State Quarantine Will Be Shortened to 10 Days

[Bkktodd]

12 hours ago, scorecard said:

-Is 'Covid-19 free certificate (CFC)' the same as a negative swab test report?

-'Arrivals with complete 14-day VCs and CFCs'  What does ' 14 day' mean in this subject?

Thanks.  

As reported before. Vaccined with 14days and 3 months to enter Thailand 

[Bkktodd]

11 hours ago, hioctane said:

Do we still need COE and Covid insurance?

Was reported yes.  But no fit to fly certificate was needed

[sirineou]

12 hours ago, scorecard said:

-Is 'Covid-19 free certificate (CFC)' the same as a negative swab test report?

-'Arrivals with complete 14-day VCs and CFCs'  What does ' 14 day' mean in this subject?

Thanks.  

To get the 7 day quarantine you don't only need to be vaccinated, but you also need to have had the complete vaccine (both shots if required) for 14 days before you come. .  Even with a vaccine, a small percentage will still get infected, they want you to have 14 days since you got the vaccine to make sure you are not one of them,  and also they don't want you to have had the vaccine for longer that three months, because they are afraid that some vaccines start loosing their effectiveness after a length of time.

All reasonable policies IMO.    

 

[starky]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

I’m holding a fully refundable Agoda booking & am due into ASQ In early April. 
 

Agoda is the tip of the spear with regards to my booking !! (But I know what you mean). 
 

I’m waiting to see Agoda change their ASQ bookings to allow a 10 day quarantine.

Then I can change my existing booking or cancel & rebook. 

 

Agoda are as much of a realistic guide as the Thaiest website or direct hotel booking, Agoda also offer full refund. What happens to those who’ve paid up for their 14 days and now only need 10? Will they get a refund from these hotels when direct bookings were made ? 
 

Another facet of this news is no more requirement for a Fit to Fly certificate - Who’s brave enough to rock up at an airport without the F2F cert and risk refused travel by someone not up to date with the latest regulations? 
 

 

I was thinking by covid free certificate they meant fit to fly because even if vaccinated or previously infected you still aren't covid free. But it sort of comes with your rapid pcr 72 hours prior and every airline will require those for quite a while to come im guessing.  And as I said I doubt the asq hotels will be going to any great lengths to provide refunds as people like yourself and me have an asq package.  So its not like a normal booking where, in your case agoda, could just subtract a certain number of nights accommodation from the booking. A lot of people will be getting screwed as this is all sorted out. I hope I'm wrong in that respect.

Edited March 21, 2021 by starky

[starky]

1 hour ago, superal said:

The Uk being an island has a much better control  of containing the virus as opposed to our European friends , especially taking into consideration the E.U. antics . I do not wish to be a spreader of doom but I think we are only on the first chapter of a War and Peace scenario .  In mho 2024 is the earliest target for global travel as we know it which will be confirmed by ( non Mickey Mouse ) insurance company quotes for covid 19 . I say that because future mutations may well render current vaccines ineffective . 

Well you didn't do terribly well compared to many other islands but for sure UK seems to be on top of things now which is great. As I said in other posts though this vaccine isn't a silver bullet we don't now true efficacy rates and all the top docs say 3 months coverage at best.

  So with Australia as a test case whats the end game? Initially it was to protect health care workers not overwhelm hospitals/ intensive care. We are miles past that. Now it's a massive political football. 

 Western Australia had 1 (yep 1) hotel security guard catch a case (which depending on who you believe may have been only a false positive) regardless the result was state borders closed and most of the state locked down for a week.

  Does that sound like a commensurate response?  So any country that is trying to figure a way out of this that results in us all just getting on with it gets my nod of approval. I'm near 50 dont want to be doing this rubbish 10-15 years from now. 

Edited March 21, 2021 by starky

[unblocktheplanet]

14 days' quarantine was already a compromise on the science, with some cases of 27 days from exposure to positive test. Bash me if you will, but I think we should stick with the programme, reduced for vaccination status.

[kimamey]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

And they won't really be tourists.  It'll be the guys who have property and jobs and families in Thailand they want to get back to. 

 

And I'm not suggesting they'll be skint, but if they have properties and family, they won't be spending the kind of money a tourist on holiday spends.  For them, that novelty wore off years ago.

 

I don't know about others but I last arrived in Thailand on 30th December 2019 and left on 20th September 2020 and during that time my wife and I spent 26 nights at 17 hotels. Most were 1 or 2 nights as she has a job. We're not going to support the travel industry on our own and apart from Bangkok we would normally stay off the busiest tourist areas. I've never been to Phuket or Pattaya and of course there areas of Bangkok that my wife would steer me clear of.  ????

[impulse]

12 minutes ago, kimamey said:

I don't know about others but I last arrived in Thailand on 30th December 2019 and left on 20th September 2020 and during that time my wife and I spent 26 nights at 17 hotels. Most were 1 or 2 nights as she has a job. We're not going to support the travel industry on our own and apart from Bangkok we would normally stay off the busiest tourist areas. I've never been to Phuket or Pattaya and of course there areas of Bangkok that my wife would steer me clear of.  

 

Most "tourists" would spend 26 nights in hotels in one month, not 9.  And your average tourist to Thailand doesn't get 9 months on their visa.  They get 45 nowadays, with the possibility of extending by another 30.  And the idea of spending their first week or two locked up in a hotel room is a deal killer for the vast majority of them- especially those with jobs back home where they only get a few weeks for vacation.

 

I'm not making any judgments about you, but you're not spending money like a holidaymaker.   And that's what Thailand needs to recover their tourism trade.

Edited March 21, 2021 by impulse

[Blumpie]

The tourism sector will still be devastated.

Where people get confused:  tourists are people who come for 2 weeks and spend.  Expats, long term visa holders, etc. are completely different.  For them it is probably a big deal.  For a typical tourist, there will still be very few bookings.  

Until countries all over the world open up, you can expect no real recovery.  

There is talk in north america of visa passports and it is a real thing.  We keep our copies of our vaccines that we have, and have been told this may be our visa passport or given to another agency to provide proof of vaccination.  

In any event, Thailand is a long long long ways off from that.  The vaccine roll out there is nothing short of pathetic.  

[tomazbodner]

14 hours ago, rooster59 said:

He said the 14-day quarantine period would remain in places for arrivals from countries where the Covid-19 virus has mutated

By the time this happens there will be no country without mutated virus anymore

[Blumpie]

15 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

By the time this happens there will be no country without mutated virus anymore

The good news is it is very easy to account for the mutations in a different shot, meaning one with the original vaccine and the variants included.  They are working on this right now and you can expect a rollout with the updated variants soon.  

[FritsSikkink]

14 hours ago, RR2020 said:

In other words........

 

Within 3 months many countries in the world will be "no quarantine" for all tourists..........all you need is either a vaccine certificate or a negative PCR test.  Nothing more........either of them is ok.

 

So forget Thailand and spend your time and money in countries that are not Xenophobic.

 

And where government ministers don't call foreigners "DIRTY".

 

Thai health minister blames ‘dirty’ Western tourists for country’s coronavirus cases | South China Morning Post (scmp.com)

 

.

Good, never come back then.

[kimamey]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

Most "tourists" would spend 26 nights in hotels in one month, not 9.  And your average tourist to Thailand doesn't get 9 months on their visa.  They get 45 nowadays, with the possibility of extending by another 30.  And the idea of spending their first week or two locked up in a hotel room is a deal killer for the vast majority of them- especially those with jobs back home where they only get a few weeks for vacation.

 

I'm not making any judgments about you, but you're not spending money like a holidaymaker.   And that's what Thailand needs to recover their tourism trade.

Like I said I'm not going to save the tourist industry on my own but the only tourists I know who've been to Thailand come for about 3 weeks so they won't spend 26 nights and they only come once a year and may go elsewhere the following year.

I would guess that whilst there are those that stay at home more than we do there are many who have more money and time than we do who will spend more.

 

Thailand needs international tourists but those who live here full time or for large parts of the year are less likely to worry about losing a week or so in quarantine. My main issue with the longer quarantine is that I'm spending money which I would rather spend with my wife. If the quarantine was 7 days or even less then my wife could take some time off and spend it with me and even if she didn't it's going to cost me less. Or at least it should.

[candide]

2 hours ago, sirineou said:

To get the 7 day quarantine you don't only need to be vaccinated, but you also need to have had the complete vaccine (both shots if required) for 14 days before you come. .  Even with a vaccine, a small percentage will still get infected, they want you to have 14 days since you got the vaccine to make sure you are not one of them,  and also they don't want you to have had the vaccine for longer that three months, because they are afraid that some vaccines start loosing their effectiveness after a length of time.

All reasonable policies IMO.    

 

14 days after 2nd jab is a bit too much, as the 7 days quarantine must taken into account, so that's three weeks after 2nd jab. 7 days after 2 d jab should be enough.

[sirineou]

5 minutes ago, candide said:

14 days after 2nd jab is a bit too much, as the 7 days quarantine must taken into account, so that's three weeks after 2nd jab. 7 days after 2 d jab should be enough.

I agree. A bit of overkill. 

You got my vote for president LOL

[AndresSP]

This will be a welcome change for a few thousand people planning to get in during the low season but would it make any meaningful difference for the tourism industry? Very much doubt it. 
No tourists are coming as long as quarantine of any duration and test on arrival are in the picture. Simple as that.
 

[Jumbo1968]

If people come in their thousands as they are predicting the embassies couldn’t cope with the COEs.

The COE was initially introduced to only allow a certain criteria of people to return to Thailand, now they are practically no restrictions, so why do we need a COE, 
You could provide all the relevant documents at check in and book your ASQ online. Indicating your day of arrival.

Edited March 21, 2021 by Jumbo1968
More info.

[Don Chance]

Thailand just needs to vaccinate 70 million people and they can open up any day now.

[Daithi85]

22 hours ago, RR2020 said:

In other words........

 

Within 3 months many countries in the world will be "no quarantine" for all tourists..........all you need is either a vaccine certificate or a negative PCR test.  Nothing more........either of them is ok.

 

So forget Thailand and spend your time and money in countries that are not Xenophobic.

 

And where government ministers don't call foreigners "DIRTY".

 

Thai health minister blames ‘dirty’ Western tourists for country’s coronavirus cases | South China Morning Post (scmp.com)

 

.

You  need the let the dirty farang  comment go. It's well  played out at this stage.  ????????????????

[RR2020]

They just dont get it.

 

Most of Thailand's millions of tourists are in fact people coming for the weekend, many times a year, from other Asian countries.

 

Millions of people spent a week in Thailand, then to Cambodia, to Vietnam etc....

 

All of those millions and millions cannot come with any quarantine in place.

 

Until quarantine is removed you will not see any resurgence in tourism.............its that simple.

 

And around the world other countries are removing quarantine requirements from April and May.  They will get all the summer tourism and all the money........................

[polpott]

5 minutes ago, Daithi85 said:

You  need the let the dirty farang  comment go. It's well  played out at this stage.  ????????????????

And the tweet that contained it was deleted shortly after it was made, with an apology. Anutin is fully aware that he had a "foot in mouth" moment.

 

As a footnote, we all pilloried him for his reaction to a farang who refused to accept a mask from him. He has since been proved right and we all now pillory farangs who refuse to wear a mask.

[hotchilli]

14 hours ago, starky said:

Well what you suggest? They just open the floodgates and see what happens? Do a US and pretend it's all fine? Is 10 or 7 days not better than 14? I don't get the gloom and doomers on here. It's not ideal but every step forward is an improvement. 

No what I suggest is that they 100% inoculate the population of Thailand before tinkering around the edges by reducing  safety measures.

[baansgr]

21 hours ago, madmen said:

I'm back may June and happy with 7 days with vaccine and making a beeline for Pattaya because it's very very special. 

Bring a pack of cards or rubics cube cos there ain't much else to do in Pattaya anymore

[polpott]

1 minute ago, baansgr said:

Bring a pack of cards or rubics cube cos there ain't much else to do in Pattaya anymore

Everything I did before Covid, I can do today in Pattaya, some things have improved.

[Salerno]

4 minutes ago, baansgr said:

Bring a pack of cards

 

Careful there, wouldn't want to stitch him up.

[scorecard]

10 hours ago, sirineou said:

To get the 7 day quarantine you don't only need to be vaccinated, but you also need to have had the complete vaccine (both shots if required) for 14 days before you come. .  Even with a vaccine, a small percentage will still get infected, they want you to have 14 days since you got the vaccine to make sure you are not one of them,  and also they don't want you to have had the vaccine for longer that three months, because they are afraid that some vaccines start loosing their effectiveness after a length of time.

All reasonable policies IMO.    

 

All understood and logical but I'm inclined to think 6 months or even 12 months effectiveness (as a first guess) would be more logical.

 

Seems to me that the vaccine developers would be aiming for a first* period of effectiveness of much more than 3 months and if they had data indicating that their formula was only effective for 3 months they would have just pressed on to get a formula with an estimated effectiveness of at least 12 months.

 

*I have no real knowledge on this subject but one obvious point is that the virus does terrible thinks to human lungs, as does influenza (but they are different viruses).

But this leads me to believe that any Covid 19 vaccine will probably need a booster. The scientists involved have already mentioned this point and there has been comments from the experts that a booster might be needed every year or every 2 years.

 

Bottom line, seems to me that a forecast of just 3 months effectiveness is not well supported.  

[hioctane]

10 hours ago, tomazbodner said:

By the time this happens there will be no country without mutated virus anymore

This is a moot point. If the vaccine is ineffective after a certain amount of time and Covid is not under control, everyone will go on lockdown again.

 

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

All understood and logical but I'm inclined to think 6 months or even 12 months effectiveness (as a first guess) would be more logical.

 

Seems to me that the vaccine developers would be aiming for a first* period of effectiveness of much more than 3 months and if they had data indicating that their formula was only effective for 3 months they would have just pressed on to get a formula with an estimated effectiveness of at least 12 months.

 

*I have no real knowledge on this subject but one obvious point is that the virus does terrible thinks to human lungs, as does influenza (but they are different viruses).

But this leads me to believe that any Covid 19 vaccine will probably need a booster. The scientists involved have already mentioned this point and there has been comments from the experts that a booster might be needed every year or every 2 years.

 

Bottom line, seems to me that a forecast of just 3 months effectiveness is not well supported.  

No one knows, let alone vaccine developers how long it is effective for. Only time will tell. 3 months is being conservative. Once the 3 month mark rolls around, we will know if the vaccinated are getting infected and their rules will change accordingly. 

[starky]

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

All understood and logical but I'm inclined to think 6 months or even 12 months effectiveness (as a first guess) would be more logical.

 

Seems to me that the vaccine developers would be aiming for a first* period of effectiveness of much more than 3 months and if they had data indicating that their formula was only effective for 3 months they would have just pressed on to get a formula with an estimated effectiveness of at least 12 months.

 

*I have no real knowledge on this subject but one obvious point is that the virus does terrible thinks to human lungs, as does influenza (but they are different viruses).

But this leads me to believe that any Covid 19 vaccine will probably need a booster. The scientists involved have already mentioned this point and there has been comments from the experts that a booster might be needed every year or every 2 years.

 

Bottom line, seems to me that a forecast of just 3 months effectiveness is not well supported.  

Well not sure what your sources are but all the support is towards a 3 month guarantee and that is coming direct from Pfizer, astra-zeneca and moderna and most virologists seem to agree.

  No one knows what the upper limits are could be a year or longer but what they are saying with utmost confidence is you almost certainly have 3 months of immunity. This is based around clinical trials and as the vaccine hasn't been around long even the first people to receive it have only been immune 4 months at the upper limits. 

  Your thinking is correct and the assumption is they will last longer but in the context of a pandemic no one going to put their neck on the line and guarantee longer than 3 months at this point.

Edited March 22, 2021 by starky

[irishman25]

On 3/20/2021 at 5:38 PM, SmartyMarty said:

Well this is certainly good news.

Not really nearly every country in the West and all of USA the virus has Mutated so it will still be 15.day even with if you are vaccinated,   between the lines it can be interpreted in many ways.  

[metisdead]

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