Special Tourist Visa a safe way of allowing foreigners to visit Thailand, says DDC

[Lunghans]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

The virus could have spread through Thailand already (in Nov / Dec / Jan / Feb) and Thailand didn’t recognise it at the time (although there were reports of massive increases in viral pneumonia at the time). 

I was in Thailand in Nov/Dec 2019 and was seriously sick, high fever, coughing, enormous amounts of green sputum for two weeks.

Could have been Covid-19 indeed.

[thaibestlover]

Quarantine in own apartment

in TH ok, but no extra payment for 14 days in a hotel. Thanks

[sammieuk1]

While the business leader said that the pandemic's effect on tourism had not been as bad as first feared and people need to play their part in guarding against a second wave. 

 

Return TAT's calculator immediately for calibration problem with the zero's????????  

[hotchilli]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

The reason for this, he noted, was that foreigners would be subject to the same 14 day quarantine that Thais must go to on their return from the country before they are unleashed on the rest of the kingdom.

So what happened to the talk of them being allowed to roam within one kilometre of their leper hotel.

I can't see anyone coming here if they have to undergo 14 days quarantine when so may other countries are making it so much easier, with less documentation, no insurance requirements etc etc.

[poohy]

15 minutes ago, Lunghans said:

I was in Thailand in Nov/Dec 2019 and was seriously sick, high fever, coughing, enormous amounts of green sputum for two weeks.

Could have been Covid-19 indeed.

Same same my wife and myself had flu like symptoms  coughing fever incredible lack of energy mucus tightness of chest laboured breathing!

It lasted 3 weeks each started January this year... often wonder if this was it

[spidermike007]

Dr. Thanarak is misinformed and misguided. 

 

A safe approach is to allow ANY person from ANY nation starting tomorrow, in unlimited quantities, if they are willing to subject themselves to a 14 day quarantine and pay excessive fees for that two week sentence. There is no downside or risk, and only upside for the nation. No groveling from a local consulate should be required. That is utter nonsense. And no special health insurance either. Just another hurdle tourists will NOT jump over! A covid free letter and a booking at an approved hotel. 2 requirements. That is all that will be tolerated by tourists. 

 

In reality if they were serious about reinvigorating long term tourism, they would subsidize the quarantine, pay for at least half of it, and then maybe some people would come. At this point, they may be sabotaging tourism long term, beyond repair. Expect a million tourists in 2021, two to three million in 2022, and beyond that?

 

Thailand will never, ever again see over 30 million tourists. That is in the past. Trillions of baht invested in tourism down the drain. The sooner these companies write off their Thai investments, the better. 

Edited September 17, 2020 by spidermike007

[GaryAdriaenssens]

Although it's just a rumour now but it seems there are already huge queue's/lines around the world for this incentive.....!! ????????

[Chongalulu]

7 hours ago, spiekerjozef said:

The only safe way is keep the borders closed.

It is certainly safe to assume it will destroy the tourist industry and have significant impact on the wider economy 

[Chongalulu]

2 hours ago, Kaopad999 said:

So, just open the borders like a flood gate and let the virus flood in? 

What a great Idea.. 

 

You may have noticed the Millions of jobs and tourist industry is flooding out as the economy is draining away too. 

[dallen52]

4 hours ago, yeahbutif said:

Does a Thai person have to pay the same amount of money as a falang for quirentine? On return to thailand.and can she stay in same hotel Room together.for 14 days

No, and No.

Separate rooms in many hotels. 

Separate price too.

 

And no covid19 test required for Thais before flying back to Thailand. 

[dallen52]

Okay, try this.

Remove all thought of the C word from your minds.

Open everything up. 

 

Then when people have a sniffle or a cough. 

Just say its a cold, or the flu.

 

Isn't life more simple now?

[Enoon]

3 hours ago, Kaopad999 said:

So, just open the borders like a flood gate and let the virus flood in? 

What a great Idea.. 

 

 

Here in the UK it "flooded in".

 

At no time have the borders been closed.

 

People have been arriving from all over the world.

 

Sporadic quarantines applied for specific foreign arrivals.

 

My local area has had some of the highest death rates in my sub-region, which has had some of the highest rates in my region.

 

There are a higher than national average of 65+ year olds my local area/sub-region.

 

I haven't met anyone who has been knowingly affected except for 1 in the wider sub-region.

 

The only deaths related to me by personal friends/acquaintances have been out of my local area (1) or in other parts of the country (1 in London, 1 in Birmingham).

 

The COVID related death rate in my local area has been.........1 in every 700 people, none of them known to me or connected to anyone I know.

 

And that's in a country where it "flooded in".

 

You're living on planet hysteria.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 17, 2020 by Enoon

[dallen52]

38 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

So what happened to the talk of them being allowed to roam within one kilometre of their leper hotel.

I can't see anyone coming here if they have to undergo 14 days quarantine when so may other countries are making it so much easier, with less documentation, no insurance requirements etc etc.

That was the Phuket bubble proposal. 

Which has crashed and burned. 

Even if the airport was conducting test runs in readiness the other day. 

(A bit slow to catch up sometimes)

Oh. The hotels proposed in Phuket had beach frontage. 

2 weeks in here.

Then one week in another hotel of your choice. 

To help stimulate the economy. 

But this plan has crashed already. 

Much like the STD plan will.

[khunjeff]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Channel 7 spoke to Dr Thanarak Phalipat, a deputy at the department of disease control, who described the STV as a safe way of doing things. 

 

The approach would be watertight, people would be traceable and it was a good way to control the spread of disease. 

 

The reason for this, he noted, was that foreigners would be subject to the same 14 day quarantine that Thais must go to on their return from the country before they are unleashed on the rest of the kingdom.

His reasoning has nothing at all to do with the STV. Everyone coming in has to do the quarantine, so they could let people in on visa exemptions and have exactly the same level of safety. I don't see what having a "270 day" visa rather than a 30 or 60 day visa has to do with anything.

[dallen52]

1 minute ago, Enoon said:

 

Here in the UK it "flooded in".

 

At no time have the borders been closed.

 

People have been arriving from all over the world.

 

Sporadic quarantines applied for specific foreign arrivals.

 

My local area has had the highest death rates in my sub-region, which has had some of the highest rates in my region.

 

There are a higher than national average of 65+ year olds my local area.

 

I haven't met anyone who has been knowingly affected except for 1 in the wider sub-region.

 

The only deaths related to me by personal friends/aquaintances have been out of my area (1) or in other parts of the country (1 in London, 1 in Birmingham).

 

The death rate in my local area has been.........1 in every 700 people. none of them known or related to me by others.

 

And that's in a country where it "flooded in".

 

You're living on planet hysteria.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Valid points. 

Nobody seems to know anyone who has had the virus or has died from it!!

[ronaldo0]

Practically nobody is interested in wasting thousands to be stuck in a hotel room for two weeks at their own expense after arriving on a inflated priced flight and after coughing up for insurance they already had that was deemed not good enough by the Thai government !

The seriously wealthy they are dreaming of arriving wouldn’t have the slightest interest in Thailand and certainly won’t think its that amazing they are willing to be locked in a hotel room for two weeks doing nothing . The people willing to do this are desperate to see family mostly or are people who are willing to waste 3-5 grand to get back for whatever reason . I know people with kids whose Thai wife’s have told them to stay away until the quarantine is done away with , the wife’s thought it was a con the husbands had to stay in a hotel for two weeks at a stupid price . I’m not going anywhere until they do away with quarantine either , unless they let me do it at home !

[androokery]

8 hours ago, spiekerjozef said:

The only safe way is keep the borders closed.

No. The best way to protect the country from widespread COVID-19 may be to keep the borders closed. But that same decision may lead to quite horrible consequences that are far from “safe”. 

[androokery]

42 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Dr. Thanarak is misinformed and misguided. 

 

A safe approach is to allow ANY person from ANY nation starting tomorrow, in unlimited quantities, if they are willing to subject themselves to a 14 day quarantine and pay excessive fees for that two week sentence. There is no downside or risk, and only upside for the nation. No groveling from a local consulate should be required. That is utter nonsense. And no special health insurance either. Just another hurdle tourists will NOT jump over! A covid free letter and a booking at an approved hotel. 2 requirements. That is all that will be tolerated by tourists. 

 

In reality if they were serious about reinvigorating long term tourism, they would subsidize the quarantine, pay for at least half of it, and then maybe some people would come. At this point, they may be sabotaging tourism long term, beyond repair. Expect a million tourists in 2021, two to three million in 2022, and beyond that?

 

Thailand will never, ever again see over 30 million tourists. That is in the past. Trillions of baht invested in tourism down the drain. The sooner these companies write off their Thai investments, the better. 

It would still be quite limited since there aren’t that many places offering the 14 day quarantine (which is actually 16 days/15 nights). 

[androokery]

2 hours ago, Kaopad999 said:

So, just open the borders like a flood gate and let the virus flood in? 

What a great Idea.. 

 

You do realise he is actually arguing the opposite? That the “flood” occurred BEFORE the shutdown?

[Max69xl]

8 hours ago, spiekerjozef said:

The only safe way is keep the borders closed.

Really? That will help the economy. 

[vermin on arrival]

Yet another article about how this ridiculous visa is actually a stroke of genius.

[FarFlungFalang]

24 minutes ago, androokery said:

You do realise he is actually arguing the opposite? That the “flood” occurred BEFORE the shutdown?

I don't see any news reports on Thailand's immunological studies on this virus or on how the virus is spreading or wether anti body testing is being done to determine the real infection rates or what immunology has occurred,for a country that prides itself as a hub of everything they are decidedly quiet on this front instead it hangs onto the shirt tails of other countries in the hope of a vaccine.It seems they will go to great lengths to avoid the face destroying truth of this virus,which is a pity really as they have many talented people working in the medical industry but to much emphasis is placed on the business side rather than true research.

[Bangkok Barry]

4 hours ago, FarFlungFalang said:

The only safe way to make money is to open the borders as the virus came and went between Nov 2019 and March 2020

So the 1 million cases in India in the past month is just a myth then? That's reassuring to know. India has been the latest number one target for TAT so I hope you're right that the virus vanished in March.

[Jackcwba]

How many “stranded” tourists still here ?

 

100k? 200? More ?

 

amnesty ends 26th and they are going to get rid of 100K plus in exchange for the “ we estimate 1200 tourists a month “ 

 

im willing to bet my balls they don’t even pull in half of that a month given the fact you have to be in prison for 14 days for a huge cost.

 

 

amnesty will be extended on Tuesday or Wednesday if it does. Come Thursday start sweating if it isn’t.

 

 

[FitnessHealthTravel]

"While the business leader said that the pandemic's effect on tourism had not been as bad as first feared" Where does this idiot live?  Obviously he hasn't left his Bangkok Housing Estate and travelled... Seriously this Government needs to clean out these clowns or gag them...

[Paul Henry]

Bureaucrats in all countries have little or no idea on how the real world works. If Thailand wants tourists back then they need to employ some commercial people from outside the government that understand the requirements of all parties in the tourist industry. The way I currently see it is the Government wants the tourists money but have no idea of what the tourists want.While they keep putting unrealistic barriers in the way they may as well go on dreaming because other countries also want the dollars and will facilitate the wants of the tourists and finish up with the money in the bag.

[belfast3]

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Dr. Thanarak is misinformed and misguided. 

 

A safe approach is to allow ANY person from ANY nation starting tomorrow, in unlimited quantities, if they are willing to subject themselves to a 14 day quarantine and pay excessive fees for that two week sentence. There is no downside or risk, and only upside for the nation. No groveling from a local consulate should be required. That is utter nonsense. And no special health insurance either. Just another hurdle tourists will NOT jump over! A covid free letter and a booking at an approved hotel. 2 requirements. That is all that will be tolerated by tourists. 

 

In reality if they were serious about reinvigorating long term tourism, they would subsidize the quarantine, pay for at least half of it, and then maybe some people would come. At this point, they may be sabotaging tourism long term, beyond repair. Expect a million tourists in 2021, two to three million in 2022, and beyond that?

 

Thailand will never, ever again see over 30 million tourists. That is in the past. Trillions of baht invested in tourism down the drain. The sooner these companies write off their Thai investments, the better. 

The covid letter is a deal breaker. It's difficult to get and no guarantee of it being turned around in time. Why is anyone going to pay $1000s for over-priced flights and ASQ with the risk of being denied entry onto the flight because of a lack of test (or negative result) when they were going to be quarantined at their own expense anyway?

[Sean60]

I hope there is a PlanB in place.

[Thomas J]

10 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

Another leading "expert" clown !

does he think all the "for sale" and "for rent" signs are for decoration

Thaiwrath

 

This is how government officials think

[SunsetT]

10 hours ago, darksidedog said:

A common sense approach is what is needed, but which is currently seriously lacking.

'Common sense in Thailand'? You must be joking!