Koh Samui: Foreign tourists set to be welcome subject to rules from July 1st

[thai006]

see you in November  ???????????? 

[Skeptic7]

Another lame-brained scheme doomed to fail. One thing is sure...they are consistent and persistent in their "fools errands". 

[khunPer]

1 hour ago, CG1 Blue said:

Are you sure those are recent photos of Chaweng beach road? I thought all the electricity cables were underground now, since about 6 months ago? 

Excellent observation, yes the wires are all gone...????

 

I unfortunately only have a few photos from the beach road in Chaweng after the both hanging wires and high power lines were taken down, this one shows the same MacD, but at night, so I have brightened the image to show that there are none of those hanging stuff anymore, nor posts for them. The photo was snapped on 2nd April at 9 pm (21:00), it has been shared before in another Samui-thread but without brightness...

For comparison, @spidermike007's photo, which is also without the huge transformer box, which was there in August last year, so must be almost a year old and probably taken during the lockdown period, as the small connection boxes on the sidewalk is also missing, they were up already in June last year, and the tarmac was also improved by that time...

 

This is my photo of almost exactly same spot, but snapped 30th June 2020 at 17:46, note the the power box at right on sidewalk next to the sign, and there is one more further down on left side...

 

[fulhamster]

3 hours ago, Aarin said:

Still quarantined at the  hotel and not free to go into town and eat and go to the bars etc.. NO NO this will not attract many people. No going on a boat trip to snorkel... nothing 

the bars are all shut

 

[Bkktodd]

3 hours ago, Gulfsailor said:

I think by locals they mean Thai people who don’t work in the tourism industry. Most tourism workers on Samui have already been fully vaccinated and most other residents will be by next month. I can imagine that after the 3-day quarantine tourists can only go to approved venues, restaurants, bars and on excursions where the staff is fully vaccinated. I think after 7 days of this it’s then up to the tourist to decide if they want to mingle with non vaccinated locals on or off the island. Regardless for long stayers it’s better than being locked in a Bangkok hotel room for 15 days….

What would be better is a 7 quarantine on the island and then free to go mainland after additional covid test for vaccinated.  Im in pattaya asq 15 day/ 3 covid tests yet vaccinated. Abit much. Im more likely to GET covid not give here in Amazing Thailand.  Tourism is dead in pattaya.  My mate snap a photo. second road. 2pm.  Depressing 

[Caldera]

Their rulebook is just insane, my prediction is that they will only attract those who are absolutely desperate to visit Thailand in particular. Anyone looking for a fun vacation without hassle? Will go elsewhere!

 

Vaccinated Europeans and Americans will have plenty of choice this summer - no CoE, no quarantine, no silly in-country movement restrictions. And the Chinese won't be going anywhere, as they still have to quarantine upon return.

[thasoss]

Desperate is as desperate does.and they are desperate.

[nkg]

So it's 7 days quarantine - barely any better than the 7 days ASQ in Bangkok that you could do up to the 5th of May. And probably more expensive.

 

I supposed you can do limited travel after 3 days, no doubt escorted by armed guards in hazmat suits.

 

Obviously it will be the same deal in Phuket. Same covid insurance, same CoE. They will be lucky to get 1,000 people a month, and none of them will be tourists.

[Bedfont]

Ha ha ha, they wish.

[Chill27]

It's not that long to July 1st, so they need to make it clear what's required.

COE? Insurance? How much?

Covid passport? What's happening with that? How does one prove that they're fully vaccinated and what form of proof is required?

It shouldn't be too difficult to get a list in order, one that is concise and unambiguous, so that people can start getting organised and making their arrangements.

[Derek B]

No one will come....not even Thais.

[Excel]

28 minutes ago, thasoss said:

Desperate is as desperate does.and they are desperate.

desperately clueless

[madmen]

2 hours ago, robsamui said:

How very rude. In the case of Samui there's no need to try to fool anyone (you're used to people wanting to fool you then - American probably) because the entire place (Chaweng) is a ghost town.

 

If you can spare the time, all you need to do is to look on YouTube to see Samui's devastation.

 

Better still come here to see for yourself, instead of being graceless and dismissive.

Those pics were BS. SPIDERMike got busted by forum sleuths page 3&4 this thread proving they were around a year ago during full lockdown 

 Are you feeling like a dummy about now? 

Best check facts before going on the attack

 

[madmen]

9 minutes ago, madmen said:

Delete 

 

 

[spidermike007]

2 hours ago, huberthammer said:

 

Mate you seriously need to stop consider your self to be the Samui specialist. It is well known that you hate the island and that you come on here on every occasion to bad mouth it. You don't live here anymore and you just misinformed on so many issues. 

 

I have been registered for the vaccine for two weeks now and so have most of my Farang friends. We now all awaiting for the vaccine to come to Samui. Stop talking about things that you are no longer up to date with and more importantly get over whatever bad happened to you in Samui. If you hate it so much just ignore this part of TV and live a happy life instead of complaining about everything that happens or has happened in Samui.

Actually, I love Samui. Just returned from a great trip to Samui and Phangan. I left because I had alot of issues, most of which have never been addressed. Just telling it, as I see it. Sorry if that hurts. 

 

Thanks for the correction on the vaccines. My friends living there will be pleased. Is the astro an option? 

[mrfill]

2 hours ago, CG1 Blue said:

Are you sure those are recent photos of Chaweng beach road? I thought all the electricity cables were underground now, since about 6 months ago? 

 

If only there was a live stream available... 

 

 

[kingofthemountain]

27 minutes ago, Chill27 said:

It's not that long to July 1st, so they need to make it clear what's required.

COE? Insurance? How much?

Covid passport? What's happening with that? How does one prove that they're fully vaccinated and what form of proof is required?

It shouldn't be too difficult to get a list in order, one that is concise and unambiguous, so that people can start getting organised and making their arrangements.

indeed

 

july is only in 5 weeks now

 

all my french friends, usualy coming in Thailand for their holidays

have ALL made already their plans to other destinations, in France or in Europe (In africa for the most aventurous of them)

 

When you have only few weeks of holidays in a year, you don't wait the last minute to book your flights and hotels and you try to avoid a destination where the situation and the rules can change without any warning from a day to another, like they did last month with the quarantine going from 7 or 10 days to 14 days again, or with the closure of all the entairtnment venues 

 

And i don't even talk about what could happens if you are tested positive in Thailand, nobody in his right mind want to take the risk to end in one of these ''field hospitals'' even if they are asymptomatics 

[spidermike007]

22 minutes ago, madmen said:

Those pics were BS. SPIDERMike got busted by forum sleuths page 3&4 this thread proving they were around a year ago during full lockdown 

 Are you feeling like a dummy about now? 

Best check facts before going on the attack

 

Fake news. Hey, sorry to offend. Sometimes, the truth hurts. One or two were from a previous trip in September. Most of the images are from a few days ago. There is some activity on the Ring Road. Meanam and Bang Rak has some open restaurants and hotels. Some. Most of the island is extremely quiet and most tourism related businesses have closed, are closing, and or have mostly fake "under renovation" signs on them.

 

All my friends who live on Samui admit the island is devastated. And they also see a long road back. I am estimating five years. Some domestic tourism in the interim. And hopefully a few thousand international tourists here and there. 

[BenDeCosta]

After watching a few videos about the current state of Samui on YouTube, I can't imagine why anyone would want to visit right now, unless of course they have friends or family living there.

[spidermike007]

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

This is nothing more than a Field of Dreams. Build it, and they will come. Abandon the foreign market, and they will come back. Abuse them, and they will forgive. 

 

Sorry guys, not the way the real world works.

 

My guess is there are many within this insipid administration, that are fuming at the National Economic and Social Development Council for speaking truth. This is an extremely rare occurrence, when it comes to tourism projections here. 

 

Just got back from Samui. Was discussing this with friends who live there. Alot of debate. My thought is, what would the tourists be returning to? In Lamai and Chaweng especially, 90% of all restaurants have closed permanently. 100% of massage shops and bars are closed. When they are "allowed" to re-open, how many will be able to afford to, and what are they opening to? Who is coming? Will the tourists come to a devastated "island resort" anyway? Will the businesses who have stayed open for an extended period without many tourists want to re-open? Many lost a fortune paying rent and expenses, when only a few domestic tourists trickled in. Now, with the massive failure of the health officials here, things are only getting worse for tourism. They have received zero in the way of assistance from the goons. Nothing.

 

Total, and shameful abandonment, in their time of need. What can one say? If they were being graded on this, Prayuth, Anutin and Phiphat would all get an F, or a 0.1, if that is even possible. 

 

Samui, right now. Images taken a few days ago.

 

 

Only the last image here was from my previous trip in September. The top three were shot a few nights ago in both Lamai and Chaweng. 

[NeoDinosaw]

6 hours ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

The  locals  will miss their  opportunities then.

Some farang come to Thailand for the sole purpose of coming into very close contact with local people  -  but I guess not a lot of people know that !

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, BangkokReady said:

 

Is there no plan/budget for getting the islands open again?  Like some micro-loans to get bars restocked and tidy up small businesses (assuming people come at all)?  Surely a restaurant, a dive tour, a massage parlor, a scooter rental, etc., are not super expensive to get up and running, if some of the infrastructure remains?  I've certainly seen many restaurants in bkk packed away to nothing every night and the bars don't look particularly luxurious.  Many things would be a case of taking the tarps off, cleaning the equipment and getting them running again.

Many new coffee shops are opening on micro budgets. The biggest issue is many of the friends I have, and people I know, used their life savings in an attempt to keep their businesses alive, hoping against hope. While the callous and extremely stingy administration did absolutely nothing for them, and sabotaged their livelihoods.

 

Loans for a business on Samui? Certainly not from the army goons. And unlikely not from the notoriously conservative Thai banks. Unless one was willing to risk some very valuable collateral. 

 

It is a real catch 22. Do the locals take a big risk and reopen? Or do the tourists come to the post apocalyptic Southern Islands seeking a bargain? Maybe. Hopefully. I feel for the locals. Many I have known over 15 years are gone. And they have no plans to return, as the burn was too severe. 

[BenDeCosta]

I feel so sorry for the Thai people who used to earn their living from tourism. Even where I live, which is a remote village that never sees a single tourist, the effects still can be seen. Several of my wife's family are now unemployed and flat-broke, her uncle is about to have his SUV repossessed, a friend of mine who used to work in Phuket is about to have the family home repossessed, and a friend who used to work on Samui is destitute and can't afford to feed her kids. I've been paying some of her extended family members to do odd jobs around the house in an effort to help out, like cutting the garden, painting a wall, cementing the driveway etc. but it's a drop in the ocean.

 

The people making the rules are almost certainly not affected, with billions in the bank, their new Mercedes and Rolexes, they don't seem to be doing very much to help out the people who are suffering the most. I think the tipping point at which the government measures become more harmful than the virus has long since passed, they need to start doing something to allow tourists back in a responsible way, and not just the usual lip-service, something that's actually going to work and get the money flowing again. But for now it's just a pipe-dream, even if they reopened tomorrow with no quarantine, I doubt that many would come.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the people who used to flock to Thailand year in and year out will now be trying out new places such as Mexico or Portugal, and may never return to Thailand again.

[thai006]

11 minutes ago, BenDeCosta said:

After watching a few videos about the current state of Samui on YouTube, I can't imagine why anyone would want to visit right now, unless of course they have friends or family living there.

 

my child living in khon kaen  and my mom and dad did not see them  since last January 2020 so yes they cant wait to come back Thailand lol ????????

[gearbox]

2 hours ago, khunPer said:

Excellent observation, yes the wires are all gone...????

 

I unfortunately only have a few photos from the beach road in Chaweng after the both hanging wires and high power lines were taken down, this one shows the same MacD, but at night, so I have brightened the image to show that there are none of those hanging stuff anymore, nor posts for them. The photo was snapped on 2nd April at 9 pm (21:00), it has been shared before in another Samui-thread but without brightness...

For comparison, @spidermike007's photo, which is also without the huge transformer box, which was there in August last year, so must be almost a year old and probably taken during the lockdown period, as the small connection boxes on the sidewalk is also missing, they were up already in June last year, and the tarmac was also improved by that time...

 

This is my photo of almost exactly same spot, but snapped 30th June 2020 at 17:46, note the the power box at right on sidewalk next to the sign, and there is one more further down on left side...

 

 

Beside the work PEA did, there is very little of renovation or maintenance going on Chaweng Beach Road,  the pavements and lots of premises are slowly decaying....here is one photo taken 2 days ago:

 

 

[itsari]

Thai tourist industry is under a false impression that business as usual is just to open there borders again. 

[BenDeCosta]

If, throughout history every time that there was a global pandemic, governments introduced crippling lock-downs for a few years, I wonder where humanity would be at now? Maybe we would just be figuring out the internal combustion engine?

[gearbox]

The beach at the Ritz-Carlton, Plai Laem yesterday....not a single soul to be seen. Crappy beach BTW. Look at the pipes going into the sea...wondering what comes out of these.

 

 

[gearbox]

The tourism is in severe downturn, but nevertheless they continue to build eyesores...Choengmon beach.

 

 

[BenDeCosta]

8 minutes ago, gearbox said:

The tourism is in severe downturn, but nevertheless they continue to build eyesores...Choengmon beach.

 

 

 

Those are eye-sores because they aren't finished. But if I was the person investing in such a development, I would want to get as much of my money back as possible and then run a mile. That looks to be an investment of a billion baht plus. Ouch.