Overall negative reaction to Thai Covid-19 center meeting, majority of business owners, tourists want much further and faster easing of restrictions

[Gentleman Roy]

10 hours ago, Captain Monday said:

Why is eliminating pre-flight test, something that could save a family over $USD 1000 dollars "a joke"? 

what? a family of 8?

[hughrection]

8 hours ago, Captain Monday said:

My buddy got a pre-flight PCR test in US and still got pushed into 10 day hotel on arrival due positive test in Thailand. If one is worried one is still free to undergo a pre-flight test on ones own volition.

Surely carrying a PCR test kit with you would address this. Take it in front of Thai authorities to confirm their positive test, and if shows neg. then pull them up on it.

 

They will soon let you move on as you will be making them lose face. ????

[mlkik]

19 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

9 hours, for heavens sake you could have swam it faster!

It was a struggle arriving at 7 am and trying to keep out of the bar.

 

I gave in and had my first pint at 13.30 !

[mlkik]

8 minutes ago, hughrection said:

Surely carrying a PCR test kit with you would address this. Take it in front of Thai authorities to confirm their positive test, and if shows neg. then pull them up on it.

 

They will soon let you move on as you will be making them lose face. ????

You can carry a PCR test with you but for the result it has to be sent to a lab.

 

 

[Polar Bear]

3 minutes ago, hughrection said:

Surely carrying a PCR test kit with you would address this. Take it in front of Thai authorities to confirm their positive test, and if shows neg. then pull them up on it.

 

They will soon let you move on as you will be making them lose face. ????

Do you mean an ATK? Because that's not going to prove anything. ATKs are far less sensitive than a PCR.

If you do mean a PCR, then I admire your dedication to the cause, but hauling a PCR analysis machine with you to Thailand seems overkill, and the excess baggage charges would be eye-watering.

[Ty Hareways]

Embrace their uselessness, otherwise your head will be fried so much you'll be heading for a mental home.

[terryofcrete]

Don't try to be logical about this . The only reason the test on arrival and one night stay at a high price and the chance that if you are positive you go into quarantine at a high cost or a private hospital at a higher cost is because there are influential people classed as Thailand's Elite who have invested in this profitable process ....making huge suns of money from it, including the government .... government meaning individual members of same.

[Spock]

I have been waiting to see which of Cambodia and Thailand lifts all restrictions of tourists and in particular do away with the possibility of testing positive and being compulsorily quarantined after arrival. Cambodia has now dropped all requirements including the pre arrival PCR test. I booked today to go there for a 3 month stay. I am sure I won't be the only potential arrival that Thailand's continued insistence on tests and restrictions will discourage. I also never thought that my own country, Australia, would apply less restrictions on entry and life and movement within the country itself than Thailand. 

[DaveCW]

10 hours ago, Willy Wombat said:

Back to front and upside down.

Decision making Thai Sty

Correct, there's the the right way - Then there's the Thai way....

[jerrymahoney]

1 hour ago, terryofcrete said:

Don't try to be logical about this . The only reason the test on arrival and one night stay at a high price and the chance that if you are positive you go into quarantine at a high cost or a private hospital at a higher cost is because there are influential people classed as Thailand's Elite who have invested in this profitable process ....making huge suns of money from it, including the government .... government meaning individual members of same.

Phuket officials alarmed by number of tourists testing positive on arrival

Published on  Friday, February 4, 2022 

Officials on the  holiday island of Phuket have expressed alarm at the number of foreign tourists testing positive on arrival and are pointing the finger at allegedly fake results from pre-departure PCR tests. ...

 

“False Covid-19 RT-PCR test results are assumed to have something to do with the sharp rise  in the number of post-arrival positive tests among tourists. 

 

https://thethaiger.com/coronavirus/cv19-thailand/cv19-phuket/phuket-officials-alarmed-by-number-of-tourists-testing-positive-on-arrival

[jerrymahoney]

1 hour ago, Spock said:

Cambodia has now dropped all requirements including the pre arrival PCR test.

If you’re fully vaccinated
If you’re fully vaccinated, you only need to present proof of vaccination to enter Cambodia

.https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/cambodia/entry-requirements

 

Why Vaccine Cards Are So Easily Forged

After a career spent in cybersecurity, this is just how my mind works: I find vulnerabilities in everything I see.

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/03/why-covid-vaccine-cards-easily-forged/626971/

 

[ericdiam]

11 hours ago, mjakob007 said:

Most airlines require PCR testing prior to departure, so passengers wont escape pre-travel testing.

 

So ideally, they should have lifted hotel stay upon arrival, if they were trying to be helpflu.

 

Thai airways not need pcr test in leaving Thailand or coming back. 

Keeping test and go is all about BROWN ENVELOPES. Government corruption became the biggest problem. In any business. That why they go as slow as possible. 

These monkeys all have to go. Asap 

[samtam]

10 hours ago, Swampy999 said:

In the past 5 months 8 friends have decided not to come to Thailand due to the pathetic covid regulations here. 2 of them are UK company directors and they have spent a lot of money in previous visits to Thailand but for them the risks of having a positive test whilst here and the ensuing ramifications are simply not worth the risk. 

I too spoke to two friends yesterday, one from USA, and one from France. Both were regular visitors to Thailand pre-covid, but with the continued Test & Go nonsense they are not coming, and I told them I thought that was a wise choice.

 

One will go to Manila & KL, the other to Jakarta.

 

 

6 hours ago, possum1931 said:

Money! Money! Money! Then there's the protesters. The Philippines and Cambodia can open up, why can't Thailand?

Surely the answer is obvious to everyone, yet there is still the very odd one or two who cannot see this.

I think Malaysia is now quarantine / testing free too.

[sambum]

13 hours ago, mjakob007 said:

Most airlines require PCR testing prior to departure, so passengers wont escape pre-travel testing.

 

So ideally, they should have lifted hotel stay upon arrival, if they were trying to be helpflu.

 

"So ideally, they should have lifted hotel stay upon arrival, if they were trying to be helpflu."????

 

"Helpflu" - sorry for laughing, but I love the word - very appropriate!

[sambum]

12 hours ago, sirineou said:

Absolutely right.

We are flying to Greece in two weeks, and we didn't even had to do the PCR test if triple vaccinated and have the appropriate documents.

We will have a test before we go, because we are transiting in Doha and do not want to have any problems, 

People are now beginning to make plans for their summer vacation. If Thailand does not "get with the program" people will make plans to go elsewhere and by the time they adjust their attitude it will be too late. 

Once people decide on a destination and make the nessacery investments, people will not change their plans IMO. 

Correct in everything you say! Thailand "pussyfooting" around again has probably put another "nail in the coffin" for tourism this year. And the people that go elsewhere may well decide to go back to the same place NEXT year if they are satisfied with their holiday  - which is a probability rather than a possibility as neighbouring countries will be pulling out all the stops to try to boost their tourist trade. So Thailand will have dealt themselves a double whammy! 

[Gilligan In Drag]

 Thailand has a chance to get in on the ground and boost its economy by welcoming tourists as normal, as before the pandemic. Other countries have done so and more to come, others have much fewer restrictions.

 

These countries have dropped all COVID restrictions within their borders and for arriving tourists. You can go to these countries and not face any hassles at all stemming from the pandemic restrictions with the exception of Mexico where  some businesses are asking for proof of vaccination and requiring them as allowed by Mexican law. Not many yet but growing by the day, the lockdowns are  over in these countries an COVID is of no more significance than a cold or flu:

UK, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Hungary, Romania, Mongolia, Montenegro, Mexico, El Salvador, Gabon, and Yemen

Edited March 21, 2022 by Gilligan In Drag

[Destiny1990]

8 hours ago, mlkik said:

Thailand do not require an RT-PCR test pre departure as from 01/04/2022.

Therefore all airlines will update their pre flight requirements to be in line with the destination countries entry rules.

Airlines base their RT-PCR requirements on the destination country.

 

Whatever nobody coming with that amount of rules, requirements, face masks, Thailand pass, tm30, etc etc. Whole Europe is open zero rules and u think we have to be happy that one single pcr test in home country Maybe get dropped? ????????????

[cncltd1973]

13 hours ago, Adumbration said:

@spidermike007 is an intelligent and articulate guy.  But he is off the mark here.  It has nothing to do with puritanism.  The elite are sending as many workaday Thais to the wall as possible with of overall objective of obtaining their land holdings.  

exactly! glad someone said it. it's about buying up the property for pennies on the baht, once that's done then the borders will magically reopen and the economy will rise again. the landlords' portfolios will be embarrassingly bloated at the expense of the great majority, classic land grab

[martin81]

11 hours ago, mjakob007 said:

Qatar, EK, JAL, these are demanding PCR withing 48-72 hours of departure

For Qatar Air this of false. You can check on their website. They only follow rules of destination country. I flew Qatar Air BKK-DOH-CPH recently so I know also from personal experience. No test required.

[martin81]

8 hours ago, mjakob007 said:

flying on Qatar on 23/March/2022 and negative PCR test within 48 hours IS a requirement 

Well may be you were flying to a country that required it ? I Flew with Qatar to Denmark and no PCR test was required.

When I flew to Thailand recently it was required but that was because Thailand required a PCR test.

Edited March 21, 2022 by martin81
spelling error

[BangkokReady]

13 hours ago, herfiehandbag said:

I'm sure landholdings are one of the targets.

 

Pre Covid the tourist industry was probably the major economic activity which was not in the grip of the elites. Covid has provided the excuse for control measures which will ensure that it will end up in that grip.

I heard people suggest a while ago that covid was allowing people to basically buy up the tourism properties.  Either the Chinese or the Thai elite.  I think it was claimed that it was following a similar pattern to Cambodia, where the locals make very little from tourism.

[BangkokReady]

PCR 72 hours before flight, vaccinated, normal travel insurance with covid cover maybe.  That's all that is needed.

[CG1 Blue]

4 hours ago, samtam said:

I too spoke to two friends yesterday, one from USA, and one from France. Both were regular visitors to Thailand pre-covid, but with the continued Test & Go nonsense they are not coming, and I told them I thought that was a wise choice.

 

One will go to Manila & KL, the other to Jakarta.

 

 

I think Malaysia is now quarantine / testing free too.

I'm hearing similar stories. Jakarta has popped up a few times among friends / friends of friends. 

These other destinations will see a rapid increase in tourist numbers. Maybe then Thai authorities will see sense. 

 

Might be too late by then though. I mean, if you look at somewhere like Chaweng on Samui there is nothing left for tourists apart from the beach now. So sad.

[farangnomore]

12 hours ago, TooMuchTime said:

Are you trying to tell me being "fully vaccinated" means you can still contract and spread covid?  Did the "vaccine" that was made within 9 months for a 2019 virus prove to not be effective for 2021/2022 variants?

Of course "fully vaccinated" people can contract and spread covid.  I was "fully vaccinated" and got covid from "fully vaccinated" friends. 

 

Vaccine has been shown only to reduce the severity of illness, nothing else.

 

 

[mlkik]

2 hours ago, Destiny1990 said:

Whatever nobody coming with that amount of rules, requirements, face masks, Thailand pass, tm30, etc etc. Whole Europe is open zero rules and u think we have to be happy that one single pcr test in home country Maybe get dropped? ????????????

Up to you as they say in Thailand. 

 

I have been back to Thailand sevral times for breaks of 5 months at a time and the entry requirements although a pain did not stop me enjoying my life.

I am a glass half full type and not a glass half empty negative moaner.

Applied for my Thailand pass today and will be back in Thailand at the end of April.

[placeholder]

54 minutes ago, farangnomore said:

Of course "fully vaccinated" people can contract and spread covid.  I was "fully vaccinated" and got covid from "fully vaccinated" friends. 

 

Vaccine has been shown only to reduce the severity of illness, nothing else.

 

 

Even if your claim  about transmission were true, which it isn't, are you claiming vaccination has no effect on mortality? 

[NanaSomchai]

9 hours ago, terryofcrete said:

Don't try to be logical about this . The only reason the test on arrival and one night stay at a high price and the chance that if you are positive you go into quarantine at a high cost or a private hospital at a higher cost is because there are influential people classed as Thailand's Elite who have invested in this profitable process ....making huge suns of money from it, including the government .... government meaning individual members of same.

There, nailed it.

 

This is the jetski scam and the romance scam all over again 4.0.

[skorp13]

17 hours ago, Reigntax said:

I also believe the pre flight testing is a requirement to board some airlines

Also required for many transit countries. I got caught out as for Thailand the test is with in 72 hours but transit was 48 hours in Singapore so i had to do another test at LAX.....at my expense which the facility did not accept insurance. Out $150.00 USD

[Destiny1990]

3 hours ago, mlkik said:

Up to you as they say in Thailand. 

 

I have been back to Thailand sevral times for breaks of 5 months at a time and the entry requirements although a pain did not stop me enjoying my life.

I am a glass half full type and not a glass half empty negative moaner.

Applied for my Thailand pass today and will be back in Thailand at the end of April.

Up to you and Enjoy your face-mask in that heat. ????????

[mlkik]

37 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

Up to you and Enjoy your face-mask in that heat. ????????

I will take it off when swimming in the pool, drinking cold beers in the sunshine,eating good food,playing pool in the bars,shagging the mrs,lounging around at home .

Will be thinking of all the negative people freezing their balls off back in their misserable home countries 555

Up to me though 555

Edited March 21, 2022 by mlkik