Medical tourists would be among those who go directly to hospitals, where they would be quarantined and receive other medical treatment at the same time. So no visits to other places.

1 minute ago, CRUNCHER said:

Not included retirees is very unfair as many of us have committed to Thailand and are now ignored.

 

Even if included any insurance requirements would be a hard hit for those of us who are, to be polite, a bit long in the tooth. 

 

A little bit of pragmatic flexibility is required. I am in Thailand at the moment and do not need  to leave, but would like to take a couple of trips. That I can't get back in to my home is ridiculous. 

Just say your from China and you will get in easy...

1 hour ago, kingofthemountain said:

How can they dare to maintain China in the list of the ''safe'' countries

with the last events in Beijing ?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/19/anxiety-in-beijing-as-officials-battle-new-coronavirus-outbreak

 

This post sums it all up with no need on the speculation of "How can they"

                    Well as you can see

 

Hear No Evil     See No Evil  Speak No Evil

1 hour ago, Pattaya46 said:

Seriously?

Less than 200 cases in 10 days in Beijing...  (USA ~25'000 cases yesterday only!)

in a city of 20+ millions people...

in a country of ~1'400'000'000 people...

A lot of noise for very few cases well controlled... IMHO.

Let me also add that ... Anyone who are in Beijing and wants to leave (air / train / bus / car) - Need to have taken a C-19 test.  And must be 'green' on the health app - at the time of departure. The health app will turn yellow / red if you get close to the 'lock down location' .....

 

Just saying  .....

31 minutes ago, ChouDoufu said:

hah, as long as they keep out the norwegians and their contaminated salmon!

I still have 5 slices in the fridge ... You better watch out !! ????

 

15 minutes ago, bodga said:

Unless of  course they have already had a  weaker strain giving them some immunity?

Yes, this is my point, but it would expose an inconvenient lie - that there hasn't been a widespread epidemic in Thailand.

 

Personally I think most of us have already had this and it could well have been a much milder form of the disease that was probably circulating since about October 2019.

 

4 minutes ago, ukrules said:

Yes, this is my point, but it would expose an inconvenient lie - that there hasn't been a widespread epidemic in Thailand.

 

Personally I think most of us have already had this and it could well have been a much milder form of the disease that was probably circulating since about October 2019.

 

I'm with you on that. 

18 minutes ago, CRUNCHER said:

Not including retirees is very unfair as many of us have committed to Thailand and are now ignored.

 

Even if including any insurance requirements would be a hard hit for those of us who are, to be polite, a bit long in the tooth. 

 

A little bit of pragmatic flexibility is required. I am in Thailand at the moment and do not need  to leave, but would like to take a couple of trips. That I can't get back in to my home is ridiculous. 

I'm afraid Government policy isn't based on individual preferences.

1 hour ago, Traubert said:

No-one asked you to believe them if you're so Sino-phobic, just the people who matter.

Yes, because I distrust what a Communist/authoritarian government (and pointing out the Chinese government in general) has to say about so called facts, I must be Sino-Phobic.

 

Good luck ever finding me say/type anything bad about Taiwan (aka Republic of China), apart from their recent stupidity of allowing Mainland communists to agitate and infiltrate their society/parties.

 

Sometimes I wonder, if it wouldn't be easier to live in a World of black & white, rather than in one of black, white, shades of gray....

4 minutes ago, FarangULong said:

Yes, because I distrust what a Communist/authoritarian government (and pointing out the Chinese government in general) has to say about so called facts, I must be Sino-Phobic.

 

Good luck ever finding me say/type anything bad about Taiwan (aka Republic of China), apart from their recent stupidity of allowing Mainland communists to agitate and infiltrate their society/parties.

 

Sometimes I wonder, if it wouldn't be easier to live in a World of black & white, rather than in one of black, white, shades of gray....

No matter, the Thai Government will make the decision without reference to  your good self.

 

Or Taiwan.

 

 

1 hour ago, ukrules said:

Another wave of infections imported from China along with the associated lockdown is heading our way.

 

Everyone will then know who to blame, where it came from and specifically who let it happen.

 

 

You're giving way too much credit to average people. Let me put it this way: Think about how stupid you think average people are. If you now half their intelligence, you're much closer to the truth.

 

People will "know"/believe, whatever the media tells them to believe. Rest assured the Thai government will most likely NOT point the finger at the Chinese, for multiple reasons.

 

The first and foremost, which comes to (my) mind: If they blame the Chinese, by extension they blame themselves, as they are/were praising China's "efforts to contain COVID", AND they allowed them in and out.

 

Also the Thai economy (and thus tax income -> government budget) must be hurting, so it wouldn't surprise me if the Chinese are pumping money into the Thai (and other countries of potential geo-strategic/regional strategic interest to them) government. I can't prove this of course, but it's something I suspect.

 

Even if I am wrong, which is very possible, there's still the "if we admit it was the Chinese, by default we admit we are also at fault/we were wrong" angle.

1 hour ago, bbi1 said:

 

4. Medical and wellness tourists (around 30,000 have registered).

 

What the hell is a "wellness tourist"?

Some people come to Thailand for cheap but quality dental work, for example. When I was in Bangkok last time, I saw lots and lots of medical/doctor's offices all over the place (especially near big malls like Terminal21, Paragon, Siam, etc.), advertising in English and other languages. Others come for cosmetic surgery.

With the limited quarantine rooms available, it will take months for these groups to enter.

1 hour ago, bbi1 said:

I think you mean Australia, not Austria. Austria had at least double of what Australia has had as infected.

True, but compared to many of the other European countries, we did fairly well.

 

Australia is very large and doesn't have a big population. Aussies are what? 25 something million? Austria has ~9 million (a bit less) in an area slightly larger than Bavaria. Per capita we did better than Germany. FAR better than Britain, Italy, etc.

 

The EU has a larger population than the US (512 million vs 328 million) in an area about 6,5 times as big as Texas... Or, in other words, Australia is about 1,7 times bigger than the whole EU, but has less than 5% of it's population.

 

Population density plays a large role, with infectious diseases.

7 minutes ago, FarangULong said:

Some people come to Thailand for cheap but quality dental work, for example. When I was in Bangkok last time, I saw lots and lots of medical/doctor's offices all over the place (especially near big malls like Terminal21, Paragon, Siam, etc.), advertising in English and other languages. Others come for cosmetic surgery.

On another online paper BP, it says quarantined the whole time apart from during medical procedures and then exit the country.

 

Wellness tourist looks to be a loophole, but with stacks of entry/exits stamps in my passport I think the Thai embassy in London will know the "wellness" that I have been using lol.

7 minutes ago, stubuzz said:

With the limited quarantine rooms available, it will take months for these groups to enter.

Didn't you read that the second group "comprises travellers who won’t need to go into quarantine on entry" ?

2 minutes ago, tribalfusion001 said:

On another online paper BP, it says quarantined the whole time apart from during medical procedures and then exit the country.

 

Wellness tourist looks to be a loophole, but with stacks of entry/exits stamps in my passport I think the Thai embassy in London will know the "wellness" that I have been using lol.

Ahaha, yeah. I forgot to say Spas etc. but that's not the kind of wellness I was enjoying either. The one I (and I suspect you, too) am talking about, usually starts with a sales pitch like: "oo00o u so han-suuuuuum. u wan have drink?" ????

17 minutes ago, FarangULong said:

Some people come to Thailand for cheap but quality dental work, for example. When I was in Bangkok last time, I saw lots and lots of medical/doctor's offices all over the place (especially near big malls like Terminal21, Paragon, Siam, etc.), advertising in English and other languages. Others come for cosmetic surgery.

Pretty much the 3rd or 4th floors of most malls have medical treatment centers.  They can treat your Acne, your excess fat, they have estheticians, facial peel centers, dental offices, teeth whitening, you name it they have it and have had it for years.  Breast Augmentation, Nose alteration and cosmetic surgery centers are also big in the Phuket Area where you can go have your life changing surgery and recover by lounging in a tropical paradise.  Not my words but those used by the surgical centers themselves.  It has been a huge market for years.

1 hour ago, ChouDoufu said:

have those successful european countries closed the borders to the less successful european countries?

 

no point in allowing austrians to travel to thailand, if the austrians allow italians entry into austria.

Yes, we did. Schengen etc. was "suspended". They are talking now about allowing tourists in, but not sure where from. Probably Germans, as afaik they're the biggest % of tourists (and unlike these Chinese travel groups actually spend their money here also, rather than pre-pay at home). Italians, I sincerely hope not.

41 minutes ago, JCP108 said:

I'm with you on that. 

Have you been tested to see if you are infected or had the antibody test?

15 minutes ago, tribalfusion001 said:

On another online paper BP, it says quarantined the whole time apart from during medical procedures and then exit the country.

 

Wellness tourist looks to be a loophole, but with stacks of entry/exits stamps in my passport I think the Thai embassy in London will know the "wellness" that I have been using lol.

Lol you know me by now, trying and trying to find something lol.

 

How would you approach this? Call your local embassy and try to get a visa based on you seeking wellness in Thailand?

when they let the chinese in at least require them to queue at stand alone (LOL) china passport immigration booths preferably in separate area.

should have happened pre covid 19 to ease congestion for others. 

8 minutes ago, reallyaffiliated said:

Lol you know me by now, trying and trying to find something lol.

 

How would you approach this? Call your local embassy and try to get a visa based on you seeking wellness in Thailand?

I was joking, I doubt farangs with a history of hanging around in Thailand for months will be the type of wellness tourists they are looking at.

2 hours ago, JCP108 said:

"...which are presently trying to contain the virus."

 

The other countries aren't? This is the weakest possible explanation. 

 

I now invite those who scoffed at me when I formerly predicted that we were headed to a situation in which Chinese arrivals would not be asked to quarantine but we would to please retract your scoffing. I'll wait. 

I believe many posters also predicted that Chinese tourists would not be quarantined.

24 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

Didn't you read that the second group "comprises travellers who won’t need to go into quarantine on entry" ?

I was referring to the 54,000 people in the first group.

Maybe some color blind cannot see the extended comment about those not requiring quarantine "but with stringent restrictions".  Let's see what those restrictions are before thinking the flood gates will be wide open.

This way these Chinese will be given another unfair head-start at the shrimp buffet restaurants.

We will be left with scraps !

@reallyaffiliatedI remember talking to you a few weeks ago. The good news you got for birthday doesn’t seem so good now ? ????

 

I think you and I have been spending our days the same way. Wake up , check TVF , google Asian countries entry requirements , google flights , watch Thaiger news etc.

 

Last night was the first time I felt truly hopeless. My back up , my back up , back up plan is it out the window and at the moment I have don’t have any thing other than to wait for good news. I think this may well and truly be out of our hands now. 
 

 

I thought they wanted to open the borders gradually.

These 3 countries alone have 1.6 billion people.

Maybe TAT can still meet its targets with a good year end rally.

17 minutes ago, HerbyJFlash said:

@reallyaffiliatedI remember talking to you a few weeks ago. The good news you got for birthday doesn’t seem so good now ? ????

 

I think you and I have been spending our days the same way. Wake up , check TVF , google Asian countries entry requirements , google flights , watch Thaiger news etc.

 

Last night was the first time I felt truly hopeless. My back up , my back up , back up plan is it out the window and at the moment I have don’t have any thing other than to wait for good news. I think this may well and truly be out of our hands now. 
 

 

Yeah man.. Really sucks. I might have an option now to get a work permit through a friend of my GF her company. They are seeking English speaking foreigners with translating help. It's basically them translating and then me correcting the grammar. Will only be a few hours a week. Hopefully They will be able to get a me work permit now during the pandamic.