Hard truths about travelling to Thailand, right now

[bodga]

8 hours ago, simon43 said:

Sounds like fraud to me

the country the visa  or  both?????

[Chiang Mai Bill]

10 hours ago, ukrules said:

I have a feeling nothing will change until the population are vaccinated.

 

Prominent virologists (not Thai) have predicted that a vaccine will, at the very, very best, be only 75% effective -- a realistic assessment would be 50% effective.

 

To vaccinate a Western country with the population the size of Thailand's -- and with far better infrastructure, health service, and communications -- would take over a year.

 

Thailand has many remote villages! It has an inept government.

[Flying Saucage]

There is also another good article today in the Bangkok Post. The title is "Reopen now or face collapse". Worth reading. 

[Jeffr2]

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1186097-confusion-reigns-as-stv-arrivals-now-may-not-land-in-thailand-this-week/?utm_source=newsletter-20201006-1300&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news

[robertson468]

8 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

The hard truth is that it will take years to be close to what tourism was. It will never be the same. These people don't understand that.

I understand your pessimism, but after the Tsamie in Phuket, many Tourists said they would never go back for fear of their life.  Sure enough, the following year, many did not return, but by the 3rd year the Tourists had returned by the plane load and numbers were very much back up again.  Humans either have short memories, or are prepared to over look adverse issues and move on quite quickly

[ukrules]

4 minutes ago, Chiang Mai Bill said:

Prominent virologists (not Thai) have predicted that a vaccine will, at the very, very best, be only 75% effective -- a realistic assessment would be 50% effective.

 

To vaccinate a Western country with the population the size of Thailand's -- and with far better infrastructure, health service, and communications -- would take over a year.

 

Thailand has many remote villages! It has an inept government.

Still, nothing will change until a vaccine has been rolled out - at that point there is nothing else to wait for.

 

[P100]

9 hours ago, ourmanflint said:

The Thai government have backed themselves into a corner with all the fear mongering, they have nowhere to turn having spent the past 7 months vilifying foreigners as plague carriers. Slowly but surely everyone is beginning to realise that the dream of a vaccine coming along to save the day is nothing but a distant pipe dream.

Now they have to try to unwind every policy statement they have made since the pandemic began and try to open Thailand up on a science not fear lead basis which will be very very hard to do

Not sure the actually arrived at that stage. Facing the situation is not the strength of Thais.

[Captain Monday]

10 minutes ago, Chiang Mai Bill said:

Prominent virologists (not Thai) have predicted that a vaccine will, at the very, very best, be only 75% effective -- a realistic assessment would be 50% effective.

 

To vaccinate a Western country with the population the size of Thailand's -- and with far better infrastructure, health service, and communications -- would take over a year.

 

Thailand has many remote villages! It has an inept government.

Vaccinating USA at 200,000 doses per day will day will take 4 years.

Half won't take it due to absurd anti-vaxxx indoctrination.

[onthedarkside]

A post making false claims about the death rate for those infected with the CV has been removed.

[DrTuner]

9 hours ago, simon43 said:

I'm surprised that those holding Elite visas have not demanded financial compensation.  Imagine buying a visa for 1 million baht and then being refused entry into the country.  Sounds like fraud to me ....

They did give a six months extension to the validity, which was nice. Didn't expect that. 

[onthedarkside]

The death rate among those infected with CV varies widely from country to country, and among different age groups, and is subject to reporting and other variations.

 

Data on that is presented here by Johns Hopkins, called the "case fatality rate" -- the percentage of CV deaths out of total CV cases in a particular country.

 

Examples include 11.1% in Italy, 8.4% in the UK, 6.3% in Sweden, 5.7% in Canada, 5.1% in France, 4.1% in Spain, 3.2% in Germany, 2.8% in the U.S., 1.9% in Japan, and 1.6% in Thailand.

 

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality

 

https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/estimating-mortality-from-covid-19

[sambum]

Very good article making some excellent, if obvious points, but one in particular:-

 

"Around the world, the information from Thai embassies has also been ‘lumpy’ with different officials, in different countries, providing conflicting information about the same visa products."

 

 

 

 

[onthedarkside]

A post with a number of false and unsupported claims re CV has been removed.

 

[Boyblue]

the quarantine period is not 14 days, it is 15 nights in ASQ which is 16 days.....

[SupermarineS6B]

2 hours ago, PGSan said:

This should be written large in reply to all those who are lamenting the current situation for tourism.

Plus the evidence of how great many places now are to simply live in with almost zero tourists (and hence far safer roads etc.) and little chance of infection. 

Ministry of stupid comments ?    The whole country's going down the pan and you come up with this garbage...... What happens when western countries kick all the Thais out who are having a ball of a time in the West which they couldn't even dream of in Thailand ?  Plus where will all the rich Thais send their kids to for an education...      Chula ?     I don't think so.......  Tit for tat,,,,,,,, on its way hopefully.... 

[Ty Hareways]

11 hours ago, ukrules said:

I have a feeling nothing will change until the population are vaccinated.

 

 'We are Thailand you know, you have to give us vaccine'. Now i don't think it's such a bad thing that the thai's put their country and people first but i don't think they realise that other countries will be putting their own people first when it comes to rolling out said vaccine.

[Almer]

10 hours ago, Grumpy John said:

I read the other day 38 have died this year because of dengue fever with 60.000 effected.  Many thousands die on the roads each year and little is done to curb that.  The flu takes many many people each year.  People die from diabetes, cancer, lung disease, suicide.  So,  to those in power and to us normal people death is an everyday thing, it happens everyday for whatever reason yet the Wuhan China virus is being treated differently.  Why?  Is it a power game?  Prayuths much loved emergency decrees seem to be coming every month on a regular basis now.  Honestly I am finding it hard to understand how they can destroy the economy and effect many millions when only 59 have died.

Could it be that you would understand if the figures were more like the UK 60.000 dead and growing daily due to a rather slow response and that 60000 deaths was in a country with a high level of medical care on hand, i fear if the same wave had or does sweep through Los it would be catastrophic beyond peoples thoughts taking into account a similar population but a health service that would buckle, or if the Uk figures do not help you understand how about Spain or France or USA or or or.

[BritManToo]

Just now, Almer said:

Could it be that you would understand if the figures were more like the UK 60.000 dead and growing daily due to a rather slow response and that 60000 deaths was in a country with a high level of medical care on hand, i fear if the same wave had or does sweep through Los it would be catastrophic beyond peoples thoughts taking into account a similar population but a health service that would buckle, or if the Uk figures do not help you understand how about Spain or France or USA or or or.

Disagree,

Most of the old folk in Thailand are already dead at their first serious illness.

Not many that old or sick still left for COVID to take.

[GinBoy2]

So regardless of what restrictions, or lack of who actually wants to fly long haul in todays environment?

 

We just flew back from a few days vacation in San Diego, it was basically 5 hours on a plane, wearing a mask, minimal food/drink offerings, since all that has been suspended.

 

As we were coming off the jetbridge, my wife commented on one of those ad pictures of someone sleeping contentedly on a plane, and said, "imagine doing that for 15 hours wearing a mask with no food"

 

This nightmare has so many moving parts, none of us can really predict how it will pan out.

 

What I would say however, is don't confuse long stay 'tourists' trying to get back to something, and real tourists just looking for their 10 day vacation.

Two very different beasts!

 

 

[ronaldo0]

For those saying hospitals are empty , this was yesterday up north . Is this normal ? 

[Jeffr2]

36 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Disagree,

Most of the old folk in Thailand are already dead at their first serious illness.

Not many that old or sick still left for COVID to take.

You obviously haven't visited many rural thai villages.

[natway09]

Not a bad summary but what makes you state all these inconveniences in tha name of Thailand being mad or stupid.

Try going for a holiday to NZ or Australia at present. Same hoops if not worse

Ausralia even for their own  returnees (if can get a flight, which is nigh impossible) 

Quarantine $3,000. (THB 66,000 approx0

The average Thai could not give a tinkers cuss about tourists & will survive without them

Thousands of jobs available at factories right now. Everbody paints this grim picture but

I have been trying to employ 2 hostesses since 1 July ,,,, to date no luck.

Getting more like Malaysia everyday 

 

[Jeffr2]

2 minutes ago, ronaldo0 said:

For those saying hospitals are empty , this was yesterday up north . Is this normal ? 

Unfortunately, that's not unusual in the rural hospitals.  I've seen it before.

[Jumbo1968]

8 minutes ago, ronaldo0 said:

For those saying hospitals are empty , this was yesterday up north . Is this normal ? 

I have been in the Government Hospital on Soi Bukhara in Pattaya on a Monday pre Covid, standing room only and at least a 2 hour wait to see a Doctor.

[ronaldo0]

7 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

Unfortunately, that's not unusual in the rural hospitals.  I've seen it before.

Was the same in khon kaen also . Looks like a war zone ! 

[cerox]

11 minutes ago, ronaldo0 said:

For those saying hospitals are empty , this was yesterday up north . Is this normal ? 

Thailand is covid-free. Why do these people all wear a mask? Strange.

[Jeffr2]

7 minutes ago, cerox said:

Thailand is covid-free. Why do these people all wear a mask? Strange.

Other diseases besides covid are present.  Especially in hospitals.  Plus, there are warnings about people coming in from Burma to get medical attention due to the problems with CV there.

[paulikens]

one thing i keep hearing people say is you have to get your insurance off a thai company but the official line is you need insurance that meets their criteria, nothing about it has to be a thai insurance company.

      

the other thing people keep mentioning is the thai's who have lost their jobs and who are gonna be skint and go into poverty and i no doubt this is true, but why the hell arent they making any noise about it to the government.

i think the majority of thais including the ones who work in the tourism industry are happy to sacrifice their jobs because of their irrational fear of the virus.

so its a illusion that the thais who work in the industry are desperate to get us back they really arent they have adapted.  and anyone who disagrees please explain to me why they arent saying anything? bar a very small minority to the government. because in most countries the tourism industry would be up in arms if they shut the borders down, and yet thailand's tourism industry barely a whimper.  people on here have made more of a noise (quite rightly so as well) 

[KoreaElte]

2 minutes ago, paulikens said:

 and anyone who disagrees please explain to me why they arent saying anything? bar a very small minority to the government. because in most countries the tourism industry would be up in arms if they shut the borders down, and yet thailand's tourism industry barely a whimper.  people on here have made more of a noise (quite rightly so as well) 

One theory is that they do not want to be sent to the attitude adjustment camp for a refresher on Thainess.

[Artisi]

41 minutes ago, ronaldo0 said:

For those saying hospitals are empty , this was yesterday up north . Is this normal ? 

IMG_3227.mov

Yes, you should see it when it's supper busy.