1 hour ago, steven100 said:

yes .....  the usual Thai scam in that everyone wants a piece of the pie.  

who in their right mind would travel to Thailand now   !!    absolutely crazy.

Well, the Thai Government have spent the last months singing from the rooftops about how they were reopening, had measures in place in the various "sandboxes" to allow safe holidays.

 

This family, naively maybe, foolishly perhaps even, believed them, passed all the checks to be allowed to fly, and came.

 

Remember they are from a society where government advice can usually be trusted, and officialdom are unlikely to be part of a scam. They don't live here, maybe have never visited before, so they believed what they were told.

I'm sure there are some nice hospital facilities they can post on Instagram.

 

Next!

1 hour ago, Robin said:

Many readers on this Forum are better informed about Thailand and Quarantine rules (scams) than the general public in Europe, so we should not criticise them if they come to Thailand for a holiday.  No rules say that Travel Agencies have to inform all customers of any potential risks, particularly in these troubled times.

Knowing the Ethics of Thai businesses, they are not going to warn tourist if they can make money from them.

Only hope for tourists to be informed is if the popular press in Europe catches on to this and make a big issue of it.

Thailand is now governed by a lot of rather stupid, frightened, old men, so why should we expect any sensible policies from them.

Yes, and if the popular press in Europe catches onto it (and the OP quotes a Norwegian newspaper report) then these stupid old men will have even more reason to be frightened - their stupidity and tolerance of avarice on the part of their clients will have destroyed yet another hope for the embattled tourist industry. 

Thailand...formerly known as the LOS (Land of Smiles)...now, LOI (Land of Isolation ???)

5 minutes ago, herfiehandbag said:

They don't live here, maybe have never visited before, so they believed what they were told.

however dumb these folk are,  they should have done their homework and checked what would a positive result entail etc ....  ( Q.  do i go to a Thai hospital if I contract Covid19  ) 

Don't blame everyone else because you contracted the virus. 

I'll bet this visit is their first and last time ....  Lol   

8 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Sorry, but I think when travelling for  holiday in the middle of a pandemic you should be reading and investigating the situation more fully yourself and not relying on 'we got the impression'

People in Europe should just get it into their heads not to come to Thailand.  I have warned all my Family and Friends to stay away until all forms of Covid 'Rules' have been dropped sometime in the future.   However; i must say that Travel Companies in Britain are making people aware of the comlexity of Thai rules and the likelyhood that they can change at the flip of a coin, resulting in people going elsewhere with a more relaxed approach.

Ignorance is no defence. They knew the risks. Brimming with selfishness, they obviously give no thought to others, including at risk people they could have infected. Typical me me me attitude. 

8 hours ago, webfact said:

We thought

... doesn't work in Thailand

34 minutes ago, steven100 said:

however dumb these folk are,  they should have done their homework and checked what would a positive result entail etc ....  ( Q.  do i go to a Thai hospital if I contract Covid19  ) 

Don't blame everyone else because you contracted the virus. 

I'll bet this visit is their first and last time ....  Lol   

 

20 minutes ago, IamNoone88 said:

Ignorance is no defence. They knew the risks. Brimming with selfishness, they obviously give no thought to others, including at risk people they could have infected. Typical me me me attitude. 

Hang about a minute, if you read the OP you will see that they jumped through all the hoops, and were under the clear impression that if the worst came to the worst and one of them did test positive then they could isolate in the hotel, for which they had paid. The ladies gripe is that instead the whole family have been forced into (an admittedly rather "Gucci") hospital.

 

So the hotel gets two weeks booking money for a family of four(you can bet there will be no refund) and the hospital gets two weeks worth, paid either by the family or an insurance company. A result for some!

 

And yes Steven, it probably will be their one and only visit, but how many others will, having heard this, never come?

outbreak at school

The children are students at Sjøskogen School, where the disease broke out before Christmas. On December 21, the municipality of s announced that a micro-infection had been confirmed in the school.

She is critical of the fact that the school was open even though there was a lot of infection there. Before the end of last week, parents were told that everyone should come and take exams and get their kids tested.

http://www.modularphonesforum.com/holidays-thailand-a-family-christmas-holiday-in-thailand-has-become-a-nightmare-for-corona-the-only-thing-we-want-now-is-to-go-home/

2 minutes ago, herfiehandbag said:

 

Hang about a minute, if you read the OP you will see that they jumped through all the hoops, and were under the clear impression that if the worst came to the worst and one of them did test positive then they could isolate in the hotel, for which they had paid. The ladies gripe is that instead the whole family have been forced into (an admittedly rather "Gucci") hospital.

 

And yes Steven, it probably will be their one and only visit, but how many others will, having heard this, never come?

The other gripe that the lady has is

“The room is nice but it is closed and we are not allowed to go out.

. We are allowed outside at a special time during the day but because there are other covid-19 patients I don’t dare to go out there,” she says.

If they had been allowed to isolate in the hotel would she have stayed in the hotel room 24/7 for the 10 day period or did she expect that she would be able to go out and carry on her holiday as normal.

https://scandasia.com/travel-agency-tui-receives-more-criticism-after-norwegian-family-was-isolated-in-thailand/

Forget going to Thailand for the next few years. And the drama isn't over for this unfortunate Norwegian family because they'll all have to test negative to board the flight home. Really, just forget about traveling (at least in Asia) for the foreseeable future. 

4 hours ago, DLock said:

I’m just surprised anyone still uses a travel agency.

TUI is a tour operator I think, not a travel agency.

9 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Sorry, but I think when travelling for  holiday in the middle of a pandemic you should be reading and investigating the situation more fully yourself and not relying on 'we got the impression'

You cannot put the blame on them

I live here. I left in June to come back in November. I checked all the information regarding the entry. I read about the risk to be "interned" only when the first case came up...and that was a few days before departure..

The official agencies should lay it out in all transparency whereas there is no information but the choice between Test&Go (not anymore) quarantine, sandbox

Maybe the travel agency should have told them but the program details is definitely not exhaustive from the official side, at least a month ago 

You should check the title and the content of the new campaign: "the trusted destination"

Simply not fair to the tourists and alike.

5 minutes ago, alyx said:

Maybe the travel agency should have told them but the program details is definitely not exhaustive from the official side, at least a month ago 

Not even now.

I arrived back 30th December. On checking into my Test and Go hotel I had to sign a form saying that if I tested positive with my PCR test I would have to be interred (my words) at their partner hospital which is at Lam Cheabang.

I wonder what would have happened if I had refused to sign........... 

Just checked TUI  on Trustpilot.....1.6 Stars out of 5, a bad rating. Perhaps they expect too much.

Thais are allowed to isolate at home or in a hotel  but foreigners are not trusted and therefore need to be hospitalized. It's all about making money.

9 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Sorry, but I think when travelling for  holiday in the middle of a pandemic you should be reading and investigating the situation more fully yourself and not relying on 'we got the impression'

No, that is the travel agency's responsibility to inform the travelers since one usually pays them extra than to fix everything by ones self.

Another reason why no one should be travelling to Thailand now.  Yes they should have checked but to be fair the rules seem to change almost daily here so you never know what you might have to face.

8 hours ago, Jeff Olssson said:

I would generally agree that one needs to find all information about the regulations before traveling but I also think travel agencies bear the responsibility to clearly inform people about the risks of traveling under the current pandemic but they don’t provide full information because it simply is not in their economical interest.

 

Quite often information is either overlooked or deliberately with held in order to secure the booking . I think quite a few have falling ill of this. 

9 hours ago, DonniePeverley said:

There is no excuse to force people into a hospital if they are asympotomatic,

A person can pass it on and infect others even if they are asymptomatic, but still positive.

 

6 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

Strange if you are in quarantaine in a hospital if there are no of only mild symptons.. It is all about money apparently

If being infected with Covid is confirmed it doesn't matter whether symptoms are displayed or not, the patient still has Covid.  It's about isolating the infected, not just the money.

My AQ hotel in Pattaya specifically said if a PCR is positive I would be taken straight away to Bangkok hospital Pattaya for a 10 days stay. I think this family should have read all the itinerary from TUI as im sure it would explain in detail.

8 hours ago, Jeff Olssson said:

I would generally agree that one needs to find all information about the regulations before traveling but I also think travel agencies bear the responsibility to clearly inform people about the risks of traveling under the current pandemic but they don’t provide full information because it simply is not in their economical interest.

 

There is a showbiz saying that "all publicity is good publicity  - however this is not the case here". This will make people who read the story wary of using TUI in the future!

Well they can't isolate  at home. If they develop  further  covid symptoms they are in the best place: a hospital. What is the alternative?

7 hours ago, jacko45k said:

What did they think their arrival test was for.... positive or negative, no action? As this reads I simply see someone not accepting their own responsibilities.

You need to read more closely. You are simply wrong in your presumptions.

59 minutes ago, Ginner said:

Quite often information is either overlooked or deliberately with held in order to secure the booking . I think quite a few have falling ill of this. 

They fell ill!

 

Whoa! She looks angry..., no fruit basket? 

4 minutes ago, Sig said:

You need to read more closely. You are simply wrong in your presumptions.

So you say......

1 hour ago, DjSilver said:

No, that is the travel agency's responsibility to inform the travelers since one usually pays them extra than to fix everything by ones self.

Inform them verbally or in the form of printed documentation?

Anway supplying travellers with detailed medical information  is not the job of a travel agent.  Given that information  and procedures changes constantly it would  not be wise for travel agents to advise on such matters.