Retirement visa holders largest group of foreigners to enter Thailand in October

[bimmerbob]

10 hours ago, KannikaP said:

I wonder what the photo is supposed to depict.

A responsible foreigner?

 

I lose track of logic in why TAT even look at the retirement visa numbers. This class of foreigner is hardly a 'tourist'

[lkv]

10 hours ago, KannikaP said:

I wonder what the photo is supposed to depict.

 

Potentially covid infected foreigner woman that just turned 50, and can now achieve her dream of quitting her well paid job, and retiring to covid free Thailand.

[Jumbo1968]

The more foreigners who sign up for the ASQ Hotels etc the more the Thai Government will keep the restrictions in place,, plenty of businesses hotels, hospitals, ‘friends’ etc are making money from the scheme.

Yes keep Covid out of Thailand but start looking at alternatives schemes starting with all Thai returnees required to be tested for Covid the same as foreigners, which might encourage more foreigners to return.

Also stop Hospitalising every one who is symptomatic possibly even the positive tests unless the person is older or has other ailments.

 

[Gandtee]

7 hours ago, Guderian said:

These people must be really desperate to come back with all the hurdles and expense, is life in their own countries truly that awful? My two best mates are stuck in the UK and Canada but they've both said they won't be returning until the quarantine period is done away with. They've both got their own property out here with loads of money in the bank, but the idea of paying through the nose to be locked in a grotty hotel room for a fortnight just so they can drink some overpriced Thai beer doesn't appeal to them.

I've just received an email friend of mine  who said he is happy that he sold his house and boat in Thailand when he did and went back to the UK. He won't be coming back anytime soon with the present conditions laid down.

[TERMINATOR3AB]

What year   do they refer  too ?

How  could  they return  to Thailand  from where ? 

Hardly any countries   have flights...crock of  poop 

Or  do they call  Chinese  Foreigners 

Do not believe  any of those  figures

Good  Luck  Thailand 

[Traubert]

1 hour ago, Jumbo1968 said:

The more foreigners who sign up for the ASQ Hotels etc the more the Thai Government will keep the restrictions in place,, plenty of businesses hotels, hospitals, ‘friends’ etc are making money from the scheme.

Yes keep Covid out of Thailand but start looking at alternatives schemes starting with all Thai returnees required to be tested for Covid the same as foreigners, which might encourage more foreigners to return.

Also stop Hospitalising every one who is symptomatic possibly even the positive tests unless the person is older or has other ailments.

 

Stop hospitalising the symptomatic? Are you insane?

[Mayhem11]

I am confused I have an O visa and want to go to Oz for a week, then back to Chiang Mai. I understand I would have to spend 2 weeks in a grotty Brisbane hotel and I would have to spend 2 weeks in another Covid Petri dish here in Thailand. Is it correct that I could go back to Oz. Ther must be a catch. Is it the horrendous airfares?

[Jumbo1968]

41 minutes ago, Traubert said:

Stop hospitalising the symptomatic? Are you insane?

Why hospitalise anyone thousands have Covid in Europe and only the vulnerable are hospitalised, Thailand are aware people have the mandatory Health Insurance and take full of advantage of it.

[IAMHERE]

13 hours ago, KannikaP said:

I wonder what the photo is supposed to depict.

Example of a "recently released figure" , perhaps.????

[Jonathan Swift]

10 hours ago, Whale said:

LOTs of O-As coming back in November, Facebook full of their stories of the application process and flights.

I'm actually an "O" visa holder, and I was told by the Washington Thai consulate to choose "O-A" in the drop down menu for the COE. Worked fine, no questions or raised eyebrows

[The Now Factor]

1500 tourists outta 3 million from a year ago or .05%... about the same number of people contracting this "pandemic" flu virus.Ironic.

[Jonathan Swift]

On 11/15/2020 at 10:53 AM, Guderian said:

These people must be really desperate to come back with all the hurdles and expense, is life in their own countries truly that awful? My two best mates are stuck in the UK and Canada but they've both said they won't be returning until the quarantine period is done away with. They've both got their own property out here with loads of money in the bank, but the idea of paying through the nose to be locked in a grotty hotel room for a fortnight just so they can drink some overpriced Thai beer doesn't appeal to them.

OK, reality check. I guess you haven't been to the US lately. I'm happy to pay a premium to get the <deleted> out of that plague infested looney bin. My quarantine was 28,000 baht including food. After 7 days virus free you can hang out in the social areas which include a nice pool. Hardly a grotty place. And I'm not concerned about beer. I have 6 months or more here to enjoy myself, and eventually I will be drinking the supersized Leos and Singhas for 55 baht at my apartment complex, restaurant,  and convenience store below it. I've never found it difficult to find cheap beer if I want it. Depends on where you like to go, right? 50 baht for fried rice or a cheeseburger. Lots of nice people. And I don't have loads of money in the bank. Just enough to live here nicely. $1600 US a month. Perfectly happy. On the other hand, if waiting is the better option for some people, great. They ARE talking about reducing quarantine to 10 days. I don't think they'll get rid of it totally for a while, at least until there's a vaccine. Once there's a vaccine, things will start to change.

[SiSePuede419]

How did they enter?  Are airlines flying a normal schedule?  What if they need to leave?

 

An effective vaccine might not be widely available until 2023. ????

[koolkarl]

Hope they have gas masks also with the aqi well over 100 again.  Can't understand why foreigners would

go through the paper nightmare, 2 types of way over priced insurance, which likely won't pay a claim, sit

in an expensive room for 2 weeks and get the stick up the nose 4 times and then have the constant risk of

getting lung cancer like 2 of my friends did, just to enter Thailand.  Can go to Mexico without any issues and the

aqi is normal. 

[Scouse123]

4 hours ago, brucec64 said:

Your business can't be that important if you can't afford 3k a night for quarantine hotels. 

 

You see,

 

What an uninformed, judgemental, daft answer.

 

We are talking flights from Isaarn to Bangkok, Roi Et to BKK, asking 8,000 baht, acquiring a visa, covid19 test at Bumrungrad, a flight to Cambodia via Korea one way at 22,000 baht, (plus a layover of 23 hours ) so that means 44,000 baht return as opposed to the usual direct flights, at about 4,000 baht return. Why they are not doing direct flights when both countries, Thailand and Cambodia, claim next to no cases is beyond me!

 

Then we have 60K for a decent hotel in Phnom Penn for 14 days, a $3,000 deposit on arrival, A COE to obtain from the Thai Embassy, another 60K ASQ hotel in Bangkok, for another 14 days, totalling 120K, As I have said, if I am going to be confined to a hotel room for 14 days, I want good quality.

 

Further Covid19 tests in Phnom Penn and again before returning. Then there is the taxi from Phnom Penn to Siem Reap and return, solo, as how can a person go through quarantine to risk sharing a taxi. Then there are living expenses and unforeseen expenses.

 

All this, to do one days business at my bank! The prices are not justified and the hassle is not worth it.

 

If I was travelling to the UK for 2 or 3 months, there would be less hoops to jump through and less costs! you can get a reurn to the UK for the price of one way to Cambodia and I am sure many other members feel the same.

 

There are, many are not bothering coming to Thailand until there is a better and speedier system of testing as is being rolled out in other countries and a less intrusive requirements on peoples bank balances.

 

So, it's not a matter of 3K a night for a hotel, is it?

 

 

[NorthernRyland]

16 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Tourist Visa holders (84).

They're still issuing tourist visas??? Why did the release the STV then? Last time  I checked there were some impossible financial requirements that most tourists couldn't come up with.

[Cranky]

11 hours ago, Guderian said:

These people must be really desperate to come back with all the hurdles and expense, is life in their own countries truly that awful? My two best mates are stuck in the UK and Canada but they've both said they won't be returning until the quarantine period is done away with. They've both got their own property out here with loads of money in the bank, but the idea of paying through the nose to be locked in a grotty hotel room for a fortnight just so they can drink some overpriced Thai beer doesn't appeal to them.

So why not pass off and join them?

[ttrd]

12 hours ago, Guderian said:

These people must be really desperate to come back with all the hurdles and expense, is life in their own countries truly that awful? My two best mates are stuck in the UK and Canada but they've both said they won't be returning until the quarantine period is done away with. They've both got their own property out here with loads of money in the bank, but the idea of paying through the nose to be locked in a grotty hotel room for a fortnight just so they can drink some overpriced Thai beer doesn't appeal to them.

Well, we will probably as time goes on and conditions worsen in Europe throughout the winter see that more and more people gladly will choose the process of 14 days quarantine and then live almost normally in Thailand rather than having to be locked up in their own home in their homecountry waiting for the virus to disappear which may take years ... ????

[NeoDinosaw]

9 hours ago, wayne07836 said:

my plan would be to go back home to the UK and renew my passport as I only have 5 blank pages left and not sure if they would renew my extension with so few pages left (maybe someone could advise).

 

A couple of years ago I  got a new Visa in London with only 2 blank pages left in my UK passport ... and they were not together !     I didn't have any problem.  Maybe things have changed so you ought to get clarification from the horse's mouth

[Joe Mama]

If you can count & classify the number of tourists entering Thailand...then it's not enough to revive the anemic Thai tourist industry!

[CANSIAM]

Cement Heads,  Valid Non O retirees ( Banks at 800k PLUS ) scattered all over the globe since April, but not worthy. Welcome back Valid Non O yearly extensioners........ !  Anyway the 0-A is a better solution ! 

[GAZZPA]

13 hours ago, wensiensheng said:

If people have family here (wife and kids) it’s not surprising that they would be desperate to come back, no matter the hurdles.

Thats a fair point, because i wouldn't go back there for all the tea in China. Thailand has had it's day, tourism was already falling pre Covid. There are other places to go that offer so much more and none of the misery that has been covered a million times on TVF already, simply not worth it. Leave Thailand to the Thai people, they never wanted us there anyway, so now they have their wish. 

[GAZZPA]

2 hours ago, ttrd said:

Well, we will probably as time goes on and conditions worsen in Europe throughout the winter see that more and more people gladly will choose the process of 14 days quarantine and then live almost normally in Thailand rather than having to be locked up in their own home in their homecountry waiting for the virus to disappear which may take years ... ????

Nonsense. its going to be a hard winter for sure but the vaccine is being administered this year, by next summer we will be in a very different place. I would rather be anywhere in Europe than Thailand. All Thailand has to offer is the weather, once you take that out of the equation there is absolutely zip worth going there for now that is worth all the grief associated with being there. So, I think you are wrong with your assumptions. 

[GAZZPA]

3 hours ago, The Now Factor said:

Did you wear a mask before this?Distance from people?Lived your life in fear? Probably not,so why now?

They're not giving into fear,they choose freedom.You should respect that. 

 

 

They do it now because we are experiencing a global pandemic,,, dohhh! Nothing to with freedom, the conspiracy theories are rife and i guess someone must believe them. The precautions are to protect you and your fellow man and to try and halt the spread of the virus, what you call "people expressing freedom" i call "people behaving like irresponsible idiots".

[Jumbo1968]

7 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

That's just one story. Cases are rising exponentially as we test more but hospitalizations and deaths are not following the same trend. It's not as bad as we once thought and we're getting over the worst of it I think.

I can’t disagree, the difference is in the western world irrespective of the number of cases increasing we are learning how to manage COVID.

Thailands answer to managing Covid is to lock the country down allow unemployment to soar and businesses to go bankrupt and come up with money making schemes every other week.

[GAZZPA]

15 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

That's just one story. Cases are rising exponentially as we test more but hospitalizations and deaths are not following the same trend. It's not as bad as we once thought and we're getting over the worst of it I think.

Its one story yes, but one of many,,, I have more i could tell you including a death in one of my oldest friends family. I do agree that we are getting better at treating the symptoms, no doubt, but thats a good thing and still doesn't take away how nasty this virus is and how devastating it can be to your health,, anyway, the vaccine looks to be coming now so we are moving towards getting out of this mess.

[Bkktodd]

13 hours ago, Billy Bloggs said:

My 40/400 insurance will run to 7700 baht with a 200k deductible(doubt I will ever use it unless a major thing happens), Im 68 also means my money isnt tied up in the bank all year, well at least 400k all year and the other 400 for 5 months of the year.

Which company ?? Please

[Bkktodd]

10 hours ago, Turkleton said:

I am also slightly confused.
I had a Non-Immi O with retirement extension and also a re-entry stamp.
But these have expired in August.
So, now I have to apply for a new Non-Immi O in my home country?
And will this be granted (without any major problems), or are there any difficulties or requirements to be expected?
And after that, go through the well-known retirement procedure in Thailand?

Good question. Same here

[Hoppyone]

20 hours ago, IamNoone88 said:

A dismal failure if you wish to revive tourism. A huge success if you do not.

Looks like someone can finally count correctly,

[ChakaKhan]

19 hours ago, Venom said:

It seems retirement visa holders are their bread and butter when the <deleted> hits the fan. 

The Grandpas Giveth..and the Thais taketh......  ????