Thailand threw a tourist part. . . the guests didn't bother coming.

[rxpharm]

Here is an insightful Thaiger.com video on the current tourist situation in Thailand and the impact the COVID 19 situation has had on its tourism industry. It will definitely be very different when and if it recovers.

[flamingofarmer]

Big waste of resources. They could have predicted this. Its like they were behaving like fearful employees of a harsh boss: came up with lame ideas to appease the boss.
In the meantime nodody is willing to jump through hoops made of BS to just get there, and then face 2 weeks of imposed quarantine to holiday in what is now a museum of Thialand. I get that the quarantine is got to do with making sure no one has the virus and so on and so forth and I'm not debating that at all , but the point that I'm trying to make his who would want to go through all this just to get there. Also vacation usually only lasts a couple of weeks for some people so are they trying to convince people that can stay longer that a two-week quarantine is worth it being in a city r resort area where most of the bars and venues are closed, out of business or have to close early and so forth. As I said big waste of time.

What they could have done was acknowledged that the year or two are done and until the virus pandemic reaches an acceptable level that people don't have to jump through hoops to travel, and the fear is gone perhaps, they would need to focus on making sure the people of the country can survive. There is an obvious total failure of the Thai government to look after the Thai people; complete dereliction of their civic duties.

These half-baked ideas of trying to "get people to come to Thailand", were a big waste of time when nobody can travel or they don't want to travel for fear of getting sick or getting turned around when they land because they picked up the virus on the way. All very ridiculous. And in the meantime the people of Thailand that are not wealthy are literally starving while the wealthier just keep on investing in the stock market and waiting for their tenants to pay the rent that's never coming. It's very sickening to see how mishandled the government of that country is. The more I find out about Thailand after my first trip there in 2014, the more I start to understand what a disaster the whole place is. At first I thought it was just dirty streets and Tangled wires and stinky sewers. But at the end of the day that is all part of the systemic failure of the country. And what we see visually as tourists, "the glossy veneer" as he says, is as you would say the tip of the iceberg of bureaucratic failure. This crisis is really shining the spotlight on Thai government, and putting them through an intense test, unfortunately however, failing this test is failing the Thai people.

[rxpharm]

Most countries are very ethnocentric, and believe that "they" are better that most other countries. This view is compounded when there is an autocratic government in place - that generally leads to decisions based on faulty data, with no realistic ideas and solutions being generated or proposed to "keep the boss happy".

That is definitely part of the problem in Thailand. They should have gone for a model like Iceland and a few other countries have taken, tourists may have a Covid 19 test at the airport - if +ve they must quarantine for the required number of days, if -ve they are free to travel. The Covid testing costs are paid for by the tourist, as would the mandatory quarantine. While Iceland doesn't have the same tourist numbers as Thailand, they have not had a spike in cases due to tourists.

This would have resulted in higher tourist numbers than Thailand has had, but still less than normal. I am not optimistic that they will come around to this type of plan. Hopefully when more people get vaccinated, they will open the country to those who have a vaccination certificate.

[Rockheart]

The idea of zero covid is killing every country that does it.
This policy isn't fair to citizens.

Now that Trump is gone the pandemic suddenly isn't as serious for some reason.
Things will probably go back to normal faster now.

I am just not clear why no airline has implemented testing on flights. They squack about needing vaccines but testing seems much more accurate. They don't even know if the vaccine stops you from spreading it. A good test is pretty authorative.
Wouldn't you think Thai air would be the first to do something like this.

Still most elites in Thailand don't care if tourists come back any time soon. This way they cement control forever.

[flamingofarmer]

Iceland is an expensive holiday, if you've never been.

I don't debate testing and health; thats an endless discussion with no solutions. There are no uniform policies in place anywhere and each country is doing their own thing; so be it. Its what it is.
I just think that again, Thailand's policy of launch and forget is in play. They launched a tight policy on travel and all that came with it, and is still going on for the foreseeable future, and left the business and employees in the cold to fend for themselves while wasting time and resources on ill fated plans to get people to travel. Whatever is done for testing and quarantine is irrelevant if there's nothing to visit.
People would have to be completely ignorant of the world situation to you want travel to Thailand knowing that there's nothing to see there at this point in time. It seems that they were hoping that wealthy people that can travel for months at a time would choose to stay in Thailand for more than a few weeks to make up for the two-week quarantine. But the problem with this model is there trying to make money from "elite" tourist travel from a few people over short Of time when the way their tourism economy has worked in the past is making smaller amounts of money from larger crowds over a longer time periods based on reasonable travel/ stays like say 1 to 4 weeks. The elephant in the room is the fact that there are other places to go that are not ghost towns and those "elite" travelers they are trying to attract will go elswhere instead of Thailand. The bread a butter crowds like us won't bother. I have both time and money to travel but i don't want the hassles nor do i want to be walking on empty streets to look at shuttered businesses.
as officer barbrady would say, theres nothing to see here.

[Rockheart]

There might not be as much tourist stuff to do but all the ladyboys are still in Thailand. I've seen all the tourist stuff anyways.
So if you can stay long enough to make the quarantine worth while then you have all the ladyboys to yourself mostly and all the nice beaches are still there. If you have time to stay for several months, apartments are probably pretty good value right now, especially in Pattaya.

They key to quarantine is to bring a ladyboy to quarantine with you.
If I end up going to Brazil, I may go quarantine in Thailand rather than have to do it in Canada.

[flamingofarmer]

I get that the ladyboys are still around. I was sort of just talking about general tourism.


Can you include a thai national in your ASQ hotel? I would think the hotel is bound somehow to a law which requires them to report suspicious activity of a tourist in quarantine?

[Rockheart]

I get that the ladyboys are still around. I was sort of just talking about general tourism.


Can you include a thai national in your ASQ hotel? I would think the hotel is bound somehow to a law which requires them to report suspicious activity of a tourist in quarantine?

No I think if i flew to Thailand with an outside ladyboy posing as my partner, we should be able to quarantine in the same room.
It could be a ladyboy returning home or some foriegner that can come in. Brazil and Thailand allow each other visa on arrival so there is some Thais in Brazil.

Regardless spending two weeks in quarantine would be better in Thailand than having to do it in Canada.
Canada is considering forced quarantine in hotels now.

[Rockheart]

Just to get into Thailand seems ridiculous.
================================

COMMERCIAL FLIGHT

General steps to travel to Thailand by commercial flight for eligible travellers

1. The applicant must submit the required documents for Visa (if needed) to the Royal Thai Embassy in Ottawa via postal mail/courier ONLY or the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Vancouver. Please include a cover letter stating that you would like to travel to Thailand by a commercial flight.

2. The Royal Thai Embassy in Ottawa or the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Vancouver will review your application case by case.

3. Once approved, the Royal Thai Embassy in Ottawa or the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Vancouver will issue an appropriate visa for you and send it back by a return enveloppe that you provided.

4. You need to book a hotel (Alternative State Quarantine - ASQ). Please book directly with an approved ASQ hotel and make your payment (http://www.hsscovid.com/). Your name(s) should be indicated clearly on ASQ hotel confirmation, along with the correct date of your arrival flight to BKK.

5. You need to have e-ticket confirmation from the airline.

6. You need to have a copy of your health insurance policy with coverage including COVID related treatment in Thailand in the amount no less than 100,000 USD for a period of at least 3-month validity from the date of departure and it should cover your period of your stay in Thailand*

7. You will need to apply for a COE online. Please visit this link https://ottawa.thaiembassy.org/en/co...a783584326eaf5

8. You need to obtain a COVID-19 lab test result indicating that COVID-19 is not detected. The COVID test must be by RT-PCR method (the method must be clearly indicated on the form). The lab test result must also clearly indicate that has been “issued” or “reported” within 72 hours before departure time. THIS DOCUMENT MUST BE IN ENGLISH.

9. You need to contact a doctor to obtain a fit-to-fly health certificate (issued within 72 hours before departure time). The doctor MUST INDICATE CLEARLY on the document that you are “FIT-TO-FLY” or “FIT-TO-TRAVEL”. THIS DOCUMENT MUST BE IN ENGLISH.

***There is NO OFFICIAL FORM for a fit-to-fly certificate. Please DO NOT use forms found on the internet. Some passengers on previous repatriation flights were denied boarding because they used forms found via google search that did not contain the word “FIT-TO-FLY” or “FIT-TO-TRAVEL”.***

***Your fit-to-fly health certificate and COVID-19 lab test result must be two separate documents. It is your responsibility to present these two documents upon check-in with the airline and on your arrival in Thailand.

***Failure to follow any of the above steps can result in REFUSAL to board your flight at the airport!!

https://ottawa.thaiembassy.org/en/content/119628-thailand-visa-and-coe?cate=5f069ee272a783584326eaf5

[flamingofarmer]

Wow. Not surprisingly, few people want to go through all this BS

[bigmtsl]

All countries are ethnocentric and think they are better than the next one. Sanctimonious Canuckistan thinks it is morally and ethically superior to the USA but corruption is a huge issue in Quebec and especially with federal politicians from Quebec. Even pretty boy Justin is corrupt as was seen when he tried to get the AG to give SNC Lavalin, a very corrupt Quebec engineering firm with world wide reach, a pass and she called him out. Something with the WE charity scandal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNC-Lavalin_affair

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WE_Charity_scandal

[Rockheart]

Wow. Not surprisingly, few people want to go through all this BS

A harsh comparison to the past where you merely had to show up there and you were in.

Now it is like a rat in a maze. When you finally get in you will probably stick out more than usual.
Before you were very anonymous there amongst the countless other farangs, but now everybody may know your name.
Plus they will probably be tracking you more than ever. Any ladyboy you were in contact with may turn you in for contact tracing.
We may be subject to more scrutiny from authorities whose tea money has dried up.

[bigmtsl]

I guess not many people will be going to Thailand for a few years until they 'chill out' which they may never do. Once governments have control they don't like giving it back. That's just too democratic.

[flamingofarmer]

Yah whatever the catylist is that starts the chill out/level out process where we can blend in with the rest of the falangs that show up and the vetting process is gone, tourism in this land is moot. In general, I cannot anticipate the level out and getting back to cruise altitude for Thai tourism at all until the vetting is gone completely.

Also, I wonder how many of the wealthy Thai people will scoop up the opportunity to invest in now closed hotels and restaurants. I suspect there should be some opportunities there for those who are able to take advantage of others insolvency.

[Rockheart]

They are being stupid and misleading. Obviously by the number of cases after 10 months that they are not testing many people.
Only 14,000 cases in so long doesn't seem right for a country of 70 million people. It is a country with corruption and porous borders, it doesn't seem feasable.
The big border lockdown is just a big show.

I am pretty sure the harder the lockdown the longer it will go on. so at this rate Thailand will open in 5 years.
The Chinese vaccine is nearly useless too and they are starting with that next month.

Even after that are they going to close the country on every flu outbreak?
There must be a better way.

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