Thailand may cancel Test & Go due to Omicron: Anutin

[david555]

3 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

One thing I think he should do is give a guarantee of at least 1 months notice. At least this would give people a chance to reschedule and reapply for thai farce passes. as it is he could be about to cost many people millions of baht in cancellations which will not endure him and thailand to future tourism

What is the benefit of 1 month advance notice with a variant who is likely 5 times more quick to infect   ?? 

[placnx]

3 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Cancelling the test and go program will not only destroy my plan to get back to the family after 2 years away due to covid, but totally destroy thai tourism for  2022 and beyond. It's an absolutely nuts idea. If Thailand is willing to cancel the test and go after a month, it means thailand will never be open as it will be closing every 3-4 months when variants raise their heads.

 

He would be better addressing and publishing who and where these cases are coming from. Is it all migrant workers ? Is is all arrivals from say India with bogus certificates ? Is it us Brits catching it between testing and flying ? Is is a country known for bogus travel info ? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please understand that unless every country has rigorous checking of arrivals it will do no good trying to cut off arrivals from a few countries deemed hotbeds of Omicron. The variant will just do an endrun.

[BusyB]

4 hours ago, Sheryl said:

 

I'm in Cambodia with plan to return on the 2nd and TP in hand. I was thinking they were unlikely to change things prior to the New Year....!!!

 

 

Friends have been asking me "When are you going to Thailand?". And I've been telling them I'll look at the requirements at the very end of December/first week of January because it's changing all the time and I have no idea how they'll respond to Omicron.

Well, looks like the Sandbox Phuket for me now ... for now at any rate ... till they change it again ... sigh ...

It's not such a big deal for me because I'll be using a non-O/nonO-A. Time is no longer a major factor in my life right now and this won't stop me coming. This kind of U-turning will probably put paid for 2022 tourism though.

I hope you make it back OK ...

[bullseye66]

3 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

One thing I think he should do is give a guarantee of at least 1 months notice. At least this would give people a chance to reschedule and reapply for thai farce passes. as it is he could be about to cost many people millions of baht in cancellations which will not endure him and thailand to future tourism

The medical/health situation is evolving so fast you can't give monthly targets.

[HashBrownHarry]

2 hours ago, FridgeMagnet1 said:

Supposed to arrive on 31st using test and go. Thai pass all accepted etc. 

 

will they honor existing applications?

 

highly unlikely i'd say.

[placnx]

31 minutes ago, ukrules said:

Indeed, I mentioned this before but right now there seems to be some attitude of a false sense of achievement prevailing.

 

We're in the eye of the storm and things are about to get very real very fast.

 

Prepare accordingly. It's already too late to keep it out.

 

As for disease severity I'm not that concerned about Omicron, I'd rather have Omicron going around than Delta, not that there's a choice, come January it's going to be everywhere regardless of what they do and that's not necessarily a bad thing as it does appear to burn itself out relatively quickly.

 

The main annoyance here is not the disease itself but the way they handle it with the forced isolation, this entire forced isolation system will collapse in on itself within weeks of Omicron going wild, count on that.

 

 

Fauci and Feigl-Ding have pointed out that the much greater infectiousness of Omicron vs Delta means that even is it is somewhat less virulent it will still do more damage than Delta because so many more get infected, since having been vaccinated is no longer protecting well against infection. Among these cases will be the vulnerable who will end up in the ICU and fill up the hospitals. There again will not be space to treat others with serious diseases.

Edited December 20, 2021 by placnx

[aussiexpat]

Let's pretend that the hundreds of thousands of imminent arrivals with approved Thai Pass are tourists as TAT implies....

 

How many real 'Tourists' would ever come back to a country where they were made to pre-pay 1 night in hotel, PCR test, ATK test and taxi before they were free to Touristy things, only to be told...

 

...you must pay another 9 nights quarantine hotel and be locked in your room for most of your holiday, but hey, welcome to 'Amazing Thailand', no refunds so bad luck if you cancel...

[HashBrownHarry]

58 minutes ago, mike1967 said:

Surely test and go is to find cases of Covid? It's doing what it's meant to be doing so where's the problem? Doesn't make sense to me.

With a 5-7 day incubation period and PCR only required 72 hours before travelling, it will not catch all the cases.

 

With a 7/10/14 day quarantine 'it should'.

[Tubulat]

5 hours ago, Captain Monday said:

I am arriving Dec 30. Finished printing everything today Thailand Pass,  Test and Go all paid up.

 

Knew this was going to happen.  I'm just not gonna come to Thailand then - 

 

The government needs to disband the CCSA before they ruin the county

 

 

You are not the only one, I'm in the same position, everything payed.

But it was to be expected with a kind of human like Anutin.

[mike1967]

7 minutes ago, HashBrownHarry said:

With a 5-7 day incubation period and PCR only required 72 hours before travelling, it will not catch all the cases.

 

With a 7/10/14 day quarantine 'it should'.

Well, there is no Utopia. If the Thais don't die of Covid then they'll die of starvation. A friend of mines father has just been put in prison for 3 months. He had a car accident but there's no money anyway to pay for the other parties damages. The people at the top simply don't care, FACT!!! 

[1duckyboy]

I thought this was the worst possible news, but then I read he (Anutin) is ready to be the next PM.  

[Leatherneck]

I'm all set to return on the 29th but I'm starting to see and accept that the likelihood of that happening is rapidly diminishing. But at least I have a fallback with a retirement visa extension here and can continue to hide out in Bali until January 2023 if need be. And with the Thai government flip flopping all the time, I may be here until then.

[bkk6060]

3 minutes ago, mike1967 said:

Well, there is no Utopia. If the Thais don't die of Covid then they'll die of starvation. A friend of mines father has just been put in prison for 3 months. He had a car accident but there's no money anyway to pay for the other parties damages. The people at the top simply don't care, FACT!!! 

He could afford a car then why didn't he have insurance?

Free food in prison he won't starve.

[placnx]

11 minutes ago, HashBrownHarry said:

With a 5-7 day incubation period and PCR only required 72 hours before travelling, it will not catch all the cases.

 

With a 7/10/14 day quarantine 'it should'.

With Omicron incubation is faster, so getting tested 72 hours before means that you can get infected after testing! So thus new requirements for testing 24 hours before departure. With crowding in airports and closeness on aircraft, quarantine seems the only option to stop further cases from running loose in the destination, but 10 or 14 days seems unnecessarily long.

[ukrules]

19 minutes ago, placnx said:

Fauci and Feigl-Ding have pointed out that the much greater infectiousness of Omicron vs Delta means that even is it is somewhat less virulent it will still do more damage than Delta because so many more get infected, since having been vaccinated is no longer protecting well against infection. Among these cases will be the vulnerable who will end up in the ICU and fill up the hospitals. There again will not be space to treat others with serious diseases.

That remains to be seen. Personally I think they're wrong based on what's actually happening on the ground elsewhere.

 

Still, we will know for sure in a couple of months won't we?

[aussiexpat]

Oh now I understand, the Thailand returnees are slowing so they need to milk more money from each arrival to keep up the baht flow

 

"Since Decem"ber 8, the number of daily international travellers entering Thailand has fallen to less than 3,000 people per day"

 

https://thethaiger.com/news/national/thailand-sees-tourism-dropping-due-to-omicron-worries

[mike1967]

Just now, bkk6060 said:

He could afford a car then why didn't he have insurance?

Free food in prison he won't starve.

Result 5555

[placnx]

2 minutes ago, ukrules said:

That remains to be seen. Personally I think they're wrong based on what's actually happening on the ground elsewhere.

 

Still, we will know for sure in a couple of months won't we?

Seeing hospitals fill up in UK and US won't take that long. In the US they are already having a lot of admissions with cold weather in the North and Delta not finished yet.

[fersken]

Saturday he said:

He called Covid "krajork". This is a word for a sparrow but is generally used to mean "inferior" or low class. Visitors to Thailand are sometimes teased with this word if they don't spend much.

 

He said that Covid-19 had devastated the whole world but claimed that Thailand had stood up to it.

 

He dismissed the threat of the new Omicron variant adding that in time people would just need one jab as Covid would be just like a local infection, just like 'flu.

 

He said that Covid couldn't beat the Thai health service that he heads. 

 

"It's no match for our doctors", he boomed.

Now he wants to cancel Test & Go, and go back to quarantine.
And he also wants to be the next PM

I'm speechless

[martand]

5 hours ago, Captain Monday said:

I am arriving Dec 30. Finished printing everything today Thailand Pass,  Test and Go all paid up.

 

Knew this was going to happen.  I'm just not gonna come to Thailand then - 

 

The government needs to disband the CCSA before they ruin the county

 

 

They might also  keep the Test&go, yet just for those with double vaccination & booster...Wait for details till the end of the week ,when they'll officially announce it.

[Mavideol]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

alternative state quarantine measures may be reintroduced at the expense of Test & Go.

translation  == get ready for lock downs, not travel allowed and better to stock up on boozzeeeee

Edited December 20, 2021 by Mavideol

[orchidfan]

3 hours ago, worrab said:

He also said people who have already received two vaccine doses for three months should get theirbooster shots regardless of the brand they were administered previously. 

 

Just shows how much he knows as, having communicated via email with THG, they are still following the 6 months ruling. I have had 2 Pfizer jabs in Sept and have to wait until March.

Yet again Anutin is going against the manufacturers recommendations!! 2 shots of Chinese, okay get a booster in 3 months, but forget it if you have AZ, Phizer or Moderna. 

Yes,  in exactly the same situation as you. 2 Pfizer jabs in August and early September at MedPark hospital. 

Just got email reply from them that next Booster cannot be given.until March 2022, as there is no "government program" to reduce the gap to less than 6 months !

Only if you got 2 x AZ can you get a Booster in 3 months !

Great!!

[HashBrownHarry]

17 minutes ago, mike1967 said:

Well, there is no Utopia. If the Thais don't die of Covid then they'll die of starvation. A friend of mines father has just been put in prison for 3 months. He had a car accident but there's no money anyway to pay for the other parties damages. The people at the top simply don't care, FACT!!! 

What an earth are you on about?

[Danderman123]

2 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

translation  == get ready for lock downs and not travel allowed

Which means I may be trapped in Thailand for the foreseeable future. 

[HashBrownHarry]

6 minutes ago, martand said:

They might also  keep the Test&go, yet just for those with double vaccination & booster...Wait for details till the end of the week ,when they'll officially announce it.

No chance.

[mommysboy]

Probably already too late.  

 

Thailand must decide whether to go zero covid again right now, or live with omicron.  I don't think there are half measures on this one.

[HashBrownHarry]

2 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

Which means I may be trapped in Thailand for the foreseeable future. 

No one is trapped in Thailand, it's easy to leave.

[Danderman123]

3 minutes ago, HashBrownHarry said:

No one is trapped in Thailand, it's easy to leave.

Yeah, but then I can't come back if they have quarantine. I did that twice, I can't do it again. 

[Mavideol]

6 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

Which means I may be trapped in Thailand for the foreseeable future. 

it is what it is and from this bunch of no good government one can/should expect anything.... good luck then

[ThailandRyan]

22 minutes ago, placnx said:

With Omicron incubation is faster, so getting tested 72 hours before means that you can get infected after testing! So thus new requirements for testing 24 hours before departure. With crowding in airports and closeness on aircraft, quarantine seems the only option to stop further cases from running loose in the destination, but 10 or 14 days seems unnecessarily long.

Catching it is not the issue, as if cases are already here and now one homegrown actual case has been found, it is in the wild and will spread.  Nothing to see or do now.  Just time to sit back, watch, and get on with life.