Thailand plans to allow foreign tourists to quarantine in resorts

 

FILE PHOTO: Immigration officers stand in front of an empty arrivals hall at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International airport amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Thailand, June 3, 2020. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/File Photo

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's tourism minister said on Thursday he will propose a plan for foreigners to undertake COVID-19 quarantine in popular tourist areas, including beach resorts, in a bid to help revive the country's struggling tourism sector.

 

The economy suffered its biggest contraction in over two decades last year as tourism slumped due to the coronavirus pandemic.

 

The hotel quarantine plan is expected to start in April or May in the provinces of Phuket, Krabi, Surat Thani, Chonburi and Chiang Mai, Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn told reporters after meeting with tourism operators and health officials.

 

"Why these provinces? They are popular among tourists who usually stay for quite a long time, for one to three months," he said.

 

Tourists would be quarantined for two weeks but if they test negative after three days they will be allowed out of their rooms in the hotel area, before travelling to other parts of the country, Phiphat said.

 

Other provinces would be able to request to join the programme, which still needs government approval, he said.

 

Last month, the country welcomed golfers from South Korea for its new golf quarantine programme.

 

The ministry also expects a travel bubble plan with countries that have similar vaccine distribution in the third or fourth quarter of the year, Phiphat said.

 

On Tuesday, Prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha commissioned a study to look into "vaccine passports", after Thailand started its vaccination campaign on Sunday.

 

Last year, Thailand's tourism revenue tumbled to 332 billion baht ($10.94 billion) from 1.91 trillion baht in 2019, as visitor numbers plunged by 83% to 6.7 million.

 

This year, the state planning agency expects only 3.2 million foreign visitors.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-03-04

 

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11 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

 

The ministry also expects a travel bubble plan with countries that have similar vaccine distribution

So other countries with less than 1% vaccinated? That might be difficult, everybody is way ahead...

11 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

FILE PHOTO: Immigration officers stand in front of an empty arrivals hall at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International airport 

And empty is how it will stay with half-baked ideas like this.

It's either a plan or it's under discussion.

 

Will they ever learn?

Just now, DJBenz said:

And empty is how it will stay with half-baked ideas like this.

I keep trotting this post out, here we go again . . . 

 

<Cue game show music> “You and a guest will fly to beautiful Thailand for two sun kissed weeks, enjoying the views, the sun (from your balcony), and tropical breezes (if you open your window), all while never having to leave the comfort of your hotel room. All this can be yours if the price is right!”

 

At least with this new proposed plan you can actually leave your room. 

18 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

Tourists would be quarantined for two weeks but if they test negative after three days they will be allowed out of their rooms in the hotel area,

So dear tourists, once you are in your quarantine hotel, you will have to be granted permission by an official to leave...

 

I bet that will cost!

 

I bet that will be understood by any possible visitors!

 

I bet that they will not come!

 

It's quarantine Jim, but not as we know it!

Have a friend who was  staff in a Time share resort. He thinks this will be  good because many people before will stay  and never leve the resort  for the time they have booked same as always. Then go home with many things bought from traders right beside the nice pool. I think virtual reality tourism .

So lets see, I head back to the US and take care of some needed business, get my vaccinations while their, then return and head to Phuket for a 2 week vacation.  Wonder if the GF could fly down from our condo in BKK and stay in the room with me after the 3rd day and I test negative....hmmm just a thought.

2 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

So lets see, I head back to the US and take care of some needed business, get my vaccinations while their, then return and head to Phuket for a 2 week vacation.  Wonder if the GF could fly down from our condo in BKK and stay in the room with me after the 3rd day and I test negative....hmmm just a thought.

 

Good luck getting the jabs.  Most of us were on a waiting list for weeks before our call came.  On the day I was getting my first jab, they were sending people home who had come for their 2nd, rescheduling them 2-3 weeks later.  Supply chain problems.  My 2nd jab is scheduled for 3 weeks after my first. We'll see.

You may luck out and end up where the J&J one jab vaccine is available, but I wouldn't count on it.  It's pretty much luck of the draw.  My siblings got Moderna.  I got Pfizer.  Same city, different days and different hospitals.  There was no choice- take it or leave it.

14 minutes ago, RanongCat said:

Have a friend who was  staff in a Time share resort. He thinks this will be  good because many people before will stay  and never leve the resort  for the time they have booked same as always. Then go home with many things bought from traders right beside the nice pool. I think virtual reality tourism .

 

Right now, I'd consider buying stock in those Japanese companies making realistic love dolls.  If they ever get those perfected, tourism in Thailand may never come back.

 

2 weeks stuck in a resort.  What a hoot.  May take tourist numbers up from a few thousand a month to a few thousand plus a few hundred a month.

 

My non-scientific observations tell me that the flood of people back  into the country has been slowing and will ultimately become just a trickle.  I say this because I have full view...well...one side...of a quarantine hotel from my condo and where 3 months ago, every room had a light on, now it appears to be at about 60% occupancy.  It’s different than trying to gauge empty condos where the owners might be out late, on vacation...whatever.  These occupants are confined to their rooms.

 

I view quarantine as being in a prison.  Quarantine in a resort might be a step up but not much different from being released from solitary confinement into the general population with prison yard privileges.  And with a resort...the cost will increase substantially.

 

No sale.

Unless you are coming here to stay/live....... any normal tourist would have to be mental to consider 14 days quarantine......think there is a catch-22 in there somewhere.

 

 

2 minutes ago, Airalee said:

My non-scientific observations tell me that the flood of people back  into the country has been slowing and will ultimately become just a trickle.  I say this because I have full view...well...one side...of a quarantine hotel from my condo and where 3 months ago, every room had a light on, now it appears to be at about 60% occupancy.  It’s different than trying to gauge empty condos where the owners might be out late, on vacation...whatever.  These occupants are confined to their rooms.

 

I view quarantine as being in a prison.  Quarantine in a resort might be a step up but not much different from being released from solitary confinement into the general population with prison yard privileges.  And with a resort...the cost will increase substantially.

 

No sale.

 

I suspect that most of the foreigners willing to put up with 2 weeks of ASQ have already returned to their jobs and/or families. 

 

I'm surprised it's 60% of lights on, unless they allow staff to stay on the premises.

 

10 minutes ago, Airalee said:

My non-scientific observations tell me that the flood of people back  into the country has been slowing and will ultimately become just a trickle.  I say this because I have full view...well...one side...of a quarantine hotel from my condo and where 3 months ago, every room had a light on, now it appears to be at about 60% occupancy.  It’s different than trying to gauge empty condos where the owners might be out late, on vacation...whatever.  These occupants are confined to their rooms.

 

I view quarantine as being in a prison.  Quarantine in a resort might be a step up but not much different from being released from solitary confinement into the general population with prison yard privileges.  And with a resort...the cost will increase substantially.

 

No sale.

We live opposite a huge Mercure....never seen more than  half a dozen rooms occupied at any one time.

1 hour ago, snoop1130 said:

 

Tourists would be quarantined for two weeks but if they test negative after three days they will be allowed out of their rooms in the hotel area, before travelling to other parts of the country, Phiphat said.

 

More chance of finding a camel with a flat back than yet another twizzle scheme from the minister of

" you couldn't make it up but we do " taking off with legions of farangs chomping at the bit for a bit of expensive imprisonment ..

1 hour ago, snoop1130 said:

The ministry also expects a travel bubble plan with countries that have similar vaccine distribution in the third or fourth quarter of the year, Phiphat said.

So those that have vaccinated in the 2nd quarter are not allowed in the travel bubble plan in the 4th quarter, but those on 4th quarter vaccinations are?

1 hour ago, Frank Abegnale said:

I keep trotting this post out, here we go again . . . 

 

<Cue game show music> “You and a guest will fly to beautiful Thailand for two sun kissed weeks, enjoying the views, the sun (from your balcony), and tropical breezes (if you open your window), all while never having to leave the comfort of your hotel room. All this can be yours if the price is right!”

 

At least with this new proposed plan you can actually leave your room. 

maybe you can leave the room but the windows and balcony will remain nailed shut.

If goes ahead, que the overpriced rooms, food and drink. Captive market just like normal ASQ.

1 hour ago, Frank Abegnale said:

“You and a guest will fly to beautiful Thailand for two sun kissed weeks, enjoying the views, the sun (from your balcony), and tropical breezes (if you open your window), all while never having to leave the comfort of your hotel room.

“You and a guest will fly to beautiful Thailand for two sun kissed weeks, enjoying the views, the sun (from your balcony), and tropical breezes (if you open your window), all while never  to leave the comfort of your hotel room.

I hope they implement this. No significant increase in numbers will come, and maybe, just maybe, someone will finally get it. 

 

Tourists aren't going to do quarantine! 

 

Also, by this point there should be more places open to the vaccinated. When Thailand sees the success those places are having that may help their comprehension. ????????????

8 minutes ago, Frank Abegnale said:

a few hundred?
 

More like dozens . . . 

 

You're underestimating the power of the poon.

 

2 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Thailand's tourism minister said on Thursday he will propose a plan for foreigners to undertake COVID-19 quarantine in popular tourist areas, including beach resorts, in a bid to help revive the country's struggling tourism sector.

'including beach resorts'   I take it that's to allow those in quarantine to enjoy their sterile view?

It would be easier to stay at home with a beach view screen-saver on your computer screen.

 

3 hours ago, impulse said:

 

You're underestimating the power of the poon.

 

When you factor everything in, like the draconian requirements, the expensive health insurance, the quarantine (expensive as well), the lack of freedom, the empty bars etc anybody with a brain will stick to poon closer to home.

 

They'll attract in a few more idiots who must go back at all costs but that's about it. All these schemes are just a desperate effort to at least put some money in the pockets of some of the hiso thais that own expensive hotels and the likes, but it will do nothing for a lot of people who used to make a living in the tourist industry.

6 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

This year, the state planning agency expects only 3.2 million foreign visitors.

If they think 3.2 million want to come and quarantine in Thailand they are so deluded as to make them unemployable anywhere else !

Foreign tourists say goodbye unless the vaccine is accepted without any of the looney restrictions end of story ???? 

i was allmost coming back to thailand, but stopped because of the FIT TO FLY certificate.

apparently it creates a serious problem, because i must get it 72 hours before the flight. and

i could not find a doctor that will aggree to do on time.

 

there are some clinics in thailand that offer online certifications, but those certificates are not

accepted by all thai consulates.

 

than i heard stories about airlines who did not accept some kinds of FIT TO FLY certificates, because they were not phrased properly. that refusal came on check in !!! and after the thai embassy provided the COE !! so the whole ticket and hotel booking was lost !!!

tourists tourists tourists those smelly unshowered tourists 

 

 

you know what, I was chatting with a MB taxi rider a few days ago and I was saying "need farang come back" he just looked at me with and empty stare, even now after all this time some of them still can't join up the dots or won't admit the dots exist, hard to believe 

The kind of tourists who stay for 2-3 months are backpackers, who don't typically have the cash to pay luxury hotel prices for two weeks at the start of a trip.

In a covid-free world, I'd have almost certainly been in Thailand right now. As it is, I'm hoping next year will be OK.

Amazing Thailand TIT

11 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The hotel quarantine plan is expected to start in April or May in the provinces of Phuket, Krabi, Surat Thani, Chonburi and Chiang Mai, Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn told reporters after meeting with tourism operators and health officials.

 

"Why these provinces? They are popular among tourists who usually stay for quite a long time, for one to three months," he said.

 

1- What part of .....tourists don't want to be quarantined.... don't they understand? Most tourist except desperate sex mongers or emergency family visits

will be waiting for no quarantine times of travel

 

2- Do they not think they are shooting themselves in the foot? How will the get the tourist to their resort Quarantines? Flights these days

are lucky to be found even to Bangkok...then what? Private tourist planes to Quarantine? Or mix with non-quarantined to get there?

 

To be honest with the lack of any real testing in Thailand the tourist are probably less of a risk than the untested Thai population they would mingle with