quarantine
- World News
UPDATE: Covid-19 visitor entry around the region
Around the region there are many countries starting to re-open their borders to allow some business or diplomatic visitors, even tourists, to enter their national borders. The situation is changing frequently and we’d urge you to contact the national embassies in your countries before making any concrete arrangements or paying money for airfares or accommodation before you clarify the situation,…
- Thailand News
74 Thais in quarantine after Burmese truck driver tests positive for Covid-19
74 Thais are now in quarantine after coming in close contact with 2 Burmese truck drivers, who had since tested positive for Covid-19, in Thailand’s northwestern Tak province. According to an unnamed, female doctor’s Facebook post yesterday, all 74 Thais were given PCR tests and told to enter home quarantine for at least 14 days, and are being monitored by Thai…
- Covid-19 News
6 new cases of Covid-19 in Thailand, only 1 displaying symptoms
Thailand has announced 6 new cases of Covid-19 today, with only one person showing symptoms, according to the CCSA. 2 Thais and 4 foreigners make up the positive diagnoses, raising the total number of cases confirmed in the kingdom to 3,634. The 1st case was a 57 year old Japanese employee from his home country who arrived on September 26…
- Tourism News
Medical chief in favour of re-opening borders, calls zero cases target unrealistic
A senior Thai medical professional has confirmed he’s in favour of Thailand re-opening its borders, saying attempting to maintain zero cases of Covid-19 is “unrealistic”. Somsak Akksilp, from the Department of Medical Services, insists the country is adequately prepared in the event of a resurgence of the virus and, with no date set for vaccine availability, the country must move…
- Visa Information
First batch of Special Tourist Visa arrivals for Phuket ‘postponed’, no refunds
If you were a traveller, trying to get accurate information about how and when you could return to Thailand, you’d be rightfully confused. So are we. Now it emerges that the arrival of the first Special Tourist Visa travellers, headed for Phuket, has been postponed at least until the end of the month. Scheduled charter flights for Scandinavian and Chinese travellers…
- Covid-19 News
15 new Covid-19 cases detected in quarantine
15 new Covid-19 cases were detected in Thailand state quarantine including 6 army engineers who flew in from South Sudan on the same flight as 25 previously confirmed coronavirus cases. The other infections were detected in travellers arriving from Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Myanmar and the United States, according to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Thailand has reported a…
- Economy News
Key foreign investors could be exempt from quarantine
Key foreign investors might get to skip out on the 14 day quarantine required for travellers entering Thailand. Allowing high spending investors a free pass on the isolation period is aimed to help revive the economy after it was battered by the pandemic. The Centre for Economic Situation Administration, or CESA, is expected to discuss the proposal today. Special measures…
- Covid-19 News
10 new Covid-19 cases detected in quarantine, all reported as asymptomatic
Thailand health officials reported 10 new Cvoid-19 cases detected mandatory state quarantine for those entering the country, adding up the total number of reported cases to 3,600. All cases were reported as asymptomatic at the time the results were confirmed. The cases came from Hong Kong, the United States, Kuwait and Russia, according to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration.…
- Phuket News
Phuket luxury resorts become quarantine facilities for travellers on the Special Tourist Visa
Thailand is opening its doors this week after a 6 month ban on international tourists, catering to those on the new Special Tourist Visa who have time on their hands and money to spend. The first group will arrive to Phuket from China on Thursday, but they all have to go through a mandatory 14 day quarantine and it isn’t…
- Visa Information
Special Tourist Visa program leaves out those from high-risk Covid countries
Thailand’s Foreign Ministry is clarifying that the new Special Tourist Visa program will omit potential high-spend tourists from high-risk Covid countries from consideration. Tourism and Sports minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn says prospective tourists need to check with the Public Health Ministry (via their Thai embassies) to see if their home countries are permitted to visit Thailand under the program. Phiphat also…
- Tourism News
Despite delay, Tourism ministry says travellers are coming this month
Despite a delay in the first group of long-stay travellers arriving under the newly-formed Special Tourist Visa, the Tourism and Sports Ministry says it is vowing to bring in 1,200 tourists this month. The Minister, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn says the slight delay was due to some entry processes being muddled. “The first two groups from China had a prospective schedule of…
- Covid-19 News
UPDATE: US President Trump and Melania test positive for Covid-19
The US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have tested positive for Covid-19. The President made the announcement on his Twitter account at 1am Friday, Washington time. The 74 year old President was diagnosed just hours after it became public that Hope Hicks, a Trump aide who had been travelling with him on Air Force One and Marine…
- World News
UPDATE: US President Trump and First Lady test positive for Covid-19
The US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania have tested positive for Covid-19. The President made the announcement on his Twitter account in the early hours of Friday morning, US time. The 74 year old President was diagnosed just hours after it became public that Hope Hicks, a Trump aide who had been travelling with him on Air Force…
- Koh Samui News
23 Koh Samui hotels seek alternative state quarantine certification
Nearly 2 dozen hotels and resorts in the Thai Gulf island resort of Koh Samui are seeking certification to be alternative state quarantine facilities. Talk of a potential travel bubble scheme to the island is also set for today, the Nation Thailand reports. 8 of the 23 hotels have already gone through a government check and the rest will be…
- Covid-19 News
Thai medic cautions against reducing quarantine period for foreign tourists
On one side there is a push to re-open Thailand’s borders to re-start the beleaguered tourist industry. On the other hand Thai officials are try to keep Covid-19 contained and fear the re-opening of the borders. Even the suggestion to reduce the quarantine time from 14 to 7 days is not gaining support from health officials. Now, a doctor from…
- Visa Information
Thailand’s Special Tourist Visa to be approved tomorrow
The Special Tourist Visa will be ticked off and added to the Immigration department’s list of available visas on Monday. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration meeting at the start of the business week will pass the much-discussed STV which is hoped to be the first step of a wider re-opening to general tourism in Thailand. CCSA spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul…
- Covid-19 News
2 returnees in quarantine catch Covid-19 a second time
Health officials say 2 people in state quarantine tested positive for Covid-19, apparently catching the virus for a second time. A 42 year old Thai man recently tested positive for Covid-19 while in Chon Buri state quarantine after returning from Singapore. He first caught the virus a few months ago while in Singapore. He didn’t need hospital treatment and quarantined…
- Tourism News
Quarantine could be reduced to 7 days from November, if border re-opening succeeds
Thailand’s Tourism and Sports Minister says the mandatory quarantine period for those arriving from overseas could be reduced to 7 days if there is no spike in Covid-19 infections after the border re-opens to limited arrivals from October. For the minister’s part, the 7 day quarantine is merely speculation at this stage. Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn says more details on the…
- Thailand News
Spas could become quarantine facilities, Krabi first in line for the project
Spas could become state quarantine facilities. The Department of Health Service Support is looking into a proposal that would turn Thai massage parlours and spas into quarantine. The project would start in Krabi. A 14 day quarantine at a state approved hotel can cost 30,000 baht to more than 100,000 baht. It’s unclear what the cost would be for a…
- Tourism News
Thailand details new visa strategy to welcome rich tourists
The Thai government has revealed their detailed strategy to bring back “rich” tourists while keeping Covid numbers low. The plan, to be rolled out next month, has been touted by officials as a way to help recover Thailand’s hard hit tourist economy, but some say the government needs a reality check. The Tourism and Sports Authority Minister claims the plan…
- Visa Information
Special Tourist Visa – now officials want you to ‘quarantine’ in your home country before coming to Thailand
On one hand the Thai government unveils its big ‘plan’ for a Special Tourist Visa, allowing minimum stays of 90 days, extendable to 270 days (almost 9 months). On the other hand they have put up a list of restrictions that, at best, will severely restrict any return to ‘normal’ tourism in the country. Apart from the local 14 day…
- Thailand video news
Heavy rain, big protest tomorrow, special tourist visa | Thailand News Today | September 18
Daily TV news from around Thailand. Police catch inmate who escaped prison dressed as a guard He was smart enough to get hold of a prison guard uniform and escape, but was wasn’t smart enough to not get caught. The inmate who walked out of Phetchabun Provincial Prison yesterday, disguised as a guard, has now been recaptured. Police were able…
- Covid-19 News
1 new Covid-19 death, 7 new cases in quarantine
Thailand reported its first Covid-19 death since June, tallying up the death toll to 59. Health officials also report 7 new Covid-19 cases detected in quarantine. They say 1 person had the virus before. The 54 year old Mhad Mamin worked as a Thai translator at an embassy in Saudi Arabia. He came back to Thailand last month and tested positive…
- World News
Travellers from Thailand can enter United Kingdom without quarantine
No more quarantine for those travelling from Thailand and entering the United Kingdom. Thailand and Singapore will be added to the UK’s so called “travel corridor” list starting tomorrow. The Thailand Foreign Ministry deputy spokesperson Natapanu Nopakun says this is “good news, adding that Thailand’s Covid-19 prevention methods have been recognised by other nations. He says several countries have removed…
- Visa Information
Tourists on the new Special Tourist Visa will have to arrive on charter flights
After months of pondering when some tourists might actually come back through the turnstiles, the Thai Immigration Bureau says they’re dusting off the finger-print ID and cameras at arrival booths in Bangkok in preparation for the first wave of ‘general’ tourism back to Thailand. But the projected flow of around 1,200 incoming passengers under the new Special Tourist Visa will…
- Visa Information
Trials and tribulations 3. Returning to Thailand in the Covid era – on the home straight
by David Jackson Monday morning and I’m on the home straight assuming I pass my final Covid test that I took yesterday morning. The situation hasn’t been too bad over the weekend as I was allowed outside into the hotel’s garden area for 40 minutes each day. On Saturday the threat of rain caused the nurse to request my early…
- Phuket News
Airport officials deny French tourists were allowed to travel in Thailand
The general manager of Phuket International Airport denies reports that 2 French nationals were allowed to visit the country while its borders are shut to international tourists. Thanee Chuangchoo says the French visitors’ arrival was in accordance with all the usual Covid procedures, and that both spent their time in Thailand at a quarantine facility. “It’s just the same as…
- Covid-19 News
Trials and tribulations 2. Returning to Thailand in the Covid era – a personal view
by guest writer David Jackson Part II in the series of articles from David who has been writing from his quarantine room. David waxes lyrical as even the tiniest moments seem larger than life in his 25 square metre cocoon… I begin writing this second article on Day 7 of my quarantine in a Bangkok hotel, so the sentence of…
- Covid-19 News
Trials and tribulations of returning to Thailand in the Covid era – a personal view
A series of articles by David Jackson Sunday morning and I am sitting inside my viewless window in a Bangkok Hotel waiting in anticipation for a trip down to reception where, after five lonely days, I get to experience my first brief contact with a human – a nurse who will presumably force a swab up my nose. Welcome to…
- Covid-19 News
UPDATE: Local DJ Covid case, 3 pubs closed down for cleaning
UPDATE: 4 more Covid-19 cases today. 3 were new patients – Thais returning from overseas. The other 1 included in today’s tally is a prison inmate from Bangkok – his positive test has rattled the CCSA who had just spent most of Wednesday crowing about their achievement of reaching 100 days without any locally-based infections. His positive test has led…
- Covid-19 News
Covid-19 case: Restaurant closed, employees in quarantine
A Nonthaburi restaurant is temporarily closed after a former employee tested positive for Covid-19. The 37 year old man tested positive while incarcerated at a Bangkok prison on drug charges yesterday. He worked at the restaurant Sam Wan Song Kuen on Rama V Road from August 12-25. Nonthaburi Governor Sujin Chaichumsak ordered the restaurant to close for just 3 days,…
- Covid-19 News
Thailand’s Health Minister optimistic about admitting business travellers
The Thai Public Health Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, admits Thailand is caught between a rock and a hard place and can’t go on locking all foreigners out forever, in an effort to prevent a resurgence of the Covid-19 virus. “We will either die of the disease or of hunger, so we have to face the challenge.” He adds that the Kingdom…
- World News
Malaysia bans citizens from high risk countries
While all international tourists are banned from entering Malaysia for the rest of the year, the country is also restricting citizens from India, Indonesia and the Philippines. Those countries have reported a high number of coronavirus cases and the numbers continue to go up. Foreign tourists have been banned since March and will be until the end of the year.…
- World News
Hua Hin schools close after students get fever, families crossed Myanmar border
Class is cancelled for a week at 2 schools after some students reported a high fever. School officials discovered many Burmese students and parents have been crossing the Thai-Myanmar border. The Thai government recently told immigration police to patrol the country’s natural borders such as along jungles and rivers after Myanmar reported a spike in coronavirus cases. The 2 Prachuap…
- Covid-19 News
CCSA considers another 2 groups of foreigners for return to Thailand
The next batch of returnee categories is now being considered by the CCSA. This time, foreigners with permanent residences who have been stranded overseas for the past 6 months, and long-term foreign residents, will receive priority when the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announces the next date for the next phase of lifting the shutters on Thailand’s borders. The chairman…
- Covid-19 News
I flew home to get a new visa – one person’s experience with the “new normal” in Thailand
Theo, from The Netherlands, flew back from Thailand to arrange a new visa in his home country. When he returned he had to stay in an Alternative State Quarantine hotel in Bangkok. What were his challenges? How much did it all cost? I am from the Netherlands, I am 44 years old, married with my Thai wife for over 5 years…
- Tourism News
Will Phuket’s ‘safe and sealed’ campaign attract foreign tourists?
Summer starts to wane in the northern hemisphere with thoughts of autumn leaves and, then, colder weather. Naturally the eyes of the world’s travellers, largely cooped up inside their own borders since March, look at their suitcases and ponder a trip… to Thailand! That’s now a possibility although there are plenty of hoops to jump through in Thailand’s planned re-opening…
