Expats getting a Covid-19 vaccine in Pattaya for dummies with emphasis on expats outside the Thai system

[LongTimeLurker]

Go to

 

Thaiintervac.com

 

and choose option 3 Medipark Hospital

 

I was able to register with them while sitting at a bar having a beer!!

 

And got an email confirmation straight away.

Edited July 16, 2021 by LongTimeLurker

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Go to

 

Thaiintervac.com

 

and choose option 3 Medipark Hospital

 

I was able to register with them while sitting at a bar having a beer!!

Yes most of us know that by now and have bookings there if we want them. But it's in Bangkok and return quarantines were announced today.

 

[Leaver]

31 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I wouldn't say there is no program but it's obvious that Thailand and the people living here are in for very challenging times.

 

Challenging times may well be an understatement.

 

How many will die during such "challenging times?"  

[The Hammer2021]

5 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I thought you were talking about the mass vaccination site at the  Bang Sue Terminal in Bangkok.

Second Rd, Pattaya. B C Central Terminal not far from Dolphin roundabout. This am. Halas!

[LongTimeLurker]

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

Yes most of us know that by now and have bookings there if we want them. But it's in Bangkok and return quarantines were announced today.

 

what are return quarantines?

[The Hammer2021]

2 minutes ago, Leaver said:

 

Challenging times may well be an understatement.

 

How many will die during such "challenging times?"  

150 thousand so far in United Kingdom...

[The Hammer2021]

Just now, LongTimeLurker said:

what are return quarantines?

A quarantine on return!

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Second Rd, Pattaya. B C Central Terminal not far from Dolphin roundabout. This am. Halas!

It's not actually called Central Terminal. It's Terminal 21.

[Jingthing]

6 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

what are return quarantines?

Pattaya-Chonburi relent, impose 2-week quarantine on interprovincial arrivals

https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/news/pattaya-chonburi-relent-impose-2-week-quarantine-on-interprovincial-arrivals-363517

 

CCSA said they will discuss this in more detail at their next announcement.

 

Edited July 16, 2021 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

11 minutes ago, Leaver said:

 

Challenging times may well be an understatement.

 

How many will die during such "challenging times?"  

That's a question for God  for the believers.

[LongTimeLurker]

3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Pattaya-Chonburi relent, impose 2-week quarantine on interprovincial arrivals

https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/news/pattaya-chonburi-relent-impose-2-week-quarantine-on-interprovincial-arrivals-363517

 

CCSA said they will discuss this in more detail at their next announcement.

 

Self isolate.

 

I promise I'll stop going to my local bar every night once I'm vaccinated ????????

[Leaver]

2 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

That's a question for God  for the believers.

Seems the Thai government are playing God.  

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Self isolate.

 

I promise I'll stop going to my local bar every night once I'm vaccinated ????????

The policies are in process. It's way to early to really know what this will be.

[Leaver]

39 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

I was able to register with them while sitting at a bar having a beer!!

 

What bar?  

[HashBrownHarry]

4 hours ago, Leaver said:

 

Please note.  This is a Pattaya / Thailand Forum.  

Pls note - i know that.

[Jingthing]

Given this new at least potentially very serious problem with interprovincial travel during times that many of us HIGH RISK expats in Pattaya have booked vaccination appointments in Bangkok, I am feeling angrier than ever about how there is no way for us  to register for LOCAL vaccinations. 

 

Now we are under threat of potential QUARANTINE for making a day trip to get jabs. You couldn't make this up or maybe you could if you're a dystopian science fiction writer. 

 

Those needing taxis, etc. How can we rely on drivers being willing to accept doing these trips under these conditions? 

 

It's not like Pattaya is a tiny town. It's a major hub or retired expats in the entire country. Why FORCE so many of us into this kind of problematic travel? Just add a PATTAYA hospital to Intervac. But no, that's too logical. 

 

But here we are. We have the bookings. But apparently that's just the beginning of the adventure.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 16, 2021 by Jingthing

[jacko45k]

8 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said:

what are return quarantines?

People entering Chonburi from say Bangkok area are supposed to go into self isolation.

[WaveHunter]

22 hours ago, Jingthing said:

We already knew about checkpoints where we might be required to show a good reason for our travel.

 

Yes vaccinations are a very good reason and I wouldn't worry much about that.

 

But the news today is possibly much more troubling.

 

14 day quarantine if coming from Bangkok a deep red zone?

 

How exactly will it be enforced or not enforced?

 

We can't know that yet.

 

Will drivers even be willing to take us if they think they face a quarantine risk?

 

We can't know that yet.

I booked my trip with local driving service here in Pattaya and they mentioned no concerns about that but probably a good idea to check with them for sure so I'll do that and let you know what they have to say.

 

I don;t know about anyone else but if there's a possibility of mandatory quarantine in an ASQ, there's NO WAY I'm going to PhyaThai!  A self-imposed quarantine...maybe. 

 

This is exactly why I booked a backup with MedPark since that is still a month away, and if there is a quarantine, it probably won't last that long. 

Edited July 17, 2021 by WaveHunter

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

I booked my trip with local driving service here in Pattaya and they mentioned no concerns about that but probably a good idea to check with them for sure so I'll do that and let you know what they have to say.

How could they even know what specific policies will be announced today or later? Another member said a driver demanded a City Hall letter but as far I know they aren't currently doing them. But thanks for your report. 

[WaveHunter]

3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

How could they even know what specific policies will be announced today or later? Another member said a driver demanded a City Hall letter but as far I know they aren't currently doing them. But thanks for your report. 

Well, I'm sure that the possibility probably concerns them more than it does us, so I'm guessing they probably know more about what's going on than we do. BTW, they are probably the premiere driving service in Pattaya, being in business for over 20 years so they're not just some low-level taxi company.  They are pretty plugged in with stuff like this, where we expats are obviously not.

Edited July 17, 2021 by WaveHunter

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

Well, I'm sure that the possibility probably concerns them more than it does us, so I'm guessing they probably know more about what's going on than we do. 

At this time, I seriously doubt that they know more. Hopefully everyone that needs to know will know more within a few days.

[WaveHunter]

Just now, Jingthing said:

At this time, I seriously doubt that they know more. Hopefully everyone that needs to know will know more within a few days.

It doesn't hurt to get their feedback...if for no other reason than that they are Thai and we are not.

[Skallywag]

42 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

I don;t know about anyone else but if there's a possibility of mandatory quarantine in an ASQ, there's NO WAY I'm going to PhyaThai!  A self-imposed quarantine...maybe. 

I will be taking a bus from the North pattaya bus station to Ekkamai, then returning on the same 5 hours later after vaccine at phyathai 2. July 23  

How exactly would the possible mandatory quarantine work do you think? 

Guess I should go to the North bus station and see if there are police/hospital staffers putting every arrival from Bangkok into a van?  

Edited July 17, 2021 by Skallywag

[Jingthing]

27 minutes ago, Skallywag said:

I will be taking a bus from the North pattaya bus station to Ekkamai, then returning on the same 5 hours later after vaccine at phyathai 2. July 23  

How exactly would the possible mandatory quarantine work do you think? 

Guess I should go to the North bus station and see if there are police/hospital staffers putting every arrival from Bangkok into a van?  

Well surely there will be reduced bus service at best not to mention the infection risk.

[Guderian]

Can anyone provide a link to the quarantine story OTHER THAN the Pattaya Mail one? It's not made the TV/AN news, it's not on the Pattaya News website, I haven't seen it on FB, and the GF hasn't seen it on the Thai news. Surely if it's correct then this would be a huge story wouldn't it, so why is only one media source running it?

 

Oh, and I forgot to add that I called the Pattaya City Hall helpline yesterday and was told that all I need to go to the hospital is proof of the appointment and my passport. Of course, new restrictions may alter things, but at the moment that's the case. 

Edited July 17, 2021 by Guderian

[WaveHunter]

On 7/16/2021 at 2:30 PM, VaccineHunter said:

First of all - I totally understand where you come from after having to undergo all these pains and tribulations - I probably would done the same given the dire circumstances and the need to protect one's health and wellbeing.

 

What surprises me a bit though is you blamed me a few weeks ago for doing signing up with just one Hospital in Bangkok now and found it morally reprehensible and now recommend doing it with 2 concurrently?

 

"The fact that you were able to buck the system is nothing to be proud of.  There was a reason for vaccines to be prioritized to the Bangkok area, and those non-residents outside of Bangkok who were able to take advantage of the InterVac flaws and become vaccinated by crossing provincial boundaries only reduced available vaccines where they are needed most right now.

 

YOU WERE LUCKY and nothing else, and your luck came at the expense of getting the outbreak clusters in Bangkok under control.

 

So, congratulations to you for thinking more about your own welfare instead of the good of the population as a whole.  That's very noble of you."

 

Also and maybe more importantly you might want to take note that there is a clause in the MedPark sign up form which might has some ramifications one might want to consider. 

 

 

 I hereby acknowledge that once I submit the free government allocated vaccine registration with MedPark Hospital, I am not able to transfer my registration to someone else

 

Just keeping it real and congratulations for getting your appointment(s). I am glad for everybody that gets vaccinated including you despite the occasional controversy. No hard feelings but let's hold each other to task. 

Point 1:    At the time I made that comment, the CCSA had mandated (not merely "suggested") that people NOT travel from one province to another for vaccinations becuase the vaccines were urgently needed for the deep-red zone residents, and at the same time promised that ALL foreigners and those living in other provinces would not be forgotten. 

 

Well, I had no idea that a) Bangkok hospitals were turning a blind eye to this official mandate, and that b) that the CCSA was being very disingenuous to foreigners claiming they "would not be forgotten", when as it turns out, we are actually being prevented from registering for the public rollout. Registration has nothing to do with lack of vaccines.  There should be no roadblocks to anyone being able to register, yet that is exactly what has been happening for over six weeks now.

 

What makes this a big deal is that the US is now donating millions of doses to Thailand, doses that MY tax dollars helped pay for.  Yet I am and many other expats are being prevented from even registering.  If you are not registered, you are effectively invisible to the public rollout.  That is grossly unfair by any standard.

 

So, things have changed dramatically in the last few weeks since I made that original comment.  It is now apparent to me that expats are deliberately being prevented from registration.  I wasn't sure about that until recently, but over six weeks since the official rollout began and the fact that Thai Officials STILL can not come up with a workable registration scheme for expats and those outside of the Bangkok Province sound very suspicious.  If they can register expats for visas and handle 90 day reporting, then they sure as hell should be able to handle expat registration for covid vaccination.

 

I still think the Thai official strategy of focusing on Deep red zones first makes sense, but to deprive US Expats of the ability to even register so they can receive vaccines that their tax dollars helped pay for changes everything in my mind now.

 

Point 2:  I'm not sure what your point is.  If I get my vax at Phyathai, I will cancel (not transfer) my appointment at MedPark.  I assume that MedPark would then have one extra vax that they would give to someone else.

 

So, to sum up, if things had not changed so dramatically and it seemed that Thai officials were acting on good faith to make sure that expats were at least registered into the system for vaccination, I would feel the same as I did back then; that you should not impede the process fo getting the deep red zones under control by travelling to Bangkok for vaccination BUT now that it's obvious we are actively being prevented from registering, the CCSA has broken its' word to expats and all is now fair game.  Really as simple as that.

Edited July 17, 2021 by WaveHunter

[LongTimeLurker]

10 hours ago, Jingthing said:

It's not like Pattaya is a tiny town. It's a major hub or retired expats

Another HUB for Thailand!!!

[LongTimeLurker]

16 hours ago, Leaver said:

 

What bar?  

I plead the fifth.

[WaveHunter]

1 hour ago, Skallywag said:

I will be taking a bus from the North pattaya bus station to Ekkamai, then returning on the same 5 hours later after vaccine at phyathai 2. July 23  

How exactly would the possible mandatory quarantine work do you think? 

Guess I should go to the North bus station and see if there are police/hospital staffers putting every arrival from Bangkok into a van?  

I think going into next week it's going become pretty clear what the situation is.  Until then, it's anybody's guess.  Just my opinion, but I'd think real carefully about taking a bus for obvious reasons, but if you do, be sure you have an N-95 mask. 

 

I just received some from Lazada today, and the difference between them and the cheap ones you get at 7-11 was shocking!  Not only do they seal to your face way better, but the built-in filter makes it a lot easier to breathe normally.  Next to being fully vaccinated, a seriously good N-95 mask is the best thing you can do to protect yourself.  I can't believe I waited so long to figure that out LOL.

[LongTimeLurker]

42 minutes ago, Guderian said:

Oh, and I forgot to add that I called the Pattaya City Hall helpline yesterday and was told that all I need to go to the hospital is proof of the appointment and my passport. Of course, new restrictions may alter things, but at the moment that's the case.

What Pattaya City Hall think may be required might be completely different to the cops checking you on the way into Bangkok.

 

For now I'm going to assume I need a City Hall letter and go ask them for one just before I go to my appointment on 27 July at Phyathai 2. Anyone need a lift?