STV not available to UK travellers - only ‘low risk’ countries able to apply

[spidermike007]

25 minutes ago, pentagara said:

PS. The test that was used for the rose garden event in the US president's case was the Abbott rapid test. 'Rapid' currently comes at the price of a relevant number of false negatives. The test is still valuable, but it should not be the only means of protection. For that, the test has simply too many holes. You also wouldn't say: Checking every 10th person for guns is sufficient at an event with the president. Unfortunately it isn't.

Oh, yes I would. LOL. 

[DJ54]

Is Taiwan on the list as they’re under the one China policy? 

[hottrader77]

3 hours ago, Flying Saucage said:

Because the STV and it's choice of the countries eligible are purely political.

 

The scheme was created to make the people believe that the government does something to rescue the tourism industry, while their agenda is more the opposite. It's about willingly ruining the industry for making it a bargain for Chinese investers. So, of course, it's the Chinese who are allowed to come firstly.

 

Also note that it is well known that there is always a lot of symbolism involved in the politics of China, and the Thai government follows the wishes of it's friends.

 

Back in March China praised it's Thai friends for beeing the last who did not blame China on the crisis and who kept the borders still open for Chinese tourists. And today, you can be sure that China told Thailand not to open the borders for anyone until the first Chinese will come. So, because of this symbolism, China told Thailand to let nobody in before the first tourists (or investors) from China are ready to come. 

 

Also, it's quite clear that these Chinese who come are hardly real tourists. No normal Chinese tourist could effort the time and cost of the scheme. They are long stay investors, and they will stay a very long time.

 

As I wrote in another post, still the list of countries eligble obviously is:

 

1. China

2. n/a

 

why should they let in high risk countries like UK , i am from UK and the useless job boris has done its no wonder they dont let UK in , brexit is a shambles also but boris could not care less , its a good job i am still here in thailand marooned since march and no help from british gov . not a single free flight back after telling us to return , my flight has gone down the swannie my travel agent gone bust in uk but still no help and i will have to pay for another flight to get home NO HELP FROM UK GOV. so i am putting 2 fingers up to them and staying here till at least march next year and if situation changes i will go back then but at least i will be here for this winter so good luck boris and co with the black ice and virus and pubs closing at 10pm but do what you want before 10pm what stupid rules , meanwhile im gonna be sunbathing on the beach and swiming in the sea and the girls will keep me entertained ha ha   

[Blumpie]

Much hyped?  Ha ha ha!  

Hyped by the government.  

[DrJack54]

12 minutes ago, hottrader77 said:

meanwhile im gonna be sunbathing on the beach and swiming in the sea and the girls will keep me entertained ha ha   

Guessing you expect UK gov to spring for your 50 baht deck chair and refreshments........since apparently your "marooned here since march"

Seriously. 

Edited October 5, 2020 by DrJack54

[sincerement_yours]

My heart goes out to all those innocent foreigners who bought property in Thailand and now are in this dire situation of not being able to go into them. Imagine you spent a couple of thousands of dollars/pounds/euros etc... and not able to reach your property.

It almost happened to me, luckily before I did such a foolish act, I had the good fortune of visiting a THAI so called IMMIGRATION, WHAT AN APPAULING SITE I SAW! UNDESCRIBABLE AND UNBELIEVABLE FOR (what I thought) THAILAND (is).

[lensta]

So, my question is, if you are a citizen of a dirty country but reside in a clean country can you get a  Sexually Transmitted Visa or not? Are you considered dirty by nationality or by country of residence?

[lensta]

53 minutes ago, hottrader77 said:

why should they let in high risk countries like UK , i am from UK and the useless job boris has done its no wonder they dont let UK in , brexit is a shambles also but boris could not care less , its a good job i am still here in thailand marooned since march and no help from british gov . not a single free flight back after telling us to return , my flight has gone down the swannie my travel agent gone bust in uk but still no help and i will have to pay for another flight to get home NO HELP FROM UK GOV. so i am putting 2 fingers up to them and staying here till at least march next year and if situation changes i will go back then but at least i will be here for this winter so good luck boris and co with the black ice and virus and pubs closing at 10pm but do what you want before 10pm what stupid rules , meanwhile im gonna be sunbathing on the beach and swiming in the sea and the girls will keep me entertained ha ha   

"so i am putting 2 fingers up to them and staying here till at least march next year"

Yeah, that will teach them a lesson not to upset you.

[OnTheRun]

3 hours ago, Donga said:

Agree, it doesn't make a lot of sense and expect they're appeasing the overwhelming number of Thais (plus a lot of farang) who aren't keen on the borders reopening.

Also can see Thailand going without quarantine for safe countries before year end, as others have already done.

In Japan, South Korea, Australia, Australia, Malaysia and Singapore, the chances of someone having Covid-19 would now be less than one in 30,000 compared to about around one in 1,000 in Europe and US (Germany and Canada are one in 4,000 and the Nordics would be even less). Vietnam one in a mill and China one in 8 mill.

That will be why Malaysia has just introduced internal quarantine and banned inter district travel in Sabah

[from the home of CC]

1 hour ago, pentagara said:

No, you're not Covid-free then, for multiple reasons:

 

1. What would be needed is a PCR test which checks whether you currently have the virus. An antigen test checks whether you have had covid in the past and have developed antibodies. Having antibodies btw currently is no guarantee that you can't get and spread covid again, especially if it was a light case of covid.

 

2. A covid test doesn't work like a metal detector. Testing is very important, but only proves that you don't have enough viruses (yet?) so that a test can detect them. You might already be a carrier, but the virus could still be in the process of hijacking enough of your cells to multiply, so that you actually only become a spreader the next day (or even later). Covid has an incubation period of on average (!) 6 to 7 days, most people show signs of infection (and test positive) within 14 days (there are even cases with longer incubation periods though). That's the reason for quarantine which almost everywhere globally is 14 days and it's why you need a test at the beginning and at the end of quarantine to reasonably show that you're covid free.

 

3. Tests, especially the one with quick results test false negative in about 10% of all cases.

 

Case in point for all this: The US president. He was only surrounded by people that got tested everyday. He still got Covid. Before the rose garden event for the Supreme court nomination every guest got tested, but then unfortunateely received the recommendation that they can take their masks off, eben thoughbit was a group of more than 150 people. As a result, a relevant number of participants caught the virus, based on current understanding. Testing is important, but not self-sufficient.

If I were a leader of this country it would be a cold day in hell prior to me listening to anyone from the western world concerning public health- Thailand you are doing great, sure it's economically devastating but just imagine that devastation plus 200,000 K dead, unimaginable... 

[Knocker33]

So if they haven't decided which countries are low risk yet. How the f*** are the Chinese supposed to be landing this week. 

Sorry that was a totally stupid question

[donnacha]

Densely-populated, diverse countries such as the UK will only become low-risk through a widespread vaccine programme.

Unless the vaccines are very obviously ineffective, it will be in the interests of all countries, including Thailand, to pretend that they are effective. Understand that every country wants to get back to business as usual but have backed themselves into a PR corner by over-hyping the risks early on. They have terrified their voters and now need a plausible excuse to return to normality.

The consensus seems to be that most countries currently affected are in for a dark winter, but the roll-out of the UK vaccine to essential workers and the vulnerable should start in the next month or so. I expect to see significant policy changes in Thailand by the start of 2021, but not before.

 

[David Garden]

Thai government assessed the risks of mass infection through the venue of tourists coming from countries with covid high rate.

Bringing in Thailand those risky people just to please the hoteliers and their businesses would be a suicide...for the entire nation.

Residents of high infection rate countries should understand that Thailand is looking for more healthy visitors.

Tunisia was enjoying a safe environment with very little covid case during months, however few weeks ago they decided to open their borders to European tourists and now they are struggling to cure a tsunami of covid... Thailand is not willing to follow the same path , that s it !

 

 

[UKresonant]

Even if the STV were to be offered in the UK, can't really take the Visa seriously, looking at the requirements (especially with the O-A style Thai insurance linked on the CH RTE website list, within another post https://www.thaiembassy.ch/Content/Embassy/57.html#visa2). C6)

 

It is a possibility this is just a facade being put to the tourist industry and its struggling and former employees, to make it seem like they have some hope! 

Edited October 5, 2020 by UKresonant

[Cabradelmar]

As it should be. Brits are not special here. 

[Jaxxper]

Sounds a bit like the health insurance people that will only insure healthy people.....

[MarkyM3]

1 hour ago, hottrader77 said:

why should they let in high risk countries like UK , i am from UK and the useless job boris has done its no wonder they dont let UK in , brexit is a shambles also but boris could not care less , its a good job i am still here in thailand marooned since march and no help from british gov . not a single free flight back after telling us to return , my flight has gone down the swannie my travel agent gone bust in uk but still no help and i will have to pay for another flight to get home NO HELP FROM UK GOV. so i am putting 2 fingers up to them and staying here till at least march next year and if situation changes i will go back then but at least i will be here for this winter so good luck boris and co with the black ice and virus and pubs closing at 10pm but do what you want before 10pm what stupid rules , meanwhile im gonna be sunbathing on the beach and swiming in the sea and the girls will keep me entertained ha ha   

So you can afford to stay put until next March but you still think the UK government should have helped you to fly home courtesy of the taxpayer. Interesting logic! Sounds like the UK is the last place you want to be in anyway so win-win. 

 

As for the wider STV issue, let's see what happens in 3 or 4 months. There is hardly panic on the streets here in the UK. Annoyance that the next few months is going to be hard with restrictions but life goes on. IMO, we are not likely to see the spike in deaths this time around. To be blunt, most of the low-hanging fruit was probably taken in the first wave. We'll see.

 

I would be willing to do the STV as I need to get back to Thailand for personal reasons but if they persist, I'll have to do something else. Has put a huge strain on personal relationship with Thai gf though. 

Edited October 5, 2020 by MarkyM3

[Jumbo1968]

47 minutes ago, from the home of CC said:

If I were a leader of this country it would be a cold day in hell prior to me listening to anyone from the western world concerning public health- Thailand you are doing great, sure it's economically devastating but just imagine that devastation plus 200,000 K dead, unimaginable... 

Great because they haven’t tested many I would say, you don’t test you don’t get numbers ?

[Jumbo1968]

2 hours ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

Probably because the authorities don't want to be stuck with a bunch of positives cases appearing during the quarantine and having to deal with them. 

How many have tested positive on the repatriation flights from the U.K. I think 2/3 and mostly Thais who weren’t tested prior to the flight.

[SunsetT]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Richard shared a screenshot of an email where a British applicant of the STV was told that the new visa is not available to travellers from the UK.

But this email screenshot is from the notoriously unhelpful London embassy's Thai staff who only ever  provide "computer says no" type minimal information. They would not even think of adding "AT THE MOMENT" as the list of so-called low-risk countries has not been released yet by the Thai government which is the case, or that the situation might change.

Edited October 5, 2020 by SunsetT

[SunsetT]

5 hours ago, crazykopite said:

Doesn’t matter what they say very few tourists if any are going to come to Thailand due to the strict regulations . As for these Chinese who are coming in over the next 48 hours they are not tourists they are business people who have no doubt been given every available hospitality available in order to pass them off as some sort of tourist . Have these ministers never heard of the well known phrase  “ Pigs Can Fly “ if not maybe if they look at the picture it will help them to understand 

So its Chinese pigs that are flying in and not tourists?  Is there a shortage of pork in Phuket? ????.

 

[jwbrit]

...and that's a reason I won't be investing in real estate in Thailand. Even with a home here there's no guarantee you'll be allowed in to visit it!

[Letseng]

6 hours ago, Flying Saucage said:

Because the STV and it's choice of the countries eligible are purely political.

 

The scheme was created to make the people believe that the government does something to rescue the tourism industry, while their agenda is more the opposite. It's about willingly ruining the industry for making it a bargain for Chinese investers. So, of course, it's the Chinese who are allowed to come firstly.

 

Also note that it is well known that there is always a lot of symbolism involved in the politics of China, and the Thai government follows the wishes of it's friends.

 

Back in March China praised it's Thai friends for beeing the last who did not blame China on the crisis and who kept the borders still open for Chinese tourists. And today, you can be sure that China told Thailand not to open the borders for anyone until the first Chinese will come. So, because of this symbolism, China told Thailand to let nobody in before the first tourists (or investors) from China are ready to come. 

 

Also, it's quite clear that these Chinese who come are hardly real tourists. No normal Chinese tourist could effort the time and cost of the scheme. They are long stay investors, and they will stay a very long time.

 

As I wrote in another post, still the list of countries eligble obviously is:

 

1. China

2. n/a

 

Thai longstay published the list on their FB page.

[Letseng]

56 minutes ago, Cabradelmar said:

As it should be. Brits are not special here. 

But "we are British".

[cjinchiangrai]

2 hours ago, DJ54 said:

Is Taiwan on the list as they’re under the one China policy? 

Yes but not for that reason

[Kadilo]

Gutted. I was looking forward to my 2 weeks in Thaicrataz. 

[Dan Talus]

However STD(s) are fully available to any UK traveller, free of charge, who can make it to the LOS on their own.

Did someone beat me to that? Come on that was too easy.

Cheers

[paulikens]

the uk should do tit for tat. petty but still sod em

[paulikens]

but still no official list announced 

[SupermarineS6B]

Shove it.......   I'm waiting until there's a change of mob or until the people boil this lot for dinner....  I'm not jumping through hoops for Tw@#$ that hate us........ Nope.......