International tourism will be significantly revived after Test and Go ends, Thai Chamber of Commerce Chairman says

[tandor]

....double standards looming here...you MUST show proof of insurance; but once you think you have Covid-19 by your own RAT, it can't be verified as the Govt will no longer do a PCR to confirm; therefore you won't be admitted into an hospital and you can be sure that the Insurer won't be paying you when you make a claim!

[Emdog]

How about those of us on retirement extension using the 800,000 baht bank deposit method being allowed to consider that "self insurance".... it is far more than $10,000 USD

[joecoolfrog]

9 hours ago, sungod said:

 its peanuts. I just did a quote with roojai, 650 baht. If that the difference between coming or not I would suggest you cant afford to come in the first place.

 

and right, everyone used to turn up with their own insurance, thats why there was a go fund me everyday with a hard luck story

Yep its peanuts , and filling in the online form is not a dealbreaker , nor is wearing a mask , or having ones entertainment options limited.

The 64 million dollar question though , is why choose Thailand when many other destinations have none of the above restrictions ?

[moogradod]

5 hours ago, RandiRona said:

It should get better than now but as long as there is registration, approval and Insurance scam stays, it won't be open to all. Take the last step Thailand....let Airlines verify vaccination and get rid of Insurance scam.

The insurance requirement should go completely as it was before Covid. What makes me sad, though is that many still not understand this issue and argue with the BS "expect somebody else to pay ?". Let me explain for the less gifted: Nobody does. Make all as it was and everything will be fine.

[RichardColeman]

Tourists just want to book, get a taxi and fly out - NOT fill out tons of paperwork to be 'allowed' in the country. Revival some, but not what the leaders think the glorious country should get. Drop the nonsense and trust a quick flash of your vaccination cert and get on with life.

[8OA8]

13 minutes ago, joecoolfrog said:

Yep its peanuts , and filling in the online form is not a dealbreaker , nor is wearing a mask , or having ones entertainment options limited.

The 64 million dollar question though , is why choose Thailand when many other destinations have none of the above restrictions ?

It may be peanuts @฿650 but, I wonder if anyone looks at the actual details of what you will actually get covered for. Also as soon as I click on the link there's a very clear message 

[Deserted]

I think it's good news all round. As we know, many westerners like to come over to Thailand and have a nice time, and many bars are frequented by westerners from both Europe and America and no one really wants to sit in a bar which has got westerners carrying Covid. If they've got AIDS, well that's okay but not Covid...definitely not! ????

[superal]

14 minutes ago, 8OA8 said:

It may be peanuts @฿650 but, I wonder if anyone looks at the actual details of what you will actually get covered for. Also as soon as I click on the link there's a very clear message 

The ins; is a racket and no company will insure you for asymptomatic covid i.e. test positive but no symptoms . Even UK companies complicate their coverage in their policy documents  and indeed a mine field  .  Take the cheapest Thai insurance shown on the asq website cos none of them are worth a penny , just a way of gaining entry and the T/P compliance . In addition a normal travel insurance from a respected western company should cover most other risks .

[spidermike007]

Correct. Compared to the (likely real) arrival numbers of under 100,000 a month, they will improve. They might even jump up to 200,000 a month for the next few years, with no restrictions. We could even see 5 million a year, within 5 years. 

 

Time to admit cowardly sabotage comes at a very high price. Thailand has essentially been forgotten by most tourists. 

[Bangkok Barry]

6 hours ago, ezzra said:

The PM has himself admitted that the numbers of tourists who contracted Covid and needed hospitalisation is minuscule something like 0,49% so what's with insurance scam i'd like to know...

How is the need to buy insurance a scam? It doesn't have to be bought from a Thai company, and Thailand is not alone in requiring insurance. Germany, for example, has long required Thais to have health insurance before issuing them a visa - and that was in the years before the pandemic. Anyone who travels without insurance takes a risk, as we've seen many times with Fund Me campaigns. Spending not a lot of Pounds/Dollars/Euros on insurance seems a sensible precaution to me, Covid or not.

 

I have little doubt that there were scams being operated during the height of the pandemic, but so few cases require hospitalisation now that that bird has flown.

[Road Warrior]

what a ridicules amount of insure 3 million bht  no one entering Thailand will pay that

!!! SO NO  easing of rules .so no tourist !!! 

 

why dont they see some sense SCRAPE INSURANCE REQUIRMENT then Thailand will recover 

[freedomnow]

5 hours ago, Seppius said:

Now they need to drop the mask rule outside.

Why was that even a thing...?

Outdoors plenty of airlfow and UV...nonsenseburger rule.

Edited April 23, 2022 by freedomnow

[Thumbs]

Contrary to what Thais believe all foreigners are not rich, they work hard all year to give themselves a few weeks holiday to relax and enjoy themselves ( especially after the last few years of this pandemic) 

 

they don’t want to come to Thailand and be told they have to be in bed by 11pm because of this governments crazy rules on alcohol, even worse if they are a little adventurous and want to travel outside the main tourist areas where the bars are still closed and restaurants are prohibited from selling alcohol 

 

easing the entry requirements is a start but they are still hindering economic recovery, unfortunately years of good times has blinded those in power about what people require from a holiday destination, while neighboring countries now have a chance to steal much of Thailands tourism 

 

 

 

[Mike Galley]

Suspend Thailand Pass and I can confirm, otherwise keep on dreaming.

[malthebluff]

Reading through all the replies about insurance being a scam and j really dont see how, you woukdnt go to any country for a holiday or to live without being insured. And travel  insurance is cheap well worth the peace of mind. I use a uk insurer and has never been a problem with the Thailand pass

[Dart12]

Forced closings
Forced early bedtimes,
Arrests for being at "after-hour" gatherings (after hours is 12:01 am)
Forced maskings
Forced faux-distancing standards. 

plus all paperwork to enter and possible asymptomatic jail terms costing 100,000 to 150,000 at a hospitel.

Yes.  Dream come true setting if I'm planning a vacation.

Now, on my end, I like it quiet here so I'm not minding the idiocy too much.

But that's me being selfish, as a lot of small business owners are suffering when they shouldn't be any longer (nor should they ever have been).
 

[NanaSomchai]

3 hours ago, SussexExpat said:

What constitutes "Fully Vaccinated"? How many jabs and how long vaccinated before arriving in Thailand.

Is there an age limit for children? Surely they don't expect children to be fully vaccinated.

And what do they even consider as "children" then?

Is it 12? 14? 16? 17? 18?

By Thai law a minor turns adult at 21 if I recall correctly, whereas in the rest of the World it's mostly 18.

Their entire Thailand Pass program is just mud over mud, they should just really get rid of it.

[moogradod]

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

How is the need to buy insurance a scam? It doesn't have to be bought from a Thai company, and Thailand is not alone in requiring insurance. Germany, for example, has long required Thais to have health insurance before issuing them a visa - and that was in the years before the pandemic. Anyone who travels without insurance takes a risk, as we've seen many times with Fund Me campaigns. Spending not a lot of Pounds/Dollars/Euros on insurance seems a sensible precaution to me, Covid or not.

 

I have little doubt that there were scams being operated during the height of the pandemic, but so few cases require hospitalisation now that that bird has flown.

One problem is that someone living here (example: based on retirement) cannot take the insurance with him from his home country and is eventually not able to get a new one (in THailand or otherwise) either because of preconditions or age. The conclusion is that he is never anymore able to travel abroad. This could easily be resolved by introducing a fixed amount for medical purposes instead of an insurance which would not even pay in all cases for sure.. And then cases where someone is really not able to pay will be very rare and are only known so prominently of because it is a headline for the press. In this case the proposed THB 300.-- surplus on entries will be much more than a solution.

[whereyougo]

6 hours ago, Gold Star said:

A friend arrived from the UK as a tourist, travelled in a van to the hotel with others, and got tested in a dirty parking lot by a guy that didn't change gloves between vans, or between testing other people. PCR tested not positive, not negative, but 'trace detected'. He was whisked away from his hotel, and spent 10 days locked up in COVID jail at a hospital, never once testing positive, along with many others in the same situation there.  He was then presented with a bill of hundreds of thousands upon release. His insurance would not pay as he did not have Covid. He didn't have the money and also refused to pay, and almost was taken back to the airport and blacklisted, but friends were there to record and document it all.

Some insurance companies have gone bankrupt with billions of these Covid claims. The system is set up to easily scam the insurance companies and travellers, with no recourse due to the powers of the emergency decree. This must be stopped.

Woohoo what an active imagination. Please write a book I'm already a fan ????

[metisdead]

A post with content that was copy and pasted from the TP web site without a supporting link has been removed:

 

14) You will not post any copyrighted material except as fair use laws apply (as in the case of news articles). Please only post a link, the headline and the first three sentences.

 

[sungod]

9 hours ago, RandiRona said:

its not about the cost. It's about paperwork, approvals, tracking ...all those things which make tourists start looking for other place. Whether for good or bad, tourism is running this country and that is the only fair play majority of Thais have in this country. So need to ensure that Tourism can grow without restrictions or red tape.

 

You complained about the insurance scam, I pointed out its 650 baht, minuscule.

 

All the stuff you have moaned about above re paperwork has absolutely nothing to do with with your original post, happy to debate with you but you should really stop moving the goalposts

[kennw]

9 hours ago, ezzra said:

The PM has himself admitted that the numbers of tourists who contracted Covid and needed hospitalisation is minuscule something like 0,49% so what's with insurance scam i'd like to know...

Particularly since the B300 per person entry is about to come in. Do the sum total tourists/entries X B300 =$$$ less say 0.49% who may abscond without paying the hospital bill. No brainer as to who is in front by a mile

[sungod]

3 hours ago, joecoolfrog said:

Yep its peanuts , and filling in the online form is not a dealbreaker , nor is wearing a mask , or having ones entertainment options limited.

The 64 million dollar question though , is why choose Thailand when many other destinations have none of the above restrictions ?

64 million dollar question indeed. But what are the other destinations, what they are offering and what are the travelers wanting?

 

It's all subjective.

[zzaa09]

4 hours ago, moogradod said:

The insurance requirement should go completely as it was before Covid. What makes me sad, though is that many still not understand this issue and argue with the BS "expect somebody else to pay ?". Let me explain for the less gifted: Nobody does. Make all as it was and everything will be fine.

.....and many are reveling in the suspected and dreamy ideals that the program has changed. 

Not really. Still a few unnecessary hoops to bypass. 

 

If they truly looking to open up freely, they'll also do with the base TP online application process plus the convoluted and ever-scamming insurance requirements. 

[peter zwart]

10 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Significantly revived, that is a stretch. Sure more will come, but then the unvaccinated have a few hoops to jump through.

Not if you can show a pre departure negative test. i can live with that.

[gerritkaew]

But you still need to be full vaccinated iff you don't want to spent some 10 days in a quarantaine hotel, and lots off people who want to go haven't got or don't want to be vaccinated ..

[BritManToo]

Is COVID insurance being dropped as well?

[Bangkok Barry]

1 hour ago, moogradod said:

One problem is that someone living here (example: based on retirement) cannot take the insurance with him from his home country and is eventually not able to get a new one (in THailand or otherwise) either because of preconditions or age. The conclusion is that he is never anymore able to travel abroad. This could easily be resolved by introducing a fixed amount for medical purposes instead of an insurance which would not even pay in all cases for sure.. And then cases where someone is really not able to pay will be very rare and are only known so prominently of because it is a headline for the press. In this case the proposed THB 300.-- surplus on entries will be much more than a solution.

My impression is that travel insurance can be purchased by anyone, and it might be down to individual companies whether that includes medical expenses or not. Age may or may not be excluded that but might still be included for a higher fee based on age. I've never heard of anyone being unable to travel due to age and lack of insurance. Has anyone experienced that, I wonder?

[Bwazi]

9 hours ago, sungod said:

So you think people should just turn up, and if they get sick expect someone else to pay?

But that’s what occurs here in the U.K. for everyone who arrives.

The taxpayers take up the bill.

Probably why the left keep on clamouring for more taxes to fund the NHS to treat everyone for free.

[Dialemco]

10 hours ago, sungod said:

So you think people should just turn up, and if they get sick expect someone else to pay?

Don't be silly you should always have travel insurance or available funds to pay any necessary .medical requirements. Thai Covid insurance is inadequate and if it pays only after you have settled actual medical bills.