Phuket Opinion: A pain in the ‘Pass’

[webfact]

The first page of the Thai notice explaining the Thailand Pass requirements. Image: MFA

 

By The Phuket News

 

PHUKET: The response by the Thai tourism machine to the “issues” with the Thailand Pass scheme launched on Monday, threatening to derail travel plans of hundreds, if not thousands of potential travellers to the country, has been appalling.

 

Anucha Nakasai, the Minister attached to the Office of the Prime Minister, admitting that there had been “some issues” with people registering through the Thailand Pass website, in order to be issued a permit to enter Thailand as a tourist, had been “noticed” was the first recognition that anything had gone wrong with the registration web portal.

 

Announcing that the issues had already been addressed, when the Department of Consular Affairs’ own Facebook page was still being flooded with cries for help from people still trying to register, was just insulting.

 

Full story: https://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-opinion-a-pain-in-the-pass-81946.php

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2021-11-08

 

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[johnhender]

Thai Pass is why I am not going - it is already a costly pain to get to Thailand an then have to jump through these nonsense hoops, No thanks . I would like to visit my friends in BKK, but not that bad,  I can spend my money in a place with no hoops to jump through , Nightlife and alcohol if I want it. Thailand's cost to actual value is diminishing - Cue the Thai-er than Thais spouting their nonsense 

[RichardColeman]

11 minutes ago, webfact said:

Anucha Nakasai, the Minister attached to the Office of the Prime Minister, admitting that there had been “some issues” with people registering through the Thailand Pass website

I'd say with a current backlog of 65,000 applications, more being added daily and no end in sight to their self caused chaos  'some issues' is a little underwhelming.

 

Still, I'm sure he'll get a nice pay rise for his efforts - they all do

[kevin612]

They want to pocket more money, meanwhile, they create more issues for themselves.

[CHEYENNE5668]

Airlines are doing well on unused nonrefundable tickets but that doesn't help Thais dependant on tourism much

[aussiexpat]

There was nothing wrong with the COE application process, it was easy to fill out, the problem was the requirements of the COE (non-refundable pre-paid taxi, hotel, PCR tests, flights and covid insurance before permission to enter). 

 

What does TP require, non-refundable pre-paid taxi, hotel, PCR tests, flights and covid insurance before permission to enter...

 

[HAPPYNUFF]

Its quite simple to fix really,  just amend the web page so all those tourists can  send their money here, and then stay put exactly where they are.

[kelboy]

EMBARRASSING 

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Announcing that the issues had already been addressed, when the Department of Consular Affairs’ own Facebook page was still being flooded with cries for help from people still trying to register, was just insulting.

Save face first... cure the issues later.

Thailand is good at white-washing.

[gim12]

the COE process was cumbersome and time consuming -.... and  thats why they replaced it, unfortunately they replaced it with an even more idiotic system, what the hell most of the <deleted> they require to be inputted can be checked by immigration officers upon arrival -its not as if they  are ovewhelmed with arrivals, i am not aware of any other country in the world that makes tourists jump through all these hoops-either open to tourists or remain shut

[robertson468]

They had a week to test the Thailand Pass and clearly did not do so, otherwise they would have ironed out all the issues before launching it.  Hub of IT?  Don't think so.

[DaveC]

2 minutes ago, robertson468 said:

They had a week to test the Thailand Pass and clearly did not do so, otherwise they would have ironed out all the issues before launching it.  Hub of IT?  Don't think so.

Rank and competence are inversely linked.

[tomacht8]

"They wrote and introduced the entry rules requiring that all travellers when applying for a Thailand Pass must submit a “medical certificate with an RT-PCR lab result indicating that COVID-19 is not detected issued no more than 72 hours before travelling."

 

That must be wrong.

[Partenavia]

Travelling to USA from Uk, just opened up today.

1. Book Flight.

2. PCR test within 72 hours of flight.

3. Double vaccination proof either on phone or certificate.

4. All checked at check in.

5. On arrival USA all checked at passport control.

END OF STORY.

[jacko45k]

2 minutes ago, Partenavia said:

Travelling to USA from Uk, just opened up today.

The disadvantage being you are in the USA and not Thailand?

[BusyB]

1 hour ago, Partenavia said:

Travelling to USA from Uk, just opened up today.

1. Book Flight.

2. PCR test within 72 hours of flight.

3. Double vaccination proof either on phone or certificate.

4. All checked at check in.

5. On arrival USA all checked at passport control.

END OF STORY.

Yeah, you really do have to ask what the real motivations for this Thailand Pass/COE malarky really are.

It patently obviously has nothing to do with disease control.

The sandboxes have shown in practical and large numbers that foreign tourists/returnees are not spreading the plague. The latest figures (10 infected) prove it in larger numbers.

So what are they (really) still insisting on it for?

[ChC1]

1 hour ago, Partenavia said:

Travelling to USA from Uk, just opened up today.

1. Book Flight.

2. PCR test within 72 hours of flight.

3. Double vaccination proof either on phone or certificate.

4. All checked at check in.

5. On arrival USA all checked at passport control.

END OF STORY.

That is not 100% true. You forgot ESTA and got something else wrong. Here we go:

1, Apply ESTA or VISA if necessary

2, Book Flight (if you can get one as now it is fully booked for days)

3, Antigen test or PCR within 3 days before the flight (not 72 hours, it means if you flight departs on 10pm Friday, you can do test any time from Tuesday; also USA recognise rapid Antigen test, PCR is not necessary)

4, Check-in with your vaccination certificate and Covid test certificate

5, Travel and arrive

 

US CBP won't check your vaccination certificate and Covid test again as they trust airlines to do the job. As any airlines caught not doing the job correctly will be fined. There is just not enough CBP personnel to check everyone's documents, as flights are FULL.

 

[madmitch]

It does appear that UAT (User Acceptance Testing) either isn't a part of the process in Thai Government projects or those that do the job are either incompetent or, more likely, aren't given enough time to complete the work to an acceptable standard.

 

No Government project ever seems to be introduced without major problems.

[Oblomov]

15 minutes ago, BusyB said:

Yeah, you really do have to ask what the real motivations for this Thailand Pass/COE malarky really are.

It patently obviously has nothing to do with disease control.

The sandboxes have shown in practical and large numbers that foreign tourists/returnees are not spreading the plague. The latest figures (10 infected) prove it in larger numbers.

So what are they (really) still insisting on it for?

I wonder about that also - having lived in Thailand or Bali during winters for the last 25+ years I glaze over when I read yet more of their efforts at  'selective' tourism where they seek to exclude some by various means  but at a time when both places need foreign cash fast, why choose this time to deter any people who will spend hard earned wages in all of the smaller businesses that are in dire straits. 

 

Nobody wants to spend a week wrestling with dodgy online applications and very few will unless they have family or an urgent need to be there - airlines will not keep flying in planes with 30 or 40 passengers as it is not their responsibility to fly in a few determined souls.

 

You have to wonder what level of destitution they are willing to inflict on poorer Thais or Indonesians before they accept things as they are and not how they dream they might be. Madness

[Bluespunk]

14 hours ago, webfact said:

Announcing that the issues had already been addressed, when the Department of Consular Affairs’ own Facebook page was still being flooded with cries for help from people still trying to register, was just insulting.

But no surprise to anyone...

[garyk]

Must be some desperate people wanting to go to Thailand with all the nonsense rules. Picking your pocket before you even arrive? Wow, shows just how travel savvy most people are. 

[RobU]

7 hours ago, DaveC said:

Rank and competence are inversely linked.

People reach their first level of incompetence after demonstrating competence at lower levels, at that point they become politicians in order to hide their incompetence and progress further up the ladder.

[PoorSucker]

12 hours ago, gim12 said:

what the hell most of the <deleted> they require to be inputted can be checked by immigration officers upon arrival

Thailand pass is the brainchild of the MFA.

MFA and Immigrations are like two old sisters not speaking to each other because of an argument they had 50 years ago.