Thailand prepares airports for quarantine-free travellers

[bangon04]

From the OP:  "Tourism before the pandemic was a leading driver of the economy, accounting for 12% of GDP."

 

estimates do indeed vary.......

[Kalasin Jo]

" due to return"! Love that! Too many restrictions still. I've said it before and I'll say it again foreign vaccinated arrivals are still far more at risk from Thais  than Thais are from foreigner arrivals. Get on with vaccinating your population fast if you want to see foreign arrivals in any numbers....and still too many restrictions on foreigners and within Thailand to make it attractive.

[Prince77]

They prepare for something which is not yet clearly regulated? Wow - wish they would make a clear statement regarding November 1st on how it will be handled.

 

[JCP108]

3 hours ago, Prince77 said:

They prepare for something which is not yet clearly regulated? Wow - wish they would make a clear statement regarding November 1st on how it will be handled.

 

I wish they would stop referring to it as "quarantine-free" when they seem to plan to demand a one- to two-day quarantine. Maybe they could be honest and start calling it "shorter quarantine?"

 

[mbenson]

As regards the "blue zones" to which people who pass their Covid test can go. It is very interesting to me. For example, I want to visit a friend in Lamphun which is currently not a blue zone. Of course, I can go stay in Chiang Mai which is a blue zone. However I can't travel to Lamphun. 

 

How will they stop people from slipping over the borders?
Who and how will they check it to determine that someone is legally in a non-blue zone?

 

Of course, they can always stop every farang they see and ask to see ze papers. What about non-farang tourists? Some will be not so easy to spot. That sort of puts an hint of racial bias into it, no?

As for farang expats, you could be required to show proof that you belong in your home province until your province goes blue. So carry your proof.

[Albert Zweistein]

"as well as doing well financially, can come to visit and spend ". I don't mind if they thinking of this but publishing it proofs how stupid they are.

[Albert Zweistein]

19 hours ago, phetphet said:

Anyone know what quarantine would be required for someone exiting Thailand for less than 14 days? e.g. A return  trip to UK for 10 days.

 

Would a 1 night quarantine be enough? or Required to do the full 14 days?

You should ask boris.

[Albert Zweistein]

All I can say is keep your powder dry folks.

[impulse]

On 10/20/2021 at 2:44 PM, JCP108 said:

So, if it takes 25 minutes per person to process them out, it would take total of 10,000 minutes, or 7 days, to process 400 people arriving on an international flight. If they have 14 processing stations running non-stop, then the people on that plane could be all on their way to baggage claim in only 12 hours. Of course, what about the people on other planes that arrive during that twelve hours?

It takes me two hours to drive from BKK to Jomtien.  Thank goodness they let other people on the roads at the same time, or the place couldn't survive with 12 cars arriving per day...

 

Edited October 21, 2021 by impulse

[Jingthing]

Any testing at all on arrival of vaccinated and pre flight tested arrivals is literally OVERKILL. OVERKILL of any hopes of any kind of tourism recovery this year. 

 

 

Next ...

[cdemundo]

On 10/20/2021 at 2:41 PM, david555 said:

Thailand opens ....

And same time in U.K. & Europe covid contagions are rising again to a 4 th wave ....so it shall be a temporary opening ....unless this time Thailand keep ordering vaccines and keep vaccinating .

 

The virus keep changing ....that is ehat virusses do

 

Final thought ...." here we go ...again " ...☹️

Right, I have heard "experts" saying "This is the last wave." 

How can they know that? Seems crazy to me.

[gk10012001]

On 10/20/2021 at 3:23 PM, webfact said:

Foreign tourists and investors from at least 10 countries which are in health-safe zones, as well as doing great financially, can come to visit and spend in the country."

Oh yeah?  Spend freely eh?  My god what a self centered image Thailand is putting forward.

[gk10012001]

On 10/20/2021 at 3:44 PM, JCP108 said:

So, if it takes 25 minutes per person to process them out, it would take total of 10,000 minutes, or 7 days, to process 400 people arriving on an international flight. If they have 14 processing stations running non-stop, then the people on that plane could be all on their way to baggage claim in only 12 hours. Of course, what about the people on other planes that arrive during that twelve hours?

Yep.  Your numbers are spot on.  If one has a letter or Thai app or COE or whatever will be finally reauired that says "allow in" that should be it.  Then routine passport/visa review and on to baggage claim.  Anything else done upon arrival pretty much eliminates much of the time savings that pre travel preparations could do.

[zzaa09]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

Any testing at all on arrival of vaccinated and pre flight tested arrivals is literally OVERKILL. OVERKILL of any hopes of any kind of tourism recovery this year. 

 

 

Next ...

Wondering if there's still a chance for them to realize how ridiculous they're coming across as?

At least to save a little face.

 

[scorecard]

15 hours ago, MaiChai said:

I suspect the government won't want to shoulder the pcr test costs at the airport, so they will palm it off to the hotels and you will end up paying alot of money for a 1 night stay in Bangkok (with pcr test included). Tourists will get milked in the process; be aware!

- One would expect there's a regulation that the swab must be taken/performed by a trained person not the hotel housekeeping staff; with all respect to them.

 

- If it's done on arrival at the 1 day hotel It's probable the swab will/must be taken by a trained nurse/person from the linked hospital:

• What will the waiting time be before the nurse appears?  Will it be a 24/7 service?
• What will the waiting time be for the swab to arrive at an appropriate/accredited lab?
• Will the lab be operating 24/7?
• What will the waiting time be before the traveler receives their SMS/e.mail indicating NEGATIVE (or whatever)? Will this function be performed by the 9 to 5 hotel office staff?

All much better if it's a fast response accredited test performed on arrival. I can't believe:

• There's no fast response tests available in Thailand.
• This could not be organized. 

When it's a negative result that person get's a numbered sticker or similar and are escorted to another check point where they proceed to the final steps of arrival and then depart swampy with no restrictions whatever.

 

Costs: Sure someone must pay for the fast response test kit. There's reports that they are available in Thailand for 40B, 70B etc.

 

I doubt travelers will object to paying a small charge for the kit.

 

With this plan travelers can have a good level of confidence to book their next flight (domestic flight) and confidence they can be on a domestic flight within a few hours and around 1 to 2 hrs later at their final domestic destination (with no further checks/isolation).

 

Can't be that difficult.

 

Why why why do the authorities want to make it so complicated and fraught with so many question marks?

 

Edited October 21, 2021 by scorecard

[scorecard]

19 hours ago, james2m said:

Straight after clearing customs they funnel you to the test centre. They process several at a time in parallel. Way more efficiently and cleanly than I’ve experienced in western countries. That, at least was Phuket which is the model for other reopenings. 

So, in Thailand, Phuket, there is already some experience regarding efficiently testing large numbers on arrival at an airport.

 

- Which test did they use?

- And did the arrivals have to wait at Phuket airport to receive their test results? 

[CMBob]

On 10/22/2021 at 8:21 AM, scorecard said:

So, in Thailand, Phuket, there is already some experience regarding efficiently testing large numbers on arrival at an airport.

 

- Which test did they use?

- And did the arrivals have to wait at Phuket airport to receive their test results? 

PCR test (the more accurate one, not the quick antigen test.....so they must have had lab personnel right at the airport as I got my negative result 4 hours after they swabbed me....and note one poster above said his was only about 2 hours).

And, no, as both I and the other poster mentioned, we were out the door in 25 minutes or less and on our way to our hotels.  The hotel desks were notified of the test results and I, like the other poster, got the news via a phone call from the hotel desk.  Once I had that, I was off and running.

[The Hammer2021]

On 10/21/2021 at 4:39 AM, richard_smith237 said:

This is the issue with people looking for the worst when interpreting information in a fundamentally flawed manner. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You have captured the true spirit of this forum: negativity, flawed thinking and contempt for Thais and Thailand.

[The Hammer2021]

13 minutes ago, CMBob said:

PCR test (the more accurate one, not the quick antigen test.....so they must have had lab personnel right at the airport as I got my negative result 4 hours after they swabbed me....and note one poster above said his was only about 2 hours).

And, no, as both I and the other poster mentioned, we were out the door in 25 minutes or less and on our way to our hotels.  The hotel desks were notified of the test results and I, like the other poster, got the news via a phone call from the hotel desk.  Once I had that, I was off and running.

That's not fair!! You are talking about your actual experience not baseless, I'll informed speculation. HOW DARE YOU SAY SOMETHING POSITIVE?