Thailand to allow long-stay tourists in island of Phuket from October

[fulhamster]

17 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

Limits the market already .. how many people can take a mth in one hit from their vacation allowance and then spend nearly half of it indoors .. 

And then another 2 weeks in quarantine when they have returned home.

[robert888d]

The authorities say something different every few days,and nothing ever seems to materialize. 

[whaleboneman]

1 hour ago, Xonax said:

That´s the positive news. But Expats are not Tourists!

Anyone on tour is a tourist.

[Muhendis]

16 hours ago, NE1 said:

So how does it work then. Who decides which hotels people stay in ?

If you have one family staying in one room , does that mean the cleaner can only clean that one room ,

 

and as it states in the report "staff will have to stay in the hotel too."

So the cleaning ladies don't get to go home to feed the kids at the end of their shift ?

and won't see the kids and the old man for weeks on end ?

 

 

Would that be a plus or would that be a minus?

That is a good point you raised. Would hotel staff need to quarantine for 14 days after their shift or perhaps stay permanently isolated at the hotel.

[wazzupnow]

17 hours ago, MadMac said:

But perhaps a way for stranded expats to come back, if anything at all.

this would be the only advantage

[ThailandRyan]

25 minutes ago, Rocking Robert said:

I always stay for 90 days. Sounds good to me .Hotel with a golf course would be great 

In room golf course, you can put around the room and it will be like going to a putt putt course.  Just need to make your own windmill obstacle.  You will be just like a true business executive practicing in his office.

[raccos21]

Can’t wait to see those tourists flood the island. So how much will the testing fees be!?????

[maddermax]

So Phuket becomes one big expensive quarantine centre.

[maddermax]

These adverts are getting out of hand. Takes an age just to get to read the content.

[Shey420]

I think once retirees are able to get back into thailand  and people with property  or small businesses they will cash out after treatment like this. Wouldn't blame them. They should have been some of the first allowed back.

[CorpusChristie]

8 minutes ago, Shey420 said:

I think once retirees are able to get back into thailand  and people with property  or small businesses they will cash out after treatment like this. Wouldn't blame them. They should have been some of the first allowed back.

What is stopping those people coming back to Thailand through Phuket ? 

[tomauasia]

I wonder how many tourists will go. This is just a Thai Army lm boss game. I tell you who's coming nobody. What excuse will these old pensioners use when Australian get vaccinated next year.

[newnative]

   They should be doing much more outreach to get the long-stay expats to return for the winter months--and not just to Phuket.  Many come year after year to Pattaya--to condos that they own here or to rentals that they rent every year.  Start with getting the expats back.  Forget the tourists for now--no tourist is going to quarantine but someone coming for 3 to 4 months to escape the bitter winter months might.  Start thinking outside the box for once.  Grant free 2 year long-stay visas and scrap the 90 day reporting.  Add much more flexibility to the income requirement.  Thailand needs to get more expat long-stays while tourism is a non-starter with a quarantine in place.  

[verticalift]

Not all those coming back are “Tourists”. As a recently “retired” pilot I have lived in Phuket for over 20yrs when not at work overseas. I “own” my house in Phuket, with my name on the Tambian Baan Yellow Book, I have Thai ID Pink Card, a freshly minted 10 year O-X Non-Imm Retirement Visa...... 
But yet, I am still classified as being a “Tourist”. Mai Khao Jai.......???

Still stuck in Abu Dhabi......

Waiting.......

Mai Mii Pen Haaaaa......

Edited August 22, 2020 by verticalift
Typo

[Dialemco]

Hum interesting fascinated to see full details of this plan as sure Thai Consulates will be overwhelmed with applications for visas. Maybe better to extend visa amnesty provided you attend selected five star hotels in Phuket for few days 

[hotandsticky]

26 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

What is stopping those people coming back to Thailand through Phuket ? 

 

 

International flights................... for example.

[dallen52]

18 hours ago, Sheryl said:

And how exactly are tourists going to get there? Will they start to issue tourist visas again? Flights?

Thats next week's news

[hotandsticky]

Just now, dallen52 said:

Thats next week's news

 

 

Thats next week's year's news

[shackleton]

Well I thought i had read and heard it all

Who is coming out with these ideas they are obsessed about getting the Tourists back with these hair raising schemes 

No doubt will change again in the coming weeks 

[chilli42]

I was in Phuket last week. Went into Patong, it’s a ghost town.  Understand the need to do something.  The proposal here is utter nonsense.  Why do they think anyone would submit themselves to these conditions?  Are they delusional or or stupid or are they just putting on a show for Phuket business to demonstrate they are doing something?  It’s obvious that there is not going to be a vaccine for COVID that works any better than the seasonal flu virus.  How long will this hiding under a rock and emergency powers continue?  

[aussienam]

18 hours ago, MadMac said:

But perhaps a way for stranded expats to come back, if anything at all.

Looking at 90,000 minimum I read, then can move on.  I am stranded abroad but having to spend that sort of cash ($4,500 AUD) just so I can get back to my home where I am still renting, plus the higher airfares, add on my visa renewal that's now expired, health insurance.  And then a gamble whether I could then convert back over to a retirement visa whilst there?  

It's heartbreaking as expats stranded abroad need to get back and are suffering.  Tourists don't have a need, rather a leisurely desire at their whim.  Not urgent for them.  What about creating a 'bubble zone' for retired expats then, who can come back on their non-imm O or O-A visas instead and quarantine too?  They are already allowing a limited category of expats back, but if they are going to allow tourists then please have mercy on those of us who are stuck all over the world living out of a suitcase, not our homes like tourists are.  Thanks.

[dallen52]

Thailand is not just about Phuket. 

Nor is it about only tourists. 

 

Someone in high places must have empty hotels in Phuket?

[dallen52]

Tourists will have to stay for at least 30 days, with the first 14 days in quarantine in a limited vicinity of their hotel, before they can visit other areas, Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Yuthasak Supasorn told Reuters.

The announcement comes after authorities suspended plans to create ‘travel bubbles’ with partner countries as the number of coronavirus cases in Asia rose. 

 

“On Oct. 1 we will start in Phuket,” Yuthasak said.

 

Visitors will have to take two coronavirus tests during quarantine before they are able to travel to the rest of the island, Minister of Tourism and Sports Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, said on Thursday.

 

Staff will also have to remain in the hotel, he added.

 

Visitors will have to take an additional test and remain within the province for another week before they can travel to other parts of the country.

 

Plus testing. 

Plus flights

Plus insurance. 

Plus

Plus...

 

I can hear the cash register already. 

Ka ching 

Ka ching. 

[Dialemco]

25 minutes ago, Dialemco said:

Hum interesting fascinated to see full details of this plan as sure Thai Consulates will be overwhelmed with applications for visas. Maybe better extend visa amnesty provided you attend selected five star hotels in Phuket for few days 

Forgot to mention news broadcast in UK yesterday reported so far 8,000 road deaths in Thailand this year and that authorities require 10 years to bring roads deaths down in line with Thilands good handling of Covid fatalities

[hotchilli]

19 hours ago, shady86 said:

I'm looking forward for foreigners to spend their money to quarantine 14 days at 5 star resorts!

And staff that are willing to be quarantined along with visitors and not allowed to leave the hotel?

I can't see many tourists wanting to travel all this way for 14 days stuck in a hotel, multiple tests and then another test before being let out.

Then possible quarantine on arrival back home.

[animatic]

19 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

Limits the market already .. how many people can take a mth in one hit from their vacation allowance and then spend nearly half of it indoors .. 

well it sounds like restricted to a ‘walled community’ type hotel.
Yes they can go out, but not mingle with natives or with other guests closely. Staff stuck with them.

 

test in, test out 

Wax on, wax off

 

Not ideal, but something.
If you can get away, chill at the pool and eat good food it’s doable.
 

It depends on the cost of the hotels getting the nod. 6,900 a night for 14 nights ain’t gonna fly, but 2,000 a night likely will.

I just booked a Bangkok hotel that normally is 7,000+ a night for 2,200 and am happy to go.

Edited August 22, 2020 by animatic

[Harry Fingerling]

Tourist umbrella hmm, been done before? 

[jobas69]

So what about the 50,000+ quarantine charges for foreigners no mention if that still in place for the tourists? 

[Thomas J]

[kensawadee]

NEXT.... They will recommend that ALL 'foreign tourists' just STAY HOME and SEND YOUR MONEY........