Foreigners eager to visit to Thailand, but few have actually booked flights: Poll

[MrJ2U]

3 hours ago, EricTh said:

What if you booked a flight to Thailand and find most of the places except eateries closed due to a surge in Covid cases? 

 

Then the tourist will be just wasting his time and money. Thailand is infamous for changing its rules often.

 

 

Agree

 

 

And it's difficult and extremely expensive to just reopen a hotel or restaurant thats been closed for 12 months or more.

[balo]

Cheap flights from Europe now. Finnair offer return flights BKK - Helsinki from €400.  Just need to add all the extra expenses you could end up with in Thailand. 

[George FmplesdaCosteedback]

On 10/25/2021 at 1:57 PM, DrPhibes said:

You can't make solid plans on quicksand.  The government has shown in the last 6+ mo that they will change things on a whim.  No one wants to try and make vacation plans until there is a period of time of consistent rules and regulations tourists can count on.  Thai gov and culture does not understand the value of what little time people from other countries have for vacation and how important it is to make sure they don't miss a day of it let alone have the entire vacation cancelled at the last minute for some crazy face saving last minute requirement.

Imagine how exciting it is to live here when you never know what they will throw at you next!

[Dexxter]

13 hours ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

Jetstar in Australia have just started selling their first tickets to Thailand for February. Big sales. I booked. Incredibly cheap so if it all goes pear shaped no big deal. 

Not sure how you got those tickets. I just looked at the Jetstar site and there is nothing available before late April from Melbourne to Bangkok. Perhaps they are all booked out but their site basically says no flights available. The return flights two months later in June are listed around AU$240 so a little bit cheaper compared to the $320 I used to pay with them pre-pandemic. But no point having a return flight if you cannot get to Bangkok in the first place.

Singapore Airlines do have tickets available for around $1000 return via a 9 hour stopover in Singapore. No thanks.

Searching a bit deeper I found a Qantas flight with a one hour stopover in Sydney (acceptable) for $1259 return. February 18th till April 12th next year. That is double what I used to pay for a direct flight pre-pandemic.

Things are still way too unpredictable for reliable travel.

 

I see in another news article that the Delta+ variant has arrived with one confirmed case. Here we go again.

 

Edited October 26, 2021 by Dexxter

[Dogmatix]

Foreigners eager to visit to Thailand, but few have actually booked flights.

 

That means they are not eager to visit Thailand or they would be booking flights.  Face reality.

[cncltd1973]

On 10/25/2021 at 2:41 AM, webfact said:

However, while the government has said that Thailand Pass will be more efficient and will help to facilitate ease of travel for visitors, the system is yet to be launched. 

Incredible... no, wait... actually not surprising at all.

Ineptitude at it's finest. Where's the sense of urgency in the gov't? How can you open Nov 1 for tourists??? Too bad this military junta is short on gov't expertise, all they can do is try to react instead of being proactive and get ahead of the problems

[DBath]

“Foreigners eager to visit to Thailand, but few have actually booked flights…”

 

Well, at least they’re ‘EAGER’ to visit. That’s some consolation prize there, huh?

????????????

[Kalasin Jo]

On 10/25/2021 at 9:48 AM, Cake Monster said:

Nothing, as far as I am aware, has been said about people that arrive  and are tested positive upon their Mandatory PCR test.

Are these people whisked off to some Covid prison to undertake a 14 Day Quarantine before their departure back to their Country of origin

Or are they allowed to Vacation with not having to do Quarantine.

The thought of being on an Aircraft that touches down in Swampy, and just 1 passenger tests positive is horrendous.

 

 

Exactly. We need to know about this and the Thailand Pass before booking anything. I want to return, it's getting chilly here and I have a wife and nice house in Thailand and I've bee away 14 months now, but as another has commented it's a gigantic roll of the dice until we know what exactly is involved and whether it's worth it. Simply saying Thailand is reopening on 1/11/2021 is not enough. 

[CamaroZL1]

15 hours ago, WEBBYB808 said:

And dont forget  you have to quarantine  when you return  to your country

No i don't luckily.

NSW and Victoria have no quarantine for returning travelers as of the 1st of November.

 

Some other areas have quarantine requirements but not the state I live in luckily.

 

However even with that, I am still not interested in traveling until next year when some of all the stupid restrictions are lifted.

Edited October 26, 2021 by CamaroZL1
added paragraph

[Fat is a type of crazy]

6 hours ago, Dexxter said:

Not sure how you got those tickets. I just looked at the Jetstar site and there is nothing available before late April from Melbourne to Bangkok. Perhaps they are all booked out but their site basically says no flights available. The return flights two months later in June are listed around AU$240 so a little bit cheaper compared to the $320 I used to pay with them pre-pandemic. But no point having a return flight if you cannot get to Bangkok in the first place.

Singapore Airlines do have tickets available for around $1000 return via a 9 hour stopover in Singapore. No thanks.

Searching a bit deeper I found a Qantas flight with a one hour stopover in Sydney (acceptable) for $1259 return. February 18th till April 12th next year. That is double what I used to pay for a direct flight pre-pandemic.

Things are still way too unpredictable for reliable travel.

 

I see in another news article that the Delta+ variant has arrived with one confirmed case. Here we go again.

 

$240 odd Melbourne to Phuket return  if you buy Club Jetstar for $55. I normally go to Bangkok and then to Koh Chang but I'll give Phuket a go or just fly domestically to Bangkok if that is possible at that time. 

[Crok]

When even the Thai embassy does not have current info of what is required for travelers to return to Thailand and the Thai govt has abolished CEO's but is still to replace it how can potential tourists make flight bookings to Thailand?  Travel agents have been shifting consumer demand for travel to Thailand to other countries. There is no clear policy on entry requirements to Thailand - isolate for 7/14 or just one day depends on who you talk to and with airlines not refunding air fares if the Thai govt does not grant an entry permit why would people book flights to Thailand? Other SE Asia countries have easy to understand entry requirements.so why try to get to Thailand? The answer for me is because it was my home until I could not return because of Covid. Interestingly Thai airways is happy to sell air tickets to Thailand, levies onerous fees for cancellation or date changes and tells potential customers that it is the customer's responsibilities to ensure they have the correct documentation for entry to Thailand. What is the "correct documentation?" Thai airways cannot help!

And as for insurance requirements. Thai insurance companies have unrealistic age caps on policies. Why not just sell policies that cover costs up to the value specified by the Thai govt and nothing else?

[CamaroZL1]

16 hours ago, wombat said:

how my friend in Oz who wants to come here sees it...

  So say for example I go for 3 weeks....

 Test before I go
 Test on arrival
 Test day 7
 Test 72 hours before I get on plane back
 And within 24 hours of arrival home another test
 5 tests in 4 weeks effectively
 Madness

It sure is mate. Which is why i am not jumping onto Skyscanner to book my ticket.

And with all those requirements to travel to Thailand, the bars, clubs and entertainment venues would want to be open.

 

 

[peter zwart]

I dont know about SE Asia but in Europe the number of sales of Campers and Caravans went up big time. Those people will probably not planning to fly for a few years. With that i want to say that behaviour of people has changed. The numbers of tourist we had here (Th) in 2019 will not come back soon. No matter what you do. 

[elgenon]

Ya think?

[jacko45k]

22 hours ago, Pimoo2 said:

US have opened for visitors, only requirement is proof of vaccination by approved vaccine. No hoops to jump thru! Thailand...take note!

I do not see the USA as a shining example to follow in this pandemic.....

[ThailandRyan]

12 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

I do not see the USA as a shining example to follow in this pandemic.....

Why not?, they have their issues of course, but they have returned to some sense of normalcy with travel and arrival and departure with the tiniest of intrusion.  Sure you have issues, but then these can be avoided if you are smart in making your choices.

[jacko45k]

1 minute ago, ThailandRyan said:

Why not?, they have their issues of course, but they have returned to some sense of normalcy with travel and arrival and departure with the tiniest of intrusion.  Sure you have issues, but then these can be avoided if you are smart in making your choices.

Their track record, being the country with the highest numbers of total infections, highest number of total deaths, and currently the highest number of active cases in the world... only gets a 'could have done better' from me! They made it a political issue.... 

[ThailandRyan]

11 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Their track record, being the country with the highest numbers of total infections, highest number of total deaths, and currently the highest number of active cases in the world... only gets a 'could have done better' from me! They made it a political issue.... 

Unfortunately your right as they did muddle it up, and as always everything becomes political in the US no matter what. It was why I chose to move here, but then all governments stuck..  

Edited October 27, 2021 by ThailandRyan

[Damrongsak]

On 10/25/2021 at 3:16 AM, samtam said:

Whilst adaptation to changing circumstances is admirable, when every pronouncement here is made, you can bet your bottom dollar it will change, because the plan is never ever completely thought through. No critical thinking. Announce, react, change. Guaranteed. 

Thai style tap dancing.  If you're on a committee, it lasts as long as the free lunch and the time it takes to book the next meeting.

[skorp13]

With the powers that be changing their minds and the rules more than they change their underware i can't imagine why LOL

[NanaSomchai]

17 hours ago, Nabby said:

Laos? Erase it from the map. It's a Chinese protectorate now and belongs to the People's Republic of China. 

Care to elaborate a bit more on that? Thanks in advance.

[drenddy]

Let me get this straight.

 

You need, first, to register on the thailandpass, which will be online on November 1st.

And it will take few days to get approval?

 

Correct?

I know thais who booked flights for November 1st...

 

And still you cannot pick your hotel in Bangkok, as not many have SHA+...Only AQ mafia...

 

Anyways, why does it need to take few days?

Spain's travel app gives you QR code right away, they scan the code at arrival.

Why the <deleted> they need to recheck the papers, once landed in Bangkok?

Just scan the damn code...

 

OK... Lets get back to those thais who booked flights....

 

What a cluster<deleted>...

 

It seems thais are quite proud of this redtape...Oh, look how smart, we are...

 

 

Edited October 27, 2021 by drenddy

[cyril sneer]

If I was wanting to holiday here I probably would accept the hoops that need jumping through

 

Arriving to find that every tourist spot is dead and all entertainment venues are closed/won't re-open ever again is what would put me off

[thaiman]

25 minutes ago, drenddy said:

 

It seems thais are quite proud of this redtape...Oh, look how smart, we are...

 

 

Exactly!  "We've reinvented the wheel everyone.  Wait a minute, it doesn't roll"

[beano2274]

planning to go back in July next year, when more information is known, been waiting to return for a holiday to furnish my house there, but can wait.

Just gonna see how the whole thing pans out, maybe July is a little too early, but it is the school holiday time for us.

[DBath]

5 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Unfortunately your right as they did muddle it up, and as always everything becomes political in the US no matter what. It was why I chose to move here, but then all governments stuck..  

Yes, unfortunately @jacko45k is right. And things in the US are quite the SHlT SHOW these days. However, it hasn't gotten to the point where you have to worry about falling into some hole in the ground, because of all those decrepit manhole covers they have in LOS.

 

That said, I have no plans or desire to ever go back to my home country (the US) and that goes double for Thailand.

[GinBoy2]

We're going on vacation in Hawaii in December and my wife was looking into seeing if she could go from there to Thailand for a week to visit family, since we haven't been back to 2 years at this point.

 

After an hour or so on her laptop she just gave up and kicked everything into the long grass until next year.

 

So my totally unscientific analysis is that if a Thai wanting to visit family can't be bothered to jump through the hoops, the chances of Jonny sixpack and family being prepared to do the legwork for a family vacation is pie in the sky.

[gejohesch]

21 hours ago, sirineou said:

Yes but does it really make any difference if the people that come have same sort of connection to Thailand or not?

They just want people who would not otherwise come ,  to come and spend money. 

 Whether or not they have any connection to Thailand or not is irrelevant IMO.  

Sure, but I think you miss the point. The point is : what number of people can be expected to come to Thailand (of course, regardless of their motivations, as long as they come to spend money)? That's where the fabrication and delusion lies, calling everyone a tourist.

[GinBoy2]

29 minutes ago, gejohesch said:

Sure, but I think you miss the point. The point is : what number of people can be expected to come to Thailand (of course, regardless of their motivations, as long as they come to spend money)? That's where the fabrication and delusion lies, calling everyone a tourist.

Which is why this forum is somewhat skewed.

 

For all of us that post here we have some connection, either through wives, children or the horndogs among us.

 

The opinions expressed here don't represent a typical tourist, and in that respect you are right that calling everyone that sets foot in Thailand is a tourist is delusional.

 

From my previous post, should my Thai wife had actually decided to visit Thailand for family reasons, pretty sure she would have been in the tourist tally even though she wouldn't have spent a cent in any tourist destination

[Straight8]

another one here not coming anytime soon. They can get stuffed with all these rules to gain entry