CCSA says major meeting this Friday will discuss legal reopening of bars and nightlife, mask mandates, Test and Go, Songkran

[zzaa09]

8 hours ago, TheFishman1 said:

Get rid of Thai Pass

This appears to be a good possibility by April/May - so the strong rumor has suggested.

Returning to a "normal" entry program void of the TP, testing and outdoor/open space masking might be more beneficial for them than they might consider. 

[Burma Bill]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

is scheduled to discuss the ease of immigration measures, like Thailand Pass and Test and Go,

 

5 hours ago, Thailand said:

simply revert to pre Covid restrictions if they want tourists back and businesses on the mend..

For reference and great news from across the border in Cambodia (17 March 2022):-

 

"PM Hun Sen has stated today that Cambodia decided to cancel the PCR test requirement for entering Cambodia and allow the resumption of visas on arrival to boost Cambodia’s investment, business and tourism – as well as saving money on test equipment and medical equipment"

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501043049/pm-covid-testing-requirements-relaxed-to-to-facilitate-investment-business-and-tourism-and-to-save-money/

 

"Cambodia abolishes need for PCR tests obtained 72 hours prior to arrival and Rapid Tests on arrival"

"Visa on Arrival for all travelers to Cambodia is also being reinstated and this is applicable for all travelers, by air, land and sea."

 

However:-

"Travelers who are not fully vaccinated or not vaccinated at all, are still required to under go mandatory 14 days quarantine at a location to be designated by the Ministry."

"is the requirement for a $50,000 insurance policy for arriving passengers. Travelers who approach a Cambodian embassy abroad to get a visa are required to produce the insurance policy and the policy is also a mandatory requirement at check in counters."

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501042844/cambodia-abolishes-need-for-pcr-tests-obtained-72-hours-prior-to-arrival-and-rapid-tests-on-arrival/

 

The touchdown of the first flight from Bangkok of Thai Vietjet’s new route, Bangkok-Phnom Penh, was celebrated yesterday

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501042579/phnom-penh-welcomes-inaugural-thai-vietjets-bangkok-flight/

 

 

Edited March 17, 2022 by Burma Bill
additional information

[NoshowJones]

5 hours ago, sambum said:

One of the main stumbling blocks to attracting more tourists is this testing on arrival nonsense. People are not going to travel with a Covid free result, only to arrive in the destination country and possibly get a "false positive" test result, and then get whisked off to a hospital or hotel, (which is at great expense to themselves) for the greater part of their holiday - I know of at least half a dozen cases to which this applies.

" then get whisked off to a hospital or hotel, (which is at great expense to themselves)".

If people are stupid enough to pay it, then it serves them right. Why can't they just say "OK I will come with you, but be warned, you won't be getting any money, it is all in my bank account in my own country?"

[FalangJaiDee]

51 minutes ago, DjSilver said:

Who cares about the nightlife in Thailand? The longer it's closed the better and less sex-tourists coming to Thailand. Better to never re-open Thailands nightlife ever.

Cope. im sure you came here for the temples, boom boomer 

[sambum]

1 hour ago, possum1931 said:

" then get whisked off to a hospital or hotel, (which is at great expense to themselves)".

If people are stupid enough to pay it, then it serves them right. Why can't they just say "OK I will come with you, but be warned, you won't be getting any money, it is all in my bank account in my own country?"

When you come here (or anywhere) on holiday if you are tested and then whisked away by men in hazmat suits, I would imagine that you are probably too stunned to say too much!

 

Also, they are probably a bit reticent to complain in a country that they have probably been told is rife with corruption, and think that if they refuse to pay they may be jailed! As an aside, I know of 3 pensioners that got jailed and fined 30,000 baht for having an illegal beer in a bar, so if these kind of stories get heard by tourists, they are probably going to "stay shtum"!

[Daithi85]

1 hour ago, stigar said:

today cambodia scrap PCR for tourisrs.

Great nearly visa run time again.  ????

[Destiny1990]

Why do have tourists need to do a 10 days quarantine in Thailand while being fully vaccinated by Novavax?

Thats not very friendly!

[connda]

I know a number of people including family members who are triple vaccinated and have gotten Covid since Omicron showed up.  Asked my son how he's doing and was told he had a cold and he wanted to get back to work. 
 

[garyk]

These guys missed their calling, they would of made first class car salesmen .  

You sit down at a table and they say let me ask the manager, every time they come back to the table it is a different twist on the same con..  haha

[mstevens]

15 hours ago, superal said:

You should be proud of NZ because of the way Ardern protected the country when the pandemic started . She took the sternest measures that were successful for a time . 

You must try to keep up with your countries latest news , I copied and pasted below .

 

Ardern has lied about so many things and her popualrity has plummeted in New Zealand while the ignorant international media which lauded her seems to have rightfully turned their back on her after seeing her true colours these past two years. One of my favourite quotes (meaning lies) of hers is when she was asked why the world was vaccinating but New Zealand was not and did not have any vaccines in the country and was not expecting vaccines for many months and she said, "It's not when you start the race, it's when you finish", implying that while New Zealand started vaccinating late, but would come out of the pandemic before other countries. History shows us that New Zealand is still struggling while many others are well past the peak and coming out the other side. New Zealand is typically slow and behind the rest of the world and as a Kiwi I am not proud to say that.

[Jimjim1]

7 hours ago, DRD123 said:

Quite amazing seeing the change in attitude on this forum.

Face masks have never been effective and expecting people to wear them outside in a hot tropical climate is bizarre. 

The virus is destroyed in milliseconds of contact with UV from sunlight.

UV is used to control viruses and pathogens as a matter of course and Thailand is blessed with a lot of UV light. 

It's really not that difficult to understand and all the studies i have read show the utter ineffectiveness of masks and the increased harm of pathogen accumulation on the mask itself.

Now the the hysteria is ending perhaps science can instruct the path forward for once in this whole bloody mess?

 

No tourist wants to spend their vacation swathed in a mask in a tropical climate.

I agree with you on some points you have made but one in particular needs clarifying, your assertion that masks are “ utterly useless “ is incorrect.

The thinking behind the masks was / is that if one is infected it went a long way towards preventing that person from spraying everyone and every surface around him / her with the virus thus helping to reduce the spread throughout the population, and this appears to be weighed out by investigating science carried out by Oxford university England.

 

The sad fact is that people believe mis-information and do not read published fact properly grabbing at the straws of info that suits them.

[baboon]

11 hours ago, DjSilver said:

Who cares about the nightlife in Thailand? The longer it's closed the better and less sex-tourists coming to Thailand. Better to never re-open Thailands nightlife ever.

Who cares? Thai youngsters, perhaps? Sometimes they may want to boogie on down to some Tom Jones and maybe a skiffle band or two...

[CG1 Blue]

17 hours ago, mnomad said:

In some related good news the BA and Virgin Atlantic have dropped mask on-board requirements where not a legal requirements for inbound airlines, not the best airline, but if it applies to BA BKK-LHR route then they will be getting my business

Only problem is, BA scrapped the BKK-LHR route a few months ago

[misterphil]

I work for a Danish company in Greenland and Covid is over and finished with. 
 

No more PCR tests. 
No more masks. 
No need for vaccination QR codes in shopping malls and restaurants. 
 

Come on Thailand, please catch up with the rest of the world. 

[mnomad]

6 hours ago, CG1 Blue said:

Only problem is, BA scrapped the BKK-LHR route a few months ago

Hoping only temporarily as further lack of players would push the prices up further on Eva and Thai, but indeed I can't see any ticket sales all the way up to September which is odd, damn.

 

 

Edited March 18, 2022 by mnomad

[jacko45k]

9 hours ago, connda said:

I know a number of people including family members who are triple vaccinated and have gotten Covid since Omicron showed up.  Asked my son how he's doing and was told he had a cold and he wanted to get back to work. 
 

Quite a few work-places still have employee testing and a positive may well shut a business down... certainly the staff member will be suspended for a few weeks. Might explain why the locals take it more seriously. 

[alant]

On 3/17/2022 at 7:16 AM, RichardColeman said:

Very little point in having one without the other. 

 

Not dropping the immigration nonsense = no genuine mass tourism.

Not opening all bars, restaurants, clubs = no genuine mass tourism.

Dropping the immigration nonsense and opening up = relatively upwards tourism.

 

Simple maths equation in my book, but the TAT and others are incredibly bad with numbers and calculators

 

 

 

Not so;

I think whilst the current reasonable measures are in place TAT will be able to assure the government and us that tourism has returned to normal with only a 1% drop on previous record highs and that is because of a minor drop off in booking from Russia...

[DRD123]

21 hours ago, cardinalblue said:

Face masks have never been effective? I guess the healthcare industry has never heard of your wisdom and has been wrong ever since it’s inception 

No one in a virology lab uses paper masks mate, they dont work for particles that small they just pass through at a rate too high to be useful.

 

You are aware there ae closed loop masks with external air source used with viruses right?

 

As well as silicone full face [best for average person] and silicone face masks with a huge variety of filter sizes available for said masks.

 

Then you would know the % difference between the different masks and face shapes and beards as well as the massive difference between a silicone mask and a paper mask.

 

You do know the difference right in %?

 

Paper masks are for keeping material INSIDE the mask.

You dont want your surgeons spit in your wound.

 

 

Paper masks are not for keeping small particles from outside the mask out of your airways unless we are talking about a micron size many times bigger than a virus.

 

But you do know this dont you?

 

Your just taking the <deleted> at this point i assume because after two years i hope you can understand micron size and use of proper mask based on that micron size.

Or i have to assume you cannot be bothered to read up on it.

 

Grab a pesticide applicators course book and have a read mate it covers the basics you will want to know if you ever spray some trees as well.

 

Its very basic information i assure you.

[AustinRacing]

On 3/17/2022 at 6:52 AM, kiwikeith said:

Sounds encouraging , France has lifted mandates, Hungary, many following, it's all over rover, but there are a few slug countries out there including mine, NZ.

Comparing thailand to developed countries? Just because they don’t report on it doesn’t mean it is under control here. Far from it. Thailand as usual tries to punch above its waist pretending to be among developed nations. I know many Thais who catch Covid regularly but afraid to declare it. 

[RafPinto]

And today another daily record in Thailand, Germany etc.

All under control like the other one told us.

[RichardColeman]

2 hours ago, alant said:

Not so;

I think whilst the current reasonable measures are in place TAT will be able to assure the government and us that tourism has returned to normal with only a 1% drop on previous record highs and that is because of a minor drop off in booking from Russia...

Sheesh, mate, that must be some powerful spliff to alter reality that much.

Edited March 18, 2022 by RichardColeman

[spidermike007]

They desperately need to figure out a way to get some adults into the room, who are making the decisions, not based on politics, fear, or denial of science. But, rather based on the good of the people, the economy, tourism, and quality of life. Is that simply too much to ask for?

[mlkik]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

They desperately need to figure out a way to get some adults into the room, who are making the decisions, not based on politics, fear, or denial of science. But, rather based on the good of the people, the economy, tourism, and quality of life. Is that simply too much to ask for?

Are you referring to the Thai government or the people who reply on this forum 555.

[zzaa09]

3 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

They desperately need to figure out a way to get some adults into the room, who are making the decisions, not based on politics, fear, or denial of science. But, rather based on the good of the people, the economy, tourism, and quality of life. Is that simply too much to ask for?

Yep.

Way past the time to get over the long held charade. 

The deeper and continued rhetoric is becoming quite weary......though, I suspect they'll milk it 'til it's dry. 

[internationalism]

khasod english on the fb page some 2h ago:

"The government on Friday announced that it will do away with mandatory RT-PCR tests 72 hours prior to entering Thailand starting April 1".

[cyril sneer]

On 3/17/2022 at 6:38 AM, DjSilver said:

Who cares about the nightlife in Thailand? The longer it's closed the better and less sex-tourists coming to Thailand. Better to never re-open Thailands nightlife ever.

are you really a Dj?

[Sheryl]

1 hour ago, internationalism said:

khasod english on the fb page some 2h ago:

"The government on Friday announced that it will do away with mandatory RT-PCR tests 72 hours prior to entering Thailand starting April 1".

 

I heard "might". And also "might" shorten the quarantine duration for unvaxxed people. But will keep Test & Go/Thailand Pass

 

Given that one would still  be tested on arrival, and the consequences if positive, even if no longer required it would IMO be foolish to come here without testing before departure. Just increases the risk of an unexpected positive result (with costly quarantine or hospitalization) on arrival.

[CG1 Blue]

9 hours ago, mnomad said:

Hoping only temporarily as further lack of players would push the prices up further on Eva and Thai, but indeed I can't see any ticket sales all the way up to September which is odd, damn.

 

 

Yeah, officially the route is stopped until October. You'll see some prices for October next time you get a chance to look. 

I don't know if an airline like BA can bring forward a route restart date, for example if Thailand removes the tourist repellent measures sooner rather than later. Probably not easy to do. 

[cjinchiangrai]

In trade, they need to make vaccination mandatory. 

 

[internationalism]

21 minutes ago, CG1 Blue said:

Yeah, officially the route is stopped until October. You'll see some prices for October next time you get a chance to look. 

I don't know if an airline like BA can bring forward a route restart date, for example if Thailand removes the tourist repellent measures sooner rather than later. Probably not easy to do. 

somebody mentioned, that BA still keeps it's landing slot and is operated this season by cargo plane. 

But operating too early might be at loss. They might wait for tourist season. Besides, petrol is up and they might see trends later on 

Edited March 18, 2022 by internationalism