Thailand drops pre-departure RT-PCR tests for overseas arrivals, allows Songkran celebrations

[wealthychef]

10 hours ago, RandiRona said:

Hahaha.....more people will come without knowing if they are infected and will be declared infected once they are here...hence more money with Hospital/tel scam.....Wrong diagnosis and wrong prescription.

correct.  This does not ease my mind enough as a visitor to spend that $2000 on a trip.  I can still test positive and end up in a Thai hospital against my will for what amounts to a common cold virus at this point.  Still waiting, as will many or perhaps most other tourists.  When its *easy and fun* we will come.    Oh and by the way, Thailand is not the only country I am looking at.  Why is that hard to understand?  I don't go to Thailand for its wonderful bureaucracy and Covid policies.  At least in the USA they won't arrest me if I test positive for CoVid.  Thailand still does that, and still seems to have a "zero covid" dream going on.  

[Fat is a type of crazy]

 

38 minutes ago, SooKee said:

The problem with that theory is that most insurance with medical coverage will contain a clause about admission to a HOSPITAL being medically necessary.  As a lot of people here found out the hard way, that is the get out clause for the insurance company.  First and foremost the incarceration here for those with no or mild symptoms is NOT medically necessary (it's just a public health policy), secondly many of the facilities (hospitels and 'field hospitals') are not recognised hospitals.  On that basis it would be advisable for anyone to check the specifics of any policy they have or consider buying rather than assume 'they must cover it' or they might find there's a lot of 'iffs and buts'.

It would be good to get suggestions on an insurance policy that is fairly comprehensive such that you are covered for the situations you have noted. I have a ticket for May that can be rebooked but if I had that type of policy I might still give it a go. 

 

 

Edited March 18, 2022 by Fat is a type of crazy

[wealthychef]

7 hours ago, Danderman123 said:

Arrival on or after April 1 does not require a test, or departure to Thailand on or after April 1 does not require a test? 

 

 

departure:  no test

arrival: PCR with a chance of mandatory quarantine. 

[hotchilli]

10 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The move is part of the gradual easing of restrictions in an attempt to revive the country’s vital tourism sector, although the CCSA also decided to extend the enforcement of the emergency situation announcement for the 17th time, from April 1st until May 31st.

Drop the pre-departure test but keep the test in Thailand so they can make money in hospital bills?

[jacko45k]

9 hours ago, DezLez said:

This is back to front. 

Keep the pre departure test so you know you are fit to travel and scrap the arrival test so you are not concerned with a false positive ruining everything.

So the predeparture tests do not produce false negatives, but arrival ones do? Even your first sentence suggests it is all for the benefit of the traveler, and of course it is not. 

[hotchilli]

10 hours ago, DezLez said:

This is back to front. 

Keep the pre departure test so you know you are fit to travel and scrap the arrival test so you are not concerned with a false positive ruining everything.

Thailand is backwards, it's a perfect fit.

[jcmj]

Damn. I’m coming the 23rd. Oh well off the the clinic I go and pay $150 and hope they get the results to me in 2 days. I wish I would have known, but I know things can change on a dime there. 

[hotchilli]

10 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

the CCSA also decided to extend the enforcement of the emergency situation announcement for the 17th time, from April 1st until May 31st.

Complete nonsense.

[ba ba]

5 hours ago, Saddic said:

Disappointing and highly expected outcome (inaction) of the CCSA rubberstamp meeting... 

 

By comparison, Vietnam open immediately...  Cambodia, and Phills opening too...  Same other asian countries, India, Singapore, Malayasia, etc

 

Thailand will be at the back of the bus for Tourists when/if they finally get around to taking any action (or lack thereof)...

 

Only exception is the China block where they are still going with zero covid "strategy"... and are closing down entire blocks/sectors... good luck with that...  No opening for them anytime this year...

 

The dropping of pre-departure test is just smoke and mirrors folks...  Face saving to cover their ineptness and lack of any plan or actions...  Their 'talk' of (we'll see in July) making it endemic in July is just laughable (if it wasn't so sad... doubt anything will happen)...

 

You better be checking with your destination and airline requirements, which are likely to require some form of test...  YMMV...

you say vietnam is open well you try going there

[Homburg]

As a Westerner, at first sight this looked really dumb to me, but perhaps we need to look at it through Thai eyes rather than Western eyes?  When I did that I realised that it's absolute genius. 

 

Requirement for a negative PCR test before departure meant that the risk of an infected individual being on the plane was minimal, and so the risk of contracting the disease whilst on the plane was low. 

 

Now that requirement is dropped it is likely that every flight to Thailand will have one or more infected individuals on it, so many more people on every flight are likely to become infected and so will test positive after arrival.  

 

So by dropping the pre-departure test you could increase hospitalisations from (say) 5% of arrivals to (say) 40% of arrivals.  Those numbers are just guesstimates, but certainly show the potential for a very significant increase in income for the hospitals and an associated increase in Brown Envelopes. 

 

This is Thailand.  Money number one. Always.

[gp2002]

Colombia baby!!

 

Check it out ????

[wensiensheng]

The pre departure test was the only part of test and go that made sense to me. But then, it didn’t generate any revenue in Thailand, did it?
 

So it’s expendable then.

[Canadian Snowbird]

10 hours ago, 86Tiger said:

There is no profit in that scheme.....

There is no profit when nobody comes either.

[kiwikeith]

10 hours ago, RandiRona said:

Hahaha.....more people will come without knowing if they are infected and will be declared infected once they are here...hence more money with Hospital/tel scam.....Wrong diagnosis and wrong prescription.

Not me I have had BA.2 omicron and over it now, I have natural immunity, the experts are testifying before senator Johnson I will post the link hope you can watch it it is very long so I watched it over a few days this is a panel of the highest qualified doctors in the USA   

 

https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/news/watch-sen-johnsons-covid-panel-with-drs-robert-malone-peter-mccullough/

 

There are many doctors on this panel, its very interesting

[wensiensheng]

1 hour ago, SooKee said:

The problem with that theory is that most insurance with medical coverage will contain a clause about admission to a HOSPITAL being medically necessary.  As a lot of people here found out the hard way, that is the get out clause for the insurance company.  First and foremost the incarceration here for those with no or mild symptoms is NOT medically necessary (it's just a public health policy), secondly many of the facilities (hospitels and 'field hospitals') are not recognised hospitals.  On that basis it would be advisable for anyone to check the specifics of any policy they have or consider buying rather than assume 'they must cover it' or they might find there's a lot of 'iffs and buts'.

Personally, I don’t think admission to a hospital being “medically necessary” is really a get out clause. It sounds perfect common sense to me. If a policy is for medical coverage, why should it cover something that is not medically necessary?

 

not often I get to say this, if indeed I have ever said it before, but I am with the insurance company on this one.

[ezzra]

Things are so confusing right now with those who make the rules that the go to sleep thinking one thing and getting up in the morning thinking something else, a real la-la land managements of a 70 million people country, so folks, those decisions makes has lost the plot long time ago, so expect the unexpected at any moment and at any day, nothing will surprise us anymore...

[vukovar77]

9 hours ago, grego49 said:

The test and go scam continues,Bali,Vietnam and the Phillipines are all open and enjoying the tourist dollars that used to be spent in Thailand,

Bali is not open in a fact and only for 23 nation and with many regulations(12).Much easy to come in Thailand from my point of view.

[SooKee]

21 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

Personally, I don’t think admission to a hospital being “medically necessary” is really a get out clause. It sounds perfect common sense to me. If a policy is for medical coverage, why should it cover something that is not medically necessary?

 

not often I get to say this, if indeed I have ever said it before, but I am with the insurance company on this one.

You're taking the comment out of context.

 

Firstly it's a get out clause for for those who think that the insurance company MUST cover it.

Secondly it was a get out clause for the insurance companies when this incarceration policy first hit and a great many people thought their policies WOULD cover them because it was new to everyone, including the insurance companies who, if they can avoid paying, they will.

 

Regardless, the list of clauses in any insurance document that indicate what is not covered are just that, get out clauses, whatever anyone thinks they should be called.

Knowing what we know now though, what anyone thinks about whether the policy is fair or not is totally irrelevant; as I said it helps to read the comments in context rather than as a stand alone bitch against insurance companies which it clearly isn't ????  Attention to detail and all that.  It wasn't a post to discuss exclusion clauses or the fairness of insurance policies!

Edited March 19, 2022 by SooKee

[Canadian Snowbird]

1 hour ago, joecoolfrog said:

Makes perfect sense except that there is no money in it for the Thais.

That my friends is the disgusting truth of the matter.

There is also no money it it for the Thai's when nobody comes. I wonder if that will ever sink in and they will figure that out ... nah, too much to ask.

[Hoppyone]

10 hours ago, DezLez said:

This is back to front. 

Keep the pre departure test so you know you are fit to travel and scrap the arrival test so you are not concerned with a false positive ruining everything.

Keep the money in thailand 

[TheFishman1]

Drop the Thai pass

[sungod]

10 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

It's astounding how stupid and backwards these people are. 

Not been here long? ????

[vukovar77]

13 minutes ago, vukovar77 said:

Bali is not open in a fact and only for 23 nation and with many regulations(12).Much easy to come in Thailand from my point of view.

Vietnam is not fully open as well for many countries  and need pre-covid test and visa.

Only Cambodia is full open for 2 -3 vaccinated people.

[Isaan sailor]

Instead of announcing new improved departure regulations—they need to work on things that will really help tourism and the economy—eliminate test & go, test on arrival, and get the Baht moving in a southerly direction.

[4MyEgo]

11 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

the CCSA also decided to extend the enforcement of the emergency situation announcement for the 17th time

Hmmm, funny that, let's see if they keep doing it when it is declared an endemic, real soon now ????

 

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

10 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

It's astounding how stupid and backwards these people are. 

I'm a teacher, on the front lines...

 

A semester of lesson planning, making assignments, presentations, videos, given that much of it has been online. We just got done with final exams this week. M6, the final year before university, barely took a look at any of it. Low attendance, almost no homework. Took my final exam by giving random answers. Many didn't show up.

 

Now they're begging, can I do the exam late? Could I have another exam? Why? You didn't study, didn't do any assignments. Then they say oh, but I've been so busy preparing for university. Haha, really? You sure could've fooled me. With what work ethic? What if anything have you been learning? How to beg, cheat, make excuses? And if you're an attractive young lady, well, you know.

 

Some of these people then wind up in this wonderful govt.

[LukKrueng]

11 hours ago, RandiRona said:

Hahaha.....more people will come without knowing if they are infected and will be declared infected once they are here...hence more money with Hospital/tel scam.....Wrong diagnosis and wrong prescription.

 

11 hours ago, DezLez said:

This is back to front. 

Keep the pre departure test so you know you are fit to travel and scrap the arrival test so you are not concerned with a false positive ruining everything.

 

10 hours ago, Pib said:

Until they drop the COVID arrival tests and insurance requirements (especially the arrival test) tourist numbers will remain very low compared to pre-COVID.   Would have been better to keep the pre-departure test in lieu of keeping the upon arrival and 5th day tests.   I think most people would trust their home country test results over Thailand test results.

 

Tourists just don't want to take the chance of leaving the home country with a clean bill of COVID health but once arriving Thailand they are told they have COVID and must quarantine at selected hotels or hospitals which results in a large bill. 

You can still take the test at your home country of you want. But as the test only detects virus presence 3-7 days after exposure, and you still have 2-4 days between taking the test and arrival to your destination, the pre departure tests never made any sense. The upon arrival tests are also meaningless as if one gets infected on the flight the test won't detect it either.

[Onerak]

2 hours ago, Straight8 said:

You'll like it even better when they test you in Thailand, declare you are Covid positive, then haul your a55 off to the nearest hospital, and sting you with a hefty bill.

As I said earlier it could happen irrespective of whether there is a pre-flight test or not. With an insurance, I won't pay a hefty bill. I would simply say I have insurance that your government approved and I don't have money to pay.

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

9 hours ago, grego49 said:

The test and go scam continues,Bali,Vietnam and the Phillipines are all open and enjoying the tourist dollars that used to be spent in Thailand,

Don't worry, they got a plan. Fresh from today's Sydney Morning Herald:

 

"Thailand, once the backpackers’ paradise, now looks for five-star tourists"

[Isaan sailor]

2 hours ago, Straight8 said:

You'll like it even better when they test you in Thailand, declare you are Covid positive, then haul your a55 off to the nearest hospital, and sting you with a hefty bill.

Best comeback!  Thanks, made my day.