Travellers to Thailand to wear “Smartband” tracking watch
Special Tourist Vias, 14 day quarantine, “plans”, “models” and endless red-tape. Now we’ve got the “smartband” to track foreigners when they visit Thailand. The so-called Smartband will have to be worn by any foreign travellers entering Thailand. The new wearable restriction for travellers to Thailand coincides with the Cabinet announcement this week to allow more foreign tourists and crew of yachts to enter Thailand under the Special Tourist Visa program.
“The wristband can track their locations and measure the body’s temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate. It can also help the wearers with various problems, such as asking for directions when they get lost.”
The Smartband is being introduced from today.It’s the brainchild of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, in cooperation with Thai startups, according to the announcement on PR Thai Government.
Details, as usual, are sketchy and there is no clarification where the smartband is given to the tourists, if it’s compulsory to wear or who pays for it. Nothing explains how the Smartband can help when the wearer is “asking for directions”. Or is it waterproof? On the government’s own PR Facebook page the reception was less than enthusiastic….
“I never wear a watch, especially in Thai heat. I don’t mind a month in the daytime but forever is nonsense. I wonder how it does in the pool? The original plan was a tracking app on the phone. No problem, I am boring, you can follow me if you like but this looks like a shakedown for tech that I don’t want, in a form that I do not use. What happens when you take it off? I certainly do not sleep with a watch on.”
“I think these measures will not be widely accepted by european users. Almost no one wants to go to Thailand with quarantine don’t understand why also add this measure.”
“The government just keeps adding silly requirements that are preventing me from wanting to go back to Thailand, and I am sure that I am not the only one.”
“Not a good idea.”
“Seems there’s a stark contrast between the easy going, open and warm hearted nature of the thai citizens and their government’s mindset & perception of how foreigners are and how they think we like to be treated. I am aware there are some who have no manners and behave poorly but that’s by far surely not a majority. As a visitor of whatever country it’s normal for me to behave as a guest of the country and behave accordingly just the way one expects it when you invite someone to your house for dinner. I am sure there’s other much better ways to keep those who are not welcome from traveling to Thailand than making every single person first of all a suspect of whatever sorrow may bother the government.”
