BritTim Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 36 minutes ago, OJAS said: Highly ironical for China to be included in any "selected" list, I think, given that they are fairly and squarely to blame for inflicting the COVID-19 virus on this great planet of ours. It is likely but not certain that Covid-19 originated in China (probably not in Wuhan: the market there was just where it first got a strong hold). New virus infections appear around the world periodically, and can happen almost anywhere. China is a higher risk than many other countries because of their trade in wildlife, and early mistakes were made by them in their early Wuhan Covid-19 response. However, China has brought Covid-19 under control within their own country, doing much better than most of the rest of the world. Personally, I would feel safe (as far as Covid-19 infection is concerned) visiting China (which is not true of the US, South America, India and the Middle East). I would not accept economic damage to my own country just to punish China for being where a new virus first became established. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubism001 Posted July 30, 2020 Author Share Posted July 30, 2020 (edited) Thank you much to the folks who were kind & diplomatic. It's rough over here now. But to those who were smug & pedantic, put yourself in a Yank's place for a second. Edited July 30, 2020 by Maestro Removed intelligible part of the post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheryl Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Since fall starts in September, just a month away, I would say highly unlikely unless you count only those with Elite Visa. When is anyone's guess but I'd certainly wager against the fall. Winter - the traditional high season - possibly, depends very much on what happens in other countries. The flare up in VietNam, which like Thailand had been free of community transmission for some time, must have the authorities more than a little spooked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChomDo Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 On 7/22/2020 at 6:10 AM, ubonjoe said: Those with a Thai Elite visa are going expected to be included in the next group allowed to apply for a certificate of entry. How does getting a Thailand Elite membership (the basic 5 year 500k version) work right now? I mean if this is the only way to return within the coming months, I would consider it now. Just interested to know if it's that simple as applying online from abroad at this time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maestro Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Removed an abusive post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willy333 Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 1 hour ago, ChomDo said: How does getting a Thailand Elite membership (the basic 5 year 500k version) work right now? I mean if this is the only way to return within the coming months, I would consider it now. Just interested to know if it's that simple as applying online from abroad at this time? From what I know, it is pretty simple. There's many threads talking about it. Just keep in mind that it is not official yet that they will let those with an elite visa in. You will also most likely have to go through quarantine like everybody else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHicks Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 1 hour ago, ChomDo said: How does getting a Thailand Elite membership (the basic 5 year 500k version) work right now? I mean if this is the only way to return within the coming months, I would consider it now. Just interested to know if it's that simple as applying online from abroad at this time? 7 minutes ago, Willy333 said: From what I know, it is pretty simple. There's many threads talking about it. Just keep in mind that it is not official yet that they will let those with an elite visa in. You will also most likely have to go through quarantine like everybody else. I've made some enquiries - if you start the process now you might be in some time in December, but there are plenty of things that can go wrong in the meantime. Although there's been an announcement that Elite holders are going to be allowed in in the next phase, this hasn't made it into the regulations yet. The visa process itself is taking 2-3 months, so you'd hope that the regulations would be in place by the time the visa came through. If so, you could apply to get on a flight, but I'd say it's a certainty that you'll need a quarantine hotel booking (as under the current regulations) and a near-certainty that there will only be repatriation flights available. In practice that's a extra €3-4k and more waiting. I haven't made my mind up yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 7 hours ago, ChomDo said: How does getting a Thailand Elite membership (the basic 5 year 500k version) work right now? I mean if this is the only way to return within the coming months, I would consider it now. Just interested to know if it's that simple as applying online from abroad at this time? No sure how they will handle those that are outside the country at this time. It would be easy to do the online application, get approval, pay the fee and get the visa sticker in your passport on arrival in normal times. But not sure doing the application and etc would be a enough to get a certificate of entry and board a special flight to here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChomDo Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 11 hours ago, JHicks said: I've made some enquiries - if you start the process now you might be in some time in December, but there are plenty of things that can go wrong in the meantime. Although there's been an announcement that Elite holders are going to be allowed in in the next phase, this hasn't made it into the regulations yet. The visa process itself is taking 2-3 months, so you'd hope that the regulations would be in place by the time the visa came through. If so, you could apply to get on a flight, but I'd say it's a certainty that you'll need a quarantine hotel booking (as under the current regulations) and a near-certainty that there will only be repatriation flights available. In practice that's a extra €3-4k and more waiting. I haven't made my mind up yet. I just found out that the application takes 2-3 months. I was reading their website and thought there must be some confusion about it. I thought by paying 500k you'd get it quick. I guess that makes it a lot less interesting then. I mean at the time you pay that kind of sums of money, you would want to be sure when you can get in and with what procedures. Or did I understand it correctly that you pay first and then wait for 2-3 months? Maybe it's just best to wait for the borders to open even though it could be in 6 months or who knows how long. Just seems like too much hassle even if you have a permit to enter or an Elite card. Just the idea of the repatriation flights with infected Thai returnees, 2 weeks hotel room quarantine and paperwork (tests+insurances etc.) makes it feel like not worth it in the end. I guess it all depends on how badly you need to get back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 26 minutes ago, ChomDo said: I just found out that the application takes 2-3 months. Not sure where the 2 months side of it came from. Some people have been approved in less than a month. It can depend upon your nationality. The delay is for immigration to do a background check and for some countries it takes longer than others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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