Why did you choose to go back to work in the middle of a global pandemic in the first place?

 

Odd decision given the circumstances.

Since the WHO itself didn't label this a 'global pandemic' until 11 March, maybe he... oh, YOU do the math, OK?

 

Other people who's choices appear to be based on 20/20 hindsight are similarly perplexed.

My flight is booked for Aug 11.....It'll be interesting to see if it actually happens.  Currently jumping through the 'must get your documents signed by absolutely every legal person in the world before submitting to Embassy to .....erm.....sign.  Embassy is currently shut in UK....or so they say.

 

Fun times

 

Just now, Rabbi said:

What about those tourists that have been stuck in Thailand since March and can't get back home.

I'm thinking that anyone currently in Thailand are not "stuck". 

Just one example, myself, could fly back to Oz if I wanted. 

3 minutes ago, Rabbi said:

What about those tourists that have been stuck in Thailand since March and can't get back home.

There have been plenty of repatriation flights for people who need to get home from Thailand, it just depends on where home is!  At least Thailand has an amnesty for people stuck here; my family have been stuck in Laos since 20 March and my son's Lao visa has to be extended every month and it's not free.

36 minutes ago, Keyser Soze666 said:

'competing needs' Lol, where you get that one from?

 

Yea yea blah blah..anyone who really wanted to come back had time. Spin it how you want but it's that simple.

In a way you are correct. First week of March I took a quick few days fun trip to the Philippines to hook up with my old friend arriving from the USA and then we got right back here fast before the borders closed. Then we had some fun in Pattaya and then came back to CM and in that moment of time the door was already starting to close shut. It wasn't like now you see it and then now you don't. The writing was clearly on the wall.

13 minutes ago, mjnaus said:

Commercial flights arriving daily, from lot's of destinations across the globe. Plenty of flights to be had. Which this announcement even dumber, as flights never stopped... Options are a more limited than usual, and fares might be more expensive, but again, plenty of commercial flights arriving and departing daily.

Oh, really? Plenty of them?

 

6 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

10 minutes ago, Rabbi said:

What about those tourists that have been stuck in Thailand since March and can't get back home.

I'm thinking that anyone currently in Thailand are not "stuck". 

Just one example, myself, could fly back to Oz if I wanted. 

But you're not a tourist, are you Doctor?

This is a disaster for me personally, as my partner/wife is stuck outside Thailand. I suppose we will just have to soldier on, but Thailand is not much fun without a partner.

Another stupid decision by a useless and brainless government 

If you want to restart tourism and economy you have to open the borders and airports and even then it will not be business as usual. For them probably not enough jobless and hungry Thais. 

This is what happens if you have soldiers running a country and no business minded people. Many Thais will already have tinked back to the good old days of Thaksin when the country was booming.

 

 

4 minutes ago, Keyser Soze666 said:

Yep, exactly. Everyone had time. Apparently I'm off with the fairies though.

No you're not spinning off on a lunatic tirade.. This was a preplanned trip I made meeting a friend in the PI and then to travel back here. The timing was still open and good to go, but I kept monitoring the situation several times a day before and while over there. I knew on the way back from the PI that it was getting to just anytime be at the cracking time. Then 2 weeks later the writing was severely on the wall and then a half a week after that around last week in March the door got slammed shut. In-between all that my friend was staying in a guest house having a good ole time with the online girls (bars were shut) and I was watching the airline prices shoot up. He barely got a ticket out of here on a different airlines as his airlines had already shut down. So if one had been watching, then one would have known the welcome door was going to be closed. I do sympathize with the people stuck out though. I would be going bonkers by now without my family.

2 hours ago, Keyser Soze666 said:

Pure speculation. We don't know for sure about 'guys' outside and each ones situation, do we.  If any are genuinely stuck, they had plenty of time to come back when it was obvious that the borders were going to be closed at some point, so why didn't they?? And please don't list a load of weak excuses, if they were that worried they would have come back, end of story,

Why r u such a hater Keyser? Give it up already !

1 hour ago, NanLaew said:

So you don't figure that many are "genuinely stuck"? When was it "obvious that the borders were going to be closed at some point"?

 

In Q1, I was working offshore Africa and then took a short UK vacation upon my demobilization. In early March, there was no evidence of any countries completely closing their borders, only limitations on, or scrutiny of flights and pax originating from China. I made it back into Thailand on 6 March but within 9 days (5 consular working days), Vietnam stopped issuing visas UNANNOUNCED and then closed their borders. Around 19 March, Thai embassies and consulates stopped issuing visas unless one had a Covid-19 health certificate UNANNOUNCED. They started closing borders around 23 March UNANNOUNCED and then zipped it all up when they called the SoE on 25 March UNANNOUNCED. In layman's terms, the stuff hit the fan in March and not a whole lot of warnings were issued by anyone.

 

The guys that took over offshore Africa included some guys from Thailand and they have become "genuinely stuck" on the vessel after it transited to work in the North Sea. Of course they were worried but they had work to do and food needed putting on the table. BTW, you can't just say "I want to go home now" and flag down a passing helicopter.

 

Right now, there's an estimated 450,000 mariners who are "genuinely stuck" on boats and ships all around the world because of border closures, quarantine regulations and lack of flights. In my particular industry, there's probably several hundred guys that have completed their assignments, have disembarked and are now holed up in a hotel in a country that may not have consular services for their home or chosen destination and have no easy flight options either.

Exactly mate but the bloke you are replying to is clearly a troll with no idea how the world or offshore works at all. Have not seen my wife and 2 daughters for 4 months and certainly didn't have plenty of time. In fact Thai airways cancelled all my flights and then just closed the border all in a very short time.

Edited June 20, 20206 yr by starky

1 hour ago, JCP108 said:

I got it from my own life. Read my post above. I have a wife here in Thailand and other family needs concurrently needing my attention in the U.S. It's not that hard to understand. 

Foresight should have been more important to you than “competing needs” especially March 25 to April 1 when it was extremely obvious you needed to make a big boy choice. Most did and a handful did not The handful is always LOUDER when they made the wrong choice. 

43 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

I'm thinking that anyone currently in Thailand are not "stuck". 

Just one example, myself, could fly back to Oz if I wanted. 

True; u could fly back to Oz. But u would be required to pay for a hotel for 14 days of quarantine. Even Aussie have to do this...makes sense to be careful not to allow things like this recent spike in Oz from continuing.

5 minutes ago, Keyser Soze666 said:

No idea what you are waffling on about to be honest. All I said was folk had ample time to get back if they really needed to, which I stand by.

I understand what you are saying. Don't worry about NanLaew, his rants are always the same being par for his course as his avatar is exactly what is shows him to be.

 

On another note I will add that the Thai government has taken the border closing and who they allow in way way too far being way too xenophobic with no compassion towards human beings who can prove they do live here.. But this is a military government and all they care about are themselves and their cronies. In my view they should have let all retiree who have a solid place to live, married to a Thai, have Thai children in instead of torturing them keeping them out. I fail to understand this brutality since the virus was well under control a long time ago here..

48 minutes ago, Rabbi said:

What about those tourists that have been stuck in Thailand since March and can't get back home.

They must have been in some silent retreat with no human contact, the  last week of March for sure. 

11 minutes ago, alex8912 said:

Foresight should have been more important to you than “competing needs” especially March 25 to April 1 when it was extremely obvious you needed to make a big boy choice. Most did and a handful did not The handful is always LOUDER when they made the wrong choice. 

My need to be back in the U.S. emerged in the middle of May. It wasn't a choice I was facing in the same way in March or April. 

Edited June 20, 20206 yr by JCP108

24 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Oooohhh.... where's the glib or facile emoticon when you really need it?!

It was just humor. But I wouldn't expect you to laugh as the sky is always falling.

such a strange statement... surely you should be trying to encourage the government to let you get business going again but he or she sounds like they're quite happy with that, when in most countries there aviation managers would be fuming. typical thai thinking hardly any customers he/she can sit about all day doing nothing.

Edited June 20, 20206 yr by paulikens

2 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

Will T A's proposed " rehabilitation " be affected by this .. very uncertain times for the Aviation industry full stop .. and for the tourist industry in Thailand who have been banking on some sort of restart judging by some of the statements being made .. 

first they will have to have agreements signed by the governments of any country they intend to fly to not to impound their planes for any creditors involved. Without this all flights will be one way until they run out of planes

1 hour ago, mjnaus said:

Commercial flights arriving daily, from lot's of destinations across the globe. Plenty of flights to be had. Which this announcement even dumber, as flights never stopped... Options are a more limited than usual, and fares might be more expensive, but again, plenty of commercial flights arriving and departing daily.

For delivery of goods, and Repatriated Thais, but no one else at this time.  You might want to research what you said.  Look up the CAAT website and see the restrictions and then the emergency decree.