Details from today’s Thailand Covid-19 Center meeting, including Test and Go changes

[snoop1130]

PHOTO: Prachachat

 

The Thailand Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has discussed the general Covid-19 situation and additional domestic regulations at a major meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O’Cha, today, February 23rd.

 

Firstly, CCSA spokesperson Taweesilp Visanuyothin mentioned at a press conference that the color-coding for all provinces would remain the same. Currently, there are 44 provinces in the orange zones, 25 in the yellow zones, and 8 in the blue tourist zones – including Pattaya/Chonburi and Bangkok. No provinces were in the dark red or red zones.

 

The zone colors, notes TPN media, are used to provide general rules and mandates for Covid-19 restrictions, with dark red having the toughest restrictions and green zones the lightest.

 

The CCSA also announced the guidelines for on-site courses for low-risk educational institutions nationwide. The schools can provide offline teaching if teachers, students, and employees are considered low-risk contacts. The in-class exams can proceed under provincial preventive measures if high-risk contacts are not reported at the institutions.

 

Regarding the regulations for international arrivals, the CCSA has initially approved the replacement of a second on-arrival RT-PCR test with a self ATK (rapid) test on the fifth day of a visitor’s arrival, starting March 1st. A hotel stay was not mandatory while doing the self-test and the results could be submitted electronically by a tourist on their own. A test before coming to Thailand was still required.

 

Full Story: https://thepattayanews.com/2022/02/23/details-from-todays-thailand-covid-19-center-meeting-including-test-and-go-changes/

 

-- © Copyright The Pattaya News 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.

 

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[internationalism]

the previous article didn't state "initially"

[DezLez]

So much for the recent "no need for any increase in restrictions" statement!

UK and elsewhere are lifting all restrictions whilst Thailand starts re-imposing them!

[mahtin]

The nationwide mask mandate, including outdoors and even alone on a motorbike, remains.

(from the linked article)

 

 

Hopefully there will be no photos in AseanNow reports depicting politicians without a mask.

 

[ukrules]

40 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

Regarding the regulations for international arrivals, the CCSA has initially approved the replacement of a second on-arrival RT-PCR test with a self ATK (rapid) test on the fifth day of a visitor’s arrival, starting March 1st. A hotel stay was not mandatory while doing the self-test and the results could be submitted electronically by a tourist on their own. A test before coming to Thailand was still required.

It was inevitable, as is the further reduction in restrictions and the gradual revocation of all rules related to covid.

 

In fact I won't be susprised if they decide that there's no longer any need to publish daily figures within the next month or two

 

This will come at a cost though, there's not going to be any Chinese tourists, potentially ever again.

 

They would happily deter the entire world from coming to Thailand for a half promise of some future Chinese tourists which  I now believe will never materialise.

[nattaya09]

Look for the false positive rate on the first test to go up

[EricTh]

This self-test on 5th day is unnecessary, how can you expect tourists to do this reliably?

 

The antigen test should be done on the first day and there shouldn't even be one day of quarantine.

 

The insurance reduction is a welcome move but how much do we have to pay to get usd 20k insurance to cover 30 days?

[tomyami]

antigen on the 5th day sill a chance for asymptomatic incarceration

[JackGats]

2 hours ago, EricTh said:

......

 

The insurance reduction is a welcome move but how much do we have to pay to get usd 20k insurance to cover 30 days?

Maybe we get coverage for 20k but we pay the same as we paid for a 50 or 100k coverage?

[ThailandRyan]

3 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Regarding the regulations for international arrivals, the CCSA has initially approved the replacement of a second on-arrival RT-PCR test with a self ATK (rapid) test on the fifth day of a visitor’s arrival, starting March 1st. A hotel stay was not mandatory while doing the self-test and the results could be submitted electronically by a tourist on their own. A test before coming to Thailand was still required.

This lines up with my Test and Go approval from before December 22nd and I enter the country on the 25th.  Lets see if they still make me do a PCR test and 5th night stay at a hotel even though the 5th day would be on March 1st or 2nd since I land at 2350 hours on the 25th.........common sense would say no PCR test or 5th day hotel stay as it was not required for my Test N Go that I have, but then this is Thailand.

[tomacht8]

Looks like Thailand arrivals are falling again. Unfortunately I couldn't find anything current. I think if tourist arrivals had gone up we would have read hooray news from the TAT. The current "simplifications": 5 day self-test and insurance 20K don't bring much life into the arrival numbers. Best 1% was removed from 100% complicated paperwork hurdles. The generals just don't have what it takes to run the country.

[Soikhaonoiken]

11 minutes ago, tomacht8 said:

Looks like Thailand arrivals are falling again. Unfortunately I couldn't find anything current. I think if tourist arrivals had gone up we would have read hooray news from the TAT. The current "simplifications": 5 day self-test and insurance 20K don't bring much life into the arrival numbers. Best 1% was removed from 100% complicated paperwork hurdles. The generals just don't have what it takes to run the country.

Spot on about tourist numbers, yes the number of arrivals must be very low now high season has ended, that's why they don't mention it,, also they don't mention haw many vaccine shots there giving these days, no doubt also low numbers... 

[Andycoops]

So basically all they've done is replaced one test with another so you are still at risk of being whisked away if positive.

 

Will be interesting to see how they deal with thousands of tourists all over the country, who don't bother to submit the 5 day ATK test.

[jacko45k]

12 hours ago, DezLez said:

So much for the recent "no need for any increase in restrictions" statement!

UK and elsewhere are lifting all restrictions whilst Thailand starts re-imposing them!

It appears restrictions and requirements for incoming Thailand visitors have been eased, not substantially, but a little. A self administered RTK test after the 5 days is much easier, and I suspect a precursor to eliminating the day 5 test altogether. Also a lower insurance burden.

What the UK and some other countries are doing should not push Thailand to act too soon. Those countries are much further into the omicron wave and in a position of steeply falling infections, hospital admissions and deaths. Thailand is in the midst of rising numbers, and have historically done much better reducing Covid mortality than UK, USA, and most European Countries anyhow. 

 

[DezLez]

12 hours ago, DezLez said:

So much for the recent "no need for any increase in restrictions" statement!

UK and elsewhere are lifting all restrictions whilst Thailand starts re-imposing them!

Sorry but I actually meant to post the above comment in the thread regarding Alcohol restrictions being reintroduced in Kon Ken, not this thread!

[Karma80]

15 hours ago, DezLez said:

So much for the recent "no need for any increase in restrictions" statement!

UK and elsewhere are lifting all restrictions whilst Thailand starts re-imposing them!

The UK is hardly a shining beacon of covid management. Thailand is just starting to get hit by the omicron wave which is already in decline in the west. It will pass through in the same way, but we are not in the same place yet.

[Litlos]

If you think about it and do a little research it is almost impossible to fail a self administered ATK test.

 

Cheers

[Sheryl]

16 hours ago, EricTh said:

This self-test on 5th day is unnecessary, how can you expect tourists to do this reliably?

 

The antigen test should be done on the first day and there shouldn't even be one day of quarantine.

 

The insurance reduction is a welcome move but how much do we have to pay to get usd 20k insurance to cover 30 days?

 

Doing it reliably is not a problem. Reporting the result is. There is no reliable means to do this, the "Mor Chana app" being dysfunctional. Instead of "submitted electronically by a tourist on their own" they should make this the responsibility of the Day 1 T&G hotel - or drop the day 5 test altogether (better option).

 

You will have trouble finding an insurance policy for only $20,000..unless the tgia site adjusts its cover downward (currently all their policies are $50,000). Any ordinary insurance policy would cover much more and so would most travel policies. So the drop from 50k to 20k is unlikley to have much if any impact on costs of travel to Thailabnd

 

50k COVID cover for 30 days costs  3,700 baht for most nationalities  if bought here

https://www.tipinsure.com/CovidRegional/step_1

 

 

[Seppius]

Looks like Pattaya about to become a sandbox

 

Can't post the link, I think it's a banned one, Pattaya  One  World  News

[EricTh]

9 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

 

Doing it reliably is not a problem. Reporting the result is. There is no reliable means to do this, the "Mor Chana app" being dysfunctional. Instead of "submitted electronically by a tourist on their own" they should make this the responsibility of the Day 1 T&G hotel - or drop the day 5 test altogether (better option).

 

You will have trouble finding an insurance policy for only $20,000..unless the tgia site adjusts its cover downward (currently all their policies are $50,000). Any ordinary insurance policy would cover much more and so would most travel policies. So the drop from 50k to 20k is unlikley to have much if any impact on costs of travel to Thailabnd

 

50k COVID cover for 30 days costs  3,700 baht for most nationalities  if bought here

https://www.tipinsure.com/CovidRegional/step_1

 

 

 

3,700 baht is lot of money for tourists plus the first day hotel quarantine.

 

If no insurance company can cover 20k, then why did the government reduce it in the first place?

 

 

 

[DezLez]

13 minutes ago, EricTh said:

If no insurance company can cover 20k, then why did the government reduce it in the first place?

If you are seriously suggesting that a Thai Government Department would actually do it's homework and find out is something was either obtainable or make any sense before the introduction of a new policy then you must have never been exposed to T.I.T.S.

????

 

Edited February 24, 2022 by DezLez

[Sheryl]

44 minutes ago, EricTh said:

 

3,700 baht is lot of money for tourists plus the first day hotel quarantine.

 

If no insurance company can cover 20k, then why did the government reduce it in the first place?

 

 

 

 

Nothing this government has done regarding insurance and foreigners has made any sense. They appear to know nothing at all about private health insurance.

[rudi49jr]

I’m not saying it’s not a good idea to go after the corrupt RTP, but maybe Dear Leader should look in the mirror first, and to his inner circle of bent cronies. I’m guessing there’s a lot he could do and remedy there first.

[arithai12]

13 minutes ago, rudi49jr said:

I’m not saying it’s not a good idea to go after the corrupt RTP, but maybe Dear Leader should look in the mirror first, and to his inner circle of bent cronies. I’m guessing there’s a lot he could do and remedy there first.

Wrong thread, at a guess.

[86Tiger]

5 hours ago, Litlos said:

If you think about it and do a little research it is almost impossible to fail a self administered ATK test.

 

Cheers

Ding Ding Ding

 

We have a winner…..

[EricTh]

5 hours ago, Litlos said:

If you think about it and do a little research it is almost impossible to fail a self administered ATK test.

 

Cheers

Correct. There are many ways to cheat a self-administered ATK test so it's useless. 

 

Who would want to hand in a positive ATK test and risk being quarantined at a hospital on day 5?

 

 

 

Edited February 24, 2022 by EricTh

[arithai12]

I suppose they will soon drop the 2nd test as well.

In my opinion, they should drop also #1, since every traveller has to undergo PCR before departure. But I imagine already that half of the country (with fixed income) would be up in arms, or rather in keyboards.

[arithai12]

9 minutes ago, EricTh said:

Correct. There are many ways to cheat a self-administered ATK test so it's useless. 

 

Who would want to hand in a positive ATK test and risk being quarantined at a hospital on day 5?

 

 

 

Useless: I can agree with you. But who tells that to Singapore, who wants you to self-test every day for one week after arrival?

[Litlos]

5 minutes ago, arithai12 said:

Useless: I can agree with you. But who tells that to Singapore, who wants you to self-test every day for one week after arrival?

Dropped as from 21st. Singapore changes their requirements regularly, generally applicable from 1 minute past midnight on Monday morning. I just happen to be working in Singapore at the moment and get updated every week on current requirements.

 

Cheers