TAT boss: quarantine remains for 1 day to test all visitors, no going back to old tourism pub scenes

[Mike k]

The taliban has taken over another country 

[BKKBike09]

Does 'family friendly' still include dildos and fake Viagra on sale next to the T-shirts and wooden elephants?

[timberpond]

I could actually hear many bags packing up once this "rules out going back to the old Thai tourism formula of crowded bars and nightlife" is confirmed. 

[overherebc]

2 hours ago, gk10012001 said:

I and I am sure many object to the implication of not being a "Higher Quality" tourist.  Sure I go to pubs and I go to a gogo now and then.  But if that Puritan sounding TAT guy equates that or assumes that most tourists only go to packed in bars and gogos he is somistaken.  Sure some meetups happen, tourists meet up with fellow expats or countrymen for a night out for some drinking.  But there is so much more to visiting or living in Thailand as many expats and visitors can testify to.  I have been to Thailand 15 times.  I am a semi-retired engineer.  I have no criminal background. I do no drugs or anything illegal.  I am well funded for retirement.  I am not a cheap charlie. After my first trip to Thailand and Pattaya in 2004, I always planned to semi retire there for at least 6 months of each year.  I was waiting for COVID policies to become more reasonable before taking at least my next 90 day vacation, (SETV 60 day + 30 Day extension).  Now, the heck with it.  I will take this upcoming Engineering contract for the next 10 months or so and then see what Thailand is doing at that point

Flip your desk calander to Oct' 2022, then change some points, in minor ways,  in your post.

Done.

 

[JayClay]

36 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Rarely if ever have read about people being happy with their bar experience

You could say that about pretty much any topic on this forum, though....

 

As for me, I've always had a great time at bars, but I don't generally feel the need to share that information here (not to mention I signed up to this site when bars were closed anyway!)

[Molly Malone]

Genius idea = destroy the economy with righteous nonsense! Vietnam must be laughing their heads off!!!!

[TooMuchTime]

Always got to wait 2 months after an announcement to see if it is a real announcement.

[superal]

2 hours ago, ukrules said:

Yes, and once you go through all this nonsense there's a very good chance you will catch COVID just like anyone else already here if you mingle with the locals who are actively hiding their infections unless they need to go to hospital or get caught up in an active contact trace investigation.

 

If that happens then be prepared for a world of restriction, quarantine and possibly incarceration if you don't want to stump up their special fees for 'hospitel' quarantine.

 

You hit the nail on the head . Thai government are taking a massive gamble , same as poker " all in " bet , so what could possibly go wrong ? Travelling to Thailand for a holiday and the need to comply with ever changing rules is both confusing and risky .  Risky why ?  The reporting of covid stats is not convincing and I choose my words carefully . Even if you are double jabbed with a good vaccine you will come into contact with  many unvaccinated people and those that have been jabbed will mostly have received a weak vaccine . Also , coming into very close contact ( wink wink ) will certainly test your vaccination . This is brewing up for the perfect storm from which there will be no return . It seems that many countries are more concerned with their economies rather than their nations health .

I am intrigued as to how the government intend to halt the old tourism bar scene , as I think that could take a generation to stop and at the same time they will have to give a good standard of education to enable young people to secure a worthwhile career away from the bar scene . 

[kiwikeith]

5 hours ago, JCP108 said:

So, "no quarantine" means one to two days of quarantine and the COE remains but with a name change. 

There is only one person who can explain/ decipher this to us, Ubon Joe , he's the best!

[HappyGoLuckyLife]

5 hours ago, fusion58 said:

Great! I’m currently waiting for approval on my COE application. Flight arrives on November 12. Did I just waste several days of my time?

Not really. This didn't exist when you started, so technically your time wasn't wasted.

[Molly Malone]

12 minutes ago, timberpond said:

I could actually hear many bags packing up once this "rules out going back to the old Thai tourism formula of crowded bars and nightlife" is confirmed. 

Manila here we ALL come, or Saigon. Unless somebody fires that blithering idiot and we all go back to the REAL world. 

[mjakob007]

4 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

Good luck with that. With European destinations in summer, Dubai and Carribean in winter then there are plenty of other family/luxury/value options closer to home. Thailand is an exotic place that had thrived for decades on the mix of hedonism, freedom and lax implementation of rules. Make it difficult, expensive and less fun then many will simply seek alternative destinations. Maybe he's only got the Chinese or Indians in mind so let's see how that goes.

 

That segment will be limited to Chinese.

Majority of Indians who arrived in the past went to pats for a long weekend as flights were inexpensive, short hauls and visa upon arrival at a nominal fee.

 

With CoE/Thai pass and no nightlife, majority will go elsewhere.

 

TAT seems to be ignorant that there are several choices for big spenders and thailand drops in the pecking order for mega spenders. 

 

[IamNoone88]

Could this be the huge watershed moment to purify Thailand of all nightlife evils?  ...... After all, they are only trying to demolish a pillar of society that was established in the days of R&R during the Vietnam war and rooted deeply ever since. Nothing to fear here. Just self inflicted negative PR and confusion again .... as usual.

[Almer]

4 hours ago, sirineou said:

 before we condemn it let's wait and see what it looks like.

  They say it would just be an app to confirm vaccination, but will it be only that? How about covid insurance? and if there are issues , how are they resolved? Not easy to call the web. LOL. also how about reservations for the one day stay?  Registering PCR test before you come so that if inadequate you don't need to go back, or do What? 

Say good by to the old confusion,Say  Hello to  new confusion.

All this tbc ????

[Zikomat]

 Even at the best of times their lunatic ideas of turning places like Pattaya into the family friendly resort have failed inevitably. To try and to pull the same stunt at the time of the biggest crisis in the history of the world tourism… send a psychiatrist to the TAT premises.

[kiwikeith]

5 hours ago, fusion58 said:

Great! I’m currently waiting for approval on my COE application. Flight arrives on November 12. Did I just waste several days of my time?

Now I know why all the boarded up Bars have for sale/rent signs on them.

This will come as a shock to all the bar owners and there employees, Thailand new slogan-- No going Back, this will mean more beech chairs, speed boats, Chinese guided tours, and a share price reduction for Leo and Chiang.

 

[huangnon]

Usual rubbish being spouted by some paid flunky. "Quality tourists", "eco-tourism", "family friendly", etc.  ????

 

Nothing really changes here, despite the new talking heads making the same old announcements.

[Big Bert]

5 hours ago, fusion58 said:

Great! I’m currently waiting for approval on my COE application. Flight arrives on November 12. Did I just waste several days of my time?

Several days? Takes 10 minutes and approval in 12 hours.

 

[Sir Dude]

By the end of next year after this idea has gone properly south, then like so much else, it will be quietly swept under the carpet and forgotten with a stealth u-turn when no-one is looking. Unless, of course, they are not telling everyone the truth and the regime just wants Chinese sheep as tourists and Indian weddings... which could be true, as a wider agenda these days seems to be about getting rid of as many westerners as possible, and has been so over the last 5 years.

[kiwikeith]

2 minutes ago, Zikomat said:

 Even at the best of times their lunatic ideas of turning places like Pattaya into the family friendly resort have failed inevitably. To try and to pull the same stunt at the time of the biggest crisis in the history of the world tourism… send a psychiatrist to the TAT premises.

They cleaned up Singapore, did a very good job, infrastructure and cleanliness the place immaculate, but the bars were still around some in hotels, nice discos ect and the girls were just as friendly and never disappeared, how can you kill the oldest profession in the world? covid??

[Walker88]

3 scenarios....

 

1) I'm going to swing by Nana today to see if the bulldozers have arrived to raze the place and put up another unnecessary, overpriced condo or Central World 31.

 

2) Scare the farang agogo owners into selling their venues/name on the cheap, then announce business as usual

 

3) Just go straight to business as usual but let the TAT boss have his 15 seconds of 'face'

 

If I were to assign odds to 1 through 3, it would be 0%, 0%, 100%.

[Clarkey611]

2 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Thailand is like a grubby restaurant selling overpriced burgers and beers while waiting for the Caviar and Champagne set to turn up.

 

Totally delusional. They have no idea how the world views them and why people used to come here.

Just selling overpriced burgers at the moment!

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

Rarely if ever have read about people being happy with their bar experience.

I've always had a great time in Thai bars, the girls were always a lot of fun.

There were always a few fat girls, but I never had a problem finding a slim one to sit with me.

Never a of ice for the beer.

Sure, they will up your bill if you get too drunk to notice, pay as you go sorts that.

 

Back to the OP,

I wouldn't come here on holiday with the new rules.

Fly all the way here with the risk of you and your family being locked up, no way!

 

[ChipButty]

Some years ago didn't Singapore close down the red light districts and clean up their image? Tourism nosedived

[DrPhibes]

2 hours ago, Skeptic7 said:

As always, they just spout off and fantasize about whatever silliness that projectile vomits out their stupidity holes. When curfew lifted and bars opened...We The People...the consumers...with the money...are gonna make up for almost 2 years of lost time.

 

It AIN'T gonna be "family friendly"! ????

Unless you define "family" as a young mom and her two twin daughters!  "Twins Basil, twins!"

[ChipButty]

A friend of mine was in Patong  a couple of nights ago and she said the place was rocking loads of farangs

[gk10012001]

Isn't it possible that many so called high quality (Thai translation: high spending) tourists that like ladies, or boys, or ladyboys with morally casual attitudes.

[smedly]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

while he also suggested that there was no going back to the former tourism market with busy nightlife scenes as Thailand seeks a new tourism following. 

is this the intention for good ??? lol

 

they really have lost the plot 

 

very plain to see that this crowd of nutters are determined to destroy tourism in Thailand for good 

 

very plain to see now that they are trying to wipe out pubs and nightlife in Thailand and will keep it closed for as long as they can - they really have no clue

[GeorgeCross]

if they really want rid of the bar scene then go after the supply.. it could be done today, with the stroke of a pen.

 

all bar licenses revoked, no new licenses to be granted.

 

much more efficient than trying to tamp down demand with endless hoops that upsets every tourist who wants to come here.

 

lets see if they have the balls..

 

(they don't)

 

[SooKee]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

He also was adamant that there is no going back to the old model of Thai tourism with crowded pub scenes as his agency plans a shift to a higher quality, higher spending, family orientated sort of tourism in the future.

What his agency plans to do and what your average tourist plans to do (you know mate, the ones that actually pay and make the bookings) I suspect are at opposite ends of the spectrum.  Come back in 6 months and tell us how the plan's are going.  Muppet ????