Thailand Sold Itself as a Paradise Covid Retreat. No One Came

[grobec]

Well I do give the govt marks and applaud their efforts for taking this virus seriously from almost day one. We here have all reaped the benefits of their efforts. They have given those who wish to come into the country an opportunity to do so, while protecting those of us here. Do you really want them to nix that doorway? The world, including our immediate neighbors, are not faring as well. Let’s pray and give our support to those trying to contain the current outbreaks otherwise our lives here will soon be much less pleasant.

let’s do our best to help our local communities rather spew ridiculous criticisms  and look like ignorant “armchair generals”  that are an embarrassment to those of us who are happy to be here.

???? 

[starky]

4 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

You are pretty popular yourself!  Hiso also, so it seems! 

Bwahahah no mate I can just afford to look after myself. It costs a minimum of 3800 aud to stay in <deleted>  australian accommodation where I dont get a choice so to pay an extra 1000 to get top flight accommodation in a country a love wasn't even worth thinking about. Hardly hiso mate. If you think a few thousand baht a day is "hiso" says a lot more about you than me champ.

Edited January 16, 2021 by starky

[Bundooman]

5 hours ago, Blumpie said:

That's not the half of it.

You will need to quarantine when you get home too!  

There is no rationale to it.  

Understandably, they need to at least try to keep everyone happy but these guys have gone on to full on delusion over the last year.  

There isn't a single country on the planet who's tourism industry isn't devastated.  And there is no way out until the vaccine is widely available.  As all reports indicate, maybe 2022 - 2024.  

And that's also assuming that you didn't share your long haul journey here and back, with someone whose symptoms appear mid-flight!

[PatOngo]

6 minutes ago, starky said:

Bwahahah no mate I can just afford to look after myself.

 What color is your Benz?

 

 

Edited January 16, 2021 by PatOngo

[Caldera]

I'm not surprised that they couldn't attract the millions they dreamed about, but I would have imagined that there might be 10,000 to 30,000 who fit the profile and don't mind wasting two weeks in quarantine.

 

If only they hadn't banned booze in quarantine!

 

[timkeen08]

5 hours ago, Blumpie said:

That's not the half of it.

You will need to quarantine when you get home too!  

There is no rationale to it.  

Understandably, they need to at least try to keep everyone happy but these guys have gone on to full on delusion over the last year.  

There isn't a single country on the planet who's tourism industry isn't devastated.  And there is no way out until the vaccine is widely available.  As all reports indicate, maybe 2022 - 2024.  

Just in.

Gmail - Health Alert Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs January 15, 2021.PDF

[gearbox]

13 minutes ago, starky said:

Was awesome for me but then again I stayed in 5 star accommodation had a menu tailored to my specifications and had the head chef checking in every couple of days to make sure the food was as expected. You would be second only to ThailandRyan as the most negative poster on this whole forum imo.

It depends what you need...food is pretty average in my case but I have 9 power points in my room and the Internet is very fast and reliable. I'm not a foodie but the net speed and reliability is of prime importance.

 

Anyway looking outside the window right now and noting the air quality I much prefer to be inside.

[PatOngo]

12 minutes ago, starky said:

Hardly hiso mate. If you think a few thousand baht a day is "hiso" says a lot more about you than me champ.

It's not the money, it's the attitude, dude!

[superal]

3 hours ago, sandyf said:

I know several that normally come here for the winter. The biggest concern to them is traveling against FCO advice which can invalidate travel insurance.

Plus the latest UK news is anyone hoping to return to the UK must show a vaccination cert to the airline before boarding and Thailand does not have any vaccine , so if your friend came to Thailand he would be trapped here .

[NoshowJones]

6 hours ago, PatOngo said:

Get it through your heads, NOBODY wants to sit in a quarantine hotel for two weeks!

That's just it, how can anyone expect a Military Academy educated unelected "PM" and his tinpot soldiers to get

any sense at all through their heads. Imagine any country being ruled by people who cannot  be voted out of office.

[Jacob22]

Actually, this is viable! They just need to approach it from different perspective. For example, Poseidon is rebranding as 3 star hotel:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKEFj-Bstvk/?igshid=16oyhppwq40qo

Two weeks in such hotel will fly by. People get to keep their jobs, Thailand gets tourists.

Edited January 16, 2021 by Jacob22

[NoshowJones]

6 hours ago, PatOngo said:

 

I think they have a Ministry For Stupid Ideas!

They have a Military Academy somewhere which is probably similar, that's where the unelected "PM" and probably most of his crew got "educated". ????

[jomtienisgood]

6 hours ago, PatOngo said:

 

I think they have a Ministry For Stupid Ideas!

OK, but let's be honest and look on the bright side, if this wasn't the case what would you be reading and doing now????

[Fex Bluse]

@sandyf mostly I'm surprised the Thai Domestic Tourism didn't fill the temporary gap like you said it would. It's very surprising. 

[sambum]

6 hours ago, PatOngo said:

 

I think they have a Ministry For Stupid Ideas!

 

Anutin's brainchild?

[tandor]

6 hours ago, PatOngo said:

Get it through your heads, NOBODY wants to sit in a quarantine hotel for two weeks!

...agreed!...what tourist in their right mind would want to visit a country more or less next door to the origins of the virus; a country who is home to billions of bats, Mers carriers, Sars carriers etc. etc. 

IMHO opinion until Asia gets its act together with food habits, presentation, markets and general food hygiene, its going to continue, as is the real risk of further new viruses emerging and more potent variants of existing known viruses.

Edited January 16, 2021 by tandor

[herfiehandbag]

3 hours ago, redwood1 said:

I would say this is a organized and well thought out plan that has been in the works for at least 10 years to kill tourism in Thailand....Possibly permanently....

I'm not sure that this Government has ever produced an organised and well thought out plan!

 

Covid 19 injured tourism badly. This government, through a series of ill thought out and often contradictory decisions have administered a coup de grace.

 

There is no co-ordination between ministries, rather it is obvious that many ministries are competing amongst themselves. Add to that the never ending succession of officials who see only an opportunity to make their mark and appear on the media massaging their belief in their own importance. The attempt to restart tourism has failed miserably, partly because it was never considered that the demand had largely gone, and partly because the system which was put in place, and which may perhaps have nurtured a modest revival over time, is so transparently designed to feather the nests of the governments cronies.

 

It is the product of a regime appointed through corruption, nepotism and cronyism, driven by egos and virtually unaccountable. Not so much a plan as a cluster****!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jomtienisgood]

5 minutes ago, tandor said:

...agreed!...what tourist in their right mind would want to visit a country more or less next door to the origins of the virus; a country who is home to billions of bats, Mers carriers, Sars carriers etc. etc. 

IMHO opinion until Asia gets its act together with food habits, presentation, markets and general food hygiene, its going to continue, as is the real risk of further new viruses emerging and more potent variants of existing known viruses.

Whaow.... Thailand is one of the only counties in the world with a close to zero rate of infected. Where did you get your info??? Reading the rest of your poetry I wonder if you have ever been anywhere in Asia or get your wisdom out of some magazine.

[John Drake]

6 hours ago, Blumpie said:

The article is about tourists not expats.

 

We're all "tourists," our stays just extended for different reasons.  Can you show me your Expat Visa?

[Spock]

6 hours ago, HashBrownHarry said:

Correct, no one wants to but should you wish to return to Thailand as it stands there's no other option.

 

Stupid for tourists to come i agree but for long term expats with families at the current time there's no other choice.

True, but why would expats want to pay top dollar for luxury accommodation rather than budget accommodation that is not going to cost thousands of dollars. Might be alright for rich expats but not for the average person on a modest income. Cambodia's quarantine system if applied to tourist visa holders in Thailand would be a much more affordable option.

[Dagfinnur Traustason]

I think they have to ask for a deposit of 3k dollar to enter. That will make it all better.

[jomtienisgood]

6 minutes ago, John Drake said:

 

We're all "tourists," our stays just extended for different reasons.  Can you show me your Expat Visa?

Yes, and by the way PRs don't need to renew any Visa as it is stamped in their Passport : Immigrant..... Any other comments?

[Muzzique]

6 hours ago, PatOngo said:

I think they have a Ministry For Stupid Ideas!

 

What do you expect?

 

You have people fighting to keep their jobs in a dead industry.  What else can they do but come up with ideas that can never work.

 

For a nearly a year they have kept themselves employed by coming up with nonsense. The alternative is for them is unemployment. 

 

I would do the same. The idiots are the ones who continue to employ them.

[PatOngo]

1 minute ago, Muzzique said:

What do you expect?

Not a lot!

[Poet]

It is surprising that people are so slowly waking up to the realization that vaccination certification is the future of international travel. By this summer, no airline will be accepting unvaccinated passengers, and no country will be accepting unvaccinated non-nationals. I thought this was glaringly obvious six months ago but, apparently, it still hasn't occured to most people.

Thailand will do fine. Plenty of people who missed out on their usual short breaks last year will celebrate the end of the pandemic by taking a longer, more exotic vacation in 2021. Thailand, despite all the faults that we here are so familiar with, will be at the top of most lists. Most people have earned a lot of money during the Pandemic and are eager to get out into the world and spend some of it.

In the longer term, the nature of office work has changed forever. Some people are eager to get back to office life, but more want their post-pandemic lives to be different. Businesses have been forced to develop systems to allow their staff to WFH, and many workers will take advantage of the new flexibility by choosing to travel and live in other countries while they work. Again, Thailand will be a top destination.

Many more commercial vaccines, such as the one-shot Johnson & Johnson, will become available in the coming months. Once the vulnerable have been vaccinated, it should be possible for anyone to buy vaccination for a few hundred euros rather than wait a further six months for a tax-funded freebie. That is when you will start to see countries such as Thailand swapping their testing and quarantine requirements for a simple vaccination requirement, followed by the airlines returning to full capacity and dropping the mask requirement.

The rest of this decade will be wild, The Roaring Twenties, and Thailand will be a prime beneficiary of that.
 

[sambum]

5 hours ago, mike1967 said:

Exactly. I was waiting for my 2 jabs then I was going to endure the quarantine. The 300 baht tipped me over the edge. Costa Rica it's going to be then. Probably done me a favour!!!

 

Really? 300 baht on top of the rest of the expense of the holiday "tipped you over the edge"?

 

I am living here on a pension, and certainly not rich by any means, but come on, you changed your mind on a holiday because the price increased by the equivalent of the price of a taxi ride to your hotel?

 

You really must be living on a shoestring!

[NoshowJones]

4 hours ago, rumak said:

 

OHHH,   it does go through their heads .     Straight through ! 

In one ear and out the other because there is nothing in between.

[Spock]

4 hours ago, koolkarl said:

Paradise. With aqi through the entire country at hazardous levels today, hardly paradise, more like purgatory.

It takes about 10 years to properly develop a vaccine, if ever. I seriously doubt that a safe, effective vaccine exists today.

Norway just announced that the Pfizer vaccine should not be administered to seniors. I wouldn't trust it.

The covid insurance is another racket. I personally know 3 filipinas, who are teachers in Thailand, arranged covid insurance

with Pacific Cross. They tested positive upon arrival in Bangkok and  were hospitalized.  Pacific Cross either didn't pay or

paid 50% max. These girls had no money.  All covid bills should be sent to communist China.

As far as I am concerned, Thailand is finished as a tourist destination.  There are a number of other countries one can enter

and stay without all the onerous and expensive requirements of this Thai gov.

What other Asian countries can be visited without quarantining? 

If I was a senior in Norway I would be demanding the vaccine. Don't understand how any government could deny anyone access to it, let alone seniors. 

[karunasup]

Thai elites and leadership  absolutely believe their ideas are the best and need not be subject to any kind of feedback, least of all critiqued. IT is how this country is run.....right across the spectrum 

[sambum]

1 hour ago, XJPSX said:

Thailand will go the easy fix on this one and open up to China when they want to which will instantly fill the coughers of the tourist islands.

It just goes to show us what the Thais think of these tourist areas frequented by farangs. They are certainly not flocking to the islands to capitalize on cheap accommodation...the Chinese will!

"which will instantly fill the coughers of the tourist islands."

 

Would they be the coughers who do so as they overcharge you - you know - "ahem" as they pocket your cash, or the coughers that are still on a couple of packs of cigs a day, or did you mean "coffers"? ????