8 hours ago, robbioff said:

I think you know why..????????????????

Yeah, the Govt mandates the hotel stay and then sells the SHA + certifications so that the proper officials get their "fair share"

17 hours ago, webfact said:

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand will go ahead with a plan next month to reopen to vaccinated foreign visitors starting with its most popular resort island Phuket, as it tries to revive tourism while battling its biggest coronavirus outbreak so far.

Everybody has already planned his summer holidays. People are not waiting till the last minute just in case Thailand would open its borders and may be close them again quickly after.

The country will be overrun

Fanciful

3 hours ago, Jud Canada said:

I look at it as do many as a test to create a vision for the upcoming high season. Has it worked...what are the issues...what do we need to adjust and when. It is a precarious line to be walked but there is a lot at stake for this country. Let's see how it unfolds.

Yup I see that. A test case, see how it works. A model for the future. It all makes sense. Just the timing is so poor as to be laughable.

 

1. now is the low season. It’s the low season because in normal years tourists don’t come in these months. That’s primarily because the weather isn’t good. It’s rainy season, rains at least part of the time, most days. The seas on the tourist western beaches are too rough for swimming. Good for surfing, but the average family, older couples don’t surf. So trying to attract tourists now is difficult in the best of times, but now there is Covid.

 

2. The Thai Covid situation is not tourist friendly. The government is fighting to gain control of a 3rd wave. Phuket has created a false narrative to try to make itself attractive to tourists. Yes case count is low, that’s good. But the assertion that Phuket is 70%, 80% (whatever the percentage is meant to be) vaccinated, is laughable. The figure being quoted of 50% is mostly one jab only. Why not wait, get everybody that needs to be vaccinated, vaccinated properly, including farang over 60 who currently can’t even register. Even then, will tourists really segregate Phuket from the rest of Thailand when they see headlines about Thailand fighting a 3rd wave? 

 

3. The situation in many of the countries from where these tourists are meant to travel, is not conducive for travel to Thailand. Many countries  won’t let tourists leave. Some insist on quarantine on the way back. Some Thailand would probably block anyway.

 

4. The restrictions placed on tourists when they get to Phuket are still reasonably onerous and the island is not yet open and tourist friendly. Attractions are closed, bars are closed, no alcohol is served in restaurants, social gatherings with alcohol purchased at shops are prohibited.

 

so yes, a test is good. Developing a model for the future is good. But if it’s done when the conditions are wrong, what happens is that the test is a failure. And that just means that nothing much is learned and it’s harder to justify having another test in the future.

 

why not wait. Get everything ready, get people vaccinated, get control of the cases, wait for the weather to be right, THEN get your testing done, get your model for future years sorted out. 
 

there is still a long way to go in this pandemic, rushing things just causes setbacks later. Endemic management is the way to go for the future. Getting conditions right so that the process of management can begin is an essential stepping stone.

 

sorry, I can only say that in my opinion the Phuket sandbox just looks like the Thai authorities are going off half cocked without doing the necessary preparatory work.

The 'rules' heavily outweigh the benefits.

I'll pass on this.

I am fully vaccinated and need to return to Thailand, soon, from the U.S. where I had to travel for a family matter. I normally live in BKK. Wife is there now. Was thinking of doing this Phuket thing as my return though have a concern about getting a pos test during the 14-day stay. Even without the added issues of mishandling by the lab and cross-contamination and such, the PCR test has a false-pos rate of 0.5%. That means if you have to get three such tests during the 14-days on Phuket, there is a 1/67 chance of getting a false pos and ending up with a 14-day stay in a Thai hospital. 

 

What if I return to BKK and just do the 14-day quarantine as it has been? After completing such a quarantine, would I be able to travel to Phuket or somewhere else without having to do another quarantine or this convoluted sandbox scheme? How will they handle us as a Thai-farang couple doing domestic travel between provinces (and, possibly between BKK and Phuket)?

.

14 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Thats not a direct flight from the US as I was talking about, that is a transit flight ...

 

Thanks for the reply.  I did understand you .... but then became confused because there are no direct flights from the US to BKK (and haven't had for a long time, as they aren't profitable) ... so of course, there could never be a direct flight from US to Phuket.

 

There aren't that many people that will be going to Phuket IMO.  I might be one of them, but I don't expect to see full flights.

1 hour ago, wensiensheng said:

 

 

2. Why not wait, get everybody that needs to be vaccinated, vaccinated properly, including farang over 60 who currently can’t even register. 

 

 

 

 

Im afraid they gonna open it no matter what. They cant wait no more. Another ruined highseason is a damage thai economy cant take.

 

17 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Some bureaucrat in Chiang Mai declared a prison in CM to have 'reached herd immunity.'  ????
So pretty soon declaring places and regions to have achieved 'herd immunity via vaccination' will soon the the new rage.  My guess is that "herd-immunity" tourist enclaves will be marketed to the masses by the end of the year. 

"Hunker-down in Herd-Immunity <enter tourist enclave>"

Central Festival / Central Floresta in Phuket has herd-immunity with 70% of their employees vaccinated. ????????????

 

So you will be safe while you are shopping and spending your money.????

 

 

On 6/4/2021 at 8:52 PM, ezflip said:

Stay in hotels certified by Amazing Thailand Safety and Health Administration (SHA+) for 14 nights

oooppss i did not notice this one...there allways must be a catch....so how the hell do i know

which are the hotels that are certified and how much will it cost?

10 hours ago, wensiensheng said:

Yup I see that. A test case, see how it works. A model for the future. It all makes sense. Just the timing is so poor as to be laughable.

 

1. now is the low season. It’s the low season because in normal years tourists don’t come in these months. That’s primarily because the weather isn’t good. It’s rainy season, rains at least part of the time, most days. The seas on the tourist western beaches are too rough for swimming. Good for surfing, but the average family, older couples don’t surf. So trying to attract tourists now is difficult in the best of times, but now there is Covid.

 

2. The Thai Covid situation is not tourist friendly. The government is fighting to gain control of a 3rd wave. Phuket has created a false narrative to try to make itself attractive to tourists. Yes case count is low, that’s good. But the assertion that Phuket is 70%, 80% (whatever the percentage is meant to be) vaccinated, is laughable. The figure being quoted of 50% is mostly one jab only. Why not wait, get everybody that needs to be vaccinated, vaccinated properly, including farang over 60 who currently can’t even register. Even then, will tourists really segregate Phuket from the rest of Thailand when they see headlines about Thailand fighting a 3rd wave? 

 

3. The situation in many of the countries from where these tourists are meant to travel, is not conducive for travel to Thailand. Many countries  won’t let tourists leave. Some insist on quarantine on the way back. Some Thailand would probably block anyway.

 

4. The restrictions placed on tourists when they get to Phuket are still reasonably onerous and the island is not yet open and tourist friendly. Attractions are closed, bars are closed, no alcohol is served in restaurants, social gatherings with alcohol purchased at shops are prohibited.

 

so yes, a test is good. Developing a model for the future is good. But if it’s done when the conditions are wrong, what happens is that the test is a failure. And that just means that nothing much is learned and it’s harder to justify having another test in the future.

 

why not wait. Get everything ready, get people vaccinated, get control of the cases, wait for the weather to be right, THEN get your testing done, get your model for future years sorted out. 
 

there is still a long way to go in this pandemic, rushing things just causes setbacks later. Endemic management is the way to go for the future. Getting conditions right so that the process of management can begin is an essential stepping stone.

 

sorry, I can only say that in my opinion the Phuket sandbox just looks like the Thai authorities are going off half cocked without doing the necessary preparatory work.

I hear what your saying and agree with most of it except I think everyone who feels like this is missing one important fact. If they do not show that Thailand ( Phuket) is open, (regardless of the status of vaccination) the 2021-2022 plan to draw some tourists, will be finished. People living in the beach/ tourist hubs Phuket, Krabi, Khao Lak know that people start making travel plans for the winter months NOW. By Phuket NOT doing everything it can to make the sandbox work and be open per schedule will result in people booking other destinations.

 

Remember airlines also need lead time to set up routes and schedules and this can only happen if the country is and stays open.j

 

Thailand has to show it is open now no matter what or it will lose the little bit of holiday makers and home owners wanting to come. Another year of no tourists due to over zealous pandemic protectionism will truly finish most of the hospitality and tourism businesses that have been hanging on by a thread in these areas. The economic fallout will exponentially compound. 

 

Where I am going with all this is:

Whatever everyone thinks about the sandbox idea...Good...bad, whatever. I believe that if Phuket does not open on time and show the world that endemic management has been factored and part of the reopening plan and that you can book your Thailand holiday for this winter the results will make shut down to date seem like a blip in tourism fallout  

 

Personally I don't think there are many other options. It literally is do or die for areas like Phuket

 

 

 

 

 

11 hours ago, daejung said:

Everybody has already planned his summer holidays. People are not waiting till the last minute just in case Thailand would open its borders and may be close them again quickly after.

I think they are hoping more for winter holiday planning which most people start arranging around now.

1 hour ago, Jud Canada said:

I hear what your saying and agree with most of it except I think everyone who feels like this is missing one important fact. If they do not show that Thailand ( Phuket) is open, (regardless of the status of vaccination) the 2021-2022 plan to draw some tourists, will be finished. People living in the beach/ tourist hubs Phuket, Krabi, Khao Lak know that people start making travel plans for the winter months NOW. By Phuket NOT doing everything it can to make the sandbox work and be open per schedule will result in people booking other destinations.

 

Remember airlines also need lead time to set up routes and schedules and this can only happen if the country is and stays open.j

 

Thailand has to show it is open now no matter what or it will lose the little bit of holiday makers and home owners wanting to come. Another year of no tourists due to over zealous pandemic protectionism will truly finish most of the hospitality and tourism businesses that have been hanging on by a thread in these areas. The economic fallout will exponentially compound. 

 

Where I am going with all this is:

Whatever everyone thinks about the sandbox idea...Good...bad, whatever. I believe that if Phuket does not open on time and show the world that endemic management has been factored and part of the reopening plan and that you can book your Thailand holiday for this winter the results will make shut down to date seem like a blip in tourism fallout  

 

Personally I don't think there are many other options. It literally is do or die for areas like Phuket

 

 

 

 

 

Open “on time”? What is on time? After all preparations and safeguards have been implemented? Apparently not.

 

what will a Covid outbreak in Phuket do for the winter holiday planning I wonder?

 

I can see your point. But the risks are pretty big imho.

1 minute ago, wensiensheng said:

Open “on time”? What is on time? After all preparations and safeguards have been implemented? Apparently not.

 

what will a Covid outbreak in Phuket do for the winter holiday planning I wonder?

 

I can see your point. But the risks are pretty big imho.

On-time is Thai Time, so it could be days, months, or years from now.

23 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

Open “on time”? What is on time? After all preparations and safeguards have been implemented? Apparently not.

 

what will a Covid outbreak in Phuket do for the winter holiday planning I wonder?

 

I can see your point. But the risks are pretty big imho.

As predicted and expected it is going ahead. Let's see how it unfolds. 

 

No one can be fully vaccinated by taking that Chinese  witch doctor vaccine Sinovac

4 hours ago, Jud Canada said:

As predicted and expected it is going ahead. Let's see how it unfolds. 

 

Of course it is going ahead jud Canada. That was preordained a month ago when some high enough figures said it would go ahead on July 1st. I give myself some credit that I predicted it at the time and posted it on here.

 

I was chatting with my sister who lives in the UK. She’s had several holidays cancelled over the course of last year and this year, including a trip to Australia to see her son and stopping off to see me in Thailand on the way.

 

her take on the winter holiday planning/booking thing is that she and people she knows have had so many disappointments with holidays cancelled, that they just want something simple, that has the best guarantee of actually going ahead. The Portugal thing has simply emphasized that point for UK people. Hence, domestic tourism is going gang busters.

 

Whether those people go away again in the winter is up to debate but she made the point that no one she knows wants to book ahead of time because things change so quickly. If anything, they want a last minute deal if it looks like the going is good.

 

maybe domestic tourism was the horse to ride pending international travel taking off again. Perversely, the sandbox rules actually discourage domestic travel. It’s so hard to get into Phuket if you haven’t been vaccinated.

 

it’s all moot now. Thailand has decided to test how easy it is to attract international tourists, during low season, with tourist attractions closed, alcohol consumption in groups banned, without having implemented a vaccination program effectively and whilst the country is being reported internationally as “battling a third wave”.

 

I dunno, those domestic tourists sure look an easier sell to me.

Anyone who is a Thai national doesn't need a vaccination to return to Thailand, and doesnt need one to leave quarantine either.  Why aren't those who go into quarantine vaccinated while in the hotel ?  Can't understand it myself.

On 6/4/2021 at 10:48 PM, Flying Saucage said:

 

Possibly on the UKs plague list, but as far as I know no restrictions for vaccinated travellers from inside the EU.

If you are still referring to the UK vaccination status does not effect entry  or re-entry requirements.  With very small exceptions, such as Malta, anyone travelling from the EU have to go through the full isolation  procedure for amber countries.  

So! Not 7 day's before you can travel to other provinces even though you have had a full 2 dose of vaccine, it's 14 days, Tourists may as well stay in Bangkok!

Now having said that, what springs to mind about the future of tourists coming to Thailand is a song which starts something like,

 

So-Long

Fair Well

Auf-Wiedersehen

Goodbye, and so-on.

19 hours ago, Jud Canada said:

I hear what your saying and agree with most of it except I think everyone who feels like this is missing one important fact. If they do not show that Thailand ( Phuket) is open, (regardless of the status of vaccination) the 2021-2022 plan to draw some tourists, will be finished. People living in the beach/ tourist hubs Phuket, Krabi, Khao Lak know that people start making travel plans for the winter months NOW. By Phuket NOT doing everything it can to make the sandbox work and be open per schedule will result in people booking other destinations.

 

Remember airlines also need lead time to set up routes and schedules and this can only happen if the country is and stays open.j

 

Thailand has to show it is open now no matter what or it will lose the little bit of holiday makers and home owners wanting to come. Another year of no tourists due to over zealous pandemic protectionism will truly finish most of the hospitality and tourism businesses that have been hanging on by a thread in these areas. The economic fallout will exponentially compound. 

 

Where I am going with all this is:

Whatever everyone thinks about the sandbox idea...Good...bad, whatever. I believe that if Phuket does not open on time and show the world that endemic management has been factored and part of the reopening plan and that you can book your Thailand holiday for this winter the results will make shut down to date seem like a blip in tourism fallout  

 

Personally I don't think there are many other options. It literally is do or die for areas like Phuket

 

 

 

 

 

If it is do or die why are they flailing? Why reduce ASQ from 15 nights to 8 for vaccinated tourists then after one month for no reason, go back to 15, and even ban daily relaxation?  For no reason other than looking tough? Why talk about 7 day Phuket sandbox for months then announce it is just as long plus you have to book  a few limited Hotels? The reason, no will and a strong faction fighting to keep the country closed indefinitely. Same debate went on in Australia more or less public the hardliners won they won't even let their own vaccinated Aussies leave to travel for another year minimum

 

There will be no High Season 2021-22. 

 

Quote

• Stay in hotels certified by Amazing Thailand Safety and Health Administration (SHA+) for 14 nights, after which travel to other parts of Thailand will be allowed

 

If a tourist gets infected on the 14th day, and then travels to other parts of Thailand (that will possibly have contained the 3rd way), what happens... ?

I did hear something the other day that only 2% of the Australian population is fully vaccinated.

So count us out of this madness.

 

( if I'm wrong feel free to correct me haha )

16 hours ago, Captain Monday said:

then after one month for no reason, go back to 15, and even ban daily relaxation?

I just saw that today in my quarantine room - a little addendum at the bottom of the rules and regs to the effect that I'm not allowed to set foot out of the room (and neither will it be cleaned) for the whole duration. And the weird Stanford experiment style shift in attitude of the staff is an eye-opener too.

 

It's absurd. As I said to the hamzatted robot marching me downstairs this morning for a Covid test (less than 10 hours after I got off the plane)...I already had a negative test exactly 48 hours previously; I just flew in on an empty plane from a country with a Covid rate about 1/3 of Thailand's; and I've had 2 Pfizer vaccine shots..the last 2 months ago. In reality, I'm probably the least likely person to have Covid within a kilometre's radius and yet I'm being treated as if I'm a radioactive alien besieger.

 

If I didn't have family connections I'd never set foot in the country again.

 

Edit: And of course, I'm not allowed to even have myself a preprandial glass of wine to fortify me before the meal of half-cold khao-klong in a plastic bag that this 3 star hotel now serves its guests in place of proper food gets left on the floor outside for me to discover at leisure.

 

Two weeks of this is going to be just hellish.

 

 

 

 

4 hours ago, retsdon said:

I just saw that today in my quarantine room - a little addendum at the bottom of the rules and regs to the effect that I'm not allowed to set foot out of the room (and neither will it be cleaned) for the whole duration. And the weird Stanford experiment style shift in attitude of the staff is an eye-opener too.

 

It's absurd. As I said to the hamzatted robot marching me downstairs this morning for a Covid test (less than 10 hours after I got off the plane)...I already had a negative test exactly 48 hours previously; I just flew in on an empty plane from a country with a Covid rate about 1/3 of Thailand's; and I've had 2 Pfizer vaccine shots..the last 2 months ago. In reality, I'm probably the least likely person to have Covid within a kilometre's radius and yet I'm being treated as if I'm a radioactive alien besieger.

 

If I didn't have family connections I'd never set foot in the country again.

 

Edit: And of course, I'm not allowed to even have myself a preprandial glass of wine to fortify me before the meal of half-cold khao-klong in a plastic bag that this 3 star hotel now serves its guests in place of proper food gets left on the floor outside for me to discover at leisure.

 

Two weeks of this is going to be just hellish.

 

 

 

 

There is certainly no way in h*** I would go through an official quarantine or a de facto quarantine of Phuket sandbox style. Thailand is showing its ugly xenophobic face again. A fully vaccinated individual in a country where covid is endemic and spreading free should not be much of a threat. There would be more benefits than risks of allowing those kind of people to enter without all the stupid drama and money grabbing schemes.

10 hours ago, rabang said:

There is certainly no way in h*** I would go through an official quarantine or a de facto quarantine of Phuket sandbox style. Thailand is showing its ugly xenophobic face again. A fully vaccinated individual in a country where covid is endemic and spreading free should not be much of a threat. There would be more benefits than risks of allowing those kind of people to enter without all the stupid drama and money grabbing schemes.

 

I agree with you.

 

Someone that is fully vaccinated and had a test before they got on the plane, and a test when they land, is not a threat to Thailand or himself at that moment.

 

In fact, his biggest risk is the great unwashed Thailand where he may pick up COVID again, just like anyone else. 

 

Thailand is really suffering. Let fully vaccinated people arrive freely with a test on arrival, and a test in 7 more days if you really want.

 

The current strategies are non starters, and no doubt will flip or flop soon enough when Thai airways communicate the lack of bookings, and Phuket cries for help for all the businesses that prepared for the masses of tourists.

 

Fail.

No one wana stay 14 days at the s*** hole Phuket.

On 6/6/2021 at 3:40 AM, Jud Canada said:

I think they are hoping more for winter holiday planning which most people start arranging around now.

People do not like the present conditions . If they would state it like , ok we do like this now , and further in the year , if everything goes to plan , then this and this rules will be different , then it might be interesting . I do not think people will book any airline ticket now for the winter holiday , just because of the "sandbox" being there . I will try to get there in October , hoping the 14d rule will be changed by then , but im still far from booking a ticket any time soon .