Why can’t the Thai Govt speed up opening the doors to tourism?

[smutcakes]

1 hour ago, superal said:

Many travellers fly at short notice for various reasons and the embassy quote 7 days to address your application but if there is a rejection and you are notified with only a day or 2 before your trip , that is when your problems begin .

If you plan further ahead your application is put to the back and I have heard that in a few cases people have been kept waiting for weeks for approval . Not the norm I know but it has happened . Booking ahead also means you are relying on your airline to not change or cancel your flight , as has happened recently also if there are new covid travel regulations made , they may impact on your travel plans . Even now I would be hesitant in making a booking a long way ahead .

I thought there was already 7 days leeway on arriving, so if you arrival date is within 7 days of your expected arrival date under your TP approval there is no issue.

[internationalism]

42 minutes ago, crazykopite said:

Simple answer it’s a money making scheme and as long as they can get away with it they will do so a friend of mine who travelled to Europe yesterday paid for a PCR test in BKK only to find out that she didn’t need it as she has had 3 vaccines and has a vaccine passport but nobody told her in the clinic that the country she was travelling to no longer required the PCR test .

just 2 jabs and no pcr since autumn the last year.

she should be well aware by checking net or asking on discussion forums

[internationalism]

for new thailand pass there is no need for airfare booking, as it was not needed also before.

Just vax, insurance and passport copy.

Application is free and entry date allows for +/- 7 days margin.

So buy airfare after you get thailand pass

[Bad boy 561]

6 hours ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

So no need of insurance?

Guess you missed the part where it said $10,000 coverage, read again 

[LoudHailer]

GREECE is grateful as tourists flock back. Hotels are full, archaeological sites are heaving, shopkeepers are smiling and good luck if you want a table at a decent restaurant. 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/24/all-omens-look-positive-greece-grateful-tourists-flock-back

 

ATHENS IS ALIVE TO THE SOUND OF TOURISTS. "These past few weeks have been something else!" 

 

When asked, tourists say they want 'risk averse' travel. They check things out at a desired destination, make last minute decisions and GO. Choose, book, pay, fly and arrive free of bureaucracy and rules. Everybody is ready and wants to travel! 

[grain]

So far, the expected spike in Covid cases after the Songkran holidays has not raised its ugly head...

 

Well actually it has. I live in a small village in rural NE. Thais who live and work in BKK came home at Songkran to visit their families in the village, some brought covid with them and quickly gave it to their families. Many houses in our street have been condoned off by the local gov health officials. I should imagine the same thing happened all over the NE and the North and no doubt in many other regions of Thailand. But these people who have been, or are at the current time, locked in quarantine for 7 days, as I walk passed their houses I see them sitting down the back of their gardens, talking, eating... I haven't seen any lying on the ground gasping for air, none have been taken away in ambulances, none have been hospitalized, none have died, not even the old folk, most of whom are not particularly healthy. A week after being locked in home quarantine they test neg and get about their usual lives.

[Andycoops]

Because the Muppets are control freaks.

[Flink]

5 hours ago, bangkokbonecollector said:

Would you accuse Japan of the same? They haven't fully opened yet.

The advantage Japan has is that it's economy, and jobs, are not as dependant on tourism as Thailand. Therefore the loss incurred due to restrictions does not have anywhere near the impact it does here.

[ikke1959]

As long as this Government stays in power, the tourism sector will not go up... The Government has no clue how to handle with the tourist industry and focus only on old thoughts and money.. 300 THB entry fee, insurance obligation, Thailand Pass, quarantaine, strong visa rules, so backpackers were the first who left, No updated visas, only new visas for very rich.... ar just a few things.. They keep thinking in circles and don't want to change anything for the country.. The latest is no the Anutin and the e-cigarettes...

If they don't renew and modernize the country will loose much more.. You can't focus on traditional mango with sticky rice, or meatballs from Buriram, and be xenophobic about alcohol , cigaretts,  ( even in movies they are blurred)and promote soft drugs and 1 day events. Tourists come on a holiday to relax,, sit on he beach, drink a can of beer whenever they want, go sightseeing without overpaid prices.... 

But the Government is afraid that when they reopen and everything will be as 3 years before, the students come in street to demand reforms, and they are right.. Things must change now even more, because the world changed by Covid 

[EVENKEEL]

2 hours ago, ChrisY1 said:

3 shots....they've been talking about this for months now.

So what are they saying about time from last shot to travel time. Maybe the booster not necessary.

 

[paulikens]

by july it will be an endemic but unfortunately its Thailand's version of an endemic. that will be interesting to see, although it wouldn't surprise me if the date of july is put back anyway.  

[internationalism]

there is no need for a booster shot to get to thailand.

Also there is also no any time limit on received vaxes.

You can enter thailand from 1st May unvaxed - just a pcr within 72h submitted to thailand pass.

From July there might be no requirement for any vax certificate. The full opening. Lets see how it plays out, but that are the plans. The 3th stage of opening from 1st May is really a radical change - no testing and no 1 night quarantine

 

[bangon04]

6 hours ago, bangkokbonecollector said:

Would you accuse Japan of the same? They haven't fully opened yet.

the Japanese despise the foreigner at least as much as the Thais do. The difference is that they are much more polite about it.

[Raphael54]

Let's get real.
Thailand Pass is ok, just to validate 2 things: Vaccinations and insurance.
1. Unvaccinated travelers are not welcome so please stay at home.  No need for all sorts of exceptions because all the extra paperwork makes and complications are not worth it.
2. And yes, any international traveler should anyway have a medical/accident insurance so why not ask them to prove that you have one.

 

My wife and I just yesterday (24/4) traveled from Thailand to Europe (EU) and we discovered that we wasted a lot of paper to print out 3 sets of vaccination certificates (for checking, for transit in Doha and for arrival in Europe).  All wasted, we were not even once asked to show a certificate.
 

[Bill B]

Stick a fork in it..its done

[sawadee1947]

Why can’t the Thai Govt........

and why can't a cow fly?

Same same. ????

 

 

[Andrew Dwyer]

5 hours ago, khunjeff said:

 

If they upload a negative PCR test, hey will NOT be quarantined for five days! The quarantine only applies if they do NOT submit a test result.

 

Yes, that’s the way I understood it from reading this report in The Thaiger 

“ International travellers who are unvaccinated for Covid-19 will soon be able to enter Thailand by air without quarantine, as long as they provide a negative PCR test result taken within 72 hours of departure. They’ll just need to upload their negative test result onto the Thailand Pass system before boarding their flight.

Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration on Friday announced major changes to various existing entry requirements, which are planned to come into effect on May 1. The date will later be confirmed in the Royal Gazette.

Unvaccinated travellers who enter the kingdom without a pre-arrival PCR will still have to pay to quarantine for 5 days in an SHA+ facility and take a PCR test on day 4 or 5. “

 

https://thethaiger.com/news/national/unvaccinated-no-longer-required-to-quarantine-in-thailand-and-other-countries?utm_source=Thaiger+Daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2022-04-23

 

So which do we believe ??

[Flink]

3 hours ago, vandeventer said:

Thailand is not squeaky clean but neither are the tourist coming here. Do you think the Chinese are Squeaky clean? This long covid is all around me in my area so lets not add to the problem lets try to solve it. Slowly slowly is the only way right now.

Well that approach has had no effect on seasonal flu and theyve been working on that one for decades. So how long do you suggest we wait for Covid? This virus is going nowhere and those in power all over the world love it because it gives them an excuse to use "extraodrinary measures" to control the populace. It's like the endemic status here. The medical professionals say they can class it as endemic but the politicians don't want that because as soon as it is classed as endemic they have no justification for keeping their special powers in place and everyone will get back to normal. They can't afford to do that yet, there's an election on the horizon so they'll be jumping all over each other to announce the endemic status and removal of all restrictions and mandates first to pull in the votes.

[Millcx]

Because they can’t agree best way to make rip off money when they do … That’s why Vietnam and Cambodia is getting the visits before Land of False Smiles

[RocketDog]

5 hours ago, tjo o tjim said:

Haven't they already counted all the ballots?

They are still printing some and forgery of thousands of ballots takes time.

Please be considerate of the complexities of a junta government. They are just soldier boys playing politicians and are still learning the ropes of maintaining total control while appearing to consider alternative views.

It will all smooth out in a few decades and questions like yours will be irrelevant and/or treasonous.

Just be patient.

[geisha]

10 hours ago, Laughing Gravy said:

Why can’t the Thai Govt speed up opening the doors to tourism?

 

As the title says. Stupidity, ignorance, lack of worldly understanding, blatant sabotage, organised disruption, strategic pilfering.

 

I could go on.

I would add that I don’t think they know or have the competence to handle the Covid situation.

[NeoDinosaw]

2 hours ago, sawadee1947 said:

Why can’t the Thai Govt........

and why can't a cow fly?

Same same. ????

 

 

Cows can fly. Problem is that none of them are prepared to pay for the ticket.

[Eleftheros]

On 4/25/2022 at 10:47 AM, LoudHailer said:

GREECE is grateful as tourists flock back. Hotels are full, archaeological sites are heaving, shopkeepers are smiling and good luck if you want a table at a decent restaurant. 

 

I bet that Thai hotel owners would like to be able to do the same. But I guess the Thai government is opening up gradually to show that it is still in "control" over the pandemic, instead of making a panic opening.

 

[bangkokbonecollector]

10 hours ago, Laughing Gravy said:

As this is a Thai forum, plus I don't own any property in Japan or call it home, I have nothing to comment on about Japan.

'As the title says. Stupidity, ignorance, lack of worldly understanding, blatant sabotage, organised disruption, strategic pilfering.'

 

So in any case you wouldn't accuse Japan of the same and you thoroughly believe that Thailand is being slow to open up because: 'Stupidity, ignorance, lack of worldly understanding, blatant sabotage, organised disruption, strategic pilfering.'

 

The fact that you so easily bypass the pretty common worldly stance of caution and instead engage in such strong alternative accusations, suggests to me you have some sort of innate rage for the current government and/or establishment. Probably a rage born out of rumors conjured by a criminal in Dubai to have this exact effect on the narrow minded and easily led. What you and most other foreigners (annoyingly) can't seem to possibly comprehend is this government is keeping Thailand safe now and for decades to come. For us all to enjoy, for ordered prosperity to continue and not for Thailand to slump to the depths of being run by some crooked ex cop. A guy who in the face of great uncertainly and anguish for the Thai people, chose to abuse the situation to further his own selfish revenge on an establishment who has grown and nurtured this country for centuries. Dare we even go into using young idealistic inexperienced minds to fight his battles whilst he sits atop his tower in the middle east.

 

Think a little outside the box and not what you read and hear would you/all, please.

[Harveyboy]

12 hours ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

Cant  until election has been won

thats not how you spell..  rigged..

[Harveyboy]

48 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

And that makes Thailand one of the few countries in the world where the numbers are not falling. The extent of the failure is historic.

 

The youth must step up and replace the dinosaurs. 

Government and Truth in the same sentence  behave yourself..

[daejung]

11 hours ago, Laughing Gravy said:

As this is a Thai forum, plus I don't own any property in Japan or call it home, I have nothing to comment on about Japan.

I have no plan for holidays in North Korea too (I don't compare it to Japan)

[zzaa09]

Well....this thread, like many recent related, cleared all the ongoing confusing and enhancing the clarity. ????????

 

 

 

 

[jwest10]

12 hours ago, bangkokbonecollector said:

Would you accuse Japan of the same? They haven't fully opened yet.

Very valid point and they and the Chinese have been much stricter, believe it or not!!

[jwest10]

9 hours ago, mikebell said:

What can I do?  I've lived here for 18 years; have annual retirement 'visa'; 800K in bank; double jabbed.  If I visited family in UK how would I get insurance cover aged 80 to return?

Exactly and my Thai family want to go and told them no chance and so much as gone up so much and yes the air fares and also financial restrictions etc.