No masks, cannabis legal, bars open, is Thailand back to normal?

[LarryB]

The mind control is still strong in this country. Every Thai I speak to is terrified to let go of the face rag. 

[WinterGael]

From the Washington Post, BBC, and other Western news, the overall feeling is that the legalisation of cannabis in Thailand is for medicinal purposes, and re recreational use may still get you in trouble with the law, especially smoking.  There is a gray area around consumables.  There is also the suggestion that legalisationY not include foreigners.  So beware...

[aussiexpat]

4 minutes ago, WinterGael said:

why do you assume everyone is here for sex, booze, and partying.  Some of us actually like Thauland without acting like "disgraceful farang."

Why do you assume if people have sex, booze and partying they are acting like a "disgraceful farang"

[LarrySR]

31 minutes ago, aussiexpat said:

Wow, why are you even in Thailand....are you the real first person who only comes for the temples ????

Temples? Right. Golfing and temples, thats what we tell our relatives, why we like it here.

Everyone knows tourism is about going on a drunken rampage, whoring thru someone else's country, indulging in alcohol abuse and illicit drugs. 

[vandeventer]

34 minutes ago, swm59nj said:

Well I guess all this will make a lot of  people happy.  Booze, pot, no masks. 
I guess to some that is what life Is all about.

Yes, some will think that everything is back to normal, but these times are not normal just look at the cost of food and gas, look at Russia and China and the moves that they are making. Normal times, I think not.

[Canadian Snowbird]

1 hour ago, aussiexpat said:

Wow, why are you even in Thailand....are you the real first person who only comes for the temples ????

Actually, there's many of us who come for the hot weather during winter months and the golf courses, and just don't feel the need or the desire to numb our brains with alcohol or pot.

[bkk6060]

Definitely turning out to be one of the greatest countries in the world.

I predict 8 million more coming by the end of 2022.

[Jonathan Swift]

2 hours ago, thaipo7 said:

What I can't get an answer to is am I required to be fully vaccinated to come to Thailand.  I have a home there and go for 5 - 6 months prior to COVID.  Do I need the 2 shots and the 2 boosters?  Can't get an answer to this at consulates in the US.

The answer is simple. Get the shots, get your CDC vaccine card, problem solved. You should have been vaxxed as of last year if you had your head screwed on right. You should then have been given a vaccine card or confirmation you can show immigration. If you're not vaxxed you need a negative PCR test within 72 hours prior to arrival, or you take one at the airport. All of these answers are readily available at the Thai immigration website and other reliable online sources. If you have a home there I don't understand why you are having trouble getting official info. Most who live in Thailand know how such things work. You should know that consulates in the US are of limited value, they are not the Thai immigration dept. You can just do a broad search on "what is needed to enter Thailand" and then go through the responses, beginning with the Thai immigration website. That's how I did it since the start of Covid. Cheers and good luck. 

[moe666]

I do not know what the OP has been up to but I have been in the bars in Chiang Mai since Jan. 1

[kennw]

So as with alcohol sales can we expect that there will be limited hours within which we can buy sinful products such as beer and pot? 

[starky]

3 hours ago, thaipo7 said:

What I can't get an answer to is am I required to be fully vaccinated to come to Thailand.  I have a home there and go for 5 - 6 months prior to COVID.  Do I need the 2 shots and the 2 boosters?  Can't get an answer to this at consulates in the US.

Maybe read the OP again

 Properly this time. If unvaccinated you need a proper PCR test prior to travel.

 

Unvaccinated/not fully vaccinated travelers who are randomly checked and who are unable to show proof of a pre-arrival negative test will be required to undergo a professional ATK test at the point of entry.

[Snig27]

1 hour ago, WinterGael said:

From the Washington Post, BBC, and other Western news, the overall feeling is that the legalisation of cannabis in Thailand is for medicinal purposes, and re recreational use may still get you in trouble with the law, especially smoking.  There is a gray area around consumables.  There is also the suggestion that legalisationY not include foreigners.  So beware...

You are clearly not in Thailand. Ganja is openly for sale in many places and amongst those you’ll see buying it are men and women in police uniform (it’s being sold next to a police station in one part of BKK). 7-elevens are selling consumables with age ID in parts of the country and there are fairly obviously non-medical dispensaries in malls. Thais and foreigners. 

Nothing in the new rules say Thai only, with limitations on under 20 and selling to pregnant women. The foreign press is hardly the arbiter of all this, they report what was written for them by a stringer. Read the local media and what is gazetted.  

[aussiexpat]

5 minutes ago, starky said:

Maybe read the OP again

 Properly this time. If unvaccinated you need a proper PCR test prior to travel.

 

Unvaccinated/not fully vaccinated travelers who are randomly checked and who are unable to show proof of a pre-arrival negative test will be required to undergo a professional ATK test at the point of entry.

You don't need a PCR test, an ATK within 72 hours is enough (from the official Thai Pass site)

 

[Snig27]

10 minutes ago, moe666 said:

I do not know what the OP has been up to but I have been in the bars in Chiang Mai since Jan. 1

Same in Bangkok. The nightclubs of Ekkamai as an example have been trading well after midnight for most of this year too. I guess they got a special ‘exemption’ from the local cops. 

[sambum]

"Although not classed as tourists, ex-pats still spend more money here than the packaged holidaymakers."

 

Hear, hear!

 

For a long time now this fact seems to have been ignored by the Government, and even at a very conservative estimate, the average ex pat spends almost almost half a million baht every year, which is a lot more than your average tourist.

 

And during the last two years when the tourist industry has been decimated by Covid, ex pats have no doubt kept many small businesses going.

 

The 90 day reporting requirement seems very much to me to be a "OK, the alien is still here, boss!" situation, and doing away with it would show a bit of appreciation that most ex pats are here for the long time because they want to be, and are unlikely to "do a runner"! 

[spidermike007]

Nothing will ever be normal again. Not here. Tourism will never be the same. Gangsters are running the nation, dressed up as officers, pretending to care. 

 

But, I went for a nice motorbike ride yesterday, and felt very grateful to be here. Compared to my broken down nation of America, Thailand's problems are manageable, and life is quite good for most of us. 

[johnarth]

3 hours ago, thaipo7 said:

What I can't get an answer to is am I required to be fully vaccinated to come to Thailand.  I have a home there and go for 5 - 6 months prior to COVID.  Do I need the 2 shots and the 2 boosters?  Can't get an answer to this at consulates in the US.

check this out with world cancer it has been stated that the vaccine is causing terminal cancer and they have advised to stop giving it,and this was weeks ago

[shackleton]

On the subject of wearing a face mask 

It's a personal choice  

Same when Tourists come up to them probably .  more accepted in Phuket Pattaya ect as businesses need the money ???? 

[Bangkok Barry]

2 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Do you need to ask......?

I am from the UK, I hardly need explain!

Had to get away from the con-men!

Britain is £3bn fraud capital of the world

How did that affect you?

[jvs]

1 hour ago, LarrySR said:

Temples? Right. Golfing and temples, thats what we tell our relatives, why we like it here.

Everyone knows tourism is about going on a drunken rampage, whoring thru someone else's country, indulging in alcohol abuse and illicit drugs. 

What illicit drugs do you mean?

[Bangkok Barry]

1 hour ago, LarryB said:

The mind control is still strong in this country. Every Thai I speak to is terrified to let go of the face rag. 

We'll have the situation where most locals will continue to mask up - like my wife - and most foreigners will not. I've watched several hours of video walks around various places in Europe, cities and resorts, without seeing a single person wearing a mask. The wearing of one has long been an Asian thing, and the pandemic has simply encouraged more of them to adopt the habit. Up to them if they want to feel uncomfortable. Now that the government is no longer making it mandatory (although it never was put in law) we foreigners can now 'walk free' with a clear conscience.

[Bangkok Barry]

2 hours ago, WinterGael said:

From the Washington Post, BBC, and other Western news, the overall feeling is that the legalisation of cannabis in Thailand is for medicinal purposes, and re recreational use may still get you in trouble with the law, especially smoking.  There is a gray area around consumables.  There is also the suggestion that legalisationY not include foreigners.  So beware...

A gray area? In Thailand? Surely not!

[Gottfrid]

NORMAL! ????

Can´t go back to something that has never existed, but it´s a great place to live! ???? 

[Bangkok Barry]

24 minutes ago, sambum said:

The 90 day reporting requirement seems very much to me to be a "OK, the alien is still here, boss!" situation, and doing away with it would show a bit of appreciation that most ex pats are here for the long time because they want to be, and are unlikely to "do a runner"! 

The 90 day reporting is the perfect example of Thailand doing things back to front. In the real world you only have to report if your circumstances change. In Thailand you have to report that nothing has changed.

[sambum]

Just now, Bangkok Barry said:

The 90 day reporting is the perfect example of Thailand doing things back to front. In the real world you only have to report if your circumstances change. In Thailand you have to report that nothing has changed.

Very succinctly put!

[SiSePuede419]

2 hours ago, StevieAus said:

I arrived in Bangkok last Wednesday returning from an overseas trip and was required to complete an arrival card distributed by the airline.

That's the same policy as America.  You must complete an arrival card unless you are a citizen.  Citizens get to use a computer to scan their passport and check in.  No big deal.

[bkk75]

2 hours ago, LarryB said:

The mind control is still strong in this country. Every Thai I speak to is terrified to let go of the face rag. 

I don't mind it so much. Since pandemic I haven't gotten sick in over 2 years. I also don't take public transit anymore. 

 

[Road Warrior]

AT LAST 10/10  for thai government ..well done

[Pinot]

I'm getting 35.3 baht to the USD out of the ATM. That's 14000 baht more on the $2500 I bring in every month. That's a month's rent for many!

 

Enjoy it while you can.

[hotchilli]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

It is likely that the habit of carrying a mask will continue and most will likely continue wearing a mask when in the company of other mask wearers, just to be polite.

Every Thai person this morning while I was out exercising were still wearing a mask...