Thai embassies scrap 500k THB financial requirement for single entry tourist visa

[bbbbooboo]

Hmmm.... common sense doesn’t appear to be that common anymore, and I suggest probably less so in the Land of Smiles?

[paulikens]

can someone clarify...can you actually get in with a tourist visa now then? as far as i know you can't. so all this is totally irrelevant at the moment 

[Destiny1990]

Oh well wouldn’t be surprised if tomorrow it changes again into another rule , policy and or obstacle..

How about our wristband trackers?

[Salerno]

1 minute ago, paulikens said:

can someone clarify...can you actually get in with a tourist visa now then?

 

Yes.

[spidermike007]

That requirement was one of the dumbest things this spectacularly dumb administration has ever done. Scrapping it is at least a place to start. 

 

First they need to figure out a way to attract tourism, WITHOUT quarantine. Testing is the answer. That is fairly simple. A very reliable lab based test in the home nation, with test results before you board the plane. Then a simple antigen test at the airport. It takes 15 minutes for results. Sure, Thailand would have to invest in the test kits. Some general would have to be willing to part with a few million dollars. Each test itself, only cost $5 with the new Abbott test, which is available now.

 

There is some risk. But, leaving a few million people out of work, jeopardizing trillions of dollars of tourism infrastructure, and 3 trillion baht a year in income, is far riskier. At least to those of us who are not buying into panic mongering. 

 

Then they could get on to reform. Sacrifices need to be made. I do not hear ANY discussion about what sacrifices Thailand is willing to make, to get the tourists, and that multi trillion baht cash cow back. Submarines might be a good place to start. 
 

[Salerno]

Just now, Destiny1990 said:

How about our wristband trackers?

 

???? They're hoping nobody remembers that brain fart.

[Peter Denis]

6 hours ago, LennyW said:

But open to who? we dont want people coming here from countries where Covid is spiralling out of control, USA, UK and Europe!

Quarantaine and restriction measures always seem to evoke the Best in people in terms of empathy, compassion and consideration...

[smew]

as always then and now... confusion and more confusion and... what will be required next....

[onebir]

9 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Testing is the answer. That is fairly simple. A very reliable lab based test in the home nation, with test results before you board the plane. Then a simple antigen test at the airport. It takes 15 minutes for results. Sure, Thailand would have to invest in the test kits. Some general would have to be willing to part with a few million dollars. Each test itself, only cost $5 with the new Abbott test, which is available now.

To be fair, other places are only now getting round to something like this.

[onebir]

10 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

That requirement was one of the dumbest things this spectacularly dumb administration has ever done. Scrapping it is at least a place to start. 

The icing on the cake was the six months seasoning requirement, which meant that someone who didn't happen to have the requisite sum in the right place would be effectively locked out of Thailand until next May!

[Peter Denis]

13 minutes ago, paulikens said:

can someone clarify...can you actually get in with a tourist visa now then? as far as i know you can't. so all this is totally irrelevant at the moment 

Yes you can, no matter your age, nationality or where you are currently residing, everybody can now apply for the 60-days TouristVisa.  And the ridiculous six-month seasoning of 500K on your bank-account has been scrapped. 
You would of course need to meet the CoE requirements (negative testing before boarding, covid-19 insurance, ASQ hotel booking, ...) and be prepared to spend the first 2 weeks alone in a Hotel room.

[GeorgeCross]

22 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

That requirement was one of the dumbest things this spectacularly dumb administration has ever done. Scrapping it is at least a place to start. 

 

First they need to figure out a way to attract tourism, WITHOUT quarantine. Testing is the answer. That is fairly simple. A very reliable lab based test in the home nation, with test results before you board the plane. Then a simple antigen test at the airport. It takes 15 minutes for results. Sure, Thailand would have to invest in the test kits. Some general would have to be willing to part with a few million dollars. Each test itself, only cost $5 with the new Abbott test, which is available now.

 

There is some risk. But, leaving a few million people out of work, jeopardizing trillions of dollars of tourism infrastructure, and 3 trillion baht a year in income, is far riskier. At least to those of us who are not buying into panic mongering. 

 

Then they could get on to reform. Sacrifices need to be made. I do not hear ANY discussion about what sacrifices Thailand is willing to make, to get the tourists, and that multi trillion baht cash cow back. Submarines might be a good place to start. 
 

 

yeah, you keep writing this but people are already tested 72 hours before arrival and on day 1 yet most test positive in quarantine later than day 1! 

 

as for he abbot test.. has the accuracy improved since this FDA and NPR warning?

 

Quote

The Food and Drug Administration is cautioning the public about the reliability of a widely used rapid test for the coronavirus. The test, made by Abbott Laboratories, has been linked with inaccurate results that could falsely reassure patients that they are not infected with the virus.

The Trump administration has promoted the test as a key factor in controlling the epidemic in the U.S., and it's used for daily testing at the White House.

As first reported on NPR, as many as 15 to 20 out of every 100 tests may produce falsely negative results. A study released this week indicated that the test could be missing as many as 48% of infections.

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/14/856531970/fda-cautions-about-accuracy-of-widely-used-abbott-coronavirus-test

 

 

Edited November 19, 2020 by GeorgeCross

[Cadan]

Brilliant idea to figure out shortly it was a mistake.... great publicity never stops... melking the cow ????????????

[Almer]

Jokers

[melvins]

Does anyone know what the typical process to get the TR single entry visa is like? Are you supposed to book a flight / ASQ hotel before applying for the COE, and then apply for the visa once the COE has been granted?

[fordguy61mi]

7 hours ago, baansgr said:

With most Western countries experiencing upwards of 20,000 new infections a day....do you seriously want Thailand to stop or even reduce quarateine...The figures already for ASQ show over 700 have returned carrying the virus

We’re all going to get it eventually.

[Salerno]

4 minutes ago, melvins said:

Are you supposed to book a flight / ASQ hotel before applying for the COE, and then apply for the visa once the COE has been granted?

 

COE  2 stage process. 

 

1 Apply

 

You'll then get the green light, at which point you have 15 days to complete (book flight, ASQ, get visa, insurance etc.).

 

2 Upload proof of relevant docs. Once your docs are checked, download the COE.

 

Process explained here: https://coethailand.mfa.go.th/regis/step?language=en

 

 

[SpanishExpat]

I rather expect neighboring countries to follow TH approach, instead of going their own way. Do NOT expect that the ASQ will be scrapped before May 2021! Japan said they will start in April a pre-Olympics strategy with entry based on just a negative PCR-Test.

 

1 month ago I would have laughed at anyone telling me that TH will let in genuine tourists. Now its reality, but still lots of guys are complaining. 99% of the genuine tourists won`t accept the ASQ, but I guess most in this forum have more ties to TH then just being genuine tourists.

 

Right now you can get a nice ASQ + Health Insurance for 3 months + PCR Test for around 50-60k THB. That`s quite cheap to be able to visit loved ones /friends or whoever! There will always be cheap-charlys who complain about everything, but that's it.

Edited November 19, 2020 by SpanishExpat

[soalbundy]

They must have stopped taking the valium tabs.

It's not going to work in Europe, you aren't allowed to leave the house. Maybe OK for Americans though, anyone with a MAGA cap isn't allowed on an aircraft.

[brucegoniners]

Hahahahaha. Called that one.

[Salerno]

5 minutes ago, SpanishExpat said:

Do NOT expect that the ASQ will be scrapped before May 2021!

 

I do regardless of you shouting (not wholesale but targeted).

[OldPedro]

And if we're allowed in, we might not be allowed back to Australia, particularly WA.....I'll wait until the whole thing has blown over, a vaccine has been made available , then go somewhere else. Who needs Thailand?

[Sean60]

Incompetency = Thai government

Our lives is in the hand of incompetent bureaucrats.

We have lost our jobs, businesses and our savings. 

I will not have enough money to buy food for my Thai wife and my daughter whom is going to university has to drop out and start working as I can no longer support them.

This government with their idiotic decisions are direct responsible for this. This be taken out of their jobs, stripped of their wealth so they have nothing. 

They do not care a bit what is happening to people.

They take their orders from rich families. They do not care if the economy is ok or not. They can survive few life times. 

It is time to put stop to this misery. Kick the incompetent Thai government out!!!!!!

[Sheryl]

42 minutes ago, GeorgeCross said:

 

yeah, you keep writing this but people are already tested 72 hours before arrival and on day 1 yet most test positive in quarantine later than day 1! 

 

as for he abbot test.. has the accuracy improved since this FDA and NPR warning?

 

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/14/856531970/fda-cautions-about-accuracy-of-widely-used-abbott-coronavirus-test

 

 

Thailand does not use this. Still doing PCR. Precisely because the rapid tests aten't very teliable.

[dallen52]

And the TR 60 day tourists visa required nothing now. 

Plus you can change it in Thailand to a non O 90 days..

[Bangkok Barry]

8 hours ago, sweetserenity said:

Im starting to be confident that thailand will open in january as promised

Based on what, apart from TAT dreams? There are currently nearly 16 million active cases, and even supposedly 'safe' countries such as South Korea are still experiencing hundreds of new cases each day. So, please explain your reasoning.

[Peter Denis]

15 minutes ago, dallen52 said:

And the TR 60 day tourists visa required nothing now. 

Plus you can change it in Thailand to a non O 90 days..

... when over 5o years of age OR married to a Thai national

[AMFWolfie]

8 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

I think people would rather the quarantine be removed, the insurance isn't much and probably not a bad idea

Medical cover insurance has always been in place just never enforced or requested to show on entry up till now. Travelling to any foreign county without medical cover is risky at best unless you happen to have sufficient funds kicking around in your bank account just in case!!

[bimmerbob]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

Thai embassies scrap 500k THB financial requirement for single entry tourist visa

 

Oh, what a surprise - hopefully they will not now try to promote this as a courtesy to foreigners. Sadly, Thailand has yet again shot itself in the foot. In the last few years, rather than damage limitation to itself, the country has been excellent at alienating itself in the eyes of others.

 

 

[herfiehandbag]

8 hours ago, ezzra said:

Take it easy boys, too early to celebrate as tomorrow, most likely someone's feverish minds will come up with another gem of an idea how to make the lives of those seeking to come to Thailand even more confusing and difficult..

Probably even simpler - they will enforce the "show ThB500k in the bank for the last 6 months" when you arrive. If you can't do so, well there may be an agent handy who can help, or else you turn round and go back to your country - sorry, no refunds...