Thailand to relax rules for international arrivals from March 1 despite COVID surge

[snoop1130]

International visitors follow a health official inside the arrival terminal at Suvarnabhumi International Airport / AFP

 

Thailand is set to relax rules for international arrivals from March 1st despite the continual surge in COVID-19 infections in the country.

 

The Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has decided to change the second COVID-19 RT-PCR test, currently required for overseas arrivals on their fifth day in the country, to a self-administered rapid antigen test and will reduce the amount of required insurance coverage from US$50,000 to US$20,000.

 

Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said today (Wednesday) that the average cost for the treatment of a COVID-19 patient in a private or state hospital in Thailand is about 300,000 baht, including those in a severe condition.

 

Full Story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thailand-to-relax-rules-for-international-arrivals-from-march-1-despite-covid-surge/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-02-23

 

- Aetna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

- Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[freedomnow]

One step in direction of normality again...woo hoo !

[John Drake]

Just put things back the way they were before the Covid restrictions.

[BangkokReady]

3 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

despite the continual surge in COVID-19 infections in the country

Well, with 30,000ish cases and less than 200 "from abroad", the surge certainly isn't coming from outside the country (as much as certain people would like to pretend that was the case).

 

Reduce the restrictions and let people decide if they want to risk getting a cold while on holiday.

[Cake Monster]

I guess the Authorities are looking at 01 March as the time when this present Outbreak Infection numbers recedes to a more " manageable "level.

They are usually somewhere close to their predictions.

[Cherrytreeview]

9 minutes ago, John Drake said:

Just put things back the way they were before the Covid restrictions.

That would involve common sense and losing face.

The fact that they have reduced insurance down to 20,000 dollars shows how serious they really think the disease is.

Yesterday i thought Thailand Pass and the testing regime was here to stay.

Gladly, this morning i think that may not be the case from Q3.

Things like the UK binning all restrictions won't have done any harm either.

Seems like a strange coincidence but it seems Thailand is beginning to wake up and smell the roses. At last.

[John Drake]

Just now, Cherrytreeview said:

That would involve common sense and losing face.

The fact that they have reduced insurance down to 20,000 dollars shows how serious they really think the disease is.

Yesterday i thought Thailand Pass and the testing regime was here to stay.

Gladly, this morning i think that may not be the case from Q3.

Things like the UK binning all restrictions won't have done any harm either.

Seems like a strange coincidence but it seems Thailand is beginning to wake up and smell the roses. At last.

Probably right. Let's hope they incrementally return to the status quo ante.

[Petey11]

Just do away with the second test unless you're going start testing the population as well. More chance of catching covid in Thailand. Oh forgot the private hospitals/hospitels would object.

[Tropicalevo]

27 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

change the second COVID-19 RT-PCR test, currently required for overseas arrivals on their fifth day in the country, to a self-administered rapid antigen test

That will be a waste of time.

So many people have a 'negative' RAT test on their phone already.

[PhuketDok]

Does this mean the Day 5 quarantine stay in an SHQ hotel is no longer required?

[sirineou]

The second PCR test and associated hotel stay was ridiculous  IMO and did very little to reduce covid in Thailand where at the same time it hurt their tourist industry. Good to see them exercising some sense. 

[internationalism]

5 minutes ago, PhuketDok said:

Does this mean the Day 5 quarantine stay in an SHQ hotel is no longer required?

yes, obvious 

[PhuketDok]

 

I just found the answer to my own question. The 5th day stay is no longer required according to Thaiger News article (see excerpt below).

 

Hotel reservations will only be required for the 1st day as travellers wait for the results of their PCR test. Travellers won’t need to book for a second hotel night on the 5th day after their arrival. 

[Willy Wombat]

I take a pcr test 48hrs before leaving Australia.

A 9 hour flight and i need to take another in Bangkok and pay for a hotel

No thanks

[thisisrascal]

Does this mean any change to the sandbox? I've already paid for my second test. 

[Seppius]

16 minutes ago, PhuketDok said:

Does this mean the Day 5 quarantine stay in an SHQ hotel is no longer required?

Pretty sure that's what it means, well only 100%

[peter zwart]

And now this ridiculous rule of 2 or 3 vaccins of the list and we're getting there.

[bkk6060]

Sure yes, why not open it all up despite people are getting sick, hospitalized and still dying. 

 

Money and the economy are more important, right?

 

Let's go!

[KhaoYai]

16 minutes ago, internationalism said:

yes, obvious 

Its not so obvious.  We've seen bad reporting/translation on Asean Now before.  Has this been approved? Has it been in the Royal Gazette? How many times has a minister or department made an announcement one day and Prayuth slammed it the next?

 

I think it seems most likely this is going to happen and I welcome it but at the moment there have been no changes on the Thailand Pass site.

[grego49]

36 minutes ago, PhuketDok said:

Does this mean the Day 5 quarantine stay in an SHQ hotel is no longer required?

Yes

[Cherrytreeview]

7 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Sure yes, why not open it all up despite people are getting sick, hospitalized and still dying. 

 

Money and the economy are more important, right?

 

Let's go!

The vast majority of spread is community spread within Thailand.

Foreigners arriving testing positive is an irrelevant decimal point.

Most developed countries worked that out months ago.

Why people don't understand this is beyond me.

Attempting to stop people earning a living by closing borders when they are more likely to catch it from their children, is a little illogical to me.

 

[internationalism]

7 minutes ago, KhaoYai said:

Its not so obvious.  We've seen bad reporting/translation on Asean Now before.  Has this been approved? Has it been in the Royal Gazette? How many times has a minister or department made an announcement one day and Prayuth slammed it the next?

 

I think it seems most likely this is going to happen and I welcome it but at the moment there have been no changes on the Thailand Pass site.

gen prayuth chairs this body:

"The Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has decided to change the second COVID-19 RT-PCR"

[Hoppyone]

10 minutes ago, KhaoYai said:

Its not so obvious.  We've seen bad reporting/translation on Asean Now before.  Has this been approved? Has it been in the Royal Gazette? How many times has a minister or department made an announcement one day and Prayuth slammed it the next?

 

I think it seems most likely this is going to happen and I welcome it but at the moment there have been no changes on the Thailand Pass site.

Was stated changes on Thailand pass will be changed on 1St March have a look then

[cyril sneer]

the day 5 testing was only ever a tactic to screw over tourists, made quite a few news stories worldwide so guess they've scrapped it for this reason

[KhaoYai]

1 minute ago, internationalism said:

gen prayuth chairs this body:

"The Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has decided to change the second COVID-19 RT-PCR"

I believe it still has to be in the Royal Gazette. I'm optimistic but I won't be calling my hotel to ask for a refund on my Day 5 booking until I see it on the TP website.

[KhaoYai]

10 minutes ago, Cherrytreeview said:

Attempting to stop people earning a living by closing borders when they are more likely to catch it from their children, is a little illogical to me.

Only a little?

[NanaSomchai]

22 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Sure yes, why not open it all up despite people are getting sick, hospitalized and still dying. 

 

Money and the economy are more important, right?

 

Let's go!

People from both sides of the spectrum (that means us the farangs and them, the Thais) have had enough with this COVID-19 nonsense, every involved sides have had enough of the restrictions, the lockdowns, the nonsense, the lives destroyed, and so on, open the damn thing already and let's goooooooooooooo!

[Will B Good]

I can't see this having a big impact on the number of 'two week' tourists.

 

Still not worth the risk of testing positive on Day 1 and spending your precious holiday in quarantine.

[zzaa09]

2 hours ago, John Drake said:

Just put things back the way they were before the Covid restrictions.

Right now, this seems to be the most reasoned logic. 

After numerous changes, modifications, revisions, obvious glitches and strong debate of the last five/seven months - appears that most everyone remain confused as to which way is up........officialdom as well as prospective travelers. 

 

The new self-administrated antigen test [another unnecessary pricey expenditure] plus the continuing insurance scam will still put people off. 

Some were suggesting, way back in Oct/Nov, to revert back to pre-Covid era entry programs - the only mandated stipulation might be proof of RT-PCR test prior to flight and vaccinated certification. 

 

At this present time, the whole of the Covid paranoia is becoming quite silly and mind numbing - everywhere. Mounting evidence is proving such. 

Don't ya think it's about time we got over ourselves?

[richard_smith237]

6 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

I can't see this having a big impact on the number of 'two week' tourists.

 

Still not worth the risk of testing positive on Day 1 and spending your precious holiday in quarantine.

I agree... its obviously better for those of us coming back anyway - but it won’t make much difference at all to short term tourists many of whom are likely to be avoiding Thailand simply because of the Thailand Pass process and Insurance requirements. 

 

I agree with a Pre-Travel PCR - thats about all that needs to be done.

How water tight does a sinking ship need to be ?....   Not that Thailand is sinking, but, attempting to keep water out is like having a mosquito net on the front door while keeping the windows open - Covid is already rife in Thailand - incoming travellers are less likely to have covid than any random member of the population.