Chances of less onerous entry requirements in the near future?

[HatYai2]

 

My wife and I want to come back to sort out my affairs and enjoy being back in LOS. We lived for 15 years BC in Hat Yai.

This year we can only stay for about 6 months. It seems almost every possible bureaucratic and financial obstacle is being placed before all travellers.

Is there any hope or rumour of an easing of restrictions and red tape involved?

[DrJack54]

7 minutes ago, HatYai2 said:

Is there any hope or rumour of an easing of restrictions and red tape involved?

Not currently. 

[SheikYabodyline]

Only when it hurts them in the pocket compared to their regional peers will requirements ease. Then it'll be a race to the bottom as usual, forget 'quality tourists' and 'HNW individuals', they provide a drop in the ocean compared to the revenue derived from mass tourism.

[HatYai2]

6 minutes ago, SheikYabodyline said:

Only when it hurts them in the pocket compared to their regional peers will requirements ease. Then it'll be a race to the bottom as usual, forget 'quality tourists' and 'HNW individuals', they provide a drop in the ocean compared to the revenue derived from mass tourism.

Surely it is hurting like hell already. It must be near breaking point. Hence my question.

[HatYai2]

On our News this morning a Thai involved in Tourism in Samui stated that its devoid of Tourists

[stigar]

I dont belive anything before i see it.

[smutcakes]

Its hardly that damn onerous- test & go, one night in a hotel, a PCR test and the same on day 5. You are here for 6 months so plenty of time.

[HatYai2]

2 minutes ago, smutcakes said:

Its hardly that damn onerous- test & go, one night in a hotel, a PCR test and the same on day 5. You are here for 6 months so plenty of time.

We are from South Africa!

 

[smutcakes]

3 minutes ago, HatYai2 said:

We are from South Africa!

 

Ah ok, maybe you should of mentioned that bit of pertinent info ????

[HatYai2]

10 minutes ago, smutcakes said:

Ah ok, maybe you should of mentioned that bit of pertinent info ????

Apologies.

But I still think it should be much easier than it is for everyone. That is why i didn't mention it

We are aiming for early April.

It will be a close run thing to get the O-A 'Visas' with all the its paperwork requirements. Many of the requirements are interdependent

[smutcakes]

6 minutes ago, HatYai2 said:

Apologies.

But I still think it should be much easier than it is for everyone. That is why i didn't mention it

We are aiming for early April.

It will be a close run thing to get the O-A 'Visas' with all the its paperwork requirements. Many of the requirements are interdependent

I did it in December and it was really really efficient. The only bit which is a bit annoying is the Thai Pass response, which for me was quite slow, and the phone and emergency email did not work. Everything else was really well run and efficient. I landed from Doha at 7pm, was in the hotel after getting drive through PCR test by 8.30pm. Was woken up by reception the next morning at 7am to tell me i could leave. Was home 15 minutes later. If i had to do a day 5 test i would just go back to the hotel for a night....

[RedArmy]

33 minutes ago, HatYai2 said:

We are from South Africa!

 

Have a look at the "Royal Vacation" website - They are based in Bangkok - I used them in September & would highly Recommend their services - They took care of everything for me & emailed me all the documents that was required for entry into Thailand - Reach out to them via email.

[DezLez]

13 hours ago, RedArmy said:

Have a look at the "Royal Vacation" website - They are based in Bangkok - I used them in September & would highly Recommend their services - They took care of everything for me & emailed me all the documents that was required for entry into Thailand - Reach out to them via email.

What was the cost of their services?

[scorecard]

16 hours ago, smutcakes said:

Its hardly that damn onerous- test & go, one night in a hotel, a PCR test and the same on day 5. You are here for 6 months so plenty of time.

Covid- 19 Omicron is still around and very likely not going away any time soon and possibly new variants will emerge. 

 

The Thai Gov't has a duty and a responsibility to enact laws/regulations to try to protect all and given the nature of the 'beast' the laws/regulations must/will change, perhaps often. Reality of life.

 

I agree that the current 'Thailand Pass' is not that difficult, the documents required are readily available/achievable, submision is not difficult and 99% are approved immediately/quickly.

 

I arrived home in Thaland at Suvarnabhumi airport on 9 Dec 2021 with a Thailand Pass.

 

Exited the aircraft and in the car provided by the swab test/1 night hotel I booked and departed the airport within less than 20 minutes. In fact about the same overall time, or less, for a normal international arrival. 

 

Pleasant nurse waiting at the hotel, swab test done in less than a minute (about 6:15 pm).

 

Next morning at 6:00 am I got a call (recorded message but with my name and passport number) indicating a negative report.

 

It's not that onerous.

 

A quick google search shows that it's much more comlex in many other countries.

 

On the other hand it seems that it's not difficult to get into the USA. However they're still recording low vaccination rates, around 150,000 new positives every day and the average number of daily Covid- 19 deaths around 3,300.  Strange situation.

[fulhamster]

17 hours ago, HatYai2 said:

Surely it is hurting like hell already. It must be near breaking point. Hence my question.

It's hurting the everyday Thai in the pocket.

 

The 1% are quite snugly sitting in their penthouse suites watching their bank balances increase by the hour

[RedArmy]

5 hours ago, DezLez said:

What was the cost of their services?

The prices vary, depending on which hotel you choose to stay at.

 

They arranged everything for me - 14 nights in a hotel - 3 Covid tests - Airport pickup - 30 days Covid insurance - Applied for my COE then emailed me all the required documents to print out.

 

It would be much cheaper now.

They saved me a lot of time & took all the pressure off me. I would highly recommend their services.

[HatYai2]

21 hours ago, smutcakes said:

I did it in December and it was really really efficient. The only bit which is a bit annoying is the Thai Pass response, which for me was quite slow, and the phone and emergency email did not work. Everything else was really well run and efficient. I landed from Doha at 7pm, was in the hotel after getting drive through PCR test by 8.30pm. Was woken up by reception the next morning at 7am to tell me i could leave. Was home 15 minutes later. If i had to do a day 5 test i would just go back to the hotel for a night....

From here its seems daunting to time things for the visa and the other documents and procedures that need each other to get done eg police clearance 6or 8 weeks or longer, so I can't do any bookings or visa until I have that in my hand

[smutcakes]

1 minute ago, HatYai2 said:

From here its seems daunting to time things for the visa and the other documents and procedures that need each other to get done eg police clearance 6or 8 weeks or longer, so I can't do any bookings or visa until I have that in my hand

Yeah i can understand that. I did not need anything like police clearance, just hotel booking (with covid test) flight booking, Insurance.

[Kalasin Jo]

On 2/10/2022 at 5:18 PM, smutcakes said:

Its hardly that damn onerous- test & go, one night in a hotel, a PCR test and the same on day 5. You are here for 6 months so plenty of time.

The onerous risk is being transferred, symptomless, to the private hospital linked to your hotel for sandbox or 5 day " test & go" especially if the compulsory insurance to get the Thailand Pass either refuses to pay out or will not deal directly with the hospital leaving you to pick up the tab and try your luck with the insurer. And to call it test & go is a bit of a joke: more like come, test. go for 3 days if negative but then test again on day 5 and only then if negative can you really go

 

I've just done it and survived with  2 negative tests, the second result was required to be able to check in for my internal flight home. I felt pretty nervous being allowed out on days 3,4 &5 so didn't much. I opted to stay in the same hotel on full board for the entire time too.

 

I wouldn't choose Thailand for a holiday though at this time. I'm back to see my wife after more than a year's separation.

 

Meanwhile, Europe and especially UK are now announcing rapid opening up and ending restrictions  as although detected infections are still very high on a daily basis hospitalisations and deaths, although still I believe triple the death rate for the ' flu, are well within health systems manageable levels......at least until yet another variant pops up.

[fulhamster]

On 2/13/2022 at 11:06 PM, Kalasin Jo said:

Meanwhile, Europe and especially UK are now announcing rapid opening up and ending restrictions 

And then when they arrive in Thailand they are immediately told to wear a mask everywhere or face fines/ jail/ deportation.

 

[mtls2005]

On 2/10/2022 at 4:40 PM, HatYai2 said:

It seems almost every possible bureaucratic and financial obstacle is being placed before all travellers.

Is there any hope or rumour of an easing of restrictions and red tape involved?

Which obstacles do you find most daunting?

 

Which restrictions and red tape are preventing you from returning?

 

Is it the planned duration of your stay? Or some other issues?

 

 

[HatYai2]

2 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

Which obstacles do you find most daunting?

 

Which restrictions and red tape are preventing you from returning?

 

Is it the planned duration of your stay? Or some other issues?

 

 

South African Gov departments lack of urgency.

R15.50/$1

Local Visa processes red tape.

Limited flights out of SA.

Need I go on?

[mtls2005]

2 hours ago, HatYai2 said:

Need I go on?

Only if you have additional restrictions? Do you? Or is that it?

 

2 hours ago, HatYai2 said:

South African Gov departments lack of urgency.

R15.50/$1

Local Visa processes red tape.

Limited flights out of SA.

Not sure how many of these are thailand-related? Or if they are, visa?, then nothing is really new. Same-same visa requirements.

[essex boys]

I arrived on January the 15th 2022 the checks etc done at the airport were efficient and done quickly, same as the transport to the hotel, it was dealt with very efficiently and quickly, I arrived on the test and go scheme which at the time reqd an overnight stay in a hotel and a PCR test on day 1 I was then allowed to check out the next morning after a negative test and then had to do another PCR test at a government hospital on day 5/6 or7 the only thing I would be concerned with now is that I’ve heard that the insurance companies are no longer providing cover for asymptomatic quarantine, when I booked my insurance I was covered for asymptomatic quarantine…me personally now I wouldn’t take the chance if I couldn’t have got asymptomatic cover.

[donx]

8 minutes ago, essex boys said:

I arrived on January the 15th 2022 the checks etc done at the airport were efficient and done quickly, same as the transport to the hotel, it was dealt with very efficiently and quickly, I arrived on the test and go scheme which at the time reqd an overnight stay in a hotel and a PCR test on day 1 I was then allowed to check out the next morning after a negative test and then had to do another PCR test at a government hospital on day 5/6 or7 the only thing I would be concerned with now is that I’ve heard that the insurance companies are no longer providing cover for asymptomatic quarantine, when I booked my insurance I was covered for asymptomatic quarantine…me personally now I wouldn’t take the chance if I couldn’t have got asymptomatic cover.

The problem with the insurance isn't limited to asymptomatic quarantine. My wife tested positive the day before her scheduled return to the US. She had a mild sore throat, so she wasn't asymptomatic. Her travel insurance, AXA, said she was covered (it would expire at midnight on that day) and she was told to contact one of their approved hospitals listed on their website. Every one of the hospitals on their list in Bangkok was full and refused to admit her. Fortunately, my wife is also a Thai citizen, so she was able to go to a quarantine hotel paid for by the Thai government for 11 days. Once there, they took x-rays and blood samples multiple times and treated her with an anti-viral drug for several days.

 

What would she do if she wasn't a Thai citizen? I don't even want to think about it. Fortunately, my son and daughter who travelled with her tested negative, so they were able to leave Thailand as scheduled. It would have been a disaster if they had to remain in Thailand for another week as they are college students who would miss an additional 2 weeks to classes. And my son would have a hard time proving he is a Thai citizen since he never obtained a Thai ID card which both my wife and daughter possess. So we would most likely be on the hook for whatever the quarantine costs would be for him.