Picture: Thai Rath

 

PM's office spokesman Anucha Buraphachaisri outlined three points of interest based on Prayut Chan-o-cha's plan to reopen Thailand to foreign tourism over the next 120 days, reported Thai Rath yesterday. 

 

The plan is going ahead though subject to ongoing review in the light of continuing infection from Covid-19 in 12 southern Thai provinces. 

 

It entails opening Phuket under the Sandbox scheme from Thursday next week followed two weeks later by the islands of Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao in Surat Thani province. 

 

Anucha stressed three points:

 

1.  The reopening was something agreed upon by local people, local business operators in conjunction with public health guidelines and the vaccine rollout. These would continue to be monitored.

 

2. Regarding the expansion of the scheme to other provinces the Mistry of Tourism and Sports has been tasked with determining the appropriateness of that and reporting their findings to the CCSA, Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration.

 

3. Tourists coming to Thailand must have received two doses of World Health Organistation approved vaccine.

 

Anucha echoed statements made by the Thai PM elsewhere that the reopening of Thailand was a controlled measure not without risk but one that was vital for reviving the ailing Thai economy. 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2021-06-23

 

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8 minutes ago, webfact said:

the Mistry of Tourism and sports

Yes, they are a mystery to me. 

17 minutes ago, webfact said:

3. Tourists coming to Thailand must have received two doses of World Health Organistation approved vaccine.

 

Or one dose of the WHO-approved J&J vaccine...

 

 

at least 14 days before

 

 

and not more than one year before

 

 

 

Any ideas what the embassies (airlines, Thai officials on arrival) will accept as proof for the CoE? Any bit of paper which looks official-ish?

 

 

Tourists coming to Thailand must have received two doses of World Health Organisation approved vaccine.

 

What does this mean?

 

Anyone doing the Phuket sandbox must be vaccinated, or anyone that comes to Thailand at all must have the experimental vaccine?

 

 

Because the WHO-approved, Chinese vaccines do such a great job of preventing transmission?

They Relied on Chinese Vaccines. Now They’re Battling Outbreaks.

More than 90 countries are using Covid shots from China. Experts say recent infections in those places should serve as a cautionary tale in the global effort to fight the disease.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/22/business/economy/china-vaccines-covid-outbreak.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage

They'll need far more than just 2 vaccine shots to prevent getting infected while in South of Thailand...

2 hours ago, webfact said:

3. Tourists coming to Thailand must have received two doses of World Health Organisation approved vaccine.

Does this include Thai's wanting to visit the Sandbox or is this only relevant to foreign tourists, and how many locals will have had two vaccinations 14 days prior to the 1st July ............???

2 hours ago, redwood1 said:

Anyone doing the Phuket sandbox must be vaccinated

 

This one, for now.

 

 

You can visit Thailand now unvacinated as long as you do ASQ for 15 nights.

 

By 1 Nov, or maybe 1 Jan. quarantine may be waived for the acceptably vaccinated.

 

 

4 minutes ago, Geoffggi said:

Does this include Thai's wanting to visit the Sandbox

 

Last I saw, one dose was good enough for Thais, already in Thailand, and wanting to sandbox in Phuket.

 

Probably changed five times in the last two days?

 

 

For the sand box to phuket..... does that mean I would have to get a complete ticket flight from UK to phuket. Or can I land Bangkok airport And then get a flight to Phuket.? Does this only apply to transit flight to phuket.via Bangkok?. also what about when we book flights From UK return flights... goings to be different to get ca good deal to fly Phuket then fly home From Bangkok ..

Is there any agreement on how 'tourists' will prove that they have received two jabs of approved vaccine?

As opposed to Thai residents who have received one or more likely none!

1 hour ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

Is there any agreement on how 'tourists' will prove that they have received two jabs of approved vaccine?

 

Well, Europe has a COVID passport/app/digital QR code now in place. Easy to use and check. Can't be faked. 

 

The rest of the world, not sure.

3 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

Does this include Thai's wanting to visit the Sandbox or is this only relevant to foreign tourists, and how many locals will have had two vaccinations 14 days prior to the 1st July ............???

From what I read the other day only 28% have received their 2nd jab and Thai's dont have to quarantine for 14 days,

How many Thai's will visit Phuket I dont know only just over 3% of the population have been vaccinated.

6 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

 

Or one dose of the WHO-approved J&J vaccine...

 

 

at least 14 days before

 

 

and not more than one year before

 

 

 

Any ideas what the embassies (airlines, Thai officials on arrival) will accept as proof for the CoE? Any bit of paper which looks official-ish?

 

 

I hope they accept the official sticker ...

 

Below may be of interest to some:

 

https://m.khaleejtimes.com/coronavirus-pandemic/uae-step-by-step-covid-vaccination-guide-for-tourists-in-abu-dhabi

4 hours ago, yeahbutif said:

For the sand box to phuket..... does that mean I would have to get a complete ticket flight from UK to phuket. Or can I land Bangkok airport And then get a flight to Phuket.? Does this only apply to transit flight to phuket.via Bangkok?. also what about when we book flights From UK return flights... goings to be different to get ca good deal to fly Phuket then fly home From Bangkok ..

I think the definitive answer would be yes/no/maybe.

The exception being the current Phuket fiasco, I'm rather hard pressed to understand why those who are entering Thailand, yet have been shown to be official vaccine certified, are still required the ludicrous mandate of [the profit deriving] quarantine. 

 

Any reasoning might suggest that they're not really thinking these flip-flop measures out clearly. 

It appears, as well, that the domestic vaccine programs belong to the associated logic - political, delayed, profit motivated, etc. 

The responsibility of officialdom has dismal.

 

If we're gonna open up test markets, for those who've been vaccinated - why not open the whole country for the same folks that meet these requirements....

8 hours ago, placeholder said:

Because the WHO-approved, Chinese vaccines do such a great job of preventing transmission?

They Relied on Chinese Vaccines. Now They’re Battling Outbreaks.

More than 90 countries are using Covid shots from China. Experts say recent infections in those places should serve as a cautionary tale in the global effort to fight the disease.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/22/business/economy/china-vaccines-covid-outbreak.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage

555

6 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

 

This one, for now.

 

 

You can visit Thailand now unvacinated as long as you do ASQ for 15 nights.

 

By 1 Nov, or maybe 1 Jan. quarantine may be waived for the acceptably vaccinated.

 

 

I would be surprised if they leave it that late . If they follow the soon to be announced European move to let double jabbed tourists to holiday in preferred countries , I think 1st or 2nd week of July in Thailand will be the date for double jabbed tourists to visit anywhere in Thailand without any quarantine . Why ? because many tour companies and businesses are rightly asking , what is the point of having a double covid vaccination if travel restrictions are still imposed ?  The UK gov; will give a decision this Thursday. However it would not surprise me to see the UK gov; put Thailand on its red traffic light list which would then stop any holidays to Thailand but would still allow one way expats to return to their Thai families .

9 hours ago, placeholder said:

Because the WHO-approved, Chinese vaccines do such a great job of preventing transmission?

They Relied on Chinese Vaccines. Now They’re Battling Outbreaks.

More than 90 countries are using Covid shots from China. Experts say recent infections in those places should serve as a cautionary tale in the global effort to fight the disease.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/22/business/economy/china-vaccines-covid-outbreak.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage

The WHO EUL’s for those two vaccines were unique in that unlike the Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Jonhson & Johonson vaccines that it had also approved, neither had undergone review and approval by a strict national or regional regulatory authority such as the US Food and Drug Administration or the European Medicines Agency. Nor have Phase 3 results of the Sinopharm and Sinovac trials been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. 

More to the point, post-approval, any large-scale tracking of the efficacy of the Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccine rollouts by WHO or national authorities seems to be missing.

In contrast, rollouts of other vaccines have seen careful monitoring and assessment by the regulatory agencies of the US, UK, Europe, as well as independent researchers. The massive Israeli rollout of Pfizer’s vaccine by countries, for instance, saw the detailed reporting of dataon illness, hospitalizations, and among hundreds of thousands of people who were vaccinated as compared to similar groups of people who had not received their jabs.

The massive tracking of outcomes, including peer reviewed publication of results, helped boost confidence in the mRNA vaccines. But outside of developed countries, such tracking appears to be much weaker – or non-existent.  

 

https://healthpolicy-watch.news/are-chinese-vaccines-underperforming-a-dearth-of-real-life-studies-on-covid-vaccine-performance-leaves-question-unanswered/

7 hours ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

Is there any agreement on how 'tourists' will prove that they have received two jabs of approved vaccine?

I am sure that Immigration will create enough bureaucracy to make entry near impossible without a "tip".

6 hours ago, Rainville said:

 

Well, Europe has a COVID passport/app/digital QR code now in place. Easy to use and check. Can't be faked. 

 

The rest of the world, not sure.

US has a CDC card with vax name and inoculation date(s). 

 

But I must say it's easily faked. It's sometimes hand written and I saw sheets of blank forms lying around unattended at vaccination centers. 

 

Hopefully there's a computerized back up in case we eventually join an international digital system. 

3 hours ago, Redline said:

The WHO EUL’s for those two vaccines were unique in that unlike the Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Jonhson & Johonson vaccines that it had also approved, neither had undergone review and approval by a strict national or regional regulatory authority such as the US Food and Drug Administration or the European Medicines Agency. Nor have Phase 3 results of the Sinopharm and Sinovac trials been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. 

More to the point, post-approval, any large-scale tracking of the efficacy of the Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccine rollouts by WHO or national authorities seems to be missing.

In contrast, rollouts of other vaccines have seen careful monitoring and assessment by the regulatory agencies of the US, UK, Europe, as well as independent researchers. The massive Israeli rollout of Pfizer’s vaccine by countries, for instance, saw the detailed reporting of dataon illness, hospitalizations, and among hundreds of thousands of people who were vaccinated as compared to similar groups of people who had not received their jabs.

The massive tracking of outcomes, including peer reviewed publication of results, helped boost confidence in the mRNA vaccines. But outside of developed countries, such tracking appears to be much weaker – or non-existent.  

 

https://healthpolicy-watch.news/are-chinese-vaccines-underperforming-a-dearth-of-real-life-studies-on-covid-vaccine-performance-leaves-question-unanswered/

It does sometimes seem that the WHO is paying back some sort of debt to the CCP....  

14 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

Any ideas what the embassies (airlines, Thai officials on arrival) will accept as proof for the CoE? Any bit of paper which looks official-ish?

No idea, I got my second jab today, and a paper with a QR-code. I tried to scan it with my usual QR-app, with no result. I downloaded another app, Green Pass, which displays all relevant information.

No idea, if this is an official app from the EU, or just a smart fellow cracked it already b4 it becomes official.

In Canada they are giving a first dose of Pfizer and a second dose of Moderna, or a first dose of Astrazeneca and a second dose of either of the mRNA vaccines to a lot of people. I would be nice to know if the Thai authorities would have a problem with mixing shots(jabs) or if they will insist on two shots of the same vaccine.

9 minutes ago, charmonman said:

In Canada they are giving a first dose of Pfizer and a second dose of Moderna, or a first dose of Astrazeneca and a second dose of either of the mRNA vaccines to a lot of people. I would be nice to know if the Thai authorities would have a problem with mixing shots(jabs) or if they will insist on two shots of the same vaccine.

Not just Canada, several other countries are doing the same thing.  Italy is one that comes to mind.  I think the UK will as well if they are not already doing so.

13 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

Does this include Thai's wanting to visit the Sandbox or is this only relevant to foreign tourists, and how many locals will have had two vaccinations 14 days prior to the 1st July ............???

I wonder if 1 Astra+1 Pfizer will be accepted? Several countries do mixed vax as it offers better protection.

14 hours ago, yeahbutif said:

For the sand box to phuket..... does that mean I would have to get a complete ticket flight from UK to phuket. Or can I land Bangkok airport And then get a flight to Phuket.? Does this only apply to transit flight to phuket.via Bangkok?. also what about when we book flights From UK return flights... goings to be different to get ca good deal to fly Phuket then fly home From Bangkok ..

Governor Narong Woonsew said on Wednesday that visitors would come from low- and medium-risk countries in Europe and America and they would arrive on Thai Airways International flights from London, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Paris and Zurich.

 

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2137163/rules-for-arrivals-in-phuket

2 hours ago, brobro2424 said:

Governor Narong Woonsew said on Wednesday that visitors would come from low- and medium-risk countries in Europe and America and they would arrive on Thai Airways International flights from London, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Paris and Zurich.

 

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2137163/rules-for-arrivals-in-phuket

Quote

For the first seven days, they could not change their hotel. During the second week they could change hotels twice.

This one has me kind of perplexed.   I wouldn't want to be part of the first wave in.  There is bound to be lots of confusion over some of these rules at first.