Thailand
Updates on international travel to Thailand
Thailand to introduce “area quarantine” for international visitors from April
From next month, foreign visitors to the Kingdom will be able to experience the delights of “area quarantine”, after the government confirmed the scheme for 5 provinces: Phuket, Krabi, Chiang Mai, Chon Buri and Surat Thani, which includes the popular tourist islands Koh Samui and Koh Pha Ngan. Some of the tourist destinations are considered areas of “economic significance” and are included in the first phase of the Covid-19 vaccine campaign.
Read the full story HERE.
Thailand considering vaccine passport policy in bid to revive international tourism
A so-called vaccine passport, declaring a traveller has been vaccinated against Covid-19, would potentially allow foreign visitors to enter Thailand without going through a mandatory quarantine. Thailand’s Tourism Minister says he has asked the Public Health Ministry to approve a vaccine passport scheme, but the government is waiting on a statement from the World Heath Organisation on the matter before moving forward with a decision.
Read the full story HERE.
“Sealed route” set at Bangkok airport for international transfers
International transits and transfers are now allowed at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. A so-called “sealed route” is being set up in the airport to ensure the passengers with a layover in Thailand don’t come in contact with the other passengers. Passengers need to have the required documents including a fit-to-fly certificate, travel insurance that covers Covid-19 expenses and a negative Covid-19 test result issued no more than 72 hours before departure.
Read the full story HERE.
Foreign tourists travelling to Thailand must now download a Covid-19 tracking application
Foreign tourists travelling to Thailand will need to download the Covid-19 contact tracking mobile application “ThailandPlus” before arriving in Thailand and use it throughout their stay. The app will notify travellers if they have been in close contact with any confirmed cases.
Throughout their trip to Thailand, tourists will need to keep the app “on” and check in and out of various locations by scanning QR codes. The app requires access to the smartphone’s GPS , but the Tourism Authority of Thailand says the information collected will only be used for public health purposes and will not infringe on the tourists’ right to privacy.
Read the full story HERE.
Thailand tourism sector seeks to reopen the country by July
The campaign Open Thailand Safely is urging the Thai government to reopen Thailand to international tourists by July 2021. The campaign there’s 5 reasons why Thailand should reopen by July.
- The majority of citizens in many source markets will have been vaccinated by then.
- It gives time to Thai medical authorities to vaccinate both front line staff in hospitality settings in Thailand and/or vulnerable citizens around the country.
- It gives international travellers time to make travel plans and bookings.
- The date gives time to airlines, hotels, tour operators and others to start marketing and sales and get ready for tourism operations to commence
- It will take Thailand at least a year, and maybe longer, to return to the large numbers of international visitors that it had before the Covid-19 crisis.
Read the full story HERE.
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Guides2 hours agoChallenges of starting a business in Thailand as a foreigner
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Crime4 days agoNew details unfolding over alleged assault by Pattaya loan sharks
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Crime2 days ago‘Big Joke’ goes back to school to hunt visa crooks
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Environment4 days agoOver 100 tonnes of garbage estimated near Phuket Fishing Port
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Bangkok4 days agoThai VietJet cancels Phuket – Bangkok flight last minute over 1 extra passenger
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Stefan Svensson
Saturday, March 6, 2021 at 5:41 pm
Great news
Toby Andrews
Saturday, March 6, 2021 at 5:43 pm
Oh a new hoop to jump through. The tourist now has to have an app put on their smart phone.
I have a better idea. Just vaccinate all persons who are likely to be in contact with tourists.
Of course tourists have to be vaccinated, accepted.
Anyone know how many Thais have been vaccinated yet? 7221 so far – a joke!
21 million people in the UK have had their first vaccination. 964.000 are fully vaccinated.
27.8 million fully vaccinated in the United States.
It is democracy, Thailand, run by properly elected people, not peasants in uniform, who put little model houses outside their homes for spirits to live in.
.
And even more, put food and drink in the little houses for the spirits to eat and drink!!!! and when this is still there next day, guess what? They put more food and drink in the houses!!!!!
Perhaps they think the spirits are on a diet!!!!!!!!!
.
lol
Ben
Saturday, March 6, 2021 at 8:51 pm
Toby, in America we say “Cmon Man”. Thailand’s religious practices are cool and don’t hurt anyone.
The latest here is we’ll probably reach herd immunity by summer through vaccinations and 25+% of the population having been previously infected. Restaurants, movie houses and other entertainment venues are starting to open at limited capacity. Disneyland is opening soon. It’s now hard to get a restaurant reservation in LA. Even on a Monday or Tuesday. There is pent up demand and it’ll be a sonic boom the second half of 2021.
By hook or crook Thailand will open up without quarantine in 2021 because many other countries that compete with Thailand for tourists, that are closed now, will be fully open to the vaccinated. And I’m not talking about Cypress or the Maldives. July is optimistic for herd immunity in Thailand. It’ll be more like the fall at the earliest. The path to this is not rocket science and they’ll figure it out.
Dreqo
Saturday, March 6, 2021 at 8:56 pm
No one’s interested. The ship has long since sailed, anchored elsewhere and sank. Give it up already, eh? The glory days were dying prior to the new sars version, it’s official now. Give, it, up. Move, on. Accept, reality. The cash, is gone. Game, over. The jig, is up. Etc, etc and so on.
MARK GOODYEAR
Saturday, March 6, 2021 at 9:15 pm
Yes Toby, it’s fucking Halloween here every day in Thailand! I bet even Issan Rubber Johnnie has one outside his frontage. Maybe a little bottle of Fanta and some fruit for the ‘ghosts’ to eat!? Strange that they never seem to “eat” human food or drink!! I’s always left there!! Maybe if you put a pot of finger-licking good, KFC Zinger burger and large fries it might be gone by the next morning!
Crispy
Saturday, March 6, 2021 at 9:24 pm
What is your complaint? Do you need more time to understand, accept and respect Thai culture? Meaning through symbolism. Please try.
Issan John
Saturday, March 6, 2021 at 9:48 pm
What “news”, Stefan?
SO WHERE ARE THE “UPDATES”, THAIGER?
Roger C
Sunday, March 7, 2021 at 12:23 am
So what qualifies as a fit to fly certificate?
Tim Houston
Sunday, March 7, 2021 at 1:43 am
They should stop trying inventing the square wheel
Fred glue
Sunday, March 7, 2021 at 2:42 am
Toby Andrews your Séance mettings every morning is not working for you. You keep connecting too
issan john, and the results are showing. ?
Sanuk
Sunday, March 7, 2021 at 5:06 am
Toby and Isaan John arguing is what I come into the comments for.
Keep the free entertainment up fellas.
TC
Sunday, March 7, 2021 at 7:28 am
Hmmm!
“…but the government is waiting on a statement from the World Heath”.
I will be very very surprised if WHO puts its neck on the line to endorse this.
Still recovering from the joke that was the enquiry into China/Wuhin and Covid. A complete joke showing up yet another sham organization. Combine with the UN they make for a woke lefty love fest not worth feeding let alone funding.
Indiana Scott
Sunday, March 7, 2021 at 7:33 am
I am will to show my vacuum records but that it I don’t like being herded or spy On
Ian
Sunday, March 7, 2021 at 5:02 pm
Add the United nations to that TC what a waste of money that lot are all talk and no action
LondonAl
Sunday, March 7, 2021 at 8:19 pm
The Thai government come in for an awful lot of stick here but from where I’m sitting in UK they’ve done an amazing job in containing the virus and they’re not doing anything different to the rest of Australasia by not letting in tourists.
They seem quite proactive in looking at ideas for getting tourists back as quickly as possible, but understandably they want to be sure those tourists don’t have Covid, I believe that is now possible with a combination of vaccine and testing, hopefully they’ll agree.
Mario
Monday, March 8, 2021 at 1:39 am
Something seems to be neglected : if you had the vaccine, that doesn’t mean you are not a carrier of the virus, so quarantine can’t be bypassed. The only thing the vaccine does is protect you from getting ill, it doesn’t do anything to the virus crawling around on your body. The virus can survive up to 5 days on object surfaces, so a 1 week quarantine would be more sufficient, right ?
Patrick
Monday, March 8, 2021 at 5:57 am
Let me understand this. So if you are vaccinated you still have to take a covid test 3 days earlier and then pay an inflated travel insurance policy to come? I love Thailand, I’ve been 30 times and I really miss it but no thanks. I’ll take my dollars and go to Vietnam which is cheaper and less corrupt cops. By agreeing to these conditions you are being subservient to a Tyrannical dictatorship. Just stay away be patient. People power will win. Money talks.
Baroness
Monday, March 8, 2021 at 11:39 am
Why would you need an insurance against Covid-19 if you have been vaccinated? Does this mean you can still get infected and sick after being vaccinated? So what is the purpose of vaccination? Because being vaccinated or not you may still test positive and then you’ll go directly to the hospital. Conclusion: Vaccination does not make a difference for the Thai tourism industry and for the tourist.
Nick
Monday, March 8, 2021 at 12:11 pm
They will have to scrap all the hoops before I go back, particularly having to fork out for a test in both directions. If the result comes back back late or is inconclusive you miss your flight.
Mark
Monday, March 8, 2021 at 2:13 pm
Good to hear that the yanks can achieve herd immunity 10 years before everyone else. A magic snake oil bleach vaccine that can fly down a telephone wire maybe. Thailand has had a very low infection count which is why they maybe haven’t felt the urgency to vaccinate. I believe they underestimated the importance of tourism to their economy however, which can happen when the traffic is going your way for many years. A bit of complacency probably, that’s all.
What they haven’t done, is let half a million people die before organising their vaccine program, discouraged prevention measures, and aren’t opening Disneyland when the infection rate is out of control.
If you don’t like the way they are dealing with a very real killer pandemic, then go to Brazil for a holiday. It would help us all out.
David Mann
Monday, March 8, 2021 at 3:30 pm
Covid-19 vaccines are not a cure or a 100% protection against catching and harbouring the virus. The vaccines simply prepare your immune system to be able to deal with the infection in a timely manner. This means that for the vast majority of people vaccinated, they will either be unaware they have caught the virus, or show little or no symptoms. As such, life can go on as normal. However, what is not yet known is the extent to which a vaccinated and infected person can incubate/grow and pass on the virus to others. This therefore potentially leaves non-vaccinated people still at risk. The picture relating to how infectious vaccinated people are is changing almost daily. As nations roll out the vaccine more and more data is becoming available. There was a recent incident in Germany where some care home residents were found to have been infected with Covid-19, even though they had been vaccinated. This is normal! The key thing however, is that non of the elderly residents fell particularly sick or needed hospital care. Their bodies were more able to cope with the virus. There is a growing set of data which suggests the so called “viral load” that a vaccinated person can carry makes them “less likely” to pass on the virus. Phrases like “less likely” and “the probability of” etc all show that this is not an all or nothing situation. It’s about risk and probability. There will inevitably be people who are vaccinated who go on to die from Covid-19 complications. The problem for governments that closed down is that when you open again and the first person becomes infected, the media and commentators seize on it and the politicians run scared. It’s a crazy situation if compared to things such as road safety. We all know the idea of zero road deaths is impossible, yet we still drive cars. A vaccinated world from Covid-19 will be the same. It is possible over years, the virus will decline in number and strength and may even cease to exist or be endemic in the population. However, that is many years away I suspect. Maybe never!
LondonAl
Monday, March 8, 2021 at 4:58 pm
Mario that is simply not true, if it is perhaps you could produce the evidence, we have over 20m people vaccinated in UK and not one of them has been found to be carrying or transmitting Covid, and even if you are right it would be picked up with testing.