Pattaya Mayor confirms city “reopening” to vaccinated foreign tourists delayed to November, cannot guarantee opening of entertainment venues soon

[snoop1130]

 

The Pattaya City Mayor has officially confirmed the city “reopening” to vaccinated foreign tourists delay to November 2021, which corresponds with an announcement made by the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration, or CCSA, earlier today, September 27th, 2021.

 

First, get caught up on the CCSA announcement which can be found by clicking here. We will not be detailing the opening proposal in this article, please reference this article for more information.

 

The Pattaya City Mayor Sontaya Khunplome told The Pattaya News over the past weekend, “Multiple provinces have been delayed from October to November in regards to reopening to foreign tourism, including Chonburi.”

 

Full Story: https://thepattayanews.com/2021/09/27/pattaya-mayor-confirms-city-reopening-to-vaccinated-foreign-tourists-delayed-to-november-cannot-guarantee-opening-of-entertainment-venues-soon/

 

-- © Copyright The Pattaya News 2021-09-27

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[steven100]

I thought the government was looking at opening entertainment places from mid Oct ....   ?

[sammieuk1]

Haven't been to Pattaya in 5 years but if it looks anything like Chiang Mai dose now the damage is cataclysmic and irreversible with nothing left to reopen just one big shed on steroids ????  

[smedly]

The mayor added that he understood that some of the restrictions, like staying in SHA+ hotels only or having to stay in the same area for 7 days, would still be restrictive for some tourists. 

 

If there is to be no quarantine for fully vaccinated foreign tourists then what is the function of a SHA Hotel, surely that ends on 1st Nov also

[thaibeachlovers]

Wonder what excuses he'll come up with when it all turns to <deleted> in November/ December?

After all, people don't want to go to Pattaya for the night life, do they? People do spend thousands of $ to fly to Thailand just to eat in the restaurants and watch the beach vanish every time a rain shower happens, don't they?

[sezze]

50 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Wonder what excuses he'll come up with when it all turns to <deleted> in November/ December?

After all, people don't want to go to Pattaya for the night life, do they? People do spend thousands of $ to fly to Thailand just to eat in the restaurants and watch the beach vanish every time a rain shower happens, don't they?

You forget the magnificent temples Pattaya has got , or the exotic wildlife crawling around .

[jacko45k]

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Wonder what excuses he'll come up with when it all turns to <deleted> in November/ December?

After all, people don't want to go to Pattaya for the night life, do they? People do spend thousands of $ to fly to Thailand just to eat in the restaurants and watch the beach vanish every time a rain shower happens, don't they?

Now now..... November and December are the dry season, so there will be no beach vanishing. 

[thaibeachlovers]

Just now, jacko45k said:

Now now..... November and December are the dry season, so there will be no beach vanishing. 

Last year I lived in Pattaya I noticed there wasn't a "dry" season as such and it could rain any time.

[jacko45k]

1 minute ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Last year I lived in Pattaya I noticed there wasn't a "dry" season as such and it could rain any time.

Not my experience... although yes showers can come anytime, not the beach washers...... It is that time of year I need to put water in the pool, as opposed to pumping it down the street. 

[cyril sneer]

would be the same even if 100% were vaccinated

[Kerryd]

What are the "SHA+" approved hotels and is there a list of them ? Would be helpful to the people outside the country that apparently have to stay at one and have to book it before they arrive.
(And have to stay there for the first 2 weeks ? Even if they are fully vaccinated ?).

I have 2 friends trying to come over for their usual winter holiday but they can't book tickets because they don't know when (if) they can travel, or where to stay when they get here.

One booked tickets for the 3rd week of October and will have to change them now. The other is working out what kind of visa to get as the Embassy in Canada says the "Multi-Entry Tourist Visa" has been "suspended".

(So he's going to have to get a Non-O if he wants to stay for 5-5 1/2 months.)

[ChipButty]

27 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

What are the "SHA+" approved hotels and is there a list of them ? Would be helpful to the people outside the country that apparently have to stay at one and have to book it before they arrive.
(And have to stay there for the first 2 weeks ? Even if they are fully vaccinated ?).

I have 2 friends trying to come over for their usual winter holiday but they can't book tickets because they don't know when (if) they can travel, or where to stay when they get here.

One booked tickets for the 3rd week of October and will have to change them now. The other is working out what kind of visa to get as the Embassy in Canada says the "Multi-Entry Tourist Visa" has been "suspended".

(So he's going to have to get a Non-O if he wants to stay for 5-5 1/2 months.)

I think you will find SHA+ only applies to Phuket under the sandbox rules, many people opted for the SHA+ as a way to get back into Thailand as you are not quarantined in your hotel for 24 hours a day for 14 days, under the SHA+ you could go out all day you just had to be back in your hotel at night.

Lots of people used this method, Like a friend of mine came from Australia who has a house here where he stayed all day but went back to the hotel at night

Here's a link  https://www.shathailand.com/

[Kerryd]

8 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

I think you will find SHA+ only applies to Phuket under the sandbox rules, many people opted for the SHA+ as a way to get back into Thailand as you are not quarantined in your hotel for 24 hours a day for 14 days, under the SHA+ you could go out all day you just had to be back in your hotel at night.

According to the linked article (and the article it links to), it's for all the areas being "re-opened".

"Dr. Taweesilp also mentioned the reopening of pilot areas to international tourists under the “Sandbox” project that the project would be done gradually and Bangkok, Krabi, Phang Nga, Chonburi (Pattaya, Jomtien, Bang Saray) and Chiang Mai <snip>.
 

Under the plan, vaccinated foreign tourists must stay in a zone for seven days, passing two Covid-19 tests via RT-PCR during this period. Once they pass this seven-day period they may travel throughout the country. Certain items, like COE (Certificate of Entry) from an embassy/consulate will stay for now but are likely to be reduced or eliminated when the Emergency Decree eventually is replaced by communicable disease laws.

Tourists must stay at a SHA+ hotel, booked in advance, and not their own residence. They must take a Covid-19 test before flying to Thailand in addition to two tests here. They must also meet mandatory insurance requirements and keep a tracking application on their phones running at all times during their seven-day initial period."

So, my friend needs:
Book a flight (for 1 Nov or later)
Negative Covid Test no more than 72 hours before his flight.
Book an "SHA+" hotel for 7 days.
A Certificate of Entry (from the Embassy 3,450 kms away) after the covid test.
A Covid test on arrival (at own expense).
Another covid test a week later (at own expense).

And if all is well, he can then go to his apartment and do (whatever).

Lol - of course there's a "breaking news" article just published that there won't be any quarantine period for fully vaccinated travellers as of 1 Nov.

Which changes almost everything noted above.

But wait, it's been an hour since that story broke. It has probably changed again already.
 

[hioctane]

12 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

According to the linked article (and the article it links to), it's for all the areas being "re-opened".

"Dr. Taweesilp also mentioned the reopening of pilot areas to international tourists under the “Sandbox” project that the project would be done gradually and Bangkok, Krabi, Phang Nga, Chonburi (Pattaya, Jomtien, Bang Saray) and Chiang Mai <snip>.
 

Under the plan, vaccinated foreign tourists must stay in a zone for seven days, passing two Covid-19 tests via RT-PCR during this period. Once they pass this seven-day period they may travel throughout the country. Certain items, like COE (Certificate of Entry) from an embassy/consulate will stay for now but are likely to be reduced or eliminated when the Emergency Decree eventually is replaced by communicable disease laws.

Tourists must stay at a SHA+ hotel, booked in advance, and not their own residence. They must take a Covid-19 test before flying to Thailand in addition to two tests here. They must also meet mandatory insurance requirements and keep a tracking application on their phones running at all times during their seven-day initial period."

So, my friend needs:
Book a flight (for 1 Nov or later)
Negative Covid Test no more than 72 hours before his flight.
Book an "SHA+" hotel for 7 days.
A Certificate of Entry (from the Embassy 3,450 kms away) after the covid test.
A Covid test on arrival (at own expense).
Another covid test a week later (at own expense).

And if all is well, he can then go to his apartment and do (whatever).

Lol - of course there's a "breaking news" article just published that there won't be any quarantine period for fully vaccinated travellers as of 1 Nov.

Which changes almost everything noted above.

But wait, it's been an hour since that story broke. It has probably changed again already.
 

The certificate of entry is applied at your local Thai embassy (online). The test is taken before the flight.

 

You can hire agencies to do all the paperwork for you. 

[BangkokReady]

11 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

Haven't been to Pattaya in 5 years but if it looks anything like Chiang Mai dose now the damage is cataclysmic and irreversible with nothing left to reopen just one big shed on steroids ????  

How can anything be irreversible?  These places didn't magically appear as fully built and stocked tourist destinations.  If they were built up from nothing before, what is stopping them from being built up again?

[Danderman123]

56 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

According to the linked article (and the article it links to), it's for all the areas being "re-opened".

"Dr. Taweesilp also mentioned the reopening of pilot areas to international tourists under the “Sandbox” project that the project would be done gradually and Bangkok, Krabi, Phang Nga, Chonburi (Pattaya, Jomtien, Bang Saray) and Chiang Mai <snip>.
 

Under the plan, vaccinated foreign tourists must stay in a zone for seven days, passing two Covid-19 tests via RT-PCR during this period. Once they pass this seven-day period they may travel throughout the country. Certain items, like COE (Certificate of Entry) from an embassy/consulate will stay for now but are likely to be reduced or eliminated when the Emergency Decree eventually is replaced by communicable disease laws.

Tourists must stay at a SHA+ hotel, booked in advance, and not their own residence. They must take a Covid-19 test before flying to Thailand in addition to two tests here. They must also meet mandatory insurance requirements and keep a tracking application on their phones running at all times during their seven-day initial period."

So, my friend needs:
Book a flight (for 1 Nov or later)
Negative Covid Test no more than 72 hours before his flight.
Book an "SHA+" hotel for 7 days.
A Certificate of Entry (from the Embassy 3,450 kms away) after the covid test.
A Covid test on arrival (at own expense).
Another covid test a week later (at own expense).

And if all is well, he can then go to his apartment and do (whatever).

Lol - of course there's a "breaking news" article just published that there won't be any quarantine period for fully vaccinated travellers as of 1 Nov.

Which changes almost everything noted above.

But wait, it's been an hour since that story broke. It has probably changed again already.
 

Assuming there is a SHA+ Sandbox arrangement in Pattaya, how long is the visitor confined to their room, how long confined to their hotel, are there bed checks in the hotel, apart from the requirements for PCR tests, what are the constraints?

 

Can I simply sleep in my condo if I book a SHA+ hotel in Pattaya? Or do I need to be in my SHA+ hotel at some time every night?

[engamann]

13 hours ago, steven100 said:

I thought the government was looking at opening entertainment places from mid Oct ....   ?

That was what your hero Cha Cha promised , but hey when did that man ever keep a promise that benefit the normal Thai people and not just his army friends and his master ? 

[skorp13]

The question i have is who do they think they are protecting? The un vaxxed from the vaxxed or the vaxxed from the unvaxxed??? makes no sense.

[engamann]

3 minutes ago, engamann said:

That was what your hero Cha Cha promised , but hey when did that man ever keep a promise that benefit the normal Thai people and not just his army friends and his master ? 

What's confusing you Steven100 ? Do you not remember your hero Cha Cha promised to open the country whit in 120 days and that would be 14 October or are your memory little bad ? 

[ChipButty]

1 hour ago, Danderman123 said:

Assuming there is a SHA+ Sandbox arrangement in Pattaya, how long is the visitor confined to their room, how long confined to their hotel, are there bed checks in the hotel, apart from the requirements for PCR tests, what are the constraints?

 

Can I simply sleep in my condo if I book a SHA+ hotel in Pattaya? Or do I need to be in my SHA+ hotel at some time every night?

You can spend all day there but you need to go back to your SHA+ hotel in the evening, there is still a curfew 9 pm, 

You have to hope you dont get a positive test you will be off to a quarantine prison camp at your expense bye the way

[sammieuk1]

2 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

How can anything be irreversible?  These places didn't magically appear as fully built and stocked tourist destinations.  If they were built up from nothing before, what is stopping them from being built up again?

When your dead your dead "irreversible" nothing will be the same again????

[BangkokReady]

11 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

When your dead your dead "irreversible" nothing will be the same again????

They were "dead" before and became what they were pre-pandemic. There's nothing to stop them "coming to life" again.

 

They began with nothing and grew to something. Being knocked back to nothing won't prevent them from becoming something again in the future.

 

Your reasoning has no basis in reality.

[Danderman123]

19 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

You can spend all day there but you need to go back to your SHA+ hotel in the evening, there is still a curfew 9 pm, 

You have to hope you dont get a positive test you will be off to a quarantine prison camp at your expense bye the way

So, on October 1, vaccinated visitors to Pattaya have 7 days of quarantine. 

 

On November 1, vaccinated visitors to Pattaya have 7 days of SHA+ requirements. 

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

How can anything be irreversible?  These places didn't magically appear as fully built and stocked tourist destinations.  If they were built up from nothing before, what is stopping them from being built up again?

They were built up as demand increased. Times change and if on line booking becomes more popular than sitting on a bar stool being ignored while the bargirls look at their phones there won't be the same demand as before mobile phones were even invented.

Edited September 28, 2021 by thaibeachlovers

[The Hammer2021]

13 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

Haven't been to Pattaya in 5 years but if it looks anything like Chiang Mai dose now the damage is cataclysmic and irreversible with nothing left to reopen just one big shed on steroids ????  

Correct. It's finished

[The Hammer2021]

6 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

They were built up as demand increased. Times change and if on line booking becomes more popular than sitting on a bar stool being ignored while the bargirls look at their phones there won't be the same demand as before mobile phones were even invented.

That is only the view of people who do not live here. The supplanting if mobile phones for face-to-face meeting has been greatly exaggerated. Now due to covid it is more common but now the bars and clubs have closed most girls have left Pattaya.

[thaibeachlovers]

Just now, The Hammer2021 said:

That is only the view of people who do not live here. The supplanting if mobile phones for face-to-face meeting has been greatly exaggerated. Now due to covid it is more common but now the bars and clubs have closed most girls have left Pattaya.

LOL. I thought we were talking about the FUTURE. IMO the bar scene will be as dead as the Dodo once life returns to normal in two or three years time ( assuming variants E, F, G don't upset the proverbial apple cart ).

In my opinion the bar scene as it used to be was pretty much over a few years ago. Too many bars, too few good looking girls, too little interest by the bar girls who spent more time looking at the phone that chatting up customers, too expensive for bar fines etc, and Pattaya just wasn't cheap anymore.

[khunPer]

"...cannot guarantee opening of entertainment venues soon"

 

Of course not, the reopened Pattaya will be B.L.U.E...????

[jacko45k]

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

LOL. I thought we were talking about the FUTURE. IMO the bar scene will be as dead as the Dodo once life returns to normal in two or three years time ( assuming variants E, F, G don't upset the proverbial apple cart ).

In my opinion the bar scene as it used to be was pretty much over a few years ago. Too many bars, too few good looking girls, too little interest by the bar girls who spent more time looking at the phone that chatting up customers, too expensive for bar fines etc, and Pattaya just wasn't cheap anymore.

Far too pessimistic....... good looking girls, well Pinups used to pack them in there.... and one or two of the other GGBs did too. Also they were not allowed to be on their phones but you got the expense of it right. The beer bars, well depends on management but yeah, often there they are on the phone ignoring you and want a drink to even stop messaging.... and those are overpriced too. The scene was moving towards Gentlemen's Clubs just before Covid. Prices are high, but a good time could be had, and will be again. Nowhere else was like it.

[brianthainess]

I think this will turn into a $h!t storm, as usual as clear as mud, do you have to stay in a designated hotel ? how will they track people leaving Patts ? make it clear where you can go after 5 days. Me tinks organizing and controlling it is beyond the capabilities of those organizing it.