BREAKING: CCSA confirms easing of entry restrictions to Thailand from Dec 16

[sirineou]

Amateur  night at the Bijou again. 

I swear , I am begging to think that for some reason they are actively trying to confuse travelers and dissuade them from coming here, 

Just when we figured out what we were supposed to do with this Thai pass, they throw another curveball.

So what do we do now? we go to a hotel, any hotel walk in the lobby and ask for an antigen test. and if the test is negative say "thank you, good by" and go to our home, or back to the airport for our domestic flight to our final destination? And what about that stuff about a taxi? 

TIT. everything about Thailand is beginning to give me a headache. 

Edited November 27, 2021 by sirineou

[Chongalulu]

15 hours ago, cyril sneer said:

what about the bars?

Yes you still have to show a paid for first beer booking to get Thailand pass… ???? 

[kevin612]

My arrival day on Dec 8th, therefore, good for those people after the 16th.

[Chongalulu]

44 minutes ago, mvdf said:

Oh my word, unbelievable people. Substantial efforts are made to reduce the requirements and here they are again, commenting about how it is a hassle, an inconvenience, a royal pain, an invasion of their sacred orifices, an aggravation of the highest order la la la. Never ever satisfied. The planet's worst Karens and Kevins.

 

What is it exactly that you all want? Just shamelessly say it outright: "JUST LET US IN. NO MORE HEALTH CHECKS. WE ARE A SPECIAL SPECIES! NONE OF US CARE IF WE INFECT THAIS!" 

Include more capitals- it may make up for the incoherence and lack of understanding in that post.

[konaboy]

Insurance?

[Sheryl]

Unclear if Thailand Pass still required. Also unclear re insurance but I would be surprised if they drop that, it is Anutin's  pet cause.

[Clarkey611]

14 hours ago, geisha said:

France a complete mess,

You'd better believe it!

[surfinglife]

18 hours ago, aussiexpat said:

Why would a hotel be interested in the hassle of doing an ATK test only with no nights booking? And I have a condo, don't need a hotel and my taxi would be straight to Pattaya 

 

Why not set up ATK at the basically empty airport?

 

Can see the Swampy Novatel across the road becoming a very busy ATK test facility lol

 

The way I read it you take antigen test at the airport, wait 20 minutes for the result and travel to your accommodation of choice (hotel, own condo etc). A big step forward:)

[superal]

18 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

Cautionary warning with new variants discovered in Africa and WHO warning of another inevitable wave in Europe. Better be safe than sorry. 

This is a breaking news story and many readers may not be aware of the seriousness of this new South African variant that is already beginning to isolate parts of Africa and also denying their flights to a progressive list of countries  . Gonna take up to 3 weeks to find out if the current vaccines will give some sort of immunity , however vaccine manufacturers are saying they may well have to tweak their formulas to meet the new mutation .  In the meantime if you have a booster jab pending you are being urged to take it asap as it will treble your protection  according to Americas chief medical officer  Doctor Anthony Fauci .  It seems this pandemic may have a few chapters left to run and any foreign travel , purely for tourism , is a real gamble and not worth the covid or financial risks .

[Gottfrid]

19 hours ago, webfact said:

They will no longer be required to book a hotel room for one night.

 

People arriving under the Sandbox scheme will now only book a hotel room for five days.

That´s what they usually call conflicting information. Hey Dude! Now you do not have to book 1 night anymore, we have raised it to 5 for your benefit! Hallelujah!

[DeeThai]

I live in thailand  can i
go to my place directly or I must book a taxi and go to hotel

Edited November 27, 2021 by metisdead
Format reset to normal.

[Almer]

Will that include ,Botswana etc

[meechai]

About changing to ATK test instead of PCR on arrival

This is why as said earlier other countries just go with pre flight testing period

 

They know that is as good as it gets & secondly the hassle of re-testing on arrival not to mention the insanity of sending anyone even in close proximity to a positive test into a 10 night quarantine at their expense in some AQH Not to mention many insurance policies may not pay for that or even the asymptomatic cases being sent for 14 nights to a hospital in Thailand....Just typing that seems insane to read back

 

Pus....All of this before they send the tourists out into close proximity of a likely much higher level of Covid  contaminants than they likely came from

 

Secondly about the "New Strain" It is another dog chasing its tail. There will NEVER NOT BE A NEW VARIANT period

They will NEVER have a vaccine against this anymore than they will have a vaccine against the common cold/HIV etc etc etc

 

Let the living get on with living. It is as it always was a 97% survivable virus for most. Let those that fear it or are more susceptible due to age infirmity etc do what THEY need to do for added protection. Let the rest of us get on with our lives.

[ThaiFelix]

I would have thought the news of the new variant coming out of South Africa, which scientists are saying is 'horrific' and 'worrisome', would be more befitting of Breaking News than this dribble.

 

https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/new-covid-variant-south-africa-11-26-21/index.html

[henry213]

It's all <deleted>! Can't they make anything easy/normal,,,,,,I'm still not coming,,,,,,Let me know when these FOOLS come up with a plan that most contries have that are simple, I've been to 6 counties in the last 2 yrs all easy........................STUPID THAILAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tonypandy]

19 hours ago, JustAnotherHun said:

It will not stay empty.

With the latest announcement of government's around the world last night regarding a new variant, don't be surprised if the ATK test is back to PCR in the next day or two. Amazing what these governments and MSM does to the stockmarkets. Check out Pfizer and how thier price rocketed on such an announcement. 

[aussiexpat]

2 hours ago, 0815 said:

Try this: A real tourist might book a hotel room as he does't have a condo ? So he can book a transport to any hotel instead of going to an quarantine hotel for a night.

No, I'm sure they mean an SHA++ hotel which is linked to a hospital in case of positive test?

[Parsve]

20 hours ago, webfact said:

They will no longer be required to book a hotel room for one night.

 

People arriving under the Sandbox scheme will now only book a hotel room for five days.

Is this another example of the strange mathematic rules of Thailand?

[MrJ2U]

"CCSA confirms easing of entry restrictions to Thailand from Dec 16"

 

Just in time for the new variant.

 

 

[chiman]

We are at the Airport Novotel now, arrived last night at midnight, 1 person in line in front of us at check in, PCR test took a few minutes, no line.  Arrival about an hour earlier with paper work (QR code, PCR test results) was very smooth, lots of staff to process us.   They ask for boarding pass, QR code, and test results.  Do not fold your QR code, they cannot scan it… you can also show them a copy of your code on a phone.  

 

They would need to scale once numbers of travelers increase.. but for now, I would say come… waiting for our results now, was told 6 to 10 hours, we are at 9 hours now and no results yet… they said as soon as results come, we can go if negative.  Its basically test and go… just waiting in a hotel room.  I would not want to be waiting at the airport with the kids, etc.  

[alex8912]

20 hours ago, gearbox said:

I guess the difference is SHA+ hotels are no longer required, but why booking of transportation? Test the tourists at the airport and let them go if negative. Some may want to use public transport.

I get picked up almost every time. I don't understand this process of needing to book transportation anywhere. 

[chiman]

30 minutes ago, henry213 said:

It's all <deleted>! Can't they make anything easy/normal,,,,,,I'm still not coming,,,,,,Let me know when these FOOLS come up with a plan that most contries have that are simple, I've been to 6 counties in the last 2 yrs all easy........................STUPID THAILAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As previously shared, we just arrived and the whole process has been simple and easy… totally reasonable 

[IamNoone88]

They should stop all Africa arrivals before the new variant get out of control.

[aussiexpat]

3 hours ago, Bangkok Basha said:

How would one book a taxi in advance from outside of Thailand? It's not like taxis provide an invoice or copy of a reservation if booked ahead of arrival. Wouldn't an airport pick-up by the Novotel be okay?

Current system is that you book an SHA++ certified hotel whereby hotel includes transport and PCR test.

 

How this works now where hotel arranges transport and ATK test but a room is not required, no idea

[chiman]

Just now, IamNoone88 said:

They should stop all Africa arrivals before the new variant get out of control.

It’s probably in the wild, globally speaking, agree that targeted restrictions from Africa could slow the eventually spread (if its got a competitive advantage) 

[sapson]

 Incredibly Xenophobic or just stupid.

 

if they want tourists an easy solution would be simple requirements.

 

pre flight covid test.

proof of double vaccination.

proof of insurance.

 

Confirmed at check in or arrival.

 

No applications or Thailand pass nonsense, book a flight and insurance take a covid test before departure and enjoy your holiday albeit with the risk of covid from non tested or double vaccinated Thais all around you.

[MrJ2U]

20 hours ago, James105 said:

$$$ from taxi

$$$ from test

 

Presumably the hotels still want a piece of the covid action in the absence of tourists.    

They've already paid a lot for that useless sticker declaring them COVID-19 safe.

 

 

[alex8912]

18 hours ago, Puccini said:

The OP gives no link to the source, presumably a web page on the website of CCSA or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on which this information is based. Therefore, I shall treat is an uncorroborated rumour for the time being.

 

I don't know how official https://tp.consular.go.th/ is but as at 09.00 hours UTC on 26 November 2021, it still has this requirement listed:

Source: https://tp.consular.go.th/en/plan

 

If the rumour is true, that web page will probably be updated on 1 December and until then, Thailand Pass applications will still require documents as per above to be uploaded.

 

Why do you say Dec 1? 

[yogi yogi]

world locking down due to new variant and thailand just letting everyone in.  recipe for disaster?

[alex8912]

14 hours ago, tomacht8 said:

LOL There must have been someone who noticed that the planned change could not be implemented in a process-related manner within 4 days. Planning geniuses wherever you look.

I hear there will be updates on Thailand Pass Dec 10 to 12. So maybe that's why they switched the new plan that makes little sense ( don't some of us get picked up at the. Airport?) Now I bet trying to apply for Thailand Pass on Dec 13 will prove to be a disaster then the new bugs can maybe sorted for Dec 16? Hmm. Big lol.