Thailand to resume registration for quarantine-free ‘Test and Go’ program on Feb 1

[CartagenaWarlock]

I thought the 300 baht surcharge should cover for health insurance for at least a month or two. 

[Polar Bear]

This is the most bizarre iteration they have come up with yet.

[Will B Good]

5 hours ago, kimamey said:

Don't worry mate that's not what she told me last night. 

Thought she looked a little flushed this am.

[Adelphi]

The people coming up with these rules are completely delusional.  They think that Thailand is so wonderful that foreigners will jump through any hoop to get in - wrong.  Very few real tourists will visit Thailand with this nonsense.  Within a few months when it is clear that they are getting very few real tourists they will think again and make life simpler - no test/quarantine on or after arrival .  They have undermined the tourist industry and peoples confidence in visiting Thailand.  Consequently when a sane entry system is put in place it will take many years, if ever, before Thailand gets back anything like its very lucrative tourist industry.  As is so often the case it is the ordinary people who pay the price for incompetent leaders - while the incompetent leaders are completely unaffected by the economic damage they have wrought.  Very sad to see a country I like so much being so needlessly damaged.  

[Danderman123]

39 minutes ago, Adelphi said:

The people coming up with these rules are completely delusional.  They think that Thailand is so wonderful that foreigners will jump through any hoop to get in - wrong.  Very few real tourists will visit Thailand with this nonsense.  Within a few months when it is clear that they are getting very few real tourists they will think again and make life simpler - no test/quarantine on or after arrival .  They have undermined the tourist industry and peoples confidence in visiting Thailand.  Consequently when a sane entry system is put in place it will take many years, if ever, before Thailand gets back anything like its very lucrative tourist industry.  As is so often the case it is the ordinary people who pay the price for incompetent leaders - while the incompetent leaders are completely unaffected by the economic damage they have wrought.  Very sad to see a country I like so much being so needlessly damaged.  

Can you suggest another country in Asia with less crazy entry regulations? 

[tomyami]

30 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

Can you suggest another country in Asia with less crazy entry regulations? 

Cambodia 72 hour per flight if vaxed no quarrantine or test on arrival, what planet are you on!!

All over social media havent see 1 positive reaction second T&G after 5 days is a money grab and a BIG inconvience 2 hotel + the place you in first 5 days not health a precaution

Edited January 20, 2022 by tomyami

[shdmn]

9 hours ago, Tony M said:

Must have SHA+ or AQ or AHQ accommodation booked for the 1st and 5th nights (for the PCR tests) ?   And you can go anywhere for days 2, 3 and 4 ?   Am I missing something here ?

Yes, the part where the hospitals bend you over and give it to you good and hard after you test positive.

Edited January 20, 2022 by shdmn

[Danderman123]

7 minutes ago, tomyami said:

Cambodia 72 hour per flight if vaxed no quarrantine or test on arrival, what planet are you on!!

All over social media havent see 1 positive reaction second T&G after 5 days is a money grab and a BIG inconvience 2 hotel + the place you in first 5 days not health a precaution

I will give you Cambodia as an exception. 

[mbenson]

What gets me is the quote I have read from the guy talking about the insurance. It is like he is blaming tourists for taking advantage of Thailand by forcing the government to pay for charges that insurance doesn't cover. First, that does not seem true to me, and I would love to know details of what exactly the government paid. I see many reports of hospitals forcing people to make 100,000 - 200,000 baht deposits due on admission. It feels like a myth to me.

It is the Thai authorities who stipulated that insurance is necessary and the amount of coverage required. If they could not specify that the insurance MUST cover everything, then whose fault is that? We just buy what is available. People are trying very hard to get policies that cover non-symptomatic hospitalization. Isn't it up to the authorities to specify what the insurance products should be and evaluate whether people have the right policy before permitting entry? I hate the insinuation that tourists are somehow forcing the Thai government to make payments when the tourists are doing the best they can to comply, and it is the Thai insurance companies that are providing inadequate products and the Test and Go platform that is evaluating compliance, apparently solely based on the stated amount of Covid coverage, not the conditions of that coverage.

 

So, I guess it is up to the Thai insurance companies to come up with products that fit this requirement, and for the platform to somehow verify that people have purchased those products. This should be fun!

[it is what it is]

9 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Astonishingly idiotic....

 

OK - Test & Go with 1 night makes sense...

 

.... but the 5th night highlights an utter degree of paranoia combined with utter stupidity and all because a handful of people have ‘travelled on’ before getting a result which was positive.

 

I can’t fathom the idiocy of discussion in that room when these decisions were being made....

 

situation normal, this is the country, lest we forget, that filled hospitals with asymptomatic 'patients'

[charmonman]

As expected, confusion reigns. I will wait until the dust settles and they clarify their new rules. I am almost tempted to just do a 7 day quarantine. At least you know what to expect.

[CartagenaWarlock]

2 hours ago, Adelphi said:

They think that Thailand is so wonderful that foreigners will jump through any hoop to get in - wrong.

Bride seekers and to some extent orgy seeker will go to any length. 

[richard_smith237]

5 hours ago, EricTh said:

 

I thought the 50,000 insurance is to cover for Covid treatment?

Will the insurance pay for an ‘extended’ isolation stay if someone who tests positive is asymptomatic ??

 

With Omicron there is a far greater risk of testing positive and far greater probability of being asymptomatic if you do. 

 

That’s the concern for many.

 

 

Edited January 20, 2022 by richard_smith237

[Willy Wombat]

https://apple.news/ARdMQ81g8Qkqy8m3dugP1Jg

[sirineou]

They got Thailand's greatest governing minds together and this is what they came up with to revive tourism? 

    

 

[stigar]

2 hours ago, mbenson said:

What gets me is the quote I have read from the guy talking about the insurance. It is like he is blaming tourists for taking advantage of Thailand by forcing the government to pay for charges that insurance doesn't cover. First, that does not seem true to me, and I would love to know details of what exactly the government paid. I see many reports of hospitals forcing people to make 100,000 - 200,000 baht deposits due on admission. It feels like a myth to me.

It is the Thai authorities who stipulated that insurance is necessary and the amount of coverage required. If they could not specify that the insurance MUST cover everything, then whose fault is that? We just buy what is available. People are trying very hard to get policies that cover non-symptomatic hospitalization. Isn't it up to the authorities to specify what the insurance products should be and evaluate whether people have the right policy before permitting entry? I hate the insinuation that tourists are somehow forcing the Thai government to make payments when the tourists are doing the best they can to comply, and it is the Thai insurance companies that are providing inadequate products and the Test and Go platform that is evaluating compliance, apparently solely based on the stated amount of Covid coverage, not the conditions of that coverage.

 

So, I guess it is up to the Thai insurance companies to come up with products that fit this requirement, and for the platform to somehow verify that people have purchased those products. This should be fun!

I just read in the news here that thailand will require that tourists need to have a incurance that cover all expencives related to covid during their stay in thailand.If they dont have that on arrival they MUST buy an updated package at arrival.According the news the thai goverment is sick and tired of helping cover hospitalbills for tourists.They have give 100 million bath allready they say.Now is enough.I wonder what the new incurance will cost????I guess this will be announced soon from he goverment.

[zoza]

11 hours ago, Will B Good said:

So does the 5th night have to be spent in same hotel as 1st night?

 

What is the purpose of having to be in a hotel (other than money).....it just increases the chance of the infection spreading when I could be at home.

i have got my Thailand pass  and have booked my flight, hotel, plus taxi plus PCR tests

plus Insurance/and provided receipts for everything bar my pre-72hour flight; PCR test 

i presume as they have still reinstated all previously granted Thailand passes? 

as i was granted my Pass before they had the stop-go-stop ? are they accepting these?

and can i still fly on the 6th of Febuary ,   

[gp2002]

It doesn't really matter because on January 31st they'll change their minds and postpone it to another date. 

Comical ????

[Straight8]

7 hours ago, puck2 said:

I'm sure, the Thai Immigration/government is the hottest favorite for the international price of:

 

Which country has the most idiotic, unreal  and ridiculous immigration rules?

 

 

 

Um... I think it could be Thailand?

[worldview]

This is not really a resumption of 'Test n' Go' - it looks more like the 7 or 10 day AQ that is currently in place - but they have reduced the days to 5?? - it is amazing that after all these months of dealing with this issue, that they still make things 'clear as mud' 

[darrenr]

So does the RAT Test on day 1 and 5 have to be in the same hotel or can you do it on day 1 in pattaya and then travel to Koh Chang and do it on day 5? Or have to do both in pattaya before travelling around ?

[tomyami]

25 minutes ago, worldview said:

This is not really a resumption of 'Test n' Go' - it looks more like the 7 or 10 day AQ that is currently in place - but they have reduced the days to 5?? - it is amazing that after all these months of dealing with this issue, that they still make things 'clear as mud' 

Its actually 7, 1 day in each AQL and 5 days in between can be different hotels if your out and about you might pick up covid then 10 more days,

1 week AQL looks a good alternative at least after 7days your free with more choice of hotels/location and room types, or sandbox,

Its really a gouging tourist tax, just picking the one with the least hassle and where you locate.

Edited January 20, 2022 by tomyami

[overherebc]

14 minutes ago, tomyami said:

Its actually 7, 1 day in each AQL and 5 days in between can be different hotels if your out and about you might pick up covid then 10 more days,

1 week AQL looks a good alternative at least after 7days your free with more choice of hotels/location and room types, or sandbox,

Its really a gouging tourist tax, just picking the one with the least hassle and where you locate.

That is the best way to go about it. 7 days 'sandbox' booking then free to travel. Removes a lot of the uncertainty.

Picking the right hotel for your 7 days is a part of it. I wouldn't really mind that if I knew I was able to order decent food etc. I could not handle claggy boiled rice and weeds for a week.

[eight]

13 hours ago, Will B Good said:

My lady don't care.....she just keeps demanding I come back....555.......maybe she is running out of money?

Dont think so. I just saw a old fat geezer giver her a fist full of $$$$$.

 

SOH ? 

[hotchilli]

14 hours ago, Tony M said:

Must have SHA+ or AQ or AHQ accommodation booked for the 1st and 5th nights (for the PCR tests) ?   And you can go anywhere for days 2, 3 and 4 ?   Am I missing something here ?

The common sense is missing.

[HashBrownHarry]

14 hours ago, madmitch said:

That wasn't the case previously. Ridiculous!

Always been the case at Phuket sandbox.

[HashBrownHarry]

14 hours ago, Will B Good said:

I live north of Chaiyaphum....so I would face three, seven hour drives or five pointless nights in a hotel....pure genius

Or you could stay in the big smoke and party bewteen days 1 and 5 - lol.

 

I'm in the same boat, live 4 hours outta BKK.

 

BUT and it's a big BUT, as someone that has been locked in a hotel room for 49 days over the last 18 months it's a huge improvement than quarantine.

[HashBrownHarry]

12 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

I'll stick with my 7 days hotel AQ. Chances of catching covid between 1st and 2nd test in AQ hotel is pretty remote compared to mixing with the 142th per million ranked untested thais. Don't mind sacrificing a few days as  I should be in country for minimum 14 months

I've also considered this option, as you mention there is much much less chance of a positive 2nd test.

 

However, earlier this month, after 2 weeks in quarantine i test positive on my 3rd day out.

 

I was out and about once released but not really anywhere very busy.

 

Just goes to show we're all gonna get it at some point, i've had it twice now, June 2020 ( not vaccinated ) no symptoms and Jan 2022 ( double vaxxed ), mild cold.

[dogfish180]

6 hours ago, Danderman123 said:

Can you suggest another country in Asia with less crazy entry regulations? 

Cambodia! I arrived last week, was through the airport and in a taxi to my hotel in 30 minutes. Everything is open with zero restrictions.

[wensiensheng]

13 hours ago, kimamey said:

Wasn't that the idea that you could go anywhere on the island after the negative test?

Yes. But why test again on day 5 now? Tourists have 5 days roaming around during which they may catch the virus. Lots of covid here, my daughter is isolating at home with it as we speak. So the day 5 test serves what purpose?