Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Transport Company resumes service, bans foreigners

Published

11 months ago

Thursday, June 11, 2020

Jack Burton

Transport Company resumes service, bans foreigners | Thaiger

PHOTO: Love and Road

The wheels on the bus go round and round. But not for foreigners living in Thailand.

The Transport Company, the state operator of intercity bus services, announced today that foreigners are banned from its services due to the Emergency Decree. Although services have resumed on most of their routes across the country, foreign travellers are not allowed to board because they do not have Thai national ID cards. Well that’s the official excuse according to a service agent. Asked whether passports can be used instead, the agent said “no”.

“They don’t hold Thai ID cards, so they can’t board our buses. We need them for identification purposes.”

“It’s the company policy, sorry for any inconvenience.”

The company also announced on its website that it reserves the right to book tickets for Thai nationals only, citing an unspecified clause of the Emergency Decree.

Other interprovincial bus providers have no such rule. Private operators Nakhonchai Air and Sombat Tour say foreigners are welcome on board, but are encouraged to check local quarantine requirements since some provinces still enforce 14 day quarantine for foreigners.

But Thaiger has had four messages in the past week saying they were unable to buy tickets or board Sombat Tour buses. This message from a New Zealand expat who tried to board a Sombat Tour bus.

“I wanted to go and visit my friend in Bangkok and she went ahead and booked a ticket on สมบัติทัวร์ มิตรแท้เพื่อนเดินทาง (Sombat Tour Bus Company) from Chiangmai to Bangkok.

The next morning I got a call from the company saying foreigners are not allowed on the bus. I am deeply offended by this discrimination. I have been in Thailand well before Covid arrived. Does this mean I can’t travel on planes also?”

The State Railway of Thailand says foreigners are also allowed to board long distance trains.

Domestic travel restrictions, in place since April, were mostly lifted after the government shortened the curfew by an hour on May 29 due to lower numbers of Covid-19 cases reported nationwide. (No new cases were reported today, according to the assistant spokeswoman for the government’s Covid-19 crisis centre.)

The country’s cumulative cases of infection now stand at 3,125. 80 patients are being treated in hospital, while 2,987 have recovered, putting the recovery rate well over 95%. There have been 58 deaths.

SOURCE: Khaosod English

Want more from the Thaiger family?

📱 Download our app on Android or iOS for instant updates on your mobile
📧 Subscribe to our daily email newsletter
👍 Like/Follow us on Facebook
🔔 Subscribe to or Join our YouTube channel for daily video updates

Related Topics:banned buses foreigners ID Transport Company

12 Comments

sam thompson

Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 2:58 pm

Well that seems entirely reasonable and not at all discriminatory or xenophobic.

Reply
Toby Andrews

Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 3:07 pm

Good, the railway is cheaper, and often quicker because they are not slow going through cities as the buses are.
One more reason for foreigners not to return to Thailand.

Reply
- John cameron
  
  Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 5:25 pm
  
  I have thai ID card .can i tavel on coaches .
  
  Reply
- Jim shelley
  
  Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 10:14 pm
  
  Imagine if we tried to do this to Thai nationals in the UK, , it would be illegal. I live in Bangkok but if this is how they want to be maybe it’s time to move on. Let’s see how Thailand copes without tourists and foreign nationald who live here & spend money here.
  
  Reply
Kelvin Bamfield

Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 3:16 pm

white lives matter WLM

Reply
Jesters_cry

Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 4:09 pm

How are all the fake unqualified foreign ‘teachers’ going to get to work ? Maybe segregation might be the way to do it. Keep the whites at the back of the bus.(That is sarcasm. I am not a Thai national.)
Using foreigners as part of a corrupt scheme to defraud students of qualified foreign teachers is fine,but allowing them to sit next to Thais on a bus is an issue. Keep those foreigners in their place. In schools without valid work permits as visa slaves. (That part may sound like sarcasm,but it isn’t.)

Reply
tourist

Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 5:36 pm

What a lovely way to let farangs know that they are not welcomed and should stay home. The once famous Thai hospitality is obviously a thing of the past.

Reply
Robert Cole

Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 6:47 pm

Are you fuc^%$ kidding me? Ha ha! That’s a new low. So those on retirement or work or spousal visas, who haven’t been out of the country for at least 3 months, can’t get on a frigging bus? After so many years, one would think that they couldn’t be surprised by the total lack of logic that is (often?) displayed in this amazing country. But then again, just by writing the previous sentence, it shows that I haven’t been here long enough, or just haven’t quite “got it” yet. And nope, we most likely never quite will ; )

Reply
Anutin

Friday, June 12, 2020 at 7:34 am

Incredibly rasicst even for this government. Contact your embassy and ask them if they endorse state sponsored segregation.

Reply
JKU

Friday, June 12, 2020 at 7:55 am

Add temles refusing entry to foreigners. Why would anyone visit Thailand?

Reply
james

Sunday, June 14, 2020 at 7:16 pm

I am not surprised as falangs here have always been seen as second class but as long as you buy your way of life here you are welcome.

Oh and don’t forget to pay falang prices at Zoos, shops etc.

It is a nice place to visit but not to live unless you don’t mind swallowing your pride.

Reply
Jerrod

Thursday, September 10, 2020 at 11:10 am

White falangs living in Thailand a getting just a minuscule taste of the type of discrimation that BIPOC experience in western countries. LMFAO

Reply

Up Next

Rayong police raid huge illegal gambling den, arrest 118 – VIDEO

Don't Miss

Thai man faces 8 charges for Tweets criticising the monarchy

Jack Burton

Jack Burton is an American writer, broadcaster, linguist and journalist who has lived in Asia since 1987. A native of the state of Georgia, he attended the The University of Georgia's Henry Grady School of Journalism, which hands out journalism's prestigious Peabody Awards. His works have appeared in The China Post, The South China Morning Post, The International Herald Tribune and many magazines throughout Asia and the world. He is fluent in Mandarin and has appeared on television and radio for decades in Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Published

2 hours ago

Monday, April 26, 2021

Tim Newton

Phuket’s vice governor has stirred the pot by singling out, what he described as, “problem foreigners” who weren’t wearing their mask in public. Over the past week there has been renewed attention to the wearing of masks at all times even though it’s actually been part of Thailand’s emergency decree since April last year. And while there has been wide use of masks over the last year there may have been a dropping off of serious mask wearing at all times in recent months.

But, I have to say, the VAST majority of all people in Thailand have been wearing their masks whilst in public over the past year.

There are a few problem foreigners. There are also plenty of problem Thais who have occasionally erred in the mask-wearing department. The intentional, and malicious non wearing of masks, has been very rare in Thailand. But, really, we’re talking about a tiny percentage. I haven’t seen too many foreign Karen’s or the male equivalent in my travels.

If you want to talk about the non-wearing of masks, just look at the pub and club scene over the past few months. In just about all the photos of parties and club events the battle is to find anyone actually wearing a mask.

Want more from the Thaiger family?

Bangkok

Entertainment venues linked to majority of Covid-19 cases in Bangkok

Published

8 hours ago

Monday, April 26, 2021

Thaiger

Stock photo via Pixabay

Bars and nightclubs are linked to the majority of Covid-19 cases reported in Bangkok over the past month. Data from Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration show that nearly two-thirds of the recent wave of Covid-19 infections in Bangkok traced back to entertainment venues.

In late February, Bangkok was reclassified from a “red” zone to an “orange” zone, allowing alcohol to be served again and bars to reopen, as long as they closed by 11pm each night, although some venues stayed open past 11pm. Nightlife in Bangkok was nearly back to normal last month, with some nightclubs and bars operating until 2am. In late March, new Covid-19 clusters were reported in Bangkok’s Thong Lor nightlife district and many of the patients had hopped from venue to venue.

2,227 Covid-19 infections in Bangkok are linked to entertainment venues followed by 278 linked to family clusters and 203 linked to workplace clusters, according to the CCSA. 199 cases in Bangkok are linked to other provinces and 89 cases are linked to quarantine facilities.

Other cases in Bangkok include…

78 cases linked to banquets and ceremonies
77 cases linked to hospitals
74 cases linked to markets
74 cases linked to restaurants
55 cases linked to stores
32 cases linked to gyms and sports venues
22 cases linked to the police station
17 cases linked to educational institutions
11 cases linked to prisons
10 cases linked to religious places
9 cases linked to condominiums
9 cases linked beauty salons, massage shops and spas
6 cases linked to public transportation

Want more from the Thaiger family?

Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Covid UPDATE: 2,048 new Covid-19 infections and 8 deaths

Published

10 hours ago

Monday, April 26, 2021

Thaiger

Photo via Facebook/ อนุทิน ชาญวีรกูล (Public Health Minister)

2,048 new Covid-19 cases and 8 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Department of Disease Control. The total number of confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic is 57,508. The death toll is now at 148 since the start of the outbreak in Thailand. There are now 25,767 active cases, including 20,461 in hospitals and the other 5,306 being treated in field hospitals. 563 people are in critical condition and 150 patients are on ventilators.

Out of the new cases, 901 were reported in Bangkok. 110 cases were reported in Samut Prakan, which is just southeast of Bangkok. 97 cases were reported in Nonthaburi, a suburb outside Bangkok. 104 cases were reported in Chon Buri and 84 in Chiang Mai.

The new Covid-related fatalities include…

61 year old man from Pathum Thani who had diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
45 year old man in Bangkok died who had no pre-existing conditions. The cause of death was acute kidney failure.
24 year old Thai man from Udon Thani who was diagnosed with lymphoma.
92 year old man from Chaiyaphum who was diagnosed with heart disease.
63 year old man from Yala who had been suffering from chronic kidney disease.
52 year old woman from Bangkok who was diagnosed with hyperthyroid and high blood pressure
57 year old woman from Bangkok who suffered from spinal disk herniation.
60 years old man from Bangkok who had high blood pressure.

Recently, there has been a number of clusters around the country, according to deputy spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Natapanu Nopakun, who gives the CCSA report in English.

“In Bangkok, there had been at least 5 small clusters popping up in the past days and each of those 5 clusters had at least 50 cases of Covid-positive persons.”

Natapanu says many of the new Covid-19 patients were infected by family members.

In other related news, the province of Surat Thani, including the 3 Gulf islands of Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Tao, have imposed similar closures of business to the ones in Bangkok. The announcement says that you must do quarantine if you travel from a red zone. Residents are also being asked to “stay home from 10pm-4am”.