Any Info On When Thai Elite Cardholders Will Be Allowed To Return?

[mjakob007]

1 hour ago, wasabi said:

I have an Elite visa but since I've fortuitously been in Thailand since December reentry doesn't concern me. I am happy with the visa but think this is a missed opportunity for Thailand and the Elite visa program. At a minimum they should've offered Elite visa holders the chance to come back and after a 14 day quarantine reenter Thailand. That would have boosted membership and kick started the so-called high end tourists they seek. Thailand sets lofty goals but often fails to take the necessary steps to achieve them. Through a combination of luck and skill they have successfully controlled the Covid pandemic. Why not keep the winning streak going by giving high end tourists a way to come back right now?

Bingo

 

trying to attract high end spenders..

but forgot elite visa holders who could have chosen to a cheaper visa.

 

this was an opportunity for TE to reposition thier service 

[ukrules]

49 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

 

Faster route out of the airport? The Thai Elite Card is for people who doesn't meet the requirements for a normal long stay visa/extension. It's a total waste of money. I prefer 5x ฿1,900 instead of 500,000. 

Many people under the age of 50 buy an Elite visa because for some arbitrary reason it's the only visa possible for them.

 

[richard_smith237]

14 minutes ago, ukrules said:

1 hour ago, Max69xl said:

 

Faster route out of the airport? The Thai Elite Card is for people who doesn't meet the requirements for a normal long stay visa/extension. It's a total waste of money. I prefer 5x ฿1,900 instead of 500,000. 

Many people under the age of 50 buy an Elite visa because for some arbitrary reason it's the only visa possible for them.

 

I bought the Elite Visa in my early 30’s. Not Married (at the time), obviously too young for Retirement Visa, working on rotation (O&G throughout the Middle East and South East Asia) - the Elite Visa was a viable solution to ensuring I’d have no visa woes upon each and every return from work. The visa offered the freedom for me to stay as long as I wanted when I wanted. 

 

1MB Life Membership (offered at the time I purchased it) - Its near enough paid for itself now. 

 

The Elite Visa is a simple visa solution for many. 

 

Back on topic: Unfortunately the Elite Visa is just a long term visa with a fancy name. 

 

Thailand has missed a trick with this. 

 

Thailand has missed a trick in many aspects of preventing foreigners to return. 

 

Not just the Elite Visa holders, but those married, those with children, retired, with property, with rental agreements, those working, those who own vehicles in Thailand etc etc. Anyone with a commitment to Thailand should be permitted return. 

 

The issue now is the loss of confidence. Thailand obviously doesn’t care if it loses a number of foreign ‘residents’, and why would they? its not as if our departure would leave a dent in the GDP. 

 

However, there is another facet to this issue:

People have made a commitment to Thailand in one way or another - this is clearly not valued.

 

With the Thai Elite Membership a financial commitment has been made, Thailand is not holding up its end of the bargain. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DrJack54]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

With the Thai Elite Membership a financial commitment has been made, Thailand is not holding up its end of the bargain

Say what. You paid for an option to live in Thailand and state it paid for itself. You purchased a service and did nicely. EV holders will be able to return at some point. Also EV just added 6 month to life of current holders. 

So if I own few condos in Thailand (I don't)

Then I get on preferred list because I have "made a commitment". 

Good luck with that.

Ridiculous.

[DrJack54]

2 hours ago, mjakob007 said:

Bingo

 

trying to attract high end spenders..

but forgot elite visa holders who could have chosen to a cheaper visa.

 

this was an opportunity for TE to reposition thier service 

Which cheaper visa would you suggest if under 50 and not married and wish to live here in Thailand ongoing.

[richard_smith237]

38 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

2 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

With the Thai Elite Membership a financial commitment has been made, Thailand is not holding up its end of the bargain

Say what. You paid for an option to live in Thailand and state it paid for itself. You purchased a service and did nicely. EV holders will be able to return at some point. Also EV just added 6 month to life of current holders. 

So if I own few condos in Thailand (I don't)

Then I get on preferred list because I have made a commitment.

Good luck with that.

It's just an opinion. But I do feel those who have commitments in Thailand are getting a rough deal. 

 

Thai’s themselves are getting a rough deal, there are still many who as yet have been unable to return. 

 

The government seems completely apathetic. That said, the government is apathetic on so many issues it could do something about. 

 

Its ‘easier’ for them just just ‘lock-down’ - its more easily enforced than setting up secure procedures to check people. 

 

 

The Philippines seems to be handling this the right way: People are checked on arrival and have to stay in a hotel (without leaving) until the results of their test is know. 

 

Doing this would ensure people can get home, it would ensure a ‘level of safety’ (with the Covid-19 testing on arrival). It wouldn’t even be difficult to implement. 

 

[DrJack54]

Just now, richard_smith237 said:

. But I do feel those who have commitments in Thailand are getting a rough deal. 

 

Thai’s themselves are getting a rough deal, there are still many who as yet have been unable to return. 

I don't think there would be one person here living in Thailand that would not be upset with the pain many guys stuck outside of Thailand are going through.

Like many Xpats here I have reached out to mates in Oz that have family in Thailand to ask if something I can do.

I'm glad married guys have been added to "group 2".

This is just a guess......I don't think that Thai not  even remotely have capacity to manage too many entries along with quarantine per day. I'm guessing that they are using the various "groups allowed to enter" as means of keep check on numbers.

So it's disappointing when "wellness medical packages" were put far ahead numbers wise against married guys.

[richard_smith237]

14 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

I don't think there would be one person here living in Thailand that would not be upset with the pain many guys stuck outside of Thailand are going through.

Like many Xpats here I have reached out to mates in Oz that have family in Thailand to ask if something I can do.

I'm glad married guys have been added to "group 2".

This is just a guess......I don't think that Thai not  even remotely have capacity to manage too many entries along with quarantine per day. I'm guessing that they are using the various "groups allowed to enter" as means of keep check on numbers.

So it's disappointing when "wellness medical packages" were put far ahead numbers wise against married guys.

I agree...   The number of arrivals are being kept low so that the arrivals can be quarantined and monitored. 

 

A self created bottle neck.

 

With the requirement for Pre-flight Covid-19 checks and certification before boarding a flight, I do think there is clear scope to optimise the arrivals of those with commitments - staying in isolation in a hotel room until a Covid-19 test on arrival result is available (i.e. 2-3 days) seems to be the best solution. 

 

Arguments will be made that ’some’ will abuse this and ignore the isolation, and some will ignore isolation - nothing is water tight and some people will slip through the gaps. But we’re talking about pre-travel tests, arrival tests and the ability to track and trace. Combined with stiff penalties for breaking the isolation while awaiting results is a viable solution. 

 

 

The issue as I see it - decisions are being made out of individual fear. No one in a position of decision making power wants to be the one to ’stick their head above the parapet’ and implement a more reasonable and softer approach, for if one case gets through that person will be blamed. 

 

Decisions are not being made based on what’s best for the country, but based on what’s best for the decision makers. 

[unblocktheplanet]

On 6/27/2020 at 4:37 PM, ukrules said:

I guess I'll weigh up the available options in about 4 years time, for now I'll just forget about it and do the extension once a year.

You got lucky with your timing, Dude! I was thinking perhaps "Elite" would be the one visa that did not require medical insurance, completely unbuyable at any price for us geezers.

[BritTim]

5 hours ago, wasabi said:

I am happy with the visa but think this is a missed opportunity for Thailand and the Elite visa program. At a minimum they should've offered Elite visa holders the chance to come back and after a 14 day quarantine reenter Thailand. That would have boosted membership and kick started the so-called high end tourists they seek.

In an ideal world, that would be great. The trouble is you then have to decide who to exclude to provide space in quarantine for elite visa holders. Do you exclude Thais, essential workers, or those with Thai wives, husbands and children? The reality is that Thailand has struggled to allow back parents of Thai children who I would argue have a humanitarian right to be put ahead of a promotional opportunity for the Thailand Elite program.

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

With the requirement for Pre-flight Covid-19 checks and certification before boarding a flight, I do think there is clear scope to optimise the arrivals of those with commitments - staying in isolation in a hotel room until a Covid-19 test on arrival result is available (i.e. 2-3 days) seems to be the best solution. 

If diagnostic testing was 100% (or even 99%) reliable, I am sure such a solution would be chosen by many countries. Unfortunately, if people are infected during their flights to Thailand, or shortly before, it will typically take 3-5 days before you will get a positive antigen test. Indeed, even at that stage, depending on the skill with which swabs are taken and the tests processed, as high as a 10% rate of false negatives can occur. The 14-day quarantine is the most reliable way of ensuring against escape of infection into the community, with a test after about 10-12 days (before release from quarantine) or at any time if symptoms emerge, as a desirable additional safeguard. Testing immediately on entry has merit in that it will pick up some infections as early as possible, allowing treatment to immediately commence. It should not be seen as a reliable marker of who is safe to release into the community.

[ukrules]

In my opinion they should allow 'residents' into the country before short term tourists from anywhere.

 

The government definition for being resident is someone who spends more than 180 days per year in Thailand.

 

If you're a current resident or spent more than 180 days in Thailand during 2019 (and now stranded abroad for months) then it shouldn't matter which visa you're on, the point being that your home is in Thailand and you should be able to return, at this stage a quarantine would apply.

 

There's plenty of empty hotels around the place for quarantine facilities when they need them, I would bet that there's a long list of hotels wanting to provide this service.

 

[BritTim]

2 hours ago, ukrules said:

There's plenty of empty hotels around the place for quarantine facilities when they need them, I would bet that there's a long list of hotels wanting to provide this service.

There is much more involved in setting up quarantine facilities than unshuttering a hotel and calling it a quarantine facility. New Zealand (much more restrictive than Thailand about returnees) has been struggling to increase its quarantine facilities to safely expand its ability to receive arrivals from 300 to 400 per day. The effort involves hundreds of staff across the government and including the military.

 

I am not sure how determined the Thai authorities are about isolating arrivals from the community and from each other, but it is a significant organisational challenge to do properly.

[ukrules]

7 hours ago, BritTim said:

There is much more involved in setting up quarantine facilities than unshuttering a hotel and calling it a quarantine facility. New Zealand (much more restrictive than Thailand about returnees) has been struggling to increase its quarantine facilities to safely expand its ability to receive arrivals from 300 to 400 per day. The effort involves hundreds of staff across the government and including the military.

 

I am not sure how determined the Thai authorities are about isolating arrivals from the community and from each other, but it is a significant organisational challenge to do properly.

There's lots of money to be made, many people will be working on this.

[CLS]

Deleted - duplicated post

 

[CLS]

Thailand shoul do something like the Czech Republic did with the EU+ countries.

But if Thailand wants to remain on the EU+ safe countries list they have to accect reciprocity and drop the quarantine requirement.

From bubble jabber to free movement.

A complete game changer.

[BritTim]

3 hours ago, CLS said:

Thailand shoul do something like the Czech Republic did with the EU+ countries.

But if Thailand wants to remain on the EU+ safe countries list they have to accect reciprocity and drop the quarantine requirement.

From bubble jabber to free movement.

A complete game changer.

In countries that have some degree of community transmission, and no ambition to become Covid-19 free, this kind of approach makes sense. However, it ought to be combined with a very robust test, trace, isolate capability together with powers that allow localised strict lockdowns without notice in areas that become Covid-19 hotspots. (Look at what China has done in Beijing following the outbreak traced to fresh food markets there for what this means.) An alternative is to keep strict social distancing measures (closed bars, restaurants, beaches etc.) indefinitely.

 

Thailand aspires to Covid-19 elimination. This is only possible if you have strict border controls that prevent arrivals without quarantine from countries with any community transmission.

[MRToMRT]

On 6/27/2020 at 5:36 AM, lordblackader said:

They "should" but they won't. I can't think of a better example of how absolutely worthless Thai Elite actually is given how the Thai government treats it when the chips are down. 

 

If I had Thai Elite I'd be asking for a refund. 

As worthless as non IMM o (ret) then ;^) 

[BritTim]

7 hours ago, ukrules said:

15 hours ago, BritTim said:

There is much more involved in setting up quarantine facilities than unshuttering a hotel and calling it a quarantine facility. New Zealand (much more restrictive than Thailand about returnees) has been struggling to increase its quarantine facilities to safely expand its ability to receive arrivals from 300 to 400 per day. The effort involves hundreds of staff across the government and including the military.

 

I am not sure how determined the Thai authorities are about isolating arrivals from the community and from each other, but it is a significant organisational challenge to do properly.

There's lots of money to be made, many people will be working on this.

That's great. Any idea how far ahead in their training the required health, security and service staff are? Have additional logistics staff been hired yet, and how much training will they require before they are ready to join existing staff at the MFA, airports etc? Will the current costs of quarantine (over and above room, meals and health care) be expanded to cover the other necessary costs, or will the government continue to cover the increasing costs?

 

There are economic benefits to allowing people to come, but safely accommodating arrivals for Covid-19 infected countries is complicated. Thailand has some people with good organising ability, but I shudder at the idea of Thailand trying to use untrained staff to run quarantine facilities, and try to manage the safe receipt of arriving passengers, and their transport to their various quarantine facilities without potentially infecting others at the airport or en route.

[CLS]

5 hours ago, BritTim said:

In countries that have some degree of community transmission, and no ambition to become Covid-19 free, this kind of approach makes sense. However, it ought to be combined with a very robust test, trace, isolate capability together with powers that allow localised strict lockdowns without notice in areas that become Covid-19 hotspots. (Look at what China has done in Beijing following the outbreak traced to fresh food markets there for what this means.) An alternative is to keep strict social distancing measures (closed bars, restaurants, beaches etc.) indefinitely.

 

Thailand aspires to Covid-19 elimination. This is only possible if you have strict border controls that prevent arrivals without quarantine from countries with any community transmission.

You have to learn to live with the virus. It will not vanish by going to temples and pray. They live in a dreamworld, but Dreamworld is only a fun park in Rangsit.

Starvation is 100% lethal, the virus less than 0.5%.

Thailand needs the outside world more than the other way round.

 

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, CLS said:

You have to learn to live with the virus. It will not vanish by going to temples and pray. They live in a dreamworld, but Dreamworld is only a fun park in Rangsit.

Starvation is 100% lethal, the virus less than 0.5%.

Thailand needs the outside world more than the other way round.

 

Thailand, at this stage, is probably Covid-19 free, or close to it. How many people have so far died of starvation to achieve this? How many in Vietnam? How many in New Zealand?

 

In the medium term, it is very likely that economies in countries allowing continued Covid-19 infection and death will fare worse than economies in countries that eliminate the virus locally and apply strict border controls. There is no evidence that the US decision to abandon serious attempts at controlling the virus is having much economic benefit. I consider it likely that Thailand will be hosting Chinese tour groups within a few months. There is no way the Chinese authorities will allow tour groups to the US or Europe.

[Maha Sarakham]

I once considered getting the Thailand Elite Visa as a frequent visitor, but now I am married to a Thai national.  Didn't really expect it to happen, but when you find one of the good ones you hold on to it for as long as possible.

 

It does make me wonder however, what the actual benefit of the Elite Visa is.  It seems like it's basically a renewable 'reduced-fuss' Visa.  I'm not sure that's really worth the money they are asking for it...

[Berti]

22 hours ago, BritTim said:

There is much more involved in setting up quarantine facilities than unshuttering a hotel and calling it a quarantine facility. New Zealand (much more restrictive than Thailand about returnees) has been struggling to increase its quarantine facilities to safely expand its ability to receive arrivals from 300 to 400 per day. The effort involves hundreds of staff across the government and including the military.

 

I am not sure how determined the Thai authorities are about isolating arrivals from the community and from each other, but it is a significant organisational challenge to do properly.

It's not rocket science to put people in an empty airport into a car provided by the quarantine hotel bring them to the hotel and lock them into their room for two weeks. Then take two samples and send it to the lab.

[ukrules]

7 hours ago, BritTim said:

That's great. Any idea how far ahead in their training the required health, security and service staff are?

Of course I have no idea how far along they are with the plan (if they have one), it's not my job so I don't care.

 

I'm sure they'll <deleted>.. mess it up whatever they do.

[Kwaynoom]

The elite visa holders that are currently in Thailand, and wish to remain in Thailand, are getting their money's worth in my opinion. They probably are the least concerned about what will happen to them after July 31st... Glass half full.

[userabcd]

16 hours ago, CLS said:

You have to learn to live with the virus. It will not vanish by going to temples and pray. They live in a dreamworld, but Dreamworld is only a fun park in Rangsit.

Starvation is 100% lethal, the virus less than 0.5%.

Thailand needs the outside world more than the other way round.

 

Thailand does not need the outside world as long as this virus is out of control in foreign nations.