Anutin praised for getting Thailand off UK's travel "red list"

[brianthainess]

17 hours ago, John Drake said:

What is this? Six or seven topics today so far in the "Thai News" section that work the UK into the headlines or the subject. Is this all supposed to be a way to discuss UK news while omitting other countries, now that the World Forum is gone? What next in the headlines: "Thais Worry as Energy Costs Rise in the UK," "Thais See Hope as UK Exports Increase," "UK Police Review Stirs Thailand to Consider Reforms," "Hurricane Force Winds in the UK Seen as No Threat to Thailand."

That's coz Brits are so Hansom and sexy init.

[bkk_bwana]

17 hours ago, peter48 said:

I think that was partly to do with rising airfairs & falling pound. Recall when crazy Johnson took over in summer 2019 the pound only got what 37 baht. Horrific for tourists - it has to be rembered whatevers happens worldwide Brexit exacerbates things in UK and yes in summer 2019 there seemed few Brits around 

Go back two years to 2017 and when the Baht was sitting at 44 to the GBP, Brits still made up only 2.7% of visitors. The number of Brits coming has been growing, but over the last 20 years, as a percentage of arrivals has been swamped by arrivals from other nations. 

[bkk_bwana]

17 hours ago, Cherrytreeview said:

Got a link for that figure.

https://www.mots.go.th/mots_en/more_news_new.php?cid=330

[hotchilli]

22 hours ago, webfact said:

Bhumjaithai party list PM and registrar Suphachai Jaisamut went on his personal Facebook page to praise his party leader, DPM and health minister Anutin Charnvirakul.

They have to self praise or else they wouldn't get any praise at all.

 

[actonion]

Why would he get praised?

 

Im sure its up to the U.K.  Government  who stays, or who goes off their red list

[hotchilli]

22 hours ago, webfact said:

He claimed that Anutin's efforts were directly responsible for Thailand being removed from the United Kingdom's travel red list that is effective on Monday.

Will Anutin reciprocate by taking the UK off Thailands red list?

[Misterwhisper]

23 hours ago, bkk_bwana said:

2.5% of arrivals in 2019 were British. This is a tiny step forward. Good, but not that significant. 

Compared to the 2 British tourists that arrived in 2021 (not counting returning British expats that used the "Phuket Sandbox" gateway), the potential for improvement is gigantic.

[Cherrytreeview]

1 hour ago, bkk_bwana said:

https://www.mots.go.th/mots_en/more_news_new.php?cid=330

Your quoted an exact annual figure.

Where's the link to that figure?

 

 

[metisdead]

A troll post using a trolling image has been removed.

 

A post with a chart that was copy and pasted from some site without a supporting link has been removed.

[bkk_bwana]

11 minutes ago, Cherrytreeview said:

Your quoted an exact annual figure.

Where's the link to that figure?

 

 

If you drill down into the links you will see lists of arrivals, by country, month by month.

[Bkk Brian]

7 minutes ago, bkk_bwana said:

If you drill down into the links you will see lists of arrivals, by country, month by month.

I had a look there yesterday and could not find any metrics to support that figure. Besides 2019 is irrelevant to now when the Chinese market is gone for the foreseeable future and Thailand has to rely on other nations. 

 

for example in the first month of the Phuket Sandbox UK arrivals were the third highest after the US and returning Thai’s.

 

Prayut himself predicted 500,000 arrivals from the UK, Russia and Nordic countries, this is obviously their current target market. Not that the target figure he mentioned will be met.

Edited October 10, 2021 by Bkk Brian

[Concerned observer]

This has absolutely nothing to do with Anutin who as DPM/Minister for Health has been a total buffoon. I was trying to look back when he said that "Thailand was well on the way to herd immunity" but it was certainly before May 2021 as then he said that 70% of the population would be inoculated with two jabs by September. The latest figures released state that now - on October 10th 2021 just 31% of the population (less than one third) has received two jabs. And that is after Thailand held out it perennial begging bowl for Covid vaccines and received "free donations" from China, the US, UK, Japan, Switzerland, France and many other developed countries. Left to their own bumbling administration it would be well into 2023 until 'herd immunity' of 70% was reached.

[itsari]

23 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

He must be chuffed now that all of us unclean Brits who never shower and are solely to blame for Covid being in Thailand in the first place can now go home...

Never shower but they do have a bath once a week .

I learnt that from Australians who like Anutin think they are  aware of British hygiene habits 

[bkk_bwana]

15 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

I had a look there yesterday and could not find any metrics to support that figure. Besides 2019 is irrelevant to now when the Chinese market is gone for the foreseeable future and Thailand has to rely on other nations. 

 

for example in the first month of the Phuket Sandbox UK arrivals were the third highest after the US and returning Thai’s.

 

Prayut himself predicted 500,000 arrivals from the UK, Russia and Nordic countries, this is obviously their current target market. Not that the target figure he mentioned will be met.

The figures are all there. 2.5% average for the year as a % of UK tourists compared to total number. Figures hovering around the 80k/month numbers. Overall about 1M visitors. 2019 is the only dataset that can be used as a realistic benchmark, i.e. how it was before the pandemic. Arguments regarding effects of exchange rate are short term and only affect a small number of travelers.

[bkk_bwana]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

Will Anutin reciprocate by taking the UK off Thailands red list?

Thailand doesn't have a colour list for other countries. Nearly all countries have been treated the same since this started - 14 days quarantine, then sandbox, now 7 days or sandbox. Like it or not, Thailand has been pretty consistent in its rules for entry. A lot more consistent than the UK. 

[Bkk Brian]

1 hour ago, bkk_bwana said:

The figures are all there. 2.5% average for the year as a % of UK tourists compared to total number. Figures hovering around the 80k/month numbers. Overall about 1M visitors. 2019 is the only dataset that can be used as a realistic benchmark, i.e. how it was before the pandemic. Arguments regarding effects of exchange rate are short term and only affect a small number of travelers.

But you missed entirely my main points even if you were correct on your 2.5% which I still don't see.

 

"Besides 2019 is irrelevant to now when the Chinese market is gone for the foreseeable future and Thailand has to rely on other nations. 

 

for example in the first month of the Phuket Sandbox UK arrivals were the third highest after the US and returning Thai’s.

 

Prayut himself predicted 500,000 arrivals from the UK, Russia and Nordic countries, this is obviously their current target market. Not that the target figure he mentioned will be met."

Edited October 10, 2021 by Bkk Brian

[NoshowJones]

On 10/9/2021 at 11:55 AM, tingtong said:

Breaking news: Anutin praised for the sun coming up this Saturday morning.

 

On a sidenote, there are rumors debating this, suggesting this achievement accomplished by Prayuth.

 

There is no consensus yet which one's reputation is in more dire needs for a desperate boost. 

A close race in the moment, a very close race!

The Chuckle Brothers are in the lead all by themselves. ????

[NoshowJones]

23 hours ago, RafPinto said:

Oh dear.

 

He finally achieved something.

Did he??

[NoshowJones]

20 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

While he may not be responsible for Covid, Cha Cha and Anutin made many poor moves which allowed the spread. Not locking down the Samut seafood market area, within a 2km. radius, and and making sure nobody come in and out for 15 days, back in early December when they had 900 plus cases in one day, was a legendary mistake and amounted to gross malfeasance and likely blatant corruption.

 

Oh, I was too afraid of the optics of a lockdown! Yeah. Well, how about the optics of a failed economy with millions out of work, and an economy that has likely contracted by 18%?

Not sealing off the border with Burma, with the use of the 550,000 soldiers who are supposed to protect the nation, (and likely do next to nothing daily) and allowing corrupt border officials to continue working their franchises, was another. 

Announcing the closure of construction sites in Bangkok, a week in advance of closing them was as bone headed as it gets. It allowed super spreaders to travel freely all over the nation, resulting in an immediate surge of nationwide cases. 

And the severe bungling of the vaccination program is absolutely unforgivable. He should have resigned, or been replaced in March of 2020, after Covid broke out. He was in way over his head long before Covid came around. He lacks experience, a background in the health field, and the only reason he was appointed, and is still in this position, is due to the power and the influence he has over his party. There is NO other reason. 

99.9% of the Thais I talk to are so far beyond fed up. And if the 3-5% who drank the kool-aid still believed, after this latest covid debacle, Prayuth, Anutin and the gang have been truly unmasked to a humiliating and inglorious degree.
 
Who could possibly still have any faith in their competence, and sincerity, at this point? You want me to go on? This is not Covid. This is Pratin 19!

 

Get out. Get out now. Hopefully the people will no longer stand for incompetence. Not during an emergency. Not now. 
 
You completely blew the vaccination program!
 
You blew the response to Covid!
 
You blew the response to the outbreak in Samut back in December, which led to the 2nd wave!
 
What have you gotten right? It now appears the lack of cases during the 1st wave was dumb luck. 

Prayut and Anutin. The Chuckle Brothers. ????

[RafPinto]

1 hour ago, Bkk Brian said:

But you missed entirely my main points even if you were correct on your 2.5% which I still don't see.

 

"Besides 2019 is irrelevant to now when the Chinese market is gone for the foreseeable future and Thailand has to rely on other nations. 

 

for example in the first month of the Phuket Sandbox UK arrivals were the third highest after the US and returning Thai’s.

 

Prayut himself predicted 500,000 arrivals from the UK, Russia and Nordic countries, this is obviously their current target market. Not that the target figure he mentioned will be met."

Welcome

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/09/russia-reports-record-daily-covid-death-toll-as-kremlin-shrugs-off-new-lockdown

[Neeranam]

On 10/9/2021 at 10:30 AM, webfact said:

Suphachai wrote that Anutin explained to the ambassador about the virus situation in Thailand and said that 46-47 million (now 55 million) had received jabs, Thailand was on top of everything and it was all going according to plan.

Thanks Khun Anutin! Good job, if you read this forum, ignore all the haters, they are still hurt after their personal hygiene and personal values were questioned. 

When you tell foreigners that they need to be vaccinated before getting a visa, there will be more outcry; personal freedom is prioritized more in the West, not that that should affect your decision. 

 

[John Drake]

2 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Thanks Khun Anutin! Good job, if you read this forum, ignore all the haters, they are still hurt after their personal hygiene and personal values were questioned. 

When you tell foreigners that they need to be vaccinated before getting a visa, there will be more outcry; personal freedom is prioritized more in the West, not that that should affect your decision. 

 

I agree. In fact, I would go one step further. Immigration should issue hygiene monitors for Europeans. Failure on the part of Euros to take at least one shower per day documented by an wristband app should result in a 5000 baht fine for each day missed. 

[Iwik Detsiwt]

On 10/9/2021 at 11:40 AM, ikke1959 said:

It has nothing to do with Anutin. It is the decision of the UK Government for the welfare for its citizens and visitors.. But Thailand want to show how much influence they have ... same as the told wada that...... Who do they  ( Thailand )think they are?????

The UK Government resisted helping expats obtain a suitable vaccine until the last possible moment. I have written replies from the Health Ministry, the NHS and FCDO regarding their stance in this matter. The UK Government was shamed into acting by the Chinese, French and other  Government's; vaccinating their Expat citizens in the first place. Following the US Pfizer donations the UK then decided to donate some Astra Zeneca. The UK Government were by no means instrumental, their lack lustre hold back approach contributed to the situation as we all know. Credit should be directed at the BCCT for coordinating the first vaccine response. It's only now that the UK Government will accept, Astra Zeneca, Pfizer, Modena, Johnson and Johnson administered in Thailand. And of course when it's time to take some credit there's always a photo opportunity and a chance to create some spin.

 

[Iwik Detsiwt]

On 10/9/2021 at 11:40 AM, ikke1959 said:

It has nothing to do with Anutin. It is the decision of the UK Government for the welfare for its citizens and visitors.. But Thailand want to show how much influence they have ... same as the told wada that...... Who do they  ( Thailand )think they are?????

The UK Government resisted helping expats obtain a suitable vaccine until the last possible moment. I have written replies from the Health Ministry, the NHS and FCDO regarding their stance in this matter. The UK Government was shamed into acting by the Chinese, French and other  Government's; vaccinating their Expat citizens in the first place. Following the US Pfizer donations the UK then decided to donate some Astra Zeneca. The UK Government were by no means instrumental, their lack lustre hold back approach contributed to the situation as we all know. Credit should be directed at the BCCT for coordinating the first vaccine response. It's only now that the UK Government will accept, Astra Zeneca, Pfizer, Modena, Johnson and Johnson administered in Thailand. And of course when it's time to take some credit there's always a photo opportunity and a chance to create some spin.

 

[Blumpie]

4 hours ago, John Drake said:

I agree. In fact, I would go one step further. Immigration should issue hygiene monitors for Europeans. Failure on the part of Euros to take at least one shower per day documented by an wristband app should result in a 5000 baht fine for each day missed. 

Absolutely 100 percent in favour of this new law.  This Orwellian society has its benefits!  

[Stargeezr]

Anutin, and the rest of the Thai government can pat themselves on the back if they want to. Woo Hoo.

  The reason Thailand is off the red list is that it is a popular Winter destination for the UK 

residents.   That is the simple reason, because none of the 7 remaining countries are on a

popular Winter destination list, especially Venezuela.

Geezer

[DaveCW]

A FOI request to the UK embassy may show what their recommendation(s) (if any) where in regard to removing Thailand from the red list .

[FridgeMagnet1]

On 10/10/2021 at 12:39 AM, BestB said:

Such as?

Spain 

[BestB]

On 10/14/2021 at 9:00 PM, FridgeMagnet1 said:

Spain 

Wow you managed to come up with 1????

[FridgeMagnet1]

On 10/16/2021 at 8:25 AM, BestB said:

Wow you managed to come up with 1????

• Austria
• Cyprus
• Finland
• Greece
• Iceland
• The Netherlands
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland

thats just EU

basically, you have no idea what you are talking about