VIDEO: First foreign tourists arrive in Thailand after more than 6 months

[webfact]

VIDEO: First foreign tourists arrive in Thailand after more than 6 months

 

"Welcome to Thailand"

Picture: Sanook

 

Media throughout Thailand has been reporting the first arrival of a batch of  tourists who reached Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok yesterday evening from Shanghai. 

 

Reports on the number varied from 39 to 41 but they were all Chinese. 

 

A video published on Thaivisa showed the new arrivals clad in not just masks but shields and apparel resembling raincoats. They were loading possessions into protective plastic bags before getting on a bus.

 

They had already been screened for Covid-19 in a special holding area around Gates D3 and D4 at the airport where they had PCR tests that officials say are 95% accurate and available in 90 minutes. 

 

But more tests will follow at the quarantine hotel in Bangkok before they are free to travel anywhere.

 

A story on Thaivisa's "The Stranded" series today describes quarantine more like prison with meals left for you and little contact with anyone as you are isolated in your room. 

 

Picture: Sanook

 

How long these tourists will stay is also being variously reported. Sanook said they were STV tourists and would stay long term.

 

Elsewhere it was reported they are a group who after quarantine would hit the beaches but only stay 30 days.

 

This would mean half their time would be in enforced isolation at considerable cost.

 

While the Thai authorities point to the fact that this is just the start, the onerous application process and all the regulations related to Covid-19 had many online suggesting it would not be much of a holiday. 

 

There was widespread ridicule of the arrival plus a great deal of comment, and sometimes anger, that the tourists were coming from a country where the virus began.

 

For now the facts were that Spring Airlines 9C8579 touched down from Shanghai. 

 

Picture: Sanook

 

AoT deputy Kittipong Kittikhajorn said that the airport was "ever ready" and they had been working closely with the health authorities. 

 

Thousands of Thai and foreign returnees have already arrived since the country locked down seven months ago. But they were not tourists.

 

Yesterday marked a watershed in the country's pandemic response and more arrivals, possibly as many as 100+, are expected from Guangzhou next Monday. 

 

Source: Sanook

 

 

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[RotBenz8888]

A great promotion video for Amazing Thailand! 

[2 is 1]

Maybe they all use few billion eatch so they save this coundry. First after ASQ visit every mom & pop shop from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and use 10k bth to buy fermented fish sauce!

[mtls2005]

At least the slickers and PPE will come in handy, assuming the protests are still going on in 14 days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Henryford]

Why would any tourist want to put themselves through this.

[mr mr]

 

12 minutes ago, webfact said:

and apparel resembling raincoats.

b888H please those raincoats are the dogs bullocks. 

[Cali farong]

No western tourist will be stupid enough to go through that.

a mask a shield and a raincoat and test,test ,test 

they’ve got to be investors, or complete idiots 

[2long]

Not wanting to appear racist, but surely a Thai immigration official wearing a mask and shield would have trouble properly identifying a Chinese person also wearing a mask and shield from his/her passport photo.

Please note that I am not saying 'they all look the same,' but purely highlighting the risk/opportunity to travel on someone else's passport.

[CockneyGit]

A staged propaganda circus!

[Misterwhisper]

I'm sure that will become the yarn of many grandpa tales.

 

Grandchildren: "Grandpa, grandpa, please tell us a story!"

Grandpa: "Alright, children... well, there was that one time when grandma and I traveled to Thailand. We had a wonderful time being holed up in a hotel room for 14 days. Once that was over, we even still had 3 days left to actually discover what was outside the hotel before our holiday was up and we had to return to China."

Grandchildren: "Amazing!" 

[A Los for words]

Other than currency, what else would you bring for 2 weeks in quarantine and 30 days on the beach?

[peterpaintpot]

Where is the video? I see photos, but no video.

[oz457]

And what is the price for the quarantine hotel accommodation? Just wondering how much financial efforts these aliens made to pay Thailand a visit.... Someone any idea?

[mickymouse1]

I wonder how much these poor guys were paid for this circus like poor acts.

No sane person will go through this unless they were either forced to or got paid to do it.

[meechai]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Elsewhere it was reported they are a group who after quarantine would hit the beaches but only stay 30 days.

 

This would mean half their time would be in enforced isolation at considerable cost.

Color me skeptical but my guess would be this is a publicity deal & paid for by TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand)

 

I just don't imagine Chinese tourist ponying up the $$$ to take a 30 day trip half of which will be spent

in an expensive prison.

 

I lived long enough in Thailand to see many Chinese tourists & they are to put it mildly very frugal

 

So yeah my guess? In this instance a publicity campaign paid for by TAT with the tourist maybe

having to use their own money just for the two weeks of freedom but...All else trip & quarantine....paid for by TAT

[ThailandRyan]

You have to really wonder whether or not this first batch was paid by the Thai Government to come, and whether or not they are only a test group for the onslaught TAT expects, or they are crazy enough to throw good money after bad for a short time vacation.  However, neither scenario would surprise me.

[Tropicalevo]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

after quarantine would hit the beaches

In rainy season?

[ThailandRyan]

5 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

In rainy season?

By the time they clear quarantine High season will be here as it will be November...lol

[DLock]

27 minutes ago, meechai said:

Color me skeptical but my guess would be this is a publicity deal & paid for by TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand)

 

I just don't imagine Chinese tourist ponying up the $$$ to take a 30 day trip half of which will be spent

in an expensive prison.

 

I lived long enough in Thailand to see many Chinese tourists & they are to put it mildly very frugal

 

So yeah my guess? In this instance a publicity campaign paid for by TAT with the tourist maybe

having to use their own money just for the two weeks of freedom but...All else trip & quarantine....paid for by TAT

 

I had the same thought.

 

After the loss of face of there never being 150 tourists from Guangzhou, I think they paid some random Chinese to do this...and could still only get 39.

 

Fail.

[JusticeGB]

What a great promotional video for TAT they should immediately put it in all their overseas advertising to showcase the care and attention given to arriving tourists on their way to expensive quarantine prison. 

[Justgrazing]

Is it raining in the airport ..

[holy cow cm]

To me they do not look like tourists. They look like business people getting ready to buy Thailand up. My guess is they are all proxies for mother commie land.

[kotsak]

3 hours ago, Cali farong said:

No western tourist will be stupid enough to go through that.

a mask a shield and a raincoat and test,test ,test 

they’ve got to be investors, or complete idiots 

or actors in the Potemkin village..

[AbeNormal]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Thousands of Thai and foreign returnees have already arrived since the country locked down seven months ago. But they were not tourists.

and how many of these foreign arrivals have tested positive while in quarantine, quite a few, what exactly is the difference, don't they have to go through the same process, testing before boarding the plane then quarantine and more testing, seems safe to assume the so called tourist will present the same profile and many will test positive, what if someone on the plane with CV19 then infects others on day 10 of quarantine, they could go undetected for up 7 days at which point they will already be released and mixing in the general population 

[heist]

Quote

Reports on the number varied from 39 to 41

Sounds like they're got everything under control. 

[AbeNormal]

I'd be willing to bet that TAT paid them to come effectively a free holiday, that is the only logical conclusion I can think of

[Guderian]

Something doesn't add up here. Why go through all this rigmarole and expense and lost time when they could have just hopped on an internal flight from Shanghai to Hainan? The island's at the same latitude as the north of Thailand and within the tropics, so if you fancy some warmth and beach time surely you'd head down there for a month, not pay good money to be stuck in a Thai hotel-prison cell for a fortnight? I call BS on this one.

[John Drake]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Elsewhere it was reported they are a group who after quarantine would hit the beaches but only stay 30 days.

 

This would mean half their time would be in enforced isolation at considerable cost.

Sort of like they're going to Mars.

[John Drake]

3 hours ago, mickymouse1 said:

I wonder how much these poor guys were paid for this circus like poor acts.

No sane person will go through this unless they were either forced to or got paid to do it.

Frog marched to Thailand?

[Cake Monster]

7 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

A great promotion video for Amazing Thailand! 

Its great to see them all being protected from the Rain, and the great gobs of Phlegm that will now be flying everywhere by those Rain Smocks.