Traveling to Thailand - Mission Impossible

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Jun

Re: Traveling to Thailand - Mission Impossible

Post by Jun »

I don't think it actually matters where the quarantine hotel is located, since by definition it's quarantine. As long as only a minor detour is required to get there (e.g. <100 miles). A hotel near Bangkok is OK.

The price & food etc would be more of an issue.

I think it's probable that Thailand will open up in the high season.
Obviously it depends on COVID infection rates and so on, but Thailand will want tourist revenue.
As long as there are countries with reasonable infection rates, I expect their citizens will be permitted to travel to Thailand.
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Re: Traveling to Thailand - Mission Impossible

Post by Gaybutton »

gera wrote: Fri Jul 10, 2020 7:44 pm By High season Thailand will open up. I have absolutely no doubts about it.
Maybe you don't, but I do. I hope for the sake of Thailand's tourist industry you're right, but I don't see Thailand opening up as soon as that.
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Re: Traveling to Thailand - Mission Impossible

Post by gerefan »

Jun wrote: Fri Jul 10, 2020 9:35 pm
The price & food etc would be more of an issue.
I have looked through the list of ASQ hotels on Daleinpattaya’s list and most of them do include 3 meals a day.

Taking the cheapest one Number 9 The Kinn Bangkok. 30,000 baht including 3 meals a day. Now if I stay in my condo in Pattaya I pay something like 1200 per day for food and lodging which is 17000 for the 2 weeks. Taking that off the 30,000 means an extra 13000 baht.

If that allows me to get into Thailand for my usual 90 day stay I would go for it!

Incidentally, I splashed out and stayed at Number 8,the Amara, earlier this year and paid 4000 per night with no food. They want 50,000, again including 3 meals a day, for the 14 days. That’s 3571 per day.

You need to look closely at these deals!

Anyway all academic, as other posters have said, while the borders are closed.
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Re: Traveling to Thailand - Mission Impossible

Post by Gaybutton »

Unfortunately, some people will do anything for money without giving a damn about how their actions will affect others. After reading this story I'm wondering how Thailand will react and whether immigration will now even accept documents stating incoming passengers are Covid-19 free, no matter where they are arriving from.

Along with this, some of you may have seen the stories about how within only the past couple days a group of Egyptian soldiers arrived at the U-Tapao airport and were supposed to be quarantined in a Rayong hotel. Instead, somehow they managed to leave the hotel and go shopping in a nearby mall and did so knowingly breaking the quarantine. It turned out that one of them was infected. As a result, hundreds of people who were also in the mall at the same time have to be tested.

Rayong, not far from Pattaya had been recovering from the shutdowns and the hotels were getting plenty of reservations. But people are frightened. No one wants a second outbreak, especially since Thailand has done such a good job keeping the disease under control. Nearly all reservations have already been canceled for the upcoming Songkran holidays that had been postponed. Many reservations have also been canceled in Pattaya, mainly because of Pattaya's proximity to Rayong.

People are saying that after all their sacrifice over the past few months they were beginning to recover. Then this incident happened and they are right back to losing everything. Anyone who may have come into contact with these soldiers are now ordered to undergo a 14 day quarantine of their own, as a precaution. That includes the hundreds of people who were in the shopping mall at the time. The hotel has also been ordered to close for at least 14 days.

The Thai government is blaming the Egyptian embassy for letting this happen. Nearly all Rayong immigration officials and any other officials who were supposed to prevent something like this from happening have been transferred to somewhere else - location unknown yet - and they are being replaced by officials from Bangkok.

The Egyptian embassy is denying responsibility and also refusing to say what, if anything, will be done to the soldiers that intentionally violated the quarantine. My guess is nothing at all will happen to them. I have seen no reports stating the currents whereabouts of these soldiers.

Thailand's Prime Minister personally went to Rayong to try to calm the fears, but apparently that is closing the barn door after the horse has left. In other words, the damage has already been done and so far no sign of hotel reservations picking up.

Now Thailand is revising the rules about who can and cannot come to Thailand and has already decreed that all arriving international flights are to arrive at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport.

None of this is helping the situation regarding farang holiday makers coming back to Thailand.
__________________________________________________

Bangladesh hospital owner faked thousands of virus results

16 Jul 2020

DHAKA: A Bangladesh hospital owner accused of issuing thousands of fake negative coronavirus test results to patients at his two clinics was arrested Wednesday while trying to flee to India in a burqa, police said.

The arrest marked the end of a nine-day manhunt for Mohammad Shahed over allegations of giving fake certificates to patients saying they were virus-free without even testing them.

Shahed, 42, was one of more than a dozen people detained by authorities over the past few days in connection with the scam.

Experts warn the false documents has worsened the already dire virus situation in the country of 168 million people by casting doubt about the veracity of certificates issued by clinics.

"He was arrested from the bank of a border river as he was trying to flee to India. He was wearing a burqa," Rapid Action Battalion spokesman Colonel Ashique Billah told AFP

"His hospitals carried out 10,500 coronavirus tests, out of which 4,200 were genuine and the rest, 6,300 test reports, were given without conducting tests."

Shahed is also accused of charging for the certificates and virus treatments even though he had agreed with the government that his hospitals in the capital Dhaka would provide free care.

A well-known doctor and her husband were also arrested by police and accused of issuing thousands of fake virus certificates at their Dhaka laboratory.

The alleged scams could badly hurt migrant workers seeking to go abroad and whose remittances are key to Bangladesh's economy, said Shakirul Islam of migrant rights group OKUP.

Italy last week suspended flights to Rome from Bangladesh to stem the spate of coronavirus cases within the community.

Several passengers arriving from Dhaka had tested positive for Covid-19.

"Some of the Bangladeshis who were tested positive in Italy were allegedly carrying negative Covid certificates from Bangladesh," Islam claimed.

"The government must ensure quality of Covid-19 tests in local laboratories for the sake of its overseas job market."

Nearly $19 billion was sent back to Bangladesh by an estimated 12 million migrant workers last year, according to the central bank.

Bangladesh has reported just over 193,000 infections and 2,457 deaths so far.

But medical experts say the real figures are likely much higher because so little testing has been carried out.

The impoverished country has restarted economic activities after lifting a months-long virus lockdown at the end of May, even as the number of cases continues to rise.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/19524 ... us-results
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Re: Traveling to Thailand - Mission Impossible

Post by bkkguy »

Gaybutton wrote: Thu Jul 16, 2020 1:21 pm Unfortunately, some people will do anything for money without giving a damn about how their actions will affect others. After reading this story I'm wondering how Thailand will react and whether immigration will now even accept documents stating incoming passengers are Covid-19 free, no matter where they are arriving from.
I don't disagree with your reaction to such "anything for money" corruption but Thailand, and all other countries, need to accept that "Covid-19 free" certificates, no matter where they are issued, are fundamentally flawed and unreliable

many of us will still remember the days when dating and personal ad sites were agonising over allowing patrons to claim to be HIV- based on a recent negative test result given the time delay between initial infection, being infectious and testing positive

we are in exactly the same position now with covid-19 but we understand even less about the time delay in stages of the infection cycle and more importantly the reliability of testing at the early stages of infection - I could go to my doctor today in any country, test negative, get a certificate, go out raging that night and get infected and a day or two later be asymptomatic but infectious but get on a plane to Thailand with my "covid-free certificate" and arrive and pass airport temperature screening and possibly even testing easily and not display symptoms or test positive for a few days but still spread the virus every where I go

and even if we are looking at people who have survived covid-19, or when we have a vaccine and are looking at long-term immunity, we still have a lot to learn about the difference between antibody and T cell immunity and how to reliably test for this

this is why I think in the short to medium term properly managed quarantine on arrival is the only realistic option, and I know many people will argue this will continue to kill general tourism, but you only need to look the countries around the world that have relaxed tourist entry but are now re-introducing restrictions, and more importantly look at Melbourne, Australia, to see how handling quarantine badly can be a disaster - and we have already seen news stories in Thailand about corrupt officials offering hotels access to quarantine listing even if they don't qualify for the program
I can’t even be bothered to be apathetic these days!
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Re: Traveling to Thailand - Mission Impossible

Post by Gaybutton »

bkkguy wrote: Thu Jul 16, 2020 8:37 pm I don't disagree with your reaction to such "anything for money" corruption but Thailand, and all other countries, need to accept that "Covid-19 free" certificates, no matter where they are issued, are fundamentally flawed and unreliable
And even worse when those certificates are intentionally falsified. Part of the current requirements to enter Thailand includes this sort of certificate. That is why I am wondering whether Thailand will continue requiring it. I am wondering whether as a result Thailand will require a 14 day quarantine for the foreseeable future, even if and when farang tourists are eventually allowed to reenter. That would be a devastating blow to the tourist industry. How many people would want to travel to Thailand under that circumstance?

Oh well, if that happens at least that might destroy the effort to make Pattaya a "family oriented" tourist destination - because there wouldn't be many families who would come to Thailand to spend two weeks confined under quarantine with the kiddies.

This problem would also have an effect on those of us living in Thailand under the retirement visa. While I doubt there would be much sympathy from those who wish to travel to Thailand, but the situation makes it difficult for those of us living here to leave Thailand. It would be a little difficult for us to get back in.

Another fun thought - many businesses and restaurants depend on farang customers. Meanwhile, for the time being I believe the only substantial farang numbers in Thailand, and likely to be in Thailand any time soon, are those of us already living here on retirement visas. And none of us are getting any younger. That opens the possibility of farang numbers in Thailand decreasing rather than increasing.

I am not as optimistic as some seem to be about how much longer it will be before farang holiday makers, especially those from the USA and UK, will be able to travel to Thailand. Until and unless a reliable vaccine is developed I don't see much chance for USA and UK people to get into Thailand at all any time soon. I wouldn't be surprised if it will be years. And if "Covid free" certificates can be falsified, so can vaccination certificates. A whole new set of problems and complications could arise even if a vaccine is developed.

In short, it's a bad situation for all - for those of us living in Thailand, for those who wish to travel to Thailand, for the Thais holding positions of authority who have to make the tough and often unpopular decisions, and for the Thai people dependent on tourist business. And my crystal ball is not showing a prognosis for much improvement in the near future.
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Re: Traveling to Thailand - Mission Impossible

Post by gerefan »

Whilst I agree that these soldiers should have remained in their hotel in Rayong I see an awful over-reaction from the Thai population.

Basically 27 soldiers went walkabout and one (1) was found to have Covid ...but only after final tests and only on return home. See news reports in the other thread.

To close 10 schools in Rayong and 2 in BKK and for ALL Thais to cancel their Songkran hotel reservations in Rayong so that hotel reservations have gone to Zero is, frankly, ridiculous.

If this is an indication of how Thailand is going to play the game when its time for tourists to return there is really no hope is there?

Compare this with the USA or the UK, where literally millions and millions are walking around with the disease...and they react like this about ONE yes ONE person....

You just have to be realistic.
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Re: Traveling to Thailand - Mission Impossible

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gerefan wrote: Fri Jul 17, 2020 12:42 am ALL Thais to cancel their Songkran hotel reservations in Rayong so that hotel reservations have gone to Zero
Close to the same happened in both Pattaya and Koh Samet for the same reason. I can understand why Thais are frightened. There is no shortage of news about how Covid-19 spreads like wildfire in other countries. So, when they hear about an un-contained case that may have affected an unknown number of people, people they might be exposed to if they go there, that's not a destination where they want to travel.

What I have not seen in the news yet is where they are going to travel for the Songkran holiday now that this has happened or if they are going to travel at all. But yes, this incident has definitely further hurt the tourism industry - and it's a hurt the industry can't spare.

I wish the same zeal and effort to find a cure for Covid-19 would take place to find cures for other serious diseases too. It seems like everything is focused on Covid-19, but that's not the only killer disease out there.
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Re: Traveling to Thailand - Mission Impossible

Post by gerefan »

Gaybutton wrote: Fri Jul 17, 2020 7:56 am There is no shortage of news about how Covid-19 spreads like wildfire in other countries.
You are so right. Most of it unhelpful and exaggerated by the media . Nothing new there then!
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Re: Traveling to Thailand - Mission Impossible

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gerefan wrote: Fri Jul 17, 2020 9:40 am exaggerated by the media
Why do you believe the media exaggerates the problem?

The USA gets more new Covid-19 cases per day than Thailand has had in total since the problem began. It is a serious problem. I don't understand what is being exaggerated. What am I missing?
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