Thailand may cancel Test & Go due to Omicron: Anutin

[Bkk Brian]

7 minutes ago, KhaoYai said:

Yes I do think its as easy as a tick box. Hospitals for example:  very few, if any, Covid patients are unconscious when admitted.  At some point soon after admission, the hospital has to get their NHS number. The patient may either know it, its on their vaccine pass or available though their address or GP.  The NHS number will tell them everything they need to know about the patient, very quickly. The hospitals are already supplying some of the information already, I can't see another few tick boxes being a burden.

Ok you think it is great, so do I, not happening simple as that............................

[KhaoYai]

1 hour ago, Chivas said:

Notwithstanding that Brits coming back into the UK could face quarantine very quickly as well it appears so add £2000 to the cost of a trip

I very much doubt that.  Over the last few days there has been much talk about new measures to deal with the spread of the Omicron variant. Indeed a meeting of all 4 nation's head was held yesterday to discuss them.  It is highly likley that there will be an announcement very soon but I am confident that any new measures won't include travel bans.  Remember that having put several African countries on the Red List a few weeks back, they were taken off again in a matter of days.  The government stated that Omicron was already spreading throughout the UK through community transmission so there was nothing to be gained by travel restrictions.

[Felt 35]

35 minutes ago, Soyboy said:

Any date been mentioned as to when this will be coming into effect (if it does) ?

No, but I set a personal timeline for approx. 6 weeks ago when the increase in infections started due to cooler weather in the Northern hemisphere and not at least a longer period where people have generally lived and travelled as if Covid-19 was over, so I say 3-7. January. Btw, I think it is very understandable that Thailand will do like most other countries and increase restrictions to slow down the transmission of Omicron and try and prevent the health sector from being overrun.

Felt

[spidermike007]

Anutin is an extremely weak man and a coward. He is not exactly a tribute to Thai men. His paranoia and foolishness is unmatched. Nobody should be listening to him and no regard should be paid to him. He has always been in way over his head, he has no qualifications in the health field, and he is a substandard minister of health, on every measurable level. 

 

The highly selective nature of the shutdowns was far more dangerous than letting a small nunber of people in, who have this new variant. Whatever they do, it will find its way in. 

 

So, stop the sadism. Let people get back to work and let people have some fun. It is a low grade variant and it will spread and work its way through the population. And that might be a good thing. This is just another example of silly cowards pretending to be tough men. 

Edited December 20, 2021 by spidermike007

[Midwit]

10 hours ago, Glassjaw said:

The booster helps a lot. Why is it so hard to comprehend viruses mutate and vaccinations need to keep up with it. Without vaccines we’d be so much worse off. Give it a few weeks and if people in hard hit countries don’t start dropping like flies then we should just let it spread with adequate protection.

I think we all should be on our 8th booster now that seems to be making things so much better. Imagine having an immune system that fights diseases. It is impossible because the human race died off centuries before because we didn’t have vaccines to fight off the Omicron variant. The sniffles made everyone drop like flies.  

[chrisbangkok]

Cancel that then wave goodbye to any tourist money next 2 or 3 years etc ... 

 

[VBF]

1 minute ago, Midwit said:

I think we all should be on our 8th booster now that seems to be making things so much better. Imagine having an immune system that fights diseases. It is impossible because the human race died off centuries before because we didn’t have vaccines to fight off the Omicron variant. The sniffles made everyone drop like flies.  

I take it you forgot the sarcasm emoji? ????

[Bangkok Barry]

1 hour ago, KhaoYai said:

Yes well, I live in Thailand but due to its laws, I work elsewhere.  Much like others, I have pressing reasons to get back to my home.  How would you have dealt with all the 'normal' issues that crop up from time to time?  People all have different reasons but mine are family, home and dealing with an insurance company that's trying to gey out of paying for a recent break-in.  Try doing that from 10,000 km away with a 7 hour time difference.

 

If you're already in Thailand or have no pressing need to visit, its easy to have that kind of attitude.

Personally, I made the choice not to have family in Thailand but work elsewhere. I had a great job travelling the world as a journalist. I am from the UK but spent only a few weeks there, and some of that was for work. Then, in the course of my work, I met my future wife. She joined me on the road for 18 months, but it was boring for her when I worked long hours and like any Thai she missed family, so I decided to move here with her. In doing so I lost a great amount of my work, but I had no intention of ending up as an old man living alone, so... I doubt if the marriage would have worked had I put my own interests ahead of hers and been away for long periods. Would I have liked that if our roles were reversed? As it is, we married two weeks after meeting and that was over 30 years ago.

[billd766]

6 hours 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'.

But who would pay for the flights etc for a 14 day holiday in Thailand knowing that you would spend most or all of it locked away in quarantine?

[HashBrownHarry]

12 minutes ago, billd766 said:

But who would pay for the flights etc for a 14 day holiday in Thailand knowing that you would spend most or all of it locked away in quarantine?

Correct, no one would.

 

As have been spoken about the majority of people returning are not 'tourists' but long term visotrs coming back to family or people that plan to spend a couple months ( or longer ).

[stigar]

11 minutes ago, HashBrownHarry said:

Correct, no one would.

 

As have been spoken about the majority of people returning are not 'tourists' but long term visotrs coming back to family or people that plan to spend a couple months ( or longer ).

Ur rigth.Businesspeople too and thais coming from abroad.My last trip i stayed about 3 months.Next trip 3-4 months with my lady.Anyway not before march next year.

[cheapcanuck]

If goes through, I will not be coming to Thailand for next year. I will be happy to spend my dollars somewhere else.

[pomchop]

11 hours ago, Glassjaw said:

The booster helps a lot. Why is it so hard to comprehend viruses mutate and vaccinations need to keep up with it. Without vaccines we’d be so much worse off. Give it a few weeks and if people in hard hit countries don’t start dropping like flies then we should just let it spread with adequate protection.

So IF IF IF everyone had gotten the shots like adults when first available instead of playing pretend doctors and scientists and fighting all attempts to get to 100 % vax rates would the virus ever have mutated to the point that it may well shut down the world again?  I don't think so.  The virus is very "smart".  People not so much.

[Mitkof Island]

11 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 ? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of us expats are in the same situation. It would seem logical for the Thai government to allow those already in the Thailand Pass system for the next 60 days to enter. After that shut the door again.

[Tuvoc]

One youtuber says the CCSA meeting is on 24th this week. That is the day my flight arrives, I might be OK .

[SiSePuede419]

That's why I'm bringing my laptop with me on Thursday.  Might get caught in a COVID trap and have to work from a hospital bed, if I test positive.  Or from a quarantine hotel.

 

Do Thai mobile phone companies care if you have a Hotspot on your phone? 

 

Because I doubt even private hospitals have Wi-Fi and I'll need to create my own Wifi connection.

 

On the positive side, some PCR tests can't detect Omicron because it has a mutation in the snip of DNA which causes it not to match and a false negative.

 

So, doubt that I will test + even if infected with Omicron from the flights.

Edited December 20, 2021 by SiSePuede419

[Tuvoc]

5 minutes ago, SiSePuede419 said:

Do Thai mobile phone companies care if you have a Hotspot on your phone?

I don't think so, I did this with AIS for 14 days last year in hotel quarantine (because the hotel wifi was hopeless)

[GringoSteve]

12 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

They really need to cancel it and cancel all New Years celebrations including closing all bars/entertianment venues.

<deleted>

[ukrules]

13 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

They really need to cancel it and cancel all New Years celebrations including closing all bars/entertianment venues.

If they don't do this before New Year it's coming soon after anyway.

[geisha]

11 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Exactly.

 

And it's not only the expense. Who wants to spend 50% of a 2 week holiday locked in their hotel room?

There will be no more tourists if it’s a lockdown quarantine. The high season will be over before it starts.  Maybe a Sandbox program would save some .

[alex8912]

10 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Well I verified I can't change my ticket routing but I also discovered (no doubt old news to many, but new to me) that there is now a "Bangkok Sandbox" option and as far as I can tell, the only difference between it and T&G is that:

 

- have to book & prepay an SHA++ accommodation for 7 nights (but confined to room only until 1st PCR result)

-have to stay in Bkk 7 days

 

And of course would probably have to redo the whole TP process.

 

Not ideal but better than AQ.

 

Provided Sandbox  too does not get scrapped....

Jeez. I'm sorry that you and many others have to spend so much time on your holiday ( or those about to arrive in Thailand holiday ) trying to research possible ways to get home or to get back to Thailand for a visit.  Let's hope this new scheme doesn't happen at least for two weeks so all of you can just come back or arrive to Thailand safely.  This is really becoming sad on so many levels to so many people. It's really keep your fingers crossed ???? time and it really stinks! Best of luck to everyone. Today was the day I was booking my ticket to Thailand for Jan and booking test and go and insurance.  I bet a lot of others were/are hoping to do the same and now we have more potential bad news. Grrrr

[JackGats]

8 hours ago, LoVeFuN said:

I have Thai pass and go for 9th January and hotel for one night, will they change it so we have to quarantine and still allow entry. I suppose we have to wait and see.

So you did the TP well in advance. I thought no more than two weeks in advance were recommended. 

[Sig]

15 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....!!!

 

 

Seriously?  TIT, things can change any given day for any given reason, sane, logical, or not.

[Soikhaonoiken]

13 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 ? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well posted Richard, my exact thoughts, I planned to travel early February 22, to see my Son, but if they introduce 7 day quarantine I will just cancel my flight and other plans, and me and my son will miss out again.... 

 

[RichardColeman]

I actually just got a caution on Facebook for using the word Twit and Anutin in the same sentence.

[Twin Peaks]

What a potential mess for me and my wife. We would have been back from the U.S. yesterday after 23 days here. She got covid 2 days before departure, fully vaxxed with the AZ vaccine. Took her for monoclonal antibody treatment 3 days ago, she rebounded 2 days after treatment.  Was able to change return flight, hotel, and my AXA covid policy dates with relative ease. AXA was a bit of a pain tried to call in, press 9 for English and got nothing but Thai. Had to email and they reissued a certificate in 2 days. We are now due back in Thailand on Dec 31st. I am thankful that it happened in the U.S. instead of testing positive in Thailand and then being shipped off to a hospital. So far, I continue to test negative. I had covid 18 months ago and vaccinated 8 months ago. Guess natural immunity is a thing.

 

I reapplied for both our Thailand Passes this morning. Hers came back within 4 hours mine will probably take days.

Edited December 20, 2021 by Twin Peaks

[Tuvoc]

54 minutes ago, JackGats said:

So you did the TP well in advance. I thought no more than two weeks in advance were recommended.

I did mine a month in advance. No reason to wait if you have everything that is needed.

[RichardColeman]

1 hour ago, JackGats said:

So you did the TP well in advance. I thought no more than two weeks in advance were recommended. 

I have to say that in my opinion any regulations should be allowed to be changed, BUT I also think that if you have booked the TP and the hotel and insurance, then your bookings and TP should be honoured. They wont, but it should be, it would give all of us at least some clarification and certainty

[soi3eddie]

2 hours ago, Tuvoc said:

I don't think so, I did this with AIS for 14 days last year in hotel quarantine (because the hotel wifi was hopeless)

Most hotel WiFi is hopeless everywhere (with a few exceptions). Always make sure that you have a back-up connection.

 

[Tuvoc]

2 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

I also think that if you have booked the TP and the hotel and insurance, then your bookings and TP should be honoured.

Agreed. If they announce the withdrawal of Test & Go, they should at least make it effective a week or so into the future - maybe 1 Jan - so that people have time to re-arrange their travel if necessary.