Test and Go suspension: Thai Chamber of Commerce sees minimal impact on economy of "correct decision"

[webfact]

Picture: Manager

 

The head of the Thai Chamber of Commerce Sanan Angubonkul told Manager that the suspension of Test and Go until January 4th would have only a minimal impact on the Thai economy.

 

For one simple reason.

 

There are hardly any tourists in Thailand at the moment.

 

Sanan said that it was the right move faced with the threat from the Omicron variant as he urged his members to maintain their guard.

 

He said that foreign tourists would come to Thailand in the second quarter next year - from March.

 

He anticipated 5-6 million next year.

 

Health insurance plans that meet the long stay visa requirements

 

 

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[Gsxrnz]

I agree - minimal impact.

 

The economy was already run over multiple times by a steam roller.  One more pass will do negligible additional damage.

 

Muppets. 

[HappyExpat57]

27 minutes ago, webfact said:

There are hardly any tourists in Thailand at the moment.

A glimmer of honesty. Refreshing!

[petermik]

Koh Samui: Tourism businesses fear catastrophic effect of suspension of Test and Go

 

Not according to the above lot.....

[tomacht8]

He's right. The international arrivals have fallen by 99% since 2019. To kill the last percent doesn't matter much anymore.

He got the number of 5-6 million from the TAT free style number lottery wheel of fortune.

[Mr Meeseeks]

That's a lovely looking shirt he's wearing, but I find that type of Thai silk garment tends to chafe. 

[DLock]

2 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

That's a lovely looking shirt he's wearing, but I find that type of Thai silk garment tends to chafe. 

I concur.

 

I also found the Filipino Barong made from pineapple leaf fibers equally uncomfortable. 

[thaiman]

19 minutes ago, tomacht8 said:

He's right. The international arrivals have fallen by 99% since 2019. To kill the last percent doesn't matter much anymore.

 

Exactly. 

Thailand doesn't need tourism.  It hasn't had any for nearly 2 years and everyone seems to be ok.

How many people do you see starving now in Thailand?  What's the unemployment rate, something like 2%?  Do you see a shortage of luxury cars on the streets of Bangkok? Still loads of traffic, seems like people can afford petrol?  How about smart phones? Everyone still has them?

Thais aren't suffering like everyone claims.  The economy has pulled back a bit, but the Thais have been so spoiled for so long!

[ChrisY1]

I only know of one person that was going to travel to Thailand....now she's not. Just going to be too hard.

[tomacht8]

55 minutes ago, thaiman said:

Exactly. 

Thailand doesn't need tourism.  It hasn't had any for nearly 2 years and everyone seems to be ok.

How many people do you see starving now in Thailand?  What's the unemployment rate, something like 2%?  Do you see a shortage of luxury cars on the streets of Bangkok? Still loads of traffic, seems like people can afford petrol?  How about smart phones? Everyone still has them?

Thais aren't suffering like everyone claims.  The economy has pulled back a bit, but the Thais have been so spoiled for so long!

Be sure the loss of 20% GDP has an impact. The state-registered unemployment figure of 2% is junk, only those registered with social security are counted.

[Misterwhisper]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

He said that foreign tourists would come to Thailand in the second quarter next year - from March.

 

He anticipated 5-6 million next year.

Perhaps. Unless the government does yet another flip-flop, of course. And as we have repeatedly seen, these DO happen all too frequently.

[trainman34014]

Here we go again; according to the 'Brains' of this country an Atomic Bomb won't stop the recovery, because Covid is 'no match' for Thailands brilliance !

[CRUNCHER]

But it does give the Government an excuse to suspend (even cancel) Thailand Pass, which was not working, without losing face for a stupid idea in the first place.

[internationalism]

" tourists would come to Thailand in the second quarter next year - from March"

 

March is still the first quarter.

Probably he means April.

 

Once all newspapers around the world put false headline, that thailand is closing it's borders, it would take sometime, before potential travellers will find phuket sandbox with an easy entry, just 2 costly pcr tests

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

For one simple reason.

 

There are hardly any tourists in Thailand at the moment.

????

[Bkktodd]

So my 1000s of dollars i spend has minimal impact.  Other countries will gladly take my money

[Bkktodd]

4 hours ago, CRUNCHER said:

But it does give the Government an excuse to suspend (even cancel) Thailand Pass, which was not working, without losing face for a stupid idea in the first place.

What was so stupid about it? Easier than the COE process.  Have you done either or just doomsday like most here

[ukrules]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

The head of the Thai Chamber of Commerce Sanan Angubonkul told Manager that the suspension of Test and Go until January 4th would have only a minimal impact on the Thai economy.

Interesting, so January 4 is the important day to watch out for, the peak of the high season.

 

8 hours ago, webfact said:

He said that foreign tourists would come to Thailand in the second quarter next year - from March.

Also interesting, they're not coming until March, the start of the low season.

 

This suggests to me that this guy knows exactly what's coming on or before January 4 which is less than 2 weeks away - an extension of the 'Test and Go' suspension, until at least March.

 

This is is in line with my expectations. I wouldn't be making any travel plans at all right now.

[bangon04]

The Thai Chamber of Commerce is a champion for the thousands of Thais who need a livelihood from the grey economy surrounding the tourism industry.

 

 

[bangon04]

11 hours ago, internationalism said:

" tourists would come to Thailand in the second quarter next year - from March"

 

March is still the first quarter.

Probably he means April.

 

Maybe he is still hoping that the Chinese millions will come in February...

[freedomnow]

Hospital admission risk up to 70% less with Omicron than Delta, UKHSA finds

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/23/hospital-admission-risk-up-to-70-less-with-omicron-than-delta-ukhsa-finds

[soi3eddie]

16 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

That's a lovely looking shirt he's wearing, but I find that type of Thai silk garment tends to chafe. 

Chafing aside, his shirt looks more like a decoration runner for a dining table.

 

[soi3eddie]

17 hours ago, webfact said:

The head of the Thai Chamber of Commerce Sanan Angubonkul told Manager that the suspension of Test and Go until January 4th would have only a minimal impact on the Thai economy.

Sadly, none of the pandemic or Thai travel restrictions will have any effect on his and his cronies' salaries whilst many members of the Thai public suffer enormous hardships with little, if any, assistance.

 

[soi3eddie]

15 hours ago, thaiman said:

Exactly. 

Thailand doesn't need tourism.  It hasn't had any for nearly 2 years and everyone seems to be ok.

How many people do you see starving now in Thailand?  What's the unemployment rate, something like 2%?  Do you see a shortage of luxury cars on the streets of Bangkok? Still loads of traffic, seems like people can afford petrol?  How about smart phones? Everyone still has them?

Thais aren't suffering like everyone claims.  The economy has pulled back a bit, but the Thais have been so spoiled for so long!

As I always told my ex-wife (Thai), "the money has to come from somewhere". How are the personal debt levels of many Thai citizens these days? That could be a clue as to why you've observed lots of new cars etc. The day of reckoning is coming and there will be plenty of foreclosures and land/property repossesions or defaults on all this borrowing. I have never seen so many homeless in Bangkok, even living on the embankments of Khlong Saen Saeb. Never saw that before the pandemic.

 

[soi3eddie]

14 hours ago, CRUNCHER said:

But it does give the Government an excuse to suspend (even cancel) Thailand Pass, which was not working, without losing face for a stupid idea in the first place.

Definitely an easy out to avoid loss of face. The (inflated) projected numbers just weren't coming under Thai Pass. 

 

Edited December 23, 2021 by soi3eddie

[soi3eddie]

2 hours ago, bangon04 said:

Maybe he is still hoping that the Chinese millions will come in February...

...are the Chinese even allowed to exit from China and travel overseas in 2022?

 

[RichardColeman]

Course it wont effect thai gdp numbers greatly  if thailand does not open, the country will potter along at a miserable 1% gdp again.  BUT what it will do is dismantle the thai tourism jobs and business by atleast another 25%-50% as they will not simply survive yet another non tourism and PM and Anutin yoyo'ing 

[Daithi85]

17 hours ago, thaiman said:

Exactly. 

Thailand doesn't need tourism.  It hasn't had any for nearly 2 years and everyone seems to be ok.

How many people do you see starving now in Thailand?  What's the unemployment rate, something like 2%?  Do you see a shortage of luxury cars on the streets of Bangkok? Still loads of traffic, seems like people can afford petrol?  How about smart phones? Everyone still has them?

Thais aren't suffering like everyone claims.  The economy has pulled back a bit, but the Thais have been so spoiled for so long!

You can not be serious..are u actually here in Thailand or commenting from a far off land? 

[bangon04]

2 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

...are the Chinese even allowed to exit from China and travel overseas in 2022?

 

maybe not, but he can still dream, can't he......

[sezze]

19 hours ago, thaiman said:

Exactly. 

Thailand doesn't need tourism.  It hasn't had any for nearly 2 years and everyone seems to be ok.

How many people do you see starving now in Thailand?  What's the unemployment rate, something like 2%?  Do you see a shortage of luxury cars on the streets of Bangkok? Still loads of traffic, seems like people can afford petrol?  How about smart phones? Everyone still has them?

Thais aren't suffering like everyone claims.  The economy has pulled back a bit, but the Thais have been so spoiled for so long!

Like i always said , people always complain about the hurting of the people but they only see bars , hotels , tourist related things , and that is so everywhere around the world . The fact if , world economy is going up fast . Companies cannot follow orders , creating delays , rising inflation , ... Thailand , a heavy tourism related country , but the total impact on economy is 20% , and with the other sectors growing , prob the impact is now down to 15 or 10% then before covid . Did it create havoc in some areas , sure , like i said , all tourism related stuff , and in heavy tourism related towns/cities .

BTW Thailand economy has grown fast in the past 20y , many people are prob going back to more basic stuff . Lots of people can live a whole lot cheaper if they want to , and that isn't the case for Thailand alone .