It’s official: Thai govt approves plans to re-open to foreign tourists

[sandyf]

22 hours ago, BritManToo said:

You should be ashamed of yourself for using money that was directed to help struggling Thai people, not wealthy expats with pensions.

Good deflection from your xenophobic post.

As for my personal circumstances, only the arrogant would think they are in a position to comment.

[chilly07]

On 3/31/2021 at 12:53 PM, Mr Meeseeks said:

It's a real shame that some want to continue to risk the health of the Thai population for profits or to further their own selfish self-interests.

 

Get the Thais all vaccinated and then start to talk about opening up, otherwise this is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

No problem reducing quarantine times, if it is proven effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19 from new arrivals in the country. 

Exactly!  Why would  anyone  come as a vaccinated Tourist to a country that doesn't have a vaccine program that includes  everyone they come in contact with and have to do quarantine when they return. Are they going to be  parachuted in and collected by submarine even a second hand Wuhanworld toy?  

[brewsterbudgen]

1 minute ago, chilly07 said:

Exactly!  Why would  anyone  come as a vaccinated Tourist to a country that doesn't have a vaccine program that includes  everyone they come in contact with and have to do quarantine when they return. Are they going to be  parachuted in and collected by submarine even a second hand Wuhanworld toy?  

Maybe because the virus isn't as bad as it's painted?  It's going to be around for the next few years, with new strains that will be resistant to some vaccines.  But seeing as the overwhelming majority of people only get mildly affected or are asymptomatic, I think people's need to travel abroad for vacations will prevail.

[kingofthemountain]

6 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Maybe because the virus isn't as bad as it's painted?  It's going to be around for the next few years, with new strains that will be resistant to some vaccines.  But seeing as the overwhelming majority of people only get mildly affected or are asymptomatic, I think people's need to travel abroad for vacations will prevail.

Really?

In my country of origin its not looking good at all

Latest statistics on coronavirus in France

Situation on March 31, 2021, the latest official statistics available recorded at 14:00*

• Recorded new cases in France in previous 24 hours: 59,038 - Are rises in positive cases in France due to more tests
• New deaths: 304 (total number of deaths in France now 95,667)
• Rate of positive tests: 8.2%
• Number of people having received at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose: 8,004,958 (+189,439 in last 24h) (latest update on 29/03/2021)**
• Number of people vaccinated fully with both doses of the vaccine: 2,709,292 (+48,776 in last 24h) (latest update on 29/03/2021)**

*Data provided by santepubliquefrance.fr and **CovidTracker.fr 

 

https://www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/Coronavirus-Daily-updates-on-the-situation-in-France

[Jimbo2014]

2 hours ago, polpott said:

Thats an even huger assumption as its untrue.

 

I suggest, with the intention of being polite, that you update with the latest information at this link.

https://qz.com/africa/1989920/do-vaccines-work-against-more-infectious-covid-19-virus-variants/

   

[Jimbo2014]

4 hours ago, yogavnture said:

u think wrong .  they are finding out fully vaccinated with phizer and moderna are having great results in not transmitting..  i cant say anything about the china virus i mean china vaccine though

 ???? - yea not keen to take that China vaccine.  Unfortunately, as I indicated before, whilst the vaccines offer some protection they are not foolproof.  A vaccinated person may still become infected and may still transmit the virus though with reduced likelihood.  https://qz.com/africa/1989920/do-vaccines-work-against-more-infectious-covid-19-virus-variants/

Edited April 1, 2021 by Jimbo2014

[Carrbhoy]

21 hours ago, 473geo said:

Documentation all completed to obtain COE - boost to morale

Flight to LHR for overnight PCR test - negative - boost to morale

Board TG911 - major boost to morale

Arrive and processed at Suvarnabhumi - major boost to morale

In Thailand at quarantine hotel - major boost to morale

14 days quarantine phhhhhhht no problem

Day 9 now 5 days to go major boost to morale ????

 

Seriously considering taking the hit and getting into Thailand while it's open. Will wait until I get both vaccine jags before making a final decision.

 

One question re your schedule above. Why did you go to Heathrow for overnight PCR test? Could you not get this done locally? Was the PCR test completed at the airport? Did you stay overnight nearby? Would appreciate some further info on this.

 

I've looked at the options for Glasgow city and had landed on a local company who could do it for £150-175 and turn it around within 24-48 hours. Always going to be tight given the 72 hours requirement. Just wondering if I'm better / safer to go down the same overnight Heathrow route if this guarantees meeting the tight timescales.

 

[KhaoYai]

7 hours ago, Jimbo2014 said:

The number of variants continues to grow and many have been shown to evade current vaccines.

Really, which ones evade vaccines and which vaccines? Do you have any official confirmation of this?  All I've seen are that some variants may offer slightly more resistance to current vaccines.

Edited April 1, 2021 by KhaoYai

[Carrbhoy]

20 hours ago, stigar said:

Im in qarantene in bangkok now.In my country not possible to buy covid-incurance so i bougth it from a thai company.1800 bath for 30 days.

The hotel im staying in is wery good service and exelent food.Costs 31900 bath for quarantene.3 meals a day..free DTAC calls for the time here.We comunicate thru LINE app.If i need something they go an buy it for me in 7/11.After 5 days and my covidtest is ok im allowed to go outside 2 times a day in the hotelarea.I have to measure my temperature 2 times a day and send it to another app they installed in my phone.So far im wery satisfied aboutg my stay here.

 

31900 THB is a good price. Are you in BKK? Which hotel?

 

Looking at options for ASQ in a couple of months time.

 

[sirineou]

8 hours ago, possum1931 said:

Is that the price no matter what age you are?

I think so.

I did not buy the insurance because I am covered by my US based Blue Cross Blue Shield in Thailand. I was told by my embay that they would accept, US based insurance, and I was told by a friend that they accepted hers and issued a COE. I have summited mine but have not herd from them yet. so we will see. 

A friend of mine in Thailand suggested this company. 

Itinerary Detail : Gain Peace of Mind Get Online Coverage : Thai General Insurance Association

 

[polpott]

1 hour ago, Jimbo2014 said:

 

I suggest, with the intention of being polite, that you update with the latest information at this link.

https://qz.com/africa/1989920/do-vaccines-work-against-more-infectious-covid-19-virus-variants/

   

neither of us mentioned anything about variants. The argument was does the vaccine provide full immunity or just prevent moderate to severe infection.

 

The latest studies show that it does indeed provide immunity to similar levels as it provides protection to moderate to severe infection.

[473geo]

22 minutes ago, Carrbhoy said:

 

Seriously considering taking the hit and getting into Thailand while it's open. Will wait until I get both vaccine jags before making a final decision.

 

One question re your schedule above. Why did you go to Heathrow for overnight PCR test? Could you not get this done locally? Was the PCR test completed at the airport? Did you stay overnight nearby? Would appreciate some further info on this.

 

I've looked at the options for Glasgow city and had landed on a local company who could do it for £150-175 and turn it around within 24-48 hours. Always going to be tight given the 72 hours requirement. Just wondering if I'm better / safer to go down the same overnight Heathrow route if this guarantees meeting the tight timescales.

 

I was near Manchester so arranged a morning flight to LHR booked all in overnight stay covid/ftf test at hotel shortly after I arrived around noon results by 5am next day. Test carried at hotel about 12:30, results arrived by email 5am hard copies printed by hotel. Caught my Thai air flight at 11:50am all neat and clean, chose to fly Thai so no stop over.

[Carrbhoy]

5 minutes ago, 473geo said:

I was near Manchester so arranged a morning flight to LHR booked all in overnight stay covid/ftf test at hotel shortly after I arrived around noon results by 5am next day. Test carried at hotel about 12:30, results arrived by email 5am hard copies printed by hotel. Caught my Thai air flight at 11:50am all neat and clean, chose to fly Thai so no stop over.

 

Thanks for the additional info. This is a good option and takes away the time pressures / hassle of sorting this pre travel.

 

Which hotel / company did you use? What are the costs?

 

Thanks again.

 

[473geo]

1 minute ago, Carrbhoy said:

 

Thanks for the additional info. This is a good option and takes away the time pressures / hassle of sorting this pre travel.

 

Which hotel / company did you use? What are the costs?

 

Thanks again.

 

Holiday Inn M4/Wren healthcare package but the M4 one was commandeered by govt so ended up at the Hilton garden Inn cost was gbp 199 add another 40 for taxis but great to do it all on the job so to speak

[Peter Denis]

14 minutes ago, sirineou said:

I think so.

I did not buy the insurance because I am covered by my US based Blue Cross Blue Shield in Thailand. I was told by my embay that they would accept, US based insurance, and I was told by a friend that they accepted hers and issued a COE. I have summited mine but have not herd from them yet. so we will see. 

A friend of mine in Thailand suggested this company. 

Itinerary Detail : Gain Peace of Mind Get Online Coverage : Thai General Insurance Association

 

When applying at the Thai Embassy/Consulate in your home-country for a

- Non Imm O-A Visa

- Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement

- STV

- as well as wanting to return on a valid Re-Entry Permit from your 1-year extension of either an original Non Imm O-A or Non Imm O-Visa, acquired for reason of retirement,

you will need to provide evidence of having an IO-approved 400K/40K in/out-patient health-insurance policy that covers the full period of the permission to stay you would receive on entry in Thailand by thai border-immigration.

International/foreign insurance is accepted for meeting the health-insurance requirement but requires that your insurer fills in/signs the Foreign Insurance Certificate, which might prove difficult as that FIC-form refers to Thai legislation which most insurers will not be familiar with and hence reluctant to fill in.

In that case you can of course still subscribe to Thai IO-approved health-insurance that meets the 400K/40K in/out-patient requirement, and the LMG Insurance Plan-1 policy (with 200K deductible) meets the requirements and only costs 6.000 to 11.400 THB for a full year premium in the age-brackets of 51 to 75 years of age.  An additional advantage of that cheap but otherwise 'throw-away' insurance is that it does not require a medical to subscribe to it.

[Carrbhoy]

5 minutes ago, 473geo said:

Holiday Inn M4/Wren healthcare package but the M4 one was commandeered by govt so ended up at the Hilton garden Inn cost was gbp 199 add another 40 for taxis but great to do it all on the job so to speak

 

Great - thanks. So £199 for the Wren Healthcare Express Test (By 5am next day), £40 for taxis (To & From your Hotel to Hilton return). Did you stay at the Holiday Inn / Hilton Garden Inn or are these only used for Gov / Wren Heatlhcare testing? Even with the additional hotel cost of £120-140, it is still a good option.

[sirineou]

3 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

When applying at the Thai Embassy/Consulate in your home-country for a

- Non Imm O-A Visa

- Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement

- STV

- as well as wanting to return on a valid Re-Entry Permit from your 1-year extension of either an original Non Imm O-A or Non Imm O-Visa, acquired for reason of retirement,

you will need to provide evidence of having an IO-approved 400K/40K in/out-patient health-insurance policy that covers the full period of the permission to stay you would receive on entry in Thailand by thai border-immigration.

International/foreign insurance is accepted for meeting the health-insurance requirement but requires that your insurer fills in/signs the Foreign Insurance Certificate, which might prove difficult as that FIC-form refers to Thai legislation which most insurers will not be familiar with and hence reluctant to fill in.

In that case you can of course still subscribe to Thai IO-approved health-insurance that meets the 400K/40K in/out-patient requirement, and the LMG Insurance Plan-1 policy (with 200K deductible) meets the requirements and only costs 6.000 to 11.400 THB for a full year premium in the age-brackets of 51 to 75 years of age.  An additional advantage of that cheap but otherwise 'throw-away' insurance is that it does not require a medical to subscribe to it.

Thank you for that very informative post

I applied for   Non imm O based marriage.  I have a letter from my US based  BCBS that I send to them, not sure if they will accept it, I know they accepted someone else's but TIT

If they don't I guess I will have to buy a throwaway policy just to get there.  

 

[473geo]

1 minute ago, Carrbhoy said:

 

Great - thanks. So £199 for the Wren Healthcare Express Test (By 5am next day), £40 for taxis (To & From your Hotel to Hilton return). Did you stay at the Holiday Inn / Hilton Garden Inn or are these only used for Gov / Wren Heatlhcare testing? Even with the additional hotel cost of £120-140, it is still a good option.

Stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn on the Eastside perimeter road another reason for this solution was my Thai Air Flight was Sunday morning

[Carrbhoy]

5 minutes ago, 473geo said:

Stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn on the Eastside perimeter road another reason for this solution was my Thai Air Flight was Sunday morning

 

Rooms are cheaper than I thought. Just checked online for May (Arrive Sat) - £76. So the taxis are from LHR to Hilton Garden Inn (Return) as the PCR tests are completed at the hotel. Got it.

 

Ideal for weekend flights and I like the idea of Thai Air direct rather than Emirates (GLASGOW>DUBAI>BKK). I might be able to fly to Chiang Mai with Thai Air and do quarantine there with this option too. Good to know.

 

[Peter Denis]

9 minutes ago, sirineou said:

Thank you for that very informative post

I applied for   Non imm O based marriage.  I have a letter from my US based  BCBS that I send to them, not sure if they will accept it, I know they accepted someone else's but TIT

If they don't I guess I will have to buy a throwaway policy just to get there.  

 

When you applied at your home-country's Thai Embassy/Consulate for a Non Imm O Visa for reason of marriage, there is NO health-insurance requirement.

You will however be confronted - like everybody currently entering Thailand - with the  current CoE requirement for the 100.000 US $ covid-19 treatment insurance.  Herewith a  couple of options to meet that requirement:

 

1 - TIP < https://www.tipinsure.com/CovidRegional/product_detail  > provides covid-19 ONLY insurance, but it will depend on your age/nationality whether that is your best option (when applying from USA that will probably not be the case).

2 - When you are under 70 years of age you can also subscribe to SafetyWing travel-insurance package < https://www.tipinsure.com/CovidRegional/product_detail > which not only covers covid-19 treatment but provides full and decent coverage of any accident/illness you might encounter while in Thailand, and this at an premium that is often even LOWER than the TIP covid-19 insurance.

3 - Also the AXA Sawasdee travel-insurance might be of interest for you < https://direct.axa.co.th/TA-Inbound/CoverageOptionPlan?tag=axa-sawasdee-thailand-travel-insurance >.  You could compare premium and value provided with SafetyWing travel-insurance and then opt for the policy that best meets your individual needs. 

4 - When flying Emirates, you get FREE 100.000 US $ covid-19 insurance as part of your ticket.  This for 30 days when booking one-way, but when booking a return-flight that free insurance will cover the full period of your trip (in your case - for a 90-day Non Imm O Visa application the return-flight should be after the permission to stay you would receive on entry from that Non Imm O Visa) .  When you do not know yet when you will make use of the return-leg It might be useful to book a flexible return-ticket, to keep your options open.

[KhaoYai]

11 hours ago, brain150 said:

particularly because it is still not clear the degree to which the vaccines can protect not only against disease but also against infection and transmission.

Of course its not completely clear yet - we are at the beginning of this. However, take a look at the figures emerging from countries like the UK and Israel where vaccination programmes are well advanced. The WHO cannot put out anything other than a cautionary note at the moment, that should be obvious.

 

11 hours ago, brain150 said:

So why does anybody need a vaccine when it is not clear if it works at all ???

Again, I refer you to the success of countries such as the UK and Israel.

 

In the UK daily infections in January reached over 60,000 and deaths over 2000. Yesterday those figures were 4052 new infections and 43 deaths. I think it is clear that the vaccines are working.

Edited April 1, 2021 by KhaoYai

[Kadilo]

1 hour ago, 473geo said:

Holiday Inn M4/Wren healthcare package but the M4 one was commandeered by govt so ended up at the Hilton garden Inn cost was gbp 199 add another 40 for taxis but great to do it all on the job so to speak

Quite a few of these hotels renting out areas for private testing. A few guys o know out on the rigs are getting tested in Aberdeen as soon as they get off and the one they are using gives you the result and paperwork while you wait in reception £200. 

Edited April 1, 2021 by Kadilo

[polpott]

25 minutes ago, Carrbhoy said:

 

Thanks for the additional info. This is a good option and takes away the time pressures / hassle of sorting this pre travel.

 

Which hotel / company did you use? What are the costs?

 

Thanks again.

 

https://www.boots.com/covid-19-testing/covid-19-testing-service

 

£120 at a number of Boots pharmacies.

[Stargeezr]

Most countries do not have a great number of their populations vaccinated, so I do not see why

 Thailand is in such a hurry to get foreign travelers back. Getting desperate, perhaps, but then so is

all other countries who have lots of tourism.  I think that it will be lucky for a small percent of the normal

travelers to want to take chances and travel half way around the world for a trip.  Right now in Canada

there are lock downs happening again because of the varients of the virus and a lot of younger people

are now getting sick and having to go to the hospitals.  Stay tuned, this virus is far from over.

Maybe 2023 will be the year of some recovery.

Geezer

[Jimbo2014]

19 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

Really, which ones evade vaccines and which vaccines? Do you have any official confirmation of this?  All I've seen are that some variants may offer slightly more resistance to current vaccines.

It was an open question as noted in the article I posted to you - that was until about 10 hours ago! - so now we do have confirmation that the vaccines do appear to prevent spread of the virus.  However this was not known when I originally posted my comment, as indicated in the comment.  https://fortune.com/2021/04/01/its-official-vaccinated-people-dont-transmit-covid-19/ 

[Jimbo2014]

19 hours ago, polpott said:

neither of us mentioned anything about variants. The argument was does the vaccine provide full immunity or just prevent moderate to severe infection.

 

The latest studies show that it does indeed provide immunity to similar levels as it provides protection to moderate to severe infection.

 

When we talk about the virus we include all variants.  When I posted my initial comment, as indicated in the article, it was unknown whether the vaccines did protect against all variants.  However, potential good news was posted 10 hours ago (after your post) in which the CDC stated that it does appear the vaccines prevent transmission.  This was, as I noted, unknown several days ago.  https://fortune.com/2021/04/01/its-official-vaccinated-people-dont-transmit-covid-19/    

[stigar]

21 hours ago, Carrbhoy said:

 

31900 THB is a good price. Are you in BKK? Which hotel?

 

Looking at options for ASQ in a couple of months time.

 

Royal Benja.Its in bangkok..sukumvit soi 5

[taxin]

On 4/1/2021 at 2:18 PM, chilly07 said:

Exactly!  Why would  anyone  come as a vaccinated Tourist to a country that doesn't have a vaccine program that includes  everyone they come in contact with and have to do quarantine when they return. Are they going to be  parachuted in and collected by submarine even a second hand Wuhanworld toy?  

They have a vaccine program in place and have already started to vaccinate Phuket residents, by July 70% will be vaccinated, so yes, just about everyone they come in contact with will be vaccinated, including other tourists.

 

As for the rest of the country the other areas will not be opening up until October.

[Puccini]

Is there any link to the publication of the new rules in the Government Gazette?

[KhaoYai]

8 hours ago, Jimbo2014 said:

so now we do have confirmation that the vaccines do appear to prevent spread of the virus. 

That information was available from other sources weeks ago - you may not have seen it.