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We read last week that the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has agreed to cancel the requirement for pre-departure RT-PCR tests for international arrivals, effective from April 1st. (April fools day!!)

The CCSA has decided to do away with the requirement for all travelers to Thailand, under the “Test and Go” program, to take an RT-PCR test in 72 hours before their departure, by land, air, or sea. 

However, they still must take the test upon arrival and self-administer an antigen test on the 5th day of their stay in the country.

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 announcement for the 17th time, from April 1st until May 31st.

Now, this may all sound fine and dandy, but a friend of mine who works on the oil rigs in South America and travels to Thailand regularly is not convinced it will encourage tourists.

 

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He points out that they have got rid of pre-flight testing, although he could, through no fault of his own, catch a virus on the plane over and on arrival test positive.

If that is the case, he then has a huge bill while he is forced to stay in an expensive Thai hospital, and so is it worth the risk of coming here for a holiday. 

Vietnam’s open for tourists

Vietnam’s Ministry of Health on March 15 released COVID-19 entry procedures for foreign arrivals and foreign arrivals are required to:

●    Take a COVID-19 negative test using the RT-PCR method 72 hours before entering Vietnam OR a rapid Antigen test (no self-test) 24 hours before entering Vietnam. This does not apply to children under 2 years of age.
●    Make a health declaration before entry and download the PC-COVID app; and
●    In case a COVID-19 test is not taken prior to departure, a test will be taken within 24 hours after arriving in Vietnam. If negative, travelers can travel anywhere within Vietnam; no quarantine required.
Either way, there is a risk to tourists that their dream holiday could end up becoming a very costly quarantine.

Could there be a simpler method?

The bottom line is if Omicron is like a heavy case of influenza are the authorities being a bit heavy-handed?

 

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It is a game changer, for people thinking of going under those new rules. We all know the forced insurance will not cover asymmetric. So IMO people will not decide to go under those new rules.

The risk is much higher, and perhaps the rule change is they don't  make money of pre tests, and can catch more people out.

I have already booked and submitted  my thai pass, but I will take a PCR 72 hours before my flight and if positive then obviously not get on the plane. 

But I think thaipass will continue to flatline until they remove the hotel,insurance and testing for fully vaccinated people.

rules were liveralised and will be every single month until 1 July, where no any restrictions.

So vietnam, and some other countries in the region, are slowly opening. Just now.

Thailand has sandbox since June 2021 and T&G since November. Million travellers already entered, some of them multiple times.

Some travellers enter every month since T&G (bar January, when it was suspended). As as they were doing pre-covid.

For people travelling after work, for business, for serious family reasons, nothing would be a barrier - a one pcr test for 2000b, hotel stay for 1000b, yearly insurance for 4000b, risk of asymptomatic 10 days hospitel, are little expenditure and deterrents.

Tourism is dead for more sometimes. Another year or two. For many different reasons. When China and all the other countries in Asia would fully open, tourism would bounce.

 

there are covid restrictions. Not omicron restrictions. There many covid strains and there well might be many more strains, light and serious, coming this year.

Some countries opened and went "back to normal" multiple times, to shut down and put serious restrictions, when the next wave came. Every country put restrictions in face of omicron, including thailand. Despite of it, daily death rate went from some 20, to some 80 daily. And that rate well might be rising for weeks, speeded up by songkran mass exodus across provinces

Whist the arrival test and 5 day test are in place I would be reluctant to travel to Thailand due to, as you stated, enforced quarantine in a hospitel, They have done it the wrong way around and seems clear the money talks from the potential quarantine. Would not be surprised if there are some influential figures making noises somewhere.

Would not vacation to any location that could result in my being quarantined.

as mentioned before, unless you have family ties or business in Thailand, why would you travel there under these rules. not only that, most places aside from the major tourist areas ( even they have restrictions) are closed.  if you're one of the lucky ones that can take off for a month or more, the possible quarantine and expenses involved are very costly for individuals and certainly for a family that has only 2 weeks to vacation. 

How do they treat people who were last vaccinated 12 months ago? I definitely recall a restriction stating that the most recent vaccination dose should be inside the previous 90 days or something like that. As more time passes this becomes far from realistic for people under the age of 75.

 

How about people who haven't been vaccinated and remain uninfected (as far as they know) or the recovered, regardless of whether they've been vaccinated or not?

 

In short : No. If I wasn't here already, I certainly wouldn't be coming.

 

But I am here already, so I remain.

 

I know people who've been vaccinated multiple times and got Delta (medium rated cold) and Omicron (mild cold). They're over it - any restriction is a step too far for these people.

 

They've recovered multiple times and have literally had enough of dancing to the tune of the dunces in charge.

 

I have family in Thailand waiting for me to visit, but unfortunately I won't be going until they drop the Thailand pass, quarantine, and the PCR on Arrival and 5 day test,

I have no problem doing a PCR prior to flight which makes more sense...

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Vietnam’s open for tourists

Vietnam’s Ministry of Health on March 15 released COVID-19 entry procedures for foreign arrivals and foreign arrivals are required to:

●    Take a COVID-19 negative test using the RT-PCR method 72 hours before entering Vietnam OR a rapid Antigen test (no self-test) 24 hours before entering Vietnam. This does not apply to children under 2 years of age.
●    Make a health declaration before entry and download the PC-COVID app; and
●    In case a COVID-19 test is not taken prior to departure, a test will be taken within 24 hours after arriving in Vietnam. If negative, travelers can travel anywhere within Vietnam; no quarantine required.
Either way, there is a risk to tourists that their dream holiday could end up becoming a very costly quarantine.

Could there be a simpler method?

No mention of any vaccination requirements as I see... Vietnam might be the future if this post holds up.

 

Edit: Also according to this source:

 

https://www.vietnam-briefing.com/news/vietnam-reopens-for-international-tourism.html/

 

Quoting: The government also reiterated its stance to treat foreign and domestic tourists as the same.

 

What a stark difference with Thailand if true, foreigners and Viet nationals getting the same treatment, no double pricing and no biased courts, etc, etc, etc?

 

If only we could buy land in Vietnam... it'd be heaven on Earth.

Would you still want to visit Thailand with these new entry rules?
 

They’re not new rules though are they. Same ott tat, albeit minus the one that should be there. ????

Thais and their schemes and scams. They just don't get it that the vast majority of foriegners are reluctant to travel to Thailand under the current entry requirements.

I'm off to Vietnam to spend my money forget Thailand.

 

There was a super cheap ticket and I booked it for May. I'll likely change it now.

I now see that there is no clear guidelines on what happens if you test positive on arrival. I have seen the green, yellow, red light guide. If you are asymptomatic though it is bizarre to me that a government seems to be saying 'Just turn up. We'll work out what to do with you then'. 

Do I have to stay at the hotel I am at and do 10 days quarantine, on a special accommodation and food expensive package? Can I go to a different SHA hotel and just self quarantine and buy food myself? Doubt it. 

As an aside, I just spoke to Medibank insurance in Australia and they said they do cover that situation, i.e. cover for the cost of quarantine  if you are not sick, but it is not clear in the Product Disclosure Statement. I think it may not be correct.

As long as they keep the PCR test on arrival it is a huge risk.  Tempted to go but I'll probably stay at home and wait till there is no testing.

1 hour ago, Soikhaonoiken said:

I have family in Thailand waiting for me to visit, but unfortunately I won't be going until they drop the Thailand pass, quarantine, and the PCR on Arrival and 5 day test,

I have no problem doing a PCR prior to flight which makes more sense...

'Sense' is where the system falls down!!!

I won't be coming back as long as there's a risk of being involuntarily quarantined. 

 

With 25% of Covid tests being positive in Thailand last month, I can't see how the restrictions will protect anyone.  Tourists are probably safer to be around than the locals.

 

And if they were going to force tourists to buy Covid insurance, they should have mandated that it cover all treatment required by the gub'ment, including asymptomatic quarantine.  Would have been easy to do as a condition of offering the product in LOS.  Regardless, I'm as concerned with losing a large portion of my precious holiday time as I am with quarantine costs.

 

They need to go back to the way it was...  Get a wild hair on Wednesday, book a cheap flight and a room and and be on a beach (spending money) by Saturday.

 

(Edit) Source: https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Thailand/covid_positive_rate/

So they just cancel the pre-travel Covid test.
That`s logical;  They don`t make money on that one . . .

So from the 30 requirements maybe one will be scrapped and the rest will remain the same. Wow New Entry Rules..????

That is an easy one, no. I will wait until they come to their senses and the tourism industry is decimated (Yes I know it already is).

 

I am looking forward to another TAT prediction of tourist numbers on these new rules.???? Guaranteed to make you cry with laughter.

IMHO Thailand should be contented with a pre departure PCR test but make it 36 hours instead of the 72 hours and fully vaccinated people and see they go...

People are and it has me baffled why?

To answer the question. ..no.

If I were living somewhere else, well, seeing as every country is unique, wonderful and amazing and as long as they are not in some kind of total crisis, they are all well worth visiting. Also, countries I have visited once before, unless I really love visiting them as I do love going to Nepal, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Spain, Mexico, Malaysia, and Singapore,  I won't visit them again. I have noticed many seem to feel the same way, they feel rather been-there-and-done-that about it  and unlike myself, Thailand for them did not make the cut, perhaps because they felt it wasn't good value, the air was polluted, or it was interesting, the people were nice and the food was good, but not enough attractions or good points to make it worth visiting again. For others you add things they don't want to do such as get vaccinated or going through the risk of ruining your holiday having to be quarantined even after vaccination, and the answer is no they will not visit Thailand even if they are very much interested in doing so.

 

Personally, I think Thailand is not treating its tourists well especially since the danger of these viruses is actually next to nothing and the cure is arguably much worse. Bell's Palsy, myocarditis, or lymphocytes that start attacking the body anyone? There are 1,200+ maladoes that the vaccines have brought on, yet to visit Thailand we are told we must take these vaccines. I think I'd like to take my chances with COVID and the rest of the world seems to be seeing it that way more and more too. So by continuing with stringent lockdown type measures,  you are sacrificing everything in Thailand for nothing in return. Not to accept the virus and live with the risk is not to live at all, so really to travel to Thailand you are putting yourself into a hostile anti-human environment where not to live anymore is life. Who wants to vacation in that? Thailand needs to show that it is on the side of human life. No body pays to take a plane halfway around the world to visit an Orwellian dystopia. So, no, I most certainly would not visit Thailand, to do so is to support a world no one should have to live in.

If you want Tourist and people to come back and get rid of thia pass

4 hours ago, UKPaul67 said:

It is a game changer, for people thinking of going under those new rules. We all know the forced insurance will not cover asymmetric. So IMO people will not decide to go under those new rules.

The risk is much higher, and perhaps the rule change is they don't  make money of pre tests, and can catch more people out.

I have already booked and submitted  my thai pass, but I will take a PCR 72 hours before my flight and if positive then obviously not get on the plane. 

But I think thaipass will continue to flatline until they remove the hotel,insurance and testing for fully vaccinated people.

I agree and same for me though I do not intend atm to travel before August and One hopes some improvements in conditions

No. My paranoid wife would be freaking out over the fact some passengers are not vaccinated and tested and any carrying COVID. Very dangerous for the elderly individuals. The airlines should stand by the rule no test no flying. 

I arrive on March 31st so still have to test at both ends. For my daughter and me that's quite a hefty cost on top of the already inflated flight prices.

 

I had covid last month so in theory should be pretty safe from enforced quarantine.

 

For those due to arrive after April 1st, I hope they're sensible enough to take a lateral flow test before getting on the plane both for the health of all passengers and of course to be a bit more certain of a negative test in Thailand.

4 hours ago, webfact said:

The CCSA has decided to do away with the requirement for all travelers to Thailand, under the “Test and Go” program, to take an RT-PCR test in 72 hours before their departure, by land, air, or sea. 

However, they still must take the test upon arrival and self-administer an antigen test on the 5th day of their stay in the country.

My guess is that it would be safer to take one at home. Now they can really fake the test results and bill the <deleted> out of people.

The only thing I see with the removal of the pre flight test means the lambs arriving in Thailand will go more meekly to their pre arranged hospital covid-cation stay. Testing negative before your flight and suddenly testing positive 12 hours later was obviously being met with incredulity especially when it comes to Thailand! Anyone going to Thailand under these conditions unless they absolutely have to needs their mind read…twice! Risk your holiday on a flimsy PCR test done in Thailand which you can’t dispute once you are there? Your odds are not good. If nobody falls for it it they will change their tune quickly. I’ll add to this. I will not return to Thailand until all restrictions and requirements are back to what they were before January 2020. If not, I won’t ever be coming back!

4 hours ago, UKPaul67 said:

It is a game changer, for people thinking of going under those new rules. We all know the forced insurance will not cover asymmetric. So IMO people will not decide to go under those new rules.

The risk is much higher, and perhaps the rule change is they don't  make money of pre tests, and can catch more people out.

I have already booked and submitted  my thai pass, but I will take a PCR 72 hours before my flight and if positive then obviously not get on the plane. 

But I think thaipass will continue to flatline until they remove the hotel,insurance and testing for fully vaccinated people.

...you are correct in saying Thailand is a very 'asymmetrical' place.

No way. 

4 hours ago, webfact said:

However, they still must take the test upon arrival and self-administer an antigen test on the 5th day of their stay in the country.

Thailand, is it backwards as usual... or very smart?

If I was a betting man I'd have an each-way punt.

Thailand could have chosen to approach this question as Mexico has. That is no testing and no pre approval to enter.  Mexico’s tourist business is booming with prices through the roof. All Thailand has to show for its rigor is hand wringing.