Finally! TAT proposes end to quarantine for foreign tourists and simplification of area requirements

[webfact]

Yutthasak Suphasorn. File photo: Tourism Authority of Thailand

 

The penny finally seems to have dropped at the Tourism Authority of Thailand, notes ASEAN NOW.

 

Its director Yutthasak Suphasorn will be proposing to the CCSA committee at their next meeting (thought to be this Friday) that from October 1st foreign tourists will not have to quarantine.

 

If the Covid-19 authority agrees it will apply to Chiang Mai (four districts), Bangkok, Pattaya (and Sattahip), Cha-Am and Hua Hin. 

 

Yutthasak is proposing that what has been called a sealed route will now be a sealed area.

 

Foreign tourists will have to stay in the confines of an area rather than quarantine, he said. 

 

In addition he is proposing a "One SOP (standard operating procedure) One System" plan, he told Thai business media.

 

This means that differences between approaches and names like Move On in Pattaya, Recharge in Hua Hin and the like will be brought under one standard umbrella.

 

He noted that differnces in approach had confused tourists and been a marketing headache.

 

Samui's reopening name will also change from the Samui Plus Model to the Samui Plus Sandbox. 

 

He noted that 3 days on a sealed route then 3 days in a sealed area was confusing so the whole of Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao would be opened up like the Phuket Sandbox.

 

ASEAN NOW notes that the changes in the rhetoric still need to be remembered with the caveat that foreign tourists must be double vaxxed and have tests in Thailand.

 

What the changes mean are that tourists will be able to more freely move around a certain area right from the get go. 

 

Thus a trip to Pattaya would mean being able to move around the entire area of the city to Sattahip and in Chiang Mai it would mean instant access to four districts named in the October 1st reopening plan. 

 

However we caution that all this will depend on a nod from the CCSA. 

 

-- © Copyright  ASEAN NOW 2021-09-14

 

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[DrJack54]

Finally.

Bars open also?

We have give the tourists something to do.

Can I enter bar also after I have my second AZ end of October. 

[daveAustin]

It would be a start but what you’ll have to do is allow unfettered access for the majority of tourists to be bothered. But I do understand the need to keep foreigners away from highly infectious Thais. ????

[Somtamnication]

The now legal krathom leaves are working miracles!

[madmen]

Fantastic! Finally they understand tourists are not performing circus animals. 

[smedly]

This is no change - it is applying the same rules as Phuket - restrictive red tape SHA's and multiple tests - still just as stupid as it was 8 weeks ago

 

If you want foreign tourists to come here then adopt the UK Green Rules just as the UK does for fully vaccinated people coming from those countries - as it stands you are treating them as near enough the UK Red certainly no where near Green

[at15]

hope quarantine will be reduced for unvaxxed !!

[hotandsticky]

Just now, smedly said:

This is no change - it is applying the same rules as Phuket - restrictive red tape SHA's and multiple tests - still just as stupid as it was 8 weeks ago

 

If you want foreign tourists to come here then adopt the UK Green Rules just as the UK does for fully vaccinated people coming from those countries - as it stands you are treating them as near enough the UK Red certainly no where near Green

 

 

Not stupid at all if it avoids ASQ.

 

 

Not ideal...................but most certainly a step forward.

[DrJack54]

1 minute ago, at15 said:

hope quarantine will be reduced for unvaxxed !!

Say what?

Not possible.

BTW anyone travelling internationally without being vaccinated is crazy.

[kingkenny]

Double jabbed people are not immune, not according to any science I have seen anyway. You can catch and transmit covid, the vaccine reduces the chance of death or hospitalizations should you catch it. 

[at15]

1 minute ago, DrJack54 said:

Say what?

Not possible.

they did it in April briefly to 10 days.

 

[smedly]

7 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

Not stupid at all if it avoids ASQ.

 

 

Not ideal...................but most certainly a step forward.

they want tourists thats the difference - the UK invites tourists from green listed countries not red or amber - green generally equals no restrictions i.e. fully vaccinated tourists

[DrJack54]

8 minutes ago, at15 said:

they did it in April briefly to 10 days.

 

Lot of water under bridge since then. Many countries have high vaccination numbers. Businesses changing their policies. Airlines also. Even concerts etc setting vaccination rules for entry.

For those choose not to be vaccinated that's their choice.

Welcome to the Twilight Zone. AKA the unvaccinated.

[jonclark]

I think this is as close as you will find to a public admission of failure of The Phuket Sandbox model. 

[hotandsticky]

2 minutes ago, smedly said:

they want tourists thats the difference - the UK invites tourists from green listed countries not red or amber - green generally equals no restrictions i.e. fully vaccinated tourists

 

 

They are not ready yet - we both know that.

 

 

When they can get the domestic vaccination rate up to 66%, like the UK, then they are ready. 

 

 

Personally, I would go a bit earlier and ramp up vaccinations in tourist areas - round the clock if necessary to pick up everyone who wants to be vaccinated.

 

I would be saying "from 1st November we are letting in fully vaccinated tourists without any restriction"  and "If any Thai person is concerned about infection then we recommend immediate vaccination".

 

.....and I mean NO RESTRICTIONS.......... everything open.

 

 

[hotandsticky]

4 minutes ago, jonclark said:

I think this is as close as you will find to a public admission of failure of The Phuket Sandbox model. 

 

It wasn't a failure

[rbkk]

Workers are clamering to get into Hong Kong. Not so much here.

 

800 quarantine rooms for domestic helpers gone within minutes of becoming available'

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3148646/hong-kong-coronavirus-800-quarantine-rooms

[madmen]

In a post by Richard Barrow on Facebook it also says the cost of covid test to be halved. 

So a drop from the current 8k. 

 

[DrJack54]

9 minutes ago, jonclark said:

I think this is as close as you will find to a public admission of failure of The Phuket Sandbox model. 

All Phuket needed to do was allow no travel out of island for 14 days.

Test prior to exit from island. After all they have a bridge and airport.

Zero quarantine. Simple formula.

[RichardColeman]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Foreign tourists will have to stay in the confines of an area rather than quarantine, he said. 

Sounds like a quarantine in all but name to me !

 

It's all still nonsense. Drop everything other than flashing your vaccine proof - anything more and Thailand is going to be pondering why nobody is coming in 10 years from now

[ThailandRyan]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

In addition he is proposing a "One SOP (standard operating procedure) One System" plan, he told Thai business media.

 

This means that differences between approaches and names like Move On in Pattaya, Recharge in Hua Hin and the like will be brought under one standard umbrella.

 

He noted that differnces in approach had confused tourists and been a marketing headache.

 

Samui's reopening name will also change from the Samui Plus Model to the Samui Plus Sandbox. 

 

He noted that 3 days on a sealed route then 3 days in a sealed area was confusing so the whole of Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao would be opened up like the Phuket Sandbox.

So now I am confused, will this then be standardized for all of Thailand and there will be no more ASQ as far as returnees?  If I fly to the US and then fly back here to BKK will I be able to go straight home here in BKK as it is in the Area, or still pay for an ASQ and have to return there nightly, which by the way is a mere 500meters from my home now.  

[sapson]

Tourists who have had a pre flight covid test and double vaccinated should be free to travel as they please and eat drink as where and when is convenient.

 

The Thais who have been subjected only to Sinovac and limited testing should be having mandatory weekly covid pcr tests and be fully mrna vaccinated if they work in the hotel, food and beverage or travel and bonking industries. 

[sapson]

13 minutes ago, madmen said:

In a post by Richard Barrow on Facebook it also says the cost of covid test to be halved. 

So a drop from the current 8k. 

 

Wow thats an extortionate price 8k, most private hospitals do it for 3,5 k and still make a fat profit, they really have been gouging the cherished visitors.

[Upnotover]

6 minutes ago, sapson said:

and bonking industries

10/10.

[DrJack54]

14 minutes ago, sapson said:

Tourists who have had a pre flight covid test and double vaccinated should be free to travel as they please and eat drink as where and when is convenient

Think that through. So let's just use Bangkok as one example. 

Are some bars going to be open for fully vaccinated tourists and also fully vaccinated expats that live in Thailand. 

So management checks some vaccination certificate at entrance? 

Will curfew apply to all equally? etc

[dabhand]

6 minutes ago, sapson said:

Wow thats an extortionate price 8k, most private hospitals do it for 3,5 k and still make a fat profit, they really have been gouging the cherished visitors.

I believe the 8k is the cost of 3 tests.

[redwood1]

15 minutes ago, sapson said:

Tourists who have had a pre flight covid test and double vaccinated should be free to travel as they please and eat drink as where and when is convenient.

 

The Thais who have been subjected only to Sinovac and limited testing should be having mandatory weekly covid pcr tests and be fully mrna vaccinated if they work in the hotel, food and beverage or travel and bonking industries. 

How about the vaxed need to quarantine and the unvaxed need no quarantine..

[samtam]

24 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

So now I am confused, will this then be standardized for all of Thailand and there will be no more ASQ as far as returnees?  If I fly to the US and then fly back here to BKK will I be able to go straight home here in BKK as it is in the Area, or still pay for an ASQ and have to return there nightly, which by the way is a mere 500meters from my home now.  

Exactly. What is a "foreign tourist"? Does this mean only non residents of Thailand, (including Thais)? Strewth, clarification of a clarification please!

[BobinBKK]

... the vaccination rate in Europe is 70-80%, Thailand 15%.

 

To play in Thailand as a foreigner, you must be fully vaccinated and have a negative PCR test before your trip.

 

Is this not enough? Would fully vaccinated foreigners further aggravate the infection? Absolutely NOT!

 

The tourists are fully vaccinated to 100%, Thais in the tourist areas to 70% (I have my doubts).

 

Which group is most at risk of spreading the infection? The answer is simple, Thais.

 

The tourists do not contribute to spreading the infection. If you are fully vaccinated you do not pose a problem. If fully vaccinated were a problem, the world would never be able to open up.

 

AND drop the stupid $100,00 USD scam Covid-19 insurance!!! 

[madmen]

27 minutes ago, sapson said:

Wow thats an extortionate price 8k, most private hospitals do it for 3,5 k and still make a fat profit, they really have been gouging the cherished visitors.

That's for 3 tests