+ 60 days when you pay to extend the visa. Can be +90. The oldest trick from 35+ years ago. But then it was not a trick is was standard.
+ 60 days when you pay to extend the visa. Can be +90. The oldest trick from 35+ years ago. But then it was not a trick is was standard.
It looks like a refund for the extra week can be arranged with the hotel.
I will verify when it happens.
Deleted.
Bladdy software again.
Tap last post and it takes you to halfway through the thread sometimes.
Now 7-day stay for Sandbox tourists from any country in the world
Now 7-day stay for Sandbox tourists from any country in the world - TAT Newsroom
Back in mid-June, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha surprised everyone by promising to reopen the country to foreign tourists by October.
The time had come, he said, to take that calculated risk.
At the time, few took him seriously.
Thailand had zealously guarded its borders, imposing quarantine and mountains of paperwork on all arrivals since April last year.
Foreign tourism, once an engine of the Thai economy, collapsed. Just over 70,000 came into the country in the first eight months of this year, compared to 40 million in the whole of 2019.
Covid-19 was successfully contained through most of 2020, but by June this year infections were rising quickly, and the government was being roundly criticised for being too slow to start vaccinating. Opening up in October seemed impossible.
But true to his word, the great reopening appears to have begun, albeit with only very modest steps.
The night-time curfew has been shortened by an hour, starting at 10pm, and libraries and museums can open.
You can visit a spa, but only with advanced booking and a recent negative Covid test.
Fully-vaccinated tourists will now be quarantined for just one week instead of two. Further minor relaxations are expected in November. This is welcome news for the battered hospitality industry, but hardly sufficient to get the visitors pouring back in.
Why is the Thai government proceeding so cautiously?
The simple answer is vaccines and the limited number of ICU beds.
Despite significantly ramping up its orders of vaccines, the government started late and is still a long way short of its official target of inoculating at least 70% of the population.
By the end of September just over one quarter had received two doses, and many of those who received the less effective Sinovac vaccine are now having to get booster shots.
And at the peak of the latest Covid wave in July and August, all Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds in Bangkok were filled, forcing families with seriously ill patients to search frantically for beds in other parts of the country. No-one wants to see a repeat of that distressing experience.
But with the known infectiousness of the delta variant, many health experts believe even 70% of the population is too low a target for vaccination before Thailand can fully open to tourists.
"The vaccine rate among the older and most vulnerable population should be as high as 85 or 90%", says Tanarak Plipat, a senior health inspector-general and until recently deputy director of Thailand's Department for Disease Control. "Overall, given the delta variant, to be safe vaccine coverage for anybody residing in Thailand should be 80%."
Some in the travel industry agree that it is too soon for a full reopening.
"Realistically 1 January would be a good time", Tassapon Bijleveld, Chairman of Thai Air Asia, the country's largest low-cost carrier told the BBC. "I won't be scheduling any international flights until then".
But there are other barriers to tourism apart from the relatively low vaccination rate.
Thailand's famous nightlife cannot restart with the 10pm curfew, with all bars forced to stay closed since early April in Bangkok, and no alcohol permitted in restaurants, although that regulation is now being relaxed on the holiday island of Phuket.
The varied requirements for new Covid tests when you cross provincial borders are also proving prohibitively expensive for travellers planning to visit several areas of Thailand.
At the stylish Tax bar in an old shophouse in central Bangkok, Niks Anuman Rajadhon and his staff are now preparing for a possible easing of the nightlife ban, spacing out their seating and ensuring good airflow. But after being open for just six weeks this year, he is not optimistic about his business.
"For us to stay closed for this long without any compensation has been a disaster. Bangkok is a 24-hour city. Look at everything the bar industry has done for the city, getting top rankings in Asia. I wish they would have more understanding of the hospitality and nightlife business. Right now the government acts as though we never existed," he says.
Acute economic distress is now very visible in Thailand, in the rows of shuttered shops, in the long queues for food handouts, and in the crowds of angry, unemployed young men who have joined the anti-government protest movement and come out every weekend in parts of Bangkok to fight the police.
This is what has forced an unpopular government's hand. But this month's heralded reopening is only the start.
They still have a long way to go.
Covid threat looms over Thailand'''s plans to open up to tourists - BBC News
The UK Traffic Light system will shortly be abolished. Whether Thailand is among the lucky winners remains to be seen.
Traffic light system scrapped as travel rules simplified | Evening StandardIt comes amid reports the number of countries on the red list will be slashed to nine from 54 later in the week
Well it seems the manager of my wife's sandbox hotel is a real tosser.
No refund for the extra 7 days will be offered.
So she has family coming to stay in another room to use the extra week up.
F it really that's how it goes I guess when the rules are constantly in flux at least she will have company now and only has to do one week.
Hope this is all over when I come in late January.
AirAsia will not allow unvaccinated passengers.
Malaysia's AirAsia Group to only allow fully vaccinated passengers
To the TH-based ppl:
In the proposed reopening of BKK, etc in November, will the requirements still be there? Hotel booking, travel insurance, 3 covid tests & COE? TIA
There has not been a mention since TAT intimated the four phases of "reopening".
The only further post I have seen came today, and it's about Chiang Mai. It doesn't give any details, nor is there any hint of formal approval.
Chiang Mai to welcome Asian tourists from Nov 1
Chiang Mai to welcome Asian tourists from Nov 1 | The Star
Five more tourist destinations in Thailand will be opened to visitors starting Nov 1 on the condition that there is no new large Covid-19 cluster in the areas until then.
The areas are Bangkok, Chiang Mai (Muang, Mae Rim, Mae Taeng and Doi Tao districts), Prachuap Khiri Khan (Hua Hin district), Phetchaburi (Cha-am district) and Chon Buri (Pattaya, Bang Lamung and Sattahip districts), government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said on Saturday.
Bangkok is of particular concern since it is the gateway to the country.
“Although tourists may prefer to go to the sea or mountains, almost all of them have to visit Bangkok at least once on their trips to the country,” he said.
The capital has been the epicentre of the third wave of the outbreak, with the highest number of cases and deaths, although the number of new cases nationwide has fallen to slightly more than 10,000 a day in recent weeks, a level manageable by the healthcare system, according to authorities.
It remains unclear what the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s view of the plan is. Earlier, the Bangkok governor had said the capital would be opened only when he gave the green light, noting that a 70% vaccination rate in all districts was his goal.
Mr Thanakorn said the government’s decision followed the success of the Phuket Sandbox scheme, which has injected 2.33 billion baht into the economy over the past three months since its launch in July.
As of Thursday, 43,026 tourists had visited the resort island. Hotel bookings for stays from July until February now total 779,502 nights. The top five nationalities of the visitors were American, Israeli, British, German and French.
The Samui Plus programme and the 7+7 extension to the Phuket sandbox attracted 1,069 visitors.
The government projects 1.5 trillion baht in tourist revenue next year. Almost half of it, or around 600 billion baht, would come from 15 million foreign tourists. The domestic travel market is forecast to add another 800 billion baht.
The forecasts represent half the amount earned in pre-Covid 2019, when tourism revenue totalled 3.4 trillion baht and foreign arrivals were almost 40 million.
“Under the Phuket sandbox, there have been no reports of transmissions between foreign visitors and Thais. Thais should therefore be confident and join us in transforming Thai tourism,” Mr Thanakorn said.
Five more areas open to tourists on Nov 1
FYI...Airport here in Roi Et has reopened. Dropped by yesterday AirAsia counter and was told flying Roi Et to Don Muang required no vaccination cert. However Don Muang to Roi Et does.
So is that Thai Air Asia? Strange that they are defying the parent company who are mandating vaccinations for all flights.
Travel Advisory: AirAsia will only accept fully-vaccinated guests on its flights — airasia newsroom
Also:
Only double-jabbed, negative passengers can fly in Thailand
With Thailand slowly reopening to tourists, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has reiterated that airlines will only take passengers who are either fully vaccinated or can produce negative test results taken within 72 hours.
Each airline has also been instructed to adjust their ventilation system and strictly observe all Covid-19 prevention measures, Public Health Ministry official Dr Chawetsan Namwat said.
https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40007268
Last edited by harrybarracuda; 10-10-2021 at 04:20 PM.
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