Multi-ministry drive to open up Thailand to foreign tourism by October 1st, tourism minister

[vermin on arrival]

2 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

They just posted a case of a returnee who cleared quarantine only to fall ill a few days later while out of quarantine and when tested is now positive.......stay tuned.  Asymptomatic folks walk amongst us.

I think every country that has been touting 0 local cases have been in denial about this and there is this very low level pool of mostly non-infectious/mildly infectious cases circulating. I don't think it's really something to be worried about, but the hysteria has been ratcheted up to a fever pitch by governments and the media.

[vermin on arrival]

2 hours ago, DrTuner said:

Probably my post about an article of an Italian doctor claiming so.. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy-virus/new-coronavirus-losing-potency-top-italian-doctor-says-idUSKBN2370OQ

 

Yes, ICUs seem to cope, although positives go up. Better testing, better early treatment and possibly another mutation. I haven't checked nextstrain in ages, maybe there's something visible there: https://nextstrain.org/ncov/global

 

Or it could simply be that the virus has claimed the low hanging fruits. Elderly, immuno-compromised, etc.

i remember this article by the Italian doctor from June and it seemed that many just dismissed it out of hand. This isn't a potentially very serious flu (worse than the Asian and Hong Kong, but no as bad as Spanish one); it's the black death. Everyone run and hide.

[blueontour]

whatever they do the miserable old TV tw@s will whinge.

[MRToMRT]

How about a "retiree to Thailand" bubble/twinning. I have given you 30 years of my taxable and now retirement life and money and now you just cast me aside.

 

We don't even get a mention. 

 

 

[Shey420]

They need to open up air boarders and keep land boarders closed. 14 day quarantine (asq) for whoever is willing. Offer a new 3 or 4 month visa so the visitors can stay longer. (Renewable)

Need insurance. Covid negative before arrival. Covid test upon arrival. Covid negative last day of quarantine.  After asq go where you feel like going. 

 

Obviously you will have those jokers who enter asq and attempt to break quarantine to mess it up for everyone else but a guarantee of fines and jail time will thwart their attempts.

Jail time,  deport and blacklist for those who enter thailand airspace without negative Covid documentation.

 

No one want to quarantine Obviously but let's be real, thailand enters hysteria mode if possible cases are announced. The realistic option for tourism is long stay tourist at this time. Sorry short stayers its nothing against you its just the facts.

[habuspasha]

It s such an inefficient and outdated mind-set to distinguish by countries (by origin or residence) in this globalized era.  Populations within countries are more diverse than populations between countries: a fact that is true of infection rates like everything else.  The overall experience of the United States has been horrid, including that of my native New York.  But New York now has a positive testing rate of 1 % and a reproduction value under 1.  TEST INDIVIDUALS NOT COUNTRIES.

[Jumbo1968]

21 minutes ago, Shey420 said:

They need to open up air boarders and keep land boarders closed. 14 day quarantine (asq) for whoever is willing. Offer a new 3 or 4 month visa so the visitors can stay longer. (Renewable)

Need insurance. Covid negative before arrival. Covid test upon arrival. Covid negative last day of quarantine.  After asq go where you feel like going. 

 

Obviously you will have those jokers who enter asq and attempt to break quarantine to mess it up for everyone else but a guarantee of fines and jail time will thwart their attempts.

Jail time,  deport and blacklist for those who enter thailand airspace without negative Covid documentation.

 

No one want to quarantine Obviously but let's be real, thailand enters hysteria mode if possible cases are announced. The realistic option for tourism is long stay tourist at this time. Sorry short stayers its nothing against you its just the facts.

So no different from the current restrictions, who is going to pay inflated air fares, $100k Health Insurance bearing in mind long stay people are older and would struggle to get Health Insurance and ASQ hotels at inflated prices, you would need to be desperate to throw away a few thousand pounds even before you started your holiday.

[jerolamo]

15 hours ago, JoePai said:

As long as they are quarantined properly I can see no problem

then open your eyes.

[jerolamo]

43 minutes ago, Shey420 said:

They need to open up air boarders and keep land boarders closed. 14 day quarantine (asq) for whoever is willing. Offer a new 3 or 4 month visa so the visitors can stay longer. (Renewable)

Need insurance. Covid negative before arrival. Covid test upon arrival. Covid negative last day of quarantine.  After asq go where you feel like going. 

 

Obviously you will have those jokers who enter asq and attempt to break quarantine to mess it up for everyone else but a guarantee of fines and jail time will thwart their attempts.

Jail time,  deport and blacklist for those who enter thailand airspace without negative Covid documentation.

 

No one want to quarantine Obviously but let's be real, thailand enters hysteria mode if possible cases are announced. The realistic option for tourism is long stay tourist at this time. Sorry short stayers its nothing against you its just the facts.

You forget to mention the primary problem actually in this plan:

4-5 star hotel imposition to quarantine is only possible for very rich people. We are talking about to be locked 14 days for 100 000 THB and up !

 

Looks like a blackmail used by a dramatic situation.

 

And, i am NOT a toursit, i'm very tired they tell tourist to describe all the foreigners, need to learn something now.

[jerolamo]

2 hours ago, EricTh said:

Let's hope we don't get any cases from some infected countries like in the past such as Egyptian and Sudanase or Thailand will close its doors quickly again.

 

All the countries are infected by the flew virus COVID-19 (and some other we never talk about)... even the one who deny facts.

 

So i hope for Thailand there very special non-democratic government will soon learn something and stop to use this dramatic situation to blackmail foreigners (or what they call tourists or sometimes "dirty falang").

[Jumbo1968]

11 minutes ago, jerolamo said:

You forget to mention the primary problem actually in this plan:

4-5 star hotel imposition to quarantine is only possible for very rich people. We are talking about to be locked 14 days for 100 000 THB and up !

 

Looks like a blackmail used by a dramatic situation.

 

And, i am NOT a toursit, i'm very tired they tell tourist to describe all the foreigners, need to learn something now.

The Thai government is under the assumption keep the current restrictions and open the borders and the tourists will flock back.

[Hanuman2547]

Open up Thailand by 1 October 2020?  Maybe to a few select countries but definitely not everyone.  1 October 2021 more likely.  October 2020 is only six weeks away.  Open up the country to all tourists?  I hardly see that happening.  

 

[jerolamo]

1 hour ago, Hanuman2547 said:

Open up Thailand by 1 October 2020?  Maybe to a few select countries but definitely not everyone.  1 October 2021 more likely.  October 2020 is only six weeks away.  Open up the country to all tourists?  I hardly see that happening.  

 

Next year, instead of loose there life, many falang who love Thailand and are linked with by family concern (married or child) would probably sale everything they have (build for most of them) there and leave with wife and child.

shock di...

[natalibera]

10 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Now, the Tourism Association of Koh Samui has come up with the following plan according to the Bangkok Post:

1. Only visitors on Thai Airways operated flights would be allowed to enter the country (often the most expensive airline to fly to Thailand).

 

Quote:

Eligible foreign tourists must travel to Thailand with Thai Airways International and undergo swab testing once they arrive at Suvarnabhumi airport.

They can then take a flight to Samui without going through an immigration process.

After arrival, the tourists will have to undertake swab testing again before entering a quarantine facility, he said.

 

They would have to pay it twice on arrival. ????

[oompie69]

17 hours ago, darksidedog said:

I am waiting for the day when Thailand can go for an entire week without doing a back-flip on its policy. We have had every scenario possible suggested over the past few weeks. I wonder what restrictions they will be planning for the lucky travelers who are obviously queuing already to kick the door down to get in?

Maybe, Pattaya only for Russian tourists, Phuket only for German tourists etc.etc. In this way they can quickly restrict travelers from these countries if infections occur in these locations. Surely this cannot be more ridiculous than what they have mooted previously or no doubt will mull about next week. 

[Shey420]

2 hours ago, Jumbo1968 said:

So no different from the current restrictions, who is going to pay inflated air fares, $100k Health Insurance bearing in mind long stay people are older and would struggle to get Health Insurance and ASQ hotels at inflated prices, you would need to be desperate to throw away a few thousand pounds even before you started your holiday.

They need tourist but don't want covid to run rampant. This is the only viable solution at this time. Be realistic... Don't think about what you want. If the incubation period is 14 what can you really do.  You want them to say "hey ok come in"  Test pre arrival and after arrival. Let's forget about the incubation period. Cases will definitely start to pop up and increase like wildfire with no quarantine. Even with those travel bubbles it would not have worked.

**PLEASE BE REALISTIC**

 

Only thing that needs work is the asq hotel as jerolamo said. They need a lot more cheaper alternatives.  Not back packer cheap. You would figure if they open air travel more asq facilities would be opened. 

Edited August 19, 2020 by Shey420
typo

[NightSky]

a little optimistic me thinks

Edited August 19, 2020 by NightSky

[Jumbo1968]

6 minutes ago, Shey420 said:

They need tourist but don't want covid to run rampant. This is the only viable solution at this time. Be realistic... Don't think about what you want. If the incubation period is 14 what can you really do.  You want them to say "hey ok come in"  Test pre arrival and after arrival. Let's forget about the incubation period. Cases will definitely start to pop up and increase like wildfire with no quarantine. Even with those travel bubbles it would not have worked.

**PLEASE BE REALISTIC**

 

Only thing that needs work is the asq hotel as jerolamo said. They need a lot more cheaper alternatives.  Not back packer cheap. You would figure if the open air travel more asq facilities would be opened. 

The way you are talking tourists will be flooding back in their thousands, no chance with a 14 day quarantine.

Thailands needs to learn how to manage Covid, currently their only way of managing it is locking people up for a fortnight at their expense. Some form self isolation needs to be introduced and anyone who contracts Covid should be deported.They need to move on and yes there will be spikes/case but learn how to manage it before the country collapse into a deep slump. The U.K. isn’t a great example how to manage but realise at some normality has to resume and move on.

[kensawadee]

18 hours ago, JoePai said:

As long as they are quarantined properly I can see no problem

I can just see all the chinese tours coming on 2 week tours just to spend 14 days locked in their hotels..... LOL

[bluesofa]

22 minutes ago, kensawadee said:

I can just see all the chinese tours coming on 2 week tours just to spend 14 days locked in their hotels..... LOL

Could be reminiscent for them, reminding them of the Wuhan lock-down earlier in the year, with reports of apartments being welded shut.

[Duckster]

I think they are just teasing us.  They show it to us and then they take it away.  Then they show it to us and take it away.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 8/18/2020 at 6:26 PM, webfact said:

The travel bubble scheme is now rejected, said Pipat, especially as the prime minister himself ditched that proposal. 

 

In its place is something he referred to as "twinning countries" and regions.

 

It kinda sounds like the same old plan with a new name, and an effort to re-try the same thing that was already rejected.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

16 hours ago, Jumbo1968 said:

The U.K. isn’t a great example how to manage but realise at some normality has to resume and move on.

 The UK... with one of the highest CV fatality rates among the countries in the world... ya think...not a great example? 

 

[CANSIAM]

15 hours ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

Unfortunately, they won't be taken into consideration.

 

 

Immigration have already stated that extensions are not part of the amnesty and, if not renewed by the due date. they will expire and you will need to start again.

 

 

I think there is no doubt about that so I think your expectations need to managed accordingly.

With all the new ideas of trying to get tourists back in reasonably safely, is there any consideration going on regarding Non O yearly extension holders ? Its absurd...

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

21 hours ago, vermin on arrival said:

I think every country that has been touting 0 local cases have been in denial about this and there is this very low level pool of mostly non-infectious/mildly infectious cases circulating. I don't think it's really something to be worried about, but the hysteria has been ratcheted up to a fever pitch by governments and the media.

 

Thailand, in the end, took the steps necessary to control and limit the virus in the country, and avoided the kinds of mass deaths and illnesses seen elsewhere.

 

Other countries like the U.S. abjectly failed to do so, and have paid the price not only in economic losses, but also in hundreds of thousands of dead citizens.

 

Between the two, I know where I'd want to be living right now.

 

 

 

Edited August 19, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[smudger1951]

Self-quarrantine in your own hotel or home is a start , like UK and the location tracking app. The supposed zero cases of covid in Thailand has become a noose round their necks. What is going to be different in spring next year ?

[Jack Hna]

If they were half smart the twinning could refer to a smaller land entry country which would provide a small risk free no air option to cross between. They are a big player amongst MY, Laos, and Cambo and they could control the press in these countries and look like a nation with balls even if their balls ain't that big. It's a sensible step but the dates between amnesty ending and this beginning are a bit concerning.

[Andycoops]

20 hours ago, JoePai said:

As long as they are quarantined properly I can see no problem

But as we have just learned 2 people who tested negative upon returning to Thailand were found to be positive more than 2 weeks later having spent the 14 days in quarantine.

The whole virus situation is a can of worms with no end in sight until vaccines are proved to work.

[AndresSP]

Hi everyone, first post here.
It looks like the generals are starting to realize that this whole zero case policy is unsustainable and would lead to a complete economic and social disaster. Better late than never, I guess. 
What they want now with "twinning countries" is to let in the tourists from a few select countries from where the biggest revenue has been coming in. 
Interestingly, official numbers are available on the Ministry of Tourism website – downloadable monthly spreadsheets with per country number of tourist arrivals and, more importantly, money spent as well as the trend vs the previous year. Here is the link for anyone interested: https://www.mots.go.th/mots_en/more_news_new.php?cid=330
Below are top 10 countries for December 2019 filtered by “Receipts”. It’s safe to scratch USA, India and maybe Russia from that list for the upcoming high season. 

[chaihot]

15 minutes ago, AndresSP said:

Below are top 10 countries for December 2019 filtered by “Receipts”. 

I just can't figure out how they know how much I spent and tipped on the Soi.  Even I don't know those numbers!