After Phuket, Pattaya and Chiang Mai next in line to welcome vaccinated foreign tourists

[webfact]

Picture: Daily News

 

Thailand tourism minister Pipat Ratchakitprakan has made the clearest statements yet related to Thailand finally opening up to foreign tourism without quarantine.

 

It will apply to tourists who have had two doses of vaccine in their home countries. The plan is that they will not need to quarantine from the start of the third quarter - July 1st.

 

It will likely start in Phuket first then Pattaya and after that Chiang Mai, Daily News reported.

 

Under the "sandbox" plan where limited travel is allowed tourists will be taken from airports to hotels and stay in a specified area for seven days before being allowed to travel to the rest of Thailand. 

 

Pipat said that the success of the plan rested on getting 70% of people vaccinated in the tourism areas with health workers, other officials and people in the tourism industry going first.

 

So far Phuket says it needs 925,000 doses to do this and Pattaya has asked for 950,000. Chiang Mai is yet to respond. 

 

Pipat will be presenting his plans to the CCSA main Covid steering committee at their next meeting. 

 

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[NCC1701A]

30 minutes ago, webfact said:

Chiang Mai is yet to respond. 

Sadly Chiang Mai passed away last week due to air pollution.  

[Big Yuley]

Same pig different lipstick

[tingtongfarang]

Why is it all of these thai officials look like hardened criminals, is it a special pose for the camera?

[madmitch]

Phuket's an island and therefore at least entry and exit can be controlled to an extent.

 

Pattaya and Chiang Mai are very different and I really can't see how this plan can work there.

 

The caveat of 70% of residents in these areas being vaccinated may well be a stumbling block anyway.

[beano2274]

What is to stop other Thai people travelling into these cities who have not been vaccinated by the Thai authorities.

[GlassWayOverHalfFull]

4 minutes ago, beano2274 said:

What is to stop other Thai people travelling into these cities who have not been vaccinated by the Thai authorities.

Over 7,000 posts.  Any of them positive about anything? 

[khunPer]

A few days ago the same talk was about Phuket and Samui, two islands, in a way it made more sense...????

[JeffP]

Why only holiday destinations, why not rural abodes like Sahatsakhan, Kalasin province so I can see my wife!

[AlfHuy]

2 minutes ago, JeffP said:

Why only holiday destinations, why not rural abodes like Sahatsakhan, Kalasin province so I can see my wife!

I saw her, she looks fine.

[vandeventer]

On 3/26/2021 at 9:28 AM, NCC1701A said:

Sadly Chiang Mai passed away last week due to air pollution.  

Bad luck! I'm still here coughing up <deleted> everyday!!!

[Eibot]

Since the vaccination does not stop the possibility to spread, how does Thailand think to contain spread to the rest of Thailand who is not vaccinated? This "tiny detail" seems to not be discussed at all...

Realistically what we're looking at, is Phuket being cut off from the rest of Thailand until they have vaccinated over 70% of the rest of Thailand...this can take a long time and is is quite something...

We have an approved "plan" but no details are not being shown. As someone who has a business in Phuket, this is very worrying. 

Does anyone here know anything more?

[Jimbo2014]

Fly to Chaing Mai for a covid vaccination - die of inability to breath the air.  ????

[Petey11]

1 hour ago, beano2274 said:

What is to stop other Thai people travelling into these cities who have not been vaccinated by the Thai authorities.

Exactly my thoughts, only way would be to ringfence these areas and apply same rules to Thais, if they want to leave have to go through same testing requirements etc. Unworkable in reality I think.

[Guderian]

1 hour ago, beano2274 said:

What is to stop other Thai people travelling into these cities who have not been vaccinated by the Thai authorities.

 

Yes, exactly, so Pattaya will swap the tens of thousands of (unvaccinated) domestic Thai  tourists who visit every holiday and weekend for a few thousand Cheap Charlie farang sex tourists. A very odd sense of priorities, never mind economics.

[Cake Monster]

5 hours ago, madmitch said:

The caveat of 70% of residents in these areas being vaccinated may well be a stumbling block anyway.

Whether 70% of the workers in the Tourism Areas are vaccinated or not, it is a fair bet that they will all be reported as being vaccinated by June 30th

To be brutally honest, this is the way it has to go as there are not enough Vaccines either purchased or in the pipeline for this hair brained idea

At least 12 Million Doses would be needed

2 Million persons Phuket

2 Million persons Pattaya 

2 Million persons Chang Mai

Remember ! Every person needs 2 Doses, and the Casual butterfly people who enter these areas to sell their wares / trade  Etc as well as Technical Persons, will they all have been vaccinated - NO

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

It will apply to tourists who have had two doses of vaccine in their home countries. The plan is that they will not need to quarantine from the start of the third quarter - July 1st.

What about two doses for the locals, or are they going to have to take a chance on not being infected?

[Cake Monster]

6 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

What about two doses for the locals, or are they going to have to take a chance on not being infected?

And possible transmission of Infection back to the Tourist Homelands

14 Days Quarantine upon return for them me thinks, as some Governments are already hinting at.

[Big Yuley]

1 hour ago, Eibot said:

Since the vaccination does not stop the possibility to spread, how does Thailand think to contain spread to the rest of Thailand who is not vaccinated? This "tiny detail" seems to not be discussed at all...

Realistically what we're looking at, is Phuket being cut off from the rest of Thailand until they have vaccinated over 70% of the rest of Thailand...this can take a long time and is is quite something...

We have an approved "plan" but no details are not being shown. As someone who has a business in Phuket, this is very worrying. 

Does anyone here know anything more?

lol.

good one

[hotchilli]

21 minutes ago, Cake Monster said:

And possible transmission of Infection back to the Tourist Homelands

14 Days Quarantine upon return for them me thinks, as some Governments are already hinting at.

I was wondering how foreign tourists would feel about going to an area in Thailand where at best 60%-70% of locals have been inoculated... ??

Or possible foreign country governments saying they are no-go countries?

[Cake Monster]

6 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Or possible foreign country governments saying they are no-go countries?

I really think that Governments are going to draw up maybe their own list of Countries placed under restrictive travel for their Citizens.

This Pandemic has cost many Governments astronomical sums of Money in the forms of Worker Furloughs, Business Aid Packages, Debt reliefs Etc Etc Etc, as well as immense burdens on their Health Care Facilities, and they are not going to put at risk the possibility of more infections transmitted in from Foreign lands that have poor Inoculation among their populations. Some of which may be new variants ( or not   )and not responsive to the existing forms of Vaccines,

[Eibot]

48 minutes ago, Big Yuley said:

lol.

good one

?

[bermondburi]

42 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

I was wondering how foreign tourists would feel about going to an area in Thailand where at best 60%-70% of locals have been inoculated... ??

Or possible foreign country governments saying they are no-go countries?

Wouldn't bother me in the slightest. 

[KhaoYai]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Pipat said that the success of the plan rested on getting 70% of people vaccinated in the tourism areas

Dead in the water then. Is this man just bored or suffering mental health problems due to lockdown?

[KhaoYai]

50 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

I was wondering how foreign tourists would feel about going to an area in Thailand where at best 60%-70% of locals have been inoculated... ??

Why should that concern them if they've been vaccinated?  None of the vaccines give 100% protection against Covid 19 but there's not a lot of point in getting vaccinated if you're going to worry and behave as if you haven't had it.

 

Or should we get vaccinated and stay home, walk 2m apart and not meet people from other households?

[Bangkok Barry]

3 hours ago, beano2274 said:

What is to stop other Thai people travelling into these cities who have not been vaccinated by the Thai authorities.

 

Don't ask sensible questions or the officials will lose face for not having the brain to ask the same thing. Another idea dead before it even came out of the box.

 

Note to officials: Foreigners do not want to travel across half the world to be told where they can and cannot go. End of. So will you please stop talking, daily, as if the world is desperate to fly to Thailand, no matter what. It isn't. Many have been re-discovering the benefits and attractions of holidaying in their own country while they haven't been able to travel.

[Mywayboy]

7 hours ago, tingtongfarang said:

Why is it all of these thai officials look like hardened criminals, is it a special pose for the camera?

Maybe they are 5555

[ericisking]

".... will not need to quarantine from July 1st"

Then ....... "tourists will be taken from airport to hotel and stay in a specified area for 7 days."

 

Isn't that a contradiction ? .... sounds like 7 days quarantine to me !

[Bkktodd]

3 hours ago, JeffP said:

Why only holiday destinations, why not rural abodes like Sahatsakhan, Kalasin province so I can see my wife!

This if for vaccinated tourists....you can go. And quarantine then travel anywhere your wife lives.  

[Jimbo53]

8 hours ago, tingtongfarang said:

Why is it all of these thai officials look like hardened criminals, is it a special pose for the camera?

No...Thats their natural pose!!  Most of them are,Pattaya City Hall Mayoral posts being a prime example.