Thailand tourism situation

[Ratsima]

Although to put it into context, up until just a couple of weeks ago, travel to Thailand was looking like an overnight stay in a hotel and subject to a clear PCR test you were free to travel anywhere in Thailand.

I guess that's the point. There's no way to plan ahead because, at the moment, there's no way to predict what the situation will be when you plan to depart or, even worse, when you plan to return.

[Dannie Boy]

Although to put it into context, up until just a couple of weeks ago, travel to Thailand was looking like an overnight stay in a hotel and subject to a clear PCR test you were free to travel anywhere in Thailand.

I guess that's the point. There's no way to plan ahead because, at the moment, there's no way to predict what the situation will be when you plan to depart or, even worse, when you plan to return.

That I agree and it fact also answers Buks concerns about wanting to travel to the UK this summer - it’s so faraway that you cannot plan too early - hopefully Omicron will have receded long before he intends to travel - short notice travel arrangements might be more expensive, but better to wait until the future is clearer. I too plan to travel to the UK, but will hold off booking flights until travel becomes clearer.

[sateeb]

Although to put it into context, up until just a couple of weeks ago, travel to Thailand was looking like an overnight stay in a hotel and subject to a clear PCR test you were free to travel anywhere in Thailand.

I guess that's the point. There's no way to plan ahead because, at the moment, there's no way to predict what the situation will be when you plan to depart or, even worse, when you plan to return.

That I agree and it fact also answers Buks concerns about wanting to travel to the UK this summer - it’s so faraway that you cannot plan too early - hopefully Omicron will have receded long before he intends to travel - short notice travel arrangements might be more expensive, but better to wait until the future is clearer. I too plan to travel to the UK, but will hold off booking flights until travel becomes clearer.

I also have plans to visit the UK this summer. I initially booked a flex fare with Emirates for June but since changed to July and now August due to the current Omicron kerfuffle. I actually found that booking early was beneficial price wise due to Covid uncertainty(booked online July '21).

[lomuamart]

I reckon I saw most of your 4-5 abreast tourists today at HH hospital, BB.

I was there to take the my second PCR test as part of Test and Go. It was chaos. If I had close contact with maybe 7 people on NY Eve, I was near well over a hundred today.

Where did they all come from? Mainly farang couples and families, packed in like sardines for over an hour trying to register. Once that was done, the distancing was much better and outside.

As you have to do this test within 5-7 days of entering Thailand, these were people, like me, who scraped in under the honouring of T&G. And this will go on every day until I don't know when.

Results and certificate are available for pick up tomorrow at 1pm. I'm thinking to hell with that. If I'm positive, they'll be coming for me, like it or not. If I'm negative and the LFT I did this morning put me in the clear, then I don't see why I need a certificate. I'm on that Mor Chana app and the result today will be combined with the PCR test I had to on arrival on Dec 29th.

I was amazed at the number of farangs. I really thought I'd be in and out in 15 minutes or so. And they were still arriving in taxis and songthaews as I left.

[lomuamart]

PS, you're right about the insurance, BB. I queried mine before I left and was told that if you are quarantined because of close contact to someone on the plane who's positive and you're not, insurance won't cover you.

[Dannie Boy]

I guess that's the point. There's no way to plan ahead because, at the moment, there's no way to predict what the situation will be when you plan to depart or, even worse, when you plan to return.

That I agree and it fact also answers Buks concerns about wanting to travel to the UK this summer - it’s so faraway that you cannot plan too early - hopefully Omicron will have receded long before he intends to travel - short notice travel arrangements might be more expensive, but better to wait until the future is clearer. I too plan to travel to the UK, but will hold off booking flights until travel becomes clearer.

I also have plans to visit the UK this summer. I initially booked a flex fare with Emirates for June but since changed to July and now August due to the current Omicron kerfuffle. I actually found that booking early was beneficial price wise due to Covid uncertainty(booked online July '21).

I have a BA voucher that is valid until September 2023 but as many will be aware, BA are not scheduled to fly between BKK and LHR until October 22, so I might have to keep hold of the voucher and use it next year - buying something else if I travel this year. Although BA are offering flights with Qatar Airways on the vouchers, the cost is almost 50% more than what I paid when I bought the tickets (me and my wife).


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[Big Boy]

A new yardstick for me................ I pass 2 'Farang' breakfast places most mornings. They've been full for a couple of weeks, but this week back to about 1/3rd full. High season seems to have managed 2 weeks this year.

[buksida]

Likewise where we are, was a little busier in late December (8-10 farangs on the beach), but the effect of the mass cancellations due to the reintroduction of state quarantine is now evident - every resort is empty.

Edit: looks like the junta is in no hurry to open anything up (surprise surprise).

Test and Go unlikely to return until mid-year at the earliest
Thailand’s “Test and Go” travel scheme, which enabled vaccinated visitors to visit the country without quarantine, is unlikely to return until the middle of 2022, according to a senior official at the Ministry of Public Health.

The scheme was implemented on November 1 and lasted just a little over a month before it was suspended to curb the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron strain of the coronavirus pandemic.

Now according to a senior official, the scheme is unlikely to return anytime soon as Omicron cases continues to spike throughout the country.

“We cannot reimplement it without adding to the public health burden so the sandbox program will be our only course to bringing in international tourists,” the senior official told Thai Enquirer by phone.

https://www.thaienquirer.com/36458/test ... ill-valid/

[Big Boy]

It was nice while it lasted for a couple of weeks. We managed to get a few essentials ferried across with visitors.

[joelle]

We are at Khao Lak at the moment and at the hotel where we stay all of the best rooms were full for the next few days, at the restaurant last night there were 12 tables all with tourist type foreigners and also many at breakfast, contrary to last March when we were the only customers.
We noticed the change as soon as we got to Khao Lak as many more places (shops, bars, restaurants) were open again.
Will probably be short lived as the T & G stopped.

[buksida]

TAT already spouting its bullshit numbers and the country isn't even really open yet ...

Ministry pushes for Test & Go redux
The expected resumption of the Test & Go tourism scheme in February should allow the country to attract at least 8 million tourists this year, says the Tourism and Sports Ministry.

Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said his ministry plans to push for the resumption of the quarantine-free Test & Go scheme next month as this proposal is scheduled for discussion at the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration meeting on Jan 20.

He said the public should be confident about the country reopening to vaccinated tourists because the Public Health Ministry is capable of containing an outbreak, as the number of new infections stabilised at 7,000-8,000 for 14 days after the New Year holiday.

Moreover, the number of patients with severe symptoms remains low, with the fatality rate at only 10-20 per day.

Concerns about the severity of the Omicron variant remain have tempered, said Mr Phiphat.

He said each major tourism province has to prepare hotel isolation for asymptomatic tourists who test positive, while tourists have to undergo two RT-PCR tests.

"Tourism is the engine that can revive the overall economy the fastest. It is important to resume travel activities, which have slowed since the suspension of the Test & Go scheme," Mr Phiphat said.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/22 ... t-go-redux

It's a shame the decision to reopen lies with the person that really doesn't like foreigners.

[Ratsima]

One journalist's experience:

quarantine.jpg

(277.48 KiB) Downloaded 226 times

The rest is behind a paywall.

BBC article in Thai here: https://www.bbc.com/thai/international-60111406

[hhinner]

One journalist's experience:

quarantine.jpg

The rest is behind a paywall.

BBC article in Thai here: https://www.bbc.com/thai/international-60111406

Deleted, link to Twitter didn't work!

[hhinner]

Try again: https://twitter.com/MillervisionTV/stat ... 5_VCg&s=19

[Ratsima]

Good. You can get most of the article on that Twitter post.

Amazing, though, eh?