Thai Govt hopes tourism can be revived as COVID subsides

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11 hours ago, EricTh said:

It's too early to open up.

 

Just look at the rising daily cases in Singapore and Israel where most are already vaccinated, something is wrong. Fully vaccinated figures below.

 

Singapore - 80%

Israel - 63%

Cases may be rising but among the vaccinated serious consequences much lower. Once a booster has been given odds of getting seriously ill fall to very low levels. The center of resistance to vaccination in Israel now is the ultra-Orthodox and the Arab populations. The ultra-orthodox because they're mostly clueless about science and the Arabs because they mistrust the Israeli government.

[bougnat]

4 hours ago, EricTh said:

 

You can't compare a full vaccination rate of 80% (Singapore) with 10% (Thailand), can you?

 

A full vaccination rate of 80% is already called herd immunity and yet the cases are still rising.

 

 

 

 

Correct, 67% of new cases in Israel are double Pfeizer vaccines. Their MACHIN, just doesn't work !

[Will B Good]

In addition to vaccine passports Thailand needs to consider anti-body passports.

 

There seem to be plenty of people who are reluctant to be vaccinated (I'm not one) but my have had covid and carry the anti-bodies.

[Mickeymaus]

11 hours ago, tsigane said:

I spent last winter in Colombia and loved it.  Far superior compared to Thailand in terms of quality of services per dollar spent.  Virtually no Covid restrictions.  Going back to Colombia this winter again, regardless whether Thailand "opens" or not. 

So you go to Columbia because it is "Far superior compared to Thailand". I am just wondering why you still post in a forum meant for Thailand then. Perhaps because Columbia doesn't have good online forums? Just kidding... 

[chilli42]

Before any of this is going to work Thailand has to get over the delusion that people are desperate for a holiday in Thailand.  They have made everything absurdly difficult and nobody is going to subject themselves to these inconveniences on a holiday.  Time they got a dose of reality and figure out how to make it as easy as possible to enjoy a holiday in Thailand

[Mr Meeseeks]

15 hours ago, Kadilo said:

and the continued reduction in Covid numbers, there is plenty of time for that to happen. 

Doesn't look good for that timeframe. They are only testing 40,000 people a day and still combined positive cases total 16,000.

 

????

[RafPinto]

They hope??

 

 

I hope that my Thai citizen application will be approved.

I stated, that I only will accept thai citizenship if I get a guaranteed job at the police or Immigration and no rank lower than Colonel.

 

Soon you can call me : LamborghiniRaf

[Mickeymaus]

5 minutes ago, chilli42 said:

Before any of this is going to work Thailand has to get over the delusion that people are desperate for a holiday in Thailand.  They have made everything absurdly difficult and nobody is going to subject themselves to these inconveniences on a holiday.  Time they got a dose of reality and figure out how to make it as easy as possible to enjoy a holiday in Thailand

Is this a problem of Thailand or a problem of unrealistic holiday makers? I think you have to be extremely naive to expect a "normal" holiday experience in almost any country of the world during Covid times. Such people should better stay at home. 

[flyfrog]

4 hours ago, vukovar77 said:

It was pretty stupid to pay MODERNA (and wait) if PFIZER is available for free NOW!

Indeed but Pfizer came after the announcement from Moderna????

[jacko45k]

34 minutes ago, johnarth said:

I dont know about you but I am very worried about the people that have the two jabs are giving other people the virus so you people who think you are free now forget it keep that mask on, and this has now turned into a year round thing now not just a cold weather thing, and the Chinese leader is talking war so where is Thailand going to stand in that?

Go get your jabs...... I can protect myself by getting vaccinated but can't do it for you. 

[DrJack54]

33 minutes ago, jaiyen said:

In Victoria Australia they are in lockdown with over 100 cases daily. Thailand wants to open up the country with 14,000 daily cases !!!  Which is the stupid country ? Here in Perth we have zero cases for months. WA is doing it right !

I'm Oz and your post is naive at best.

Australia will aim for 70%+ vaccination and 'live with covid'.

NSW already aiming at that policy path. Reducing restrictions with current positives ~1500+ per day.

BTW Federal gov also a driver in this. Only way forward that's an obvious statement.

Problem for Thailand is that it's at MUCH lower full vaccination levels.

[club]

1 minute ago, flyfrog said:

Indeed but Pfizer came after the announcement from Moderna????

The donated Pfizer2.5 mil minus 600,000 for health care workers , I am sure wont last much longer. Thailand really needs this order of 10 or 20 Pfizer to get here by year end. 

[Bkk Brian]

1 minute ago, club said:

The donated Pfizer2.5 mil minus 600,000 for health care workers , I am sure wont last much longer. Thailand really needs this order of 10 or 20 Pfizer to get here by year end. 

They are banking OCT delivery, just hope that it comes through for then, gotta keep fingers crossed otherwise we're stuck with Sinovac for longer

[madmen]

4 hours ago, wensiensheng said:

Absolutely. And kids in private schools using the UK curriculum were lucky that school closures coincided with the normal school holidays. Thai kids were meant to be in school for those two whole months!

 

Trying to keep the school thing linked to the thread topic, there is so much focus on the baht to be raked in from tourists, but I never see a government comments bemoaning the lack of schooling.
 

I’m beginning to sound like Brewster, but the contradiction in terms of, on the one hand enticing in tourists at almost any cost, whilst on the other hand keeping kids out of school, is just too much to ignore. Both happening at the same time within a small island with a highly vaccinated island. 

Life comes before school. Those kids are safe at home. Lives being destroyed is and should be top priority. 

[Bkk Brian]

4 minutes ago, madmen said:

Life comes before school. Those kids are safe at home. Lives being destroyed is and should be top priority. 

He was referring to Phuket where vaccination levels are already at the target point that the whole of Thailand is aiming for.

[Andrew65]

13 hours ago, Stanaris said:

Simple way of getting more tourists.  Open Thailand to all double vaccinated visitors who are willing to come here.  NO Quarantine and No tests, just come and enjoy a relaxing holiday. Allowing alcohol sales and consumption would be good too.

From a UK perspective, the one thing that will be putting people off is rules changes after travelling. This has already happened once with the UK for travelers to Spain. Thailand being harder and more expensive to return from in such circumstances.

[Psychic]

Apart from the health issues the testing you have to go through is going to deter a lot, if not most, people from coming.

 

If I got it right there is a total of 5 tests for fully vaccinated people with a COE.

 

Before they board.

Arrival at Suvarnabhumi.

Arrival at hotel.

3 days after hotel arrival.

7 days after hotel arrival.

 

Just checked and the going rate for a PCR test seems to be 3500 baht.

 

That's a lot of money to be spending for people who looked to Thailand as a "cheap" vacation.

 

 

[Andrew65]

13 hours ago, Stanaris said:

Simple way of getting more tourists.  Open Thailand to all double vaccinated visitors who are willing to come here.  NO Quarantine and No tests, just come and enjoy a relaxing holiday. Allowing alcohol sales and consumption would be good too.

From a UK perspective, the one thing that will be putting people off is rules changes after travelling. This has already happened once with the UK for travelers to Spain. Thailand being harder and more expensive to return from in such circumstances.

[pops1]

15 hours ago, AnotherFarang8 said:

I began to learn Spanish today, will go check Colombia. Most beautiful girls are in Medellin. No vaccination required, no pcr tests, no nothing invasive. The old normal just the way i like it. F these new “normal” dictators! There are still sane countries in the world.

God luck not getting kidnapped 

[pops1]

1 hour ago, jaiyen said:

In Victoria Australia they are in lockdown with over 100 cases daily. Thailand wants to open up the country with 14,000 daily cases !!!  Which is the stupid country ? Here in Perth we have zero cases for months. WA is doing it right !

Love Perth. Lived there in 97-98 I miss Fremantle and that awesome coast road on my Honda superdream 250cc

[DaveSamutP]

16 hours ago, Kadilo said:

They will need to go further and lift some more restrictions if they want  the revival to have maximin effect. 
 

But with another 3 months before the bulk of the Xmas/NY visitor’s arrive, and the continued reduction in Covid numbers, there is plenty of time for that to happen. 

Doubtful, no matter how much they manipulate the numbers. 

 

Around Nov or Dec, there will be a bunch of Westerners who start reporting they've caught covid in Thailand... By then many will be months in since their last vaccination, and their antibodies will be waning. A handful will die in Thailand ... Then, foreign media will start to publish doubts about the situation in Thailand and will note the country still lags very far behind in vaccinations AND that is lacks sufficient care facilities to handle sick people. And the cancellations will begin swiftly.

[eastlight]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Nothing is being done to address prior problems, or elevate the tourism experience here. Much improvement and reform is needed. And sacrifices need to be made. I do not hear ANY discussion about what sacrifices Thailand is willing to make, to get back the tourists, and that multi trillion baht cash cow. No luxury or wine taxes are being reduced. Combined with a bloated baht, inconsistent and draconian immigration policy, major international egg on the face from recent decisions pertaining to the youth and opposition protestors, no way forward politically, horrendous air quality and environmental policies (or lack thereof), and a truly regressive dinosaur government, Thailand is losing its appeal for many.

 

If a tourist wanted to venture to an island destination, they are all devastated by this shutdown. Was recently in Samui. 85% of the hotels were closed. Most restaurants, alot of bars, shops and other businesses were closed many permanently. That environment is fairly depressing, seeing so much hardship. So, the lame authorities here need to wrap their minds around that. Tourists would be coming to a hugely diminished destination. Make some sacrifices, you incompetents. These issues and problems were becoming apparent long before Covid. And none were being addressed. That is part of my point. Tourism had been declining for years already. The numbers were up. But the quality of tourist was way down. And according to everyone I spoke to in 2019, the year before and the year before that, income was way, way down. So, "this blame it all on Covid scenario" is somewhat disengenuous. Sure, Covid is huge. And the drop now is stunning. But, my point is there were plenty of issues prior to Covid. And are any of them being addressed? Quantity over quality is never a good thing, unless you are selling one dollar items at a swap meet. It just lowers the quality of the experience for all.

There does not appear to be any end in sight for the Southern Islands. Domestic tourism has now been wrecked due to a very poor reaction by Anutin and the administration, with regard to the need for a total shutdown of Samut province, which happened far too late, after the latest outbreak. It was total and abysmal failure. Oh, can I go to prison for saying that? Prayuth is largely to blame for this, as he was obsessed with the optics of a lockdown, even if it was only one province. This has led to thousands of cases, the loss of millions more jobs, and an utter demolition of the domestic tourism industry. As far as international tourism goes, it is anyone's guess when that will start to revive, and how many years it will take to even get back to 20% of the former levels. I am guessing no more than 5 to 8 million tourists annually, even four or five years from now.

And the longer they wait, the more Thailand WILL be forgotten. Plus, as usual the lack of vision, wisdom, skill and talent, prevents them from realizing that their primary market of lower to middle income Chinese, Malaysians, and Indians have been financially decimated by Covid. Plus, changes in attitudes regarding long haul travel, alternative travel spots and more.

Expect 300,000 to 500,000 tourists in the 12 months following the end of restrictions. 2 million the following year, and no more than 5 million tourists a year for several years after that. This is realistic. International tourism here will never be the same, post Covid. And in our lifetimes, Thailand will never see close to 40 million tourist again. Game over. The door has closed. The world has changed, and you are not adapting.

 

 

Spidermike tells it how it is again - well done 

[trainman34014]

12 hours ago, daveAustin said:

Thailand, you’ll have to open up properly and put an end to ridiculous hoop jumping before people will go en masse. You’re not special no more. 

They never were special; just cheap but they are nowhere near as cheap as they were now !

[trainman34014]

1 hour ago, johnarth said:

I dont know about you but I am very worried about the people that have the two jabs are giving other people the virus so you people who think you are free now forget it keep that mask on, and this has now turned into a year round thing now not just a cold weather thing, and the Chinese leader is talking war so where is Thailand going to stand in that?

In any war Thailand will stand where it thinks its status quo will be unchanged and with whoever it can make the most money out of !

[Midwit]

13 hours ago, EricTh said:

It's too early to open up.

 

Just look at the rising daily cases in Singapore and Israel where most are already vaccinated, something is wrong. Fully vaccinated figures below.

 

Singapore - 80%

Israel - 63%

Maybe we can open when we get to zero Covid. Either that we can allow people to live their lives. If you fear Covid no one is preventing you from self isolating. When you think I should stay under lock down you can go pound some sand. 

[smiggley]

They are worried about restaurants suffering because of covid so what about bars and entertainment venues. The govt has not done anything to help them and no mention of when they might be able to operate again. Look at Pattaya and the poverty the closure has caused, people cannot afford to go to restaurants  until ALL businesses are allowed to open.

[jacko45k]

1 minute ago, Midwit said:

Maybe we can open when we get to zero Covid. Either that we can allow people to live their lives. If you fear Covid no one is preventing you from self isolating. When you think I should stay under lock down you can go pound some sand. 

Would 'Mid' be a replacement for 'Half'?

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, RafPinto said:

They hope??

 

 

I hope that my Thai citizen application will be approved.

I stated, that I only will accept thai citizenship if I get a guaranteed job at the police or Immigration and no rank lower than Colonel.

 

Soon you can call me : LamborghiniRaf

Wold be a real step up to leave behind the vintage Ford Pinto, and step into a supercar. 

[sambum]

"The government plans to reopen more areas to foreign tourists. According to Mr. Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, the Minister of Tourism and Sports, nine areas are designated as a tourism pilot program. Four have been reopened – Phuket, Samui, Krabi and Phang-Nga."

 

Pity the bars haven't been reopened as well!!! Despite the teetotallers objections saying that it will lead to more cases of Covid due to the "mingling", and resulting disregard for "social distancing", that would be a sure fire way  of attracting more visitors. ("Mingling" isn't only a drinker's premise, and similarly "social distancing" is something that is impossible to "police")

 

How any one can justify the spending of no doubt millions of baht on promoting tourism when one simple sentence will nullify all that expense:- "Of course, due to Covid restrictions, all the bars are closed,  and restaurants are not allowed to serve you alcohol with your meal." 

 

And if that's not enough to put them off, how's about this one? You can have up to  50 guests at a wedding reception, but you are not allowed to consume any alcohol, and only "take away food" is allowed - oh and you're not allowed to dance!!!

 

Best of luck TAT!

 

[club]

1 hour ago, Bkk Brian said:

They are banking OCT delivery, just hope that it comes through for then, gotta keep fingers crossed otherwise we're stuck with Sinovac for longer

When they signed the contract with Pfizer. Pfizer said by end of 2021 which makes sense since the contract was signed in July .Unless Thai officials convinced Pfizer to ship earlier.  . https://thainews.prd.go.th/en/news/detail/TCATG210821130938639    BP says by year end but this site will not let me post anything from BP. Both links do not mention October