Traveling to Thailand - Mission Impossible

[Gaybutton]

Read the article: https://thepattayanews.com/2020/07/08/t ... oreigners/

[thewayhelooks]

$US100,000 for Covid insurance? Are there are insurance companies providing Covid coverage? I would have thought they would do everything possible NOT to insure travellers in the first place to avoid paying out later.

[Gaybutton]

I would have thought they would do everything possible NOT to insure travellers in the first place to avoid paying out later.

Maybe some insurance companies would provide such coverage, but I would expect the price would be very expensive.

I think there is a much greater probability of becoming infected before even traveling or while on the airplane, rather than in Thailand. That is how the cases still popping up in Thailand are getting here.

[2lz2p]

This article was, I think, written last February -- it mentions Covid19 only insurance being offered by a Thai company at a low price:

Policies cost between 439 baht ($13.31) and 1,250 baht for one-year coverage of as much as 1 million baht for medical treatment and compensation if holders contract the disease, according to the company’s website.

Article:
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/i ... 563425.htm

I don't know if any foreign companies are offering Covid19 only cover, but it seems many including some travel insurance companies are including it in their policies along with other cover.

[Jun]

My travel insurer declared COVID a known event, hence it no longer covers that.

Whilst I guess you cannot go to a comparison site and buy a cheap £40 travel policy that includes COVID cover, insurers are in the business of pricing risk. You can insure all sorts of obscure events, at a price.
So I would expect a specialist company would offer cover for this. Some effort might be required to find this.

[Gaybutton]

My travel insurer declared COVID a known event, hence it no longer covers that.

For the time being, does that matter? Even if you can get the insurance and jump through all the other hoops, upon arrival you will still be quarantined - at your own expense. And if you are tested for Covid-19, that is also at your own expense. And if the test results show that you have it, whether or not you are asymptomatic, there goes your entire holiday.

On top of that, not all that much for farang tourists, especially gay tourists, has reopened yet.

While Thailand needs foreign tourists, especially Pattaya, they are just not going to let people in who might inadvertently cause an outbreak.

There is also no guarantee that if another outbreak occurs, flights won't get canceled again and people might once again find themselves stuck in Thailand with no way to return home. And you can't even be certain your own home country will let you come in when you are ready to return.

Under the current circumstances, if there is a point for gay farang tourists to go to Thailand, I'd like to know what it is. As anxious as many are to be able to have a holiday in Thailand, you better put the "whoa Nellie" on that for a while. Getting quarantined and the possibility of being unable to return home is not my idea of an enjoyable holiday. Of course, there are plenty of worse places to get stuck other than Thailand. If you're going to be stuck, it might as well be in Thailand - if you've got plenty of money . . .

[Jun]

For the time being, does that matter?

Absolutely, it doesn't matter for the time being.
However, those of us who hope to visit Thailand again within the next 12 months watch developments closely. There's a little mental checklist of items that need to be ticked off before getting on that plane. Including actually having planes flying.

Under current rules, there's not much chance of it happening this month. But within a few months, things can change.
For instance, in Spain, I believe residents were not allowed outside their homes 2~3 months ago. Yet, we can, I believe now go there on holiday, with no quarantine requirements at either end (from the UK & no doubt EU countries as well).

Regarding businesses opening, I imagine it's something of a chicken and egg situation. Some businesses need the tourist income to make reopening worthwhile & tourists need hotels, bars & restaurants. Once we are allowed back in, capitalism will ensure that there will be sufficient businesses open. My main fear is that some of my favourite bars, restaurants & coffee shops don't reopen.

So I continue to keep an eye on matters.
Besides, for us tourists, when we can next get out to Thailand is top of the list of things to discuss on a Thai discussion board.

[Daleinpattaya]

Saw this page of quarantine hotels in Thailand this morning .... none in Pattaya on this list.

https://thaiest.com/blog/list-of-altern ... s-thailand

[Gaybutton]

Saw this page of quarantine hotels in Thailand this morning

For me, that would be yet another reason not to travel to Thailand just yet, even if possible. I, for one, am not about to pay those kinds of prices for a hotel. And the room is just the beginning. Don't forget food, service charges, and everything else.

Sorry, I've got better things to spend my money on.

[gera]

My travel insurer declared COVID a known event, hence it no longer covers that.

For the time being, does that matter?

Of course, vast majority of Thais do not want anybody coming to Thailand and potentially bringing virus. On the other hand , the very raison d'etre
for places like Pattaya are tourists. By High season Thailand will open up. I have absolutely no doubts about it. By the way, the situation in US is horrific.

Paradoxically, because of that, Scott Gotlieb predicts that outbreak here will be over by January either through vaccination or herd immunity (i.e. ,at least 60 percent will get infected).