The Latest - restrictions, visas, entry requirements, etc.

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gerefan
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Re: The Latest - restrictions, visas, entry requirements, etc.

Post by gerefan »

Gaybutton wrote: Thu Jan 13, 2022 1:19 am I think it is a very big deal and certainly not an illness I would want under any circumstances, let alone in a foreign country when I am there for a holiday.
I wrote in a previous post that bars in Soi Buackau were filled to the brim with holidaying farangs. Standing room only, if you could even get in.

So why aren’t I reading about any Farangs being quarantined having caught the bug in bars??

I am excluding those caught on arrival.

Well??
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Re: The Latest - restrictions, visas, entry requirements, etc.

Post by Undaunted »

Treetown in Soi Buakow was the primary source of infection in Pattaya and most falangs probably avoid being tested as they fear being forced to quarantine in a facility.
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Re: The Latest - restrictions, visas, entry requirements, etc.

Post by Gaybutton »

Jun wrote: Thu Jan 13, 2022 11:21 am In most cases, Omicron is no worse than a cold. Of course, it MIGHT kill me, but the odds of that are very low and probably barely any worse than the odds of flu killing me (after vaccines).
You're not going to get me to agree with you on that one. You can play down the seriousness of it, but as I said, I take it very seriously. Maybe it really is no worse than a cold, but I don't want a cold either. Maybe it feels no worse than a cold, but that doesn't mean it isn't worse than a cold. I've read that it also can damage internal organs. I am not aware of the common cold doing that. No thanks. If you are unfortunate enough to catch Omicron, once you are well again, then tell me all about how it's not such a bad thing.

However, I do agree that closing bars and even trying to enforce drinking hours and crowds is absurd considering how many other places also get crowded. And I still have seen no correlation of alcohol to Covid or Omicron. The bar owners are right - no alcohol sold after 9:00pm is ridiculous. The virus can strike at any hour. If they are saying drinking beyond 9:00pm increases the odds of getting sick, I'd like to see evidence of that. So far I have seen none.

If you have truly found what you hoped for during your current holiday, I'm happy for you.
Jun

Re: The Latest - restrictions, visas, entry requirements, etc.

Post by Jun »

Undaunted wrote: Thu Jan 13, 2022 7:21 pm Treetown in Soi Buakow was the primary source of infection in Pattaya and most falangs probably avoid being tested as they fear being forced to quarantine in a facility.
Do you have evidence that Treetown was the primary source of infections ? If so, please share.

Perhaps the primary source of DETECTION, due to a free test centre where perhaps some workers have to test and a few farang were dumb enough to test?
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Re: The Latest - restrictions, visas, entry requirements, etc.

Post by Gaybutton »

Test & Go quarantine-free entry to resume Feb 1

20 January, 2022

Thailand will resume the 'Test & Go' quarantine waiver for vaccinated arrivals from Feb 1, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) said on Thursday, in response to slowing coronavirus infections.

The scheme was suspended a month ago after only seven weeks due to the rapid global spread of the Omicron variant and uncertainty about vaccine effectiveness against it.

The policy requires those who enter the country under the programme to test on arrival and again five days later, while agreeing to have their whereabouts tracked, CCSA spokesperson Taweesilp Visanuyothin told a briefing.

They will have to isolate at a hotel while waiting for their test results and will be required to download a tracking app to ensure they comply with the rules.

Seeking to bounce back from the worst economic performance since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the government launched the Test & Go scheme in November as an alternative to two weeks' hotel quarantine.

The programme was suspended late last month over fears about Omicron, but with deaths and hospitalisations not spiking, Dr Taweesilp said it could resume, though the authorities will keep it under review.

"In case there are more infections or the situation changes, there will be a re-assessment for inbound travellers and adjust toward the Sandbox scheme," he said.

Under the Sandbox programme launched last year as a first step towards resuming tourism, fully jabbed visitors spend seven nights in certain designated locations before being allowed to travel on to the rest of Thailand.

The Sandbox locations are currently Phuket, Koh Samui, Krabi and Phangnga.

The CCSA on Thursday agreed to expand the programme to include popular eastern beach destinations Pattaya and Koh Chang.

In a further relaxation of Covid restrictions, restaurants will be allowed to serve alcohol until 11pm - easing the current 9pm cut-off. Bars and nightclubs will remain closed, however.

The moves are aimed at reviving the tourism sector decimated by the pandemic, with numbers limited by weak global travel demand and rigorous quarantine requirements.

Visitors to Thailand last year were about 0.5% of the pre-pandemic figure, which hit a record of nearly 40 million in 2019.

The Tourism and Sports Ministry estimates that some five million foreign visitors will come to Thailand in 2022.

The country has reported 2.3 million infections and nearly 22,000 coronavirus-related fatalities overall. About two-thirds of residents have been vaccinated and 15% have received a booster.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... sume-feb-1
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Part of the following article says, "In blue and yellow zones, alcohol consumption at eateries which meet disease control standards will be extended from 9pm to 11pm." That includes Pattaya.
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Fewer Covid control zones, drinking hours extended

20 January, 2022

The government will reduce the number of Covid-19 control (orange) zones, redesignating them close surveillance (yellow) areas, because the situation is improving, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announced on Thursday.

Drinking hours in approved premises serving food will also be extended, effective Jan 24.

CCSA spokesman Taweesilp Visanuyothin said on Thursday that from next Monday the number of orange zones would drop from 69 to 44, with 25 being rezoned close surveillance (yellow) areas. There are currently no yellow zones.

The changes are in response to the improving Covid-19 situation in the country, he said.

The number of tourism pilot (blue) zones will remain the same - eight whole provinces and parts of 18 other provinces.

The 25 close surveillance (yellow) provinces will be Kamphaeng Phet, Chai Nat, Chaiyaphum, Nakhon Phanom, Nakhon Sawan, Narathiwat, Bung Kan, Pattani, Phichit, Phitsanulok, Phetchabun, Phrae, Yala, Lampang, Lamphun, Loei, Sakon Nakhon, Sing Buri, Sukhothai, Suphan Buri, Nong Bua Lam Phu, Ang Thong, Amnat Charoen, Uttaradit and Uthai Thani.

"We must thank the people in the 25 provinces for their cooperation with disease controls, and we will ease restrictions to facilitate more business and other activities," Dr Taweesilp said.

The eight tourism pilot provinces are Bangkok, Kanchanaburi, Krabi, Chonburi, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Phangnga and Phuket.

Up to 500 people can gather in orange zones and up to 1,000 in yellow zones. Both zones can use school buildings, with disease control measures in place.

Eateries can open in all zones but alcohol consumption is prohibited at eateries in orange zones.

In blue and yellow zones, alcohol consumption at eateries which meet disease control standards will be extended from 9pm to 11pm.

Convenience stores and markets can open as usual in all zones.

Exhibition and convention centres and the likes in shopping centres and hotels can hold events with no more than 1,000 participants in orange zones. The restriction does not apply to the two other zones.

The CCSA did not extend its work-from-home policy beyond Jan 31, Dr Taweesilp said.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... s-extended
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Re: The Latest - restrictions, visas, entry requirements, etc.

Post by Gaybutton »

the association is preparing a petition for the governor and CCSA to request further relaxation.
As far as I'm concerned, start with getting rid of that inane ATK requirement just to eat in restaurants.
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Pattaya restaurants pleased with Covid-19 restrictions rollback

By Pattaya Mail

January 23, 2022

Having gotten the go-ahead to serve alcohol until 11 p.m. again, Pattaya restaurants want more.

Damrongkiat Pinitkarn, secretary for the Entertainment and Tourism Association of Pattaya, said restaurant operators were pleased that the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration so quickly stepped back from the restrictive measures aimed at the coronavirus omicron variant, which has turned out to be not as serious as feared.

While cases skyrocketed, the number of hospitalizations and deaths remained relatively low and the CCSA admitted the outbreak remains under control.

As a result, things go back to what they were before the clampdown Dec. 21: The Test & Go and sandbox tourist-entry schemes resume and restaurants again can sell alcohol until 11 p.m.

Many restaurants closed for the past few weeks because being allowed to sell alcoholic beverages only until 11 p.m. wasn’t worth it financially, Damrongkiat said.

But now that 11 p.m. is back, the association wants to see closing times pushed back to midnight and live music performances allowed again.

The CCSA has not forbade live music and it was allowed in Bangkok and elsewhere. That decision lies with Chonburi’s governor.

Damrongkiat said the association is preparing a petition for the governor and CCSA to request further relaxation.

https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/ ... ack-387123
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Re: The Latest - restrictions, visas, entry requirements, etc.

Post by Gaybutton »

More Covid-19 insurance options for foreign tourists

Government, OIC discussing details

by Narumon Kasemsuk

January 24, 2022

Foreign tourists are likely to have more insurance options to cover hospitel and hotel isolation expenses in Thailand as the government is trying to solve the problem of Covid-infected tourists refusing to pay for medication or running away from hotels.

Yuthasak Supasorn, Tourism Authority of Thailand governor, said the government is discussing with the Office of the Insurance Commission (OIC) offering Covid-19 insurance options for vaccinated tourists whose travel insurance does not cover medical expenditure for hospitels or hotel isolation for mild asymptomatic cases.

A new ruling from the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) last week stipulated that if a tourist's insurance doesn't cover all medical expenses for Covid-19 infection, they are responsible for such expenditure themselves.

Mr Yuthasak said this means both hotels who let guests slip through the monitoring process and guests who refuse to pay their medical expenses will face legal action.

The CCSA subcommittee still needs to discuss in detail insurance options and punishment.

In principle, insurance premiums might start from 800 baht per person to cover the hotel isolation cost, which starts from 30,000 baht, he said.

"We previously sought cooperation from hotels to look after guests during the health screening process. The new rule mandates strict compliance with health measures. Hotels cannot be careless about the process or they risk being delisted from Thailand Pass registration, rendering them unable to welcome any inbound guests," said Mr Yuthasak.

During the past few months of the Test & Go scheme, there were several reports about infected tourists who went missing from hotels.

Some hotel guests refused to be taken to hospitals because they were worried about expenses, said Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, president of the Thai Hotels Association (THA).

According to reports from hotels, the main problems were insufficient hospital beds and high medical expenditure at hospitals.

Some tourists were also worried their insurance claims might be rejected because their policies don't cover medical treatment in hospitels or hotel isolation, though these have become popular options for asymptomatic patients in Thailand.

"Insurance options will help cover expenditure in case tourists become infected with Covid-19 or have high-risk contact that requires isolation," she said.

With hotel operations during the pandemic so challenging because of higher costs associated with hiring more staff for extra health checks at their properties, THA disagrees with punishments for hotels in the new CCSA ruling.

This rule will hurt small operators that have tight operational budgets and cannot afford to increase manpower immediately, unlike larger hoteliers, said Mrs Marisa.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/22 ... n-tourists
Jun

Re: The Latest - restrictions, visas, entry requirements, etc.

Post by Jun »

I'm here in Thailand, location unspecified, although you can figure it out.
I'm on a 90 day non-immigrant O-visa. This visa is no longer eligible for the 60 day COVID extensions, following the announcement in January. The shorter 60 day tourist visa can get 30 days, followed by 60.

I visited immigration and was told all I could get was an extra 7 days, but it's 7 days from the time of stamping. So I would have to move my flight before getting the 7 days extra approved on the last day of the current visa. It seems the 7 days is discretionary, so that is too risky for my liking.

So, as TIT, I then visited some independent agents. One could get me a 12 month retirement extension, the next day. 12900 plus 1700 for an account at xxxxxxxx Bank, which they briefly credit with Baht and somehow get that approved at immigration as being the balance for the required period. It needed to be the specific bank, so my existing bank account is no use. Sounds like I'd need to visit the bank and immigration with the agent. Another offered something similar for 18500.
No other requirements. The fees seem to cover it.
These agents get fairly good reviews on google maps.

As TIT, I'm not particularly interested in the provenance of this, as long as immigration give me the genuine stamp. So no lectures needed.

However, are there any pitfalls to watch out for or questions to ask?

1 I only want to stay a few weeks extra. So if I wanted to use this to re-enter Thailand in December, is it correct that I have to physically visit immigration to get a re-entry permit before leaving ?
2 Any other pitfalls or questions I should ask ? If I wanted to get retirement extensions in future, done by regular means, presumably this should have no effect on that, if I allow it to lapse ? Or if I got the re-entry permit and tried to extend it next year ?

If I were to retire here permanently, the likely method would be to transfer 800k and do it via regular channels. I have no plan to do so at present, but I want to keep the option open.

Currently I'm just thinking about staying about 3 weeks extra.
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Re: The Latest - restrictions, visas, entry requirements, etc.

Post by Gaybutton »

Jun wrote: Wed Feb 09, 2022 2:50 pm if I wanted to use this to re-enter Thailand in December, is it correct that I have to physically visit immigration to get a re-entry permit before leaving ?
From among your questions, the only one I know the answer to is that one. Yes, you have to physically visit immigration.

As for the others, I have no idea. I don't recall any of those questions coming up before.

The only other suggestion I can make is to talk to at least one more visa agent and get their prices before committing to this one.
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Re: The Latest - restrictions, visas, entry requirements, etc.

Post by Gaybutton »

As the second article points out, so far there will be no new restrictions imposed, but much more strict enforcement of the currently existing restrictions and "urging" cooperation with self-restrictions. We'll see how that goes.

Fingers crossed. I think most of you know as well as I do that whatever the rules are today, by tomorrow there easily could be major changes. Based on past history, that could even happen later the same day.
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COVID infection risk raised back to ‘Level 4’ in Thailand

February 21, 2022

The Thai Ministry of Public Health has once again upgraded the risk of COVID-19 infection to Level 4, the second highest level, across the country, as 90% of new infections are now by the Omicron variant.

The ministry previously raised the alert to Level 4 on January 6, before dropping it to Level 3 on January 20.

Deputy Public Health Permanent Secretary Dr. Thongchai Keeratihattayakorn said today (Monday) that it is anticipated that the infection rate will remain high for the next 1-2 weeks, as he urged the public to avoid crowded places, refrain from social gatherings, to work from home and to delay interprovincial travel.

Cases of the BA.2 sub variant of Omicron, which is about 1.4 times more transmissible than the BA.1 strain, has increased by 50% in Thailand. Both the strains are found in Thailand and are equally potent, according to the Disease Control Department.

Meanwhile, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has signed a ministerial announcement, effective from March 1, under which all Thais will still have access to medical care for COVID-19 infections, but the services provided will be in accordance with their respective entitlements.

There are currently various medical schemes for Thai people, such as the social security scheme for working people who have made contributions to the scheme from their salaries, the universal health scheme, previously known as the gold card, for the general public who are not covered by the social security scheme, and the medical scheme for state officials.

The public health minister explained that the ministry’s basic guideline for the treatment of COVID-19 patients is that the treatments are commensurate with the level of sickness, which means asymptomatic and mild cases must be treated in home isolation as the first choice or in community isolation facilities.

For these patients in the capital, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and the National Health Security Office (NHSO) will be responsible for taking care of them and both have been instructed to increase their hotline services for arranging for patients to enter home or community isolation.

Only severe cases will be admitted to general or field hospitals, to ease their workload in anticipation of an increase in cases, as the Omicron variant is spreading steadily.

Anutin also said that Universal Coverage for Emergency Patients (UCEP) remains in place for those who have other underlying diseases, adding that these patients are entitled to free medical services, including in hospitals, if their conditions are serious.

For the treatment of those infected with COVID-19, the Department of Thai Traditional and Complementary Medicine has procured about 10 million doses of the Fah Talai Jone herbal medicine for patients in home isolation.

Treatment of COVID-19 patients in accordance with their entitlements will help reduce the government’s hefty medical bill because, over the past two years, almost every patient could be admitted to a hospital.

https://www.thaipbsworld.com/covid-infe ... -thailand/
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No new COVID restrictions in Thailand, only strict enforcement of existing measures

February 21, 2022



The Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) will not impose any additional measures amid rising COVID-19 infections, but will strictly enforce the existing restrictions in the light of surging infections, mostly by the Omicron variant, CCSA Assistant Spokesperson Dr. Apisamai Srirangsan said today (Monday).

She said that they had taken into consideration all aspects of COVID-19, including the number of infections and the death toll, tourism, public concern about the prospect of yet another lockdown and livelihoods, before arriving at the decision not to introduce any additional restrictions and not to suspend the “Test and Go” program.

She also asked senior medical professionals not to make comments about the pandemic in a way which may cause public confusion or anxiety and to clearly state that any comments they do make are their personal opinions and not those of their organisations.

The “Test and Go” program resumed on February 1st and Dr. Apisamai said that 3,495 (2.55%) of the 137,090 arrivals from abroad were found to be infected.

“Test and Go” tourists take RT-PCR tests upon arrival, positive results of which accounted for 46% of the infected among the arrivals. The second RT-PCR test, administered between the 4th and 7th day in Thailand accounted for 44.74% of the infections detected.

Such was the basis on which the Public Health Ministry decided not to suspend the “Test and Go” program again, despite the surge in domestic infections, while still maintaining the requirements of the program.

At a meeting last week, between the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and tourism associations, the tourism operators said they want certain requirements of the “Test and Go” program to be eased, such as the second RT-PCR test being replaced by the cheaper and faster, but sometimes less reliable, antigen test and the insurance coverage requirement being halved to US$25,000.

https://www.thaipbsworld.com/no-new-cov ... -measures/
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