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

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Jun

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

Post by Jun »

Cancellation of the Thai Pass and introduction of a 300 baht fee to cover "insurance" presumably means the end of the current insurance SCAM ?
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Re: The Latest - restrictions, visas, entry requirements, etc.

Post by Gaybutton »

Jun wrote: Thu Apr 28, 2022 2:43 pm Cancellation of the Thai Pass and introduction of a 300 baht fee to cover "insurance" presumably means the end of the current insurance SCAM ?
I'm still confused about it. I suppose we'll know soon enough. A few months ago I would not have agreed that the insurance requirement constituted a scam, but things are different now. I don't know that I would call it a scam even now, but if it will still be a requirement I would definitely call it unnecessary.
Jun

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

Post by Jun »

The reasons why I call it a scam are:

1 They keep shrinking the cover, so it's not suitable for medical insurance for proper emergencies.

2 Despite the cover shrinking, the premium goes up. So the last time I looked, the scam policy cost more than a proper insurance policy.

3 In the case of Axa Thailand, the policy doesn't even cover hotel quarantine costs. Which is where you might just end up under current rules.

Now, if it's not suitable for medical cover and doesn't cover enforced quarantine, what the hell is it good for ?

The only way around this is finding an overseas policy that will satisfy their wording requirements.

Incidentally, I'd have no objection at all if they required overseas visitors to purchase a proper travel insurance policy.


Had Thailand moved quicker in getting rid of daft requirements, I'd have probably booked a trip in May.
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Re: The Latest - restrictions, visas, entry requirements, etc.

Post by gerefan »

Bangkok Post wrote: Thu Apr 28, 2022 7:14 am
The Middle East market can help to fill the void in the low season thanks to Thailand's abundant natural resources and rainfall, which matches this segment's travel interests, said Mr Phiphat.
How do these people make up this crap? They are just showing their inexperience.

Can you imagine the Saudis enjoying their walk around Pattaya, in the September floods, wearing their Thobes and up to their knees in Pattaya’s polluted flood water?!
Jun

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

Post by Jun »

gerefan wrote: Thu Apr 28, 2022 10:14 pm up to their knees in Pattaya’s polluted flood water?!
This might also have some influence on their aspiration to attract more upmarket tourists.

As for filling a void in the low season, well the Junta have created a 24 month low season due to continuing covid restrictions, which should have been stopped at least 7~8 months ago.

If they really want to fill in voids:
1 Remove all the covid entry restrictions, paperwork and other nonsense, tomorrow. Put it back to as it was pre-covid.

2 Since tourists still won't show up from places like China at present, they need everyone they can get. In practice, they have been kicking tourists out once their visa is up. So instead of granting 30, 60 or 90 day visas, how about 60, 120 or 180 day visas ? Or, even better, allow people to spend up to 182 days per year in Thailand, with no visas or any such nonsense. Above 182 days, you're into visas & residency.

A side effect is that they will be able to fire large numbers of immigration staff. That will help with the labour shortage, when they have to go away and try to do something of use to society.

3 Have some kind of amnesty for all the "service workers" from Laos & Cambodia who may have been in Thailand illegally. After all, there needs to be some reason for tourists to visit.
Jun

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

Post by Jun »

On the subject of travel insurance, I just purchased a multi-trip policy for Europe. There's no mention of covid, coronavirus or sars-cov 2 anywhere. I also searched the word pandemic, which only occurs in cancellation terms, not medical care. So essentially covid is now regarded as just like any other medical issue over here in the UK.
The upper limit for medical cover is £20 million and the insurance cost comfortably less than the price of 2 drinks in a Bangkok gogo bar. Admittedly I've gone for max 21 days per trip & to be fair, a worldwide policy will be more, but this is back to a pre-covid price scale.

Now last time I looked, Thailand required specific references to treatment including coronavirus, complete with statement of the medical care levels, even though the upper limit was pitiful.
If that's still the same, their insurance scam will exclude some perfectly good foreign insurance policies.
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Re: The Latest - restrictions, visas, entry requirements, etc.

Post by Gaybutton »

gerefan wrote: Thu Apr 28, 2022 10:14 pm How do these people make up this crap?
The part that raises my eyebrows is when they talk about lifting some of the restrictions, they also talk about tourist numbers to expect. They never say upon what they base those tourist numbers predictions. How do they have any more idea how many tourists will come than anyone else?
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Re: The Latest - restrictions, visas, entry requirements, etc.

Post by Gaybutton »

I thought they were going to do away with the Thailand Pass, but then again I also thought they were going to do away with the 90-day address reports for those of us living in Thailand. WRONG!

Now they are talking about doing away with it in June - emphasis on talking about . . .
_________________________________

Thailand Pass stays, but in 'faster form'

Govt opts not to rush lifting all entry curbs

April 29, 2022

The government has said it has not cancelled the Thailand Pass registration requirement for foreign travellers yet but it will be made more conve­nient and quicker to obtain.

Dr Sumanee Wacharasint, assistant spokeswoman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), said the requirement will be retained but the procedure will be streamlined for smoother ease of entry into the country.

"The procedure involves checking vaccination certificates, proof of hotel bookings, insurance documents, and documents for booking RT-PCR tests upon arrival," said Dr Sumanee, who also serves as director of the Department of Disease Control's Risk Communication and Health Behavioural Development Bureau.

However, from May 1 the Test & Go entry scheme will be cancelled, without any need for bookings for alternative quarantine (AQ) hotels and RT-PCR tests, which will facilitate faster Thailand Pass registration, she said.

Vaccination certificates take less time to check than bookings, Dr Sumanee said.

"Therefore, Thailand Pass registration has remained in place, and there should be no problems from May 1. But the CCSA will monitor the situation regularly. If the situation improves, a further easing of entry rules is expected to follow," she said.

Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul earlier said the government will consider where they will scrap antigen testing and Thailand Pass registration requirements for foreign visitors after the Test & Go entry scheme and RT-PCR tests upon arrival are cancelled next month.

From May 1, fully vaccinated visitors will not be tested for Covid-19 upon arrival. They will be urged to self-test with antigen kits during their stay. Vaccinated travellers must register for entry via Thailand Pass and present proof of vaccination. If they test positive, they can enter their Covid-19 insurance process or take care of their own treatment.

Unvaccinated travellers will be welcomed if they present proof of a negative RT-PCR test no more than 72 hours before their trip and register via Thailand Pass.

They will be allowed entry without the need for any Covid-19 testing as in the case of vaccinated travellers.

High-risk visitors will be quarantined for five days.

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

Post by Gaybutton »

Are you familiar with the term "cut off your own nose to spite your face"? Seems to me that is what Thailand is doing by insisting on this Thailand Pass. I never truly understood what valid purpose it served in the first place. Now, especially when compared to the entry requirements of neighboring countries and the tourist numbers they're getting - without causing a new serious spread of Covid or any other disease for that matter, if there is now a valid purpose for it, it goes beyond me.

Thailand Pass - latest entry on my "I Don't Get It" list.
______________________________________________________

Tourist favourite Thailand's recovery lags on Covid rule changes

29 April, 2022

When 23-year-old Norwegian Anastasia Johansen and her boyfriend were planning their first vacation in two years, they considered going to Thailand but chose nearby Vietnam instead, for its simpler entry rules on the coronavirus.

"The regulations to enter Thailand ... were complicated to me and we had to pay for the hefty PCR test," Ms Johansen said.

Thailand, one of the world's tourism destinations before the pandemic, was among the first nations in Asia to reopen its borders to vaccinated visitors last year with limited quarantine norms, hailed at the time as a model for re-opening.

But as regional peers have eased entry requirements, Thailand has clung to a cumbersome process.

"Whichever (country) offers easy, smooth, less complicated procedures wins my heart," said Ms Johansen.

Tourism professionals say Thailand's complicated entry rules are now holding back recovery in an industry that contributed 12% of GDP before the pandemic.

Forward bookings for 2022 show Thailand reaching 25% of pre-pandemic levels, behind levels of 72% and 65% each for Singapore and the Philippines.

Many blame the Thailand Pass pre-entry approval system, which can take up to seven days, although the government recently vowed to streamline it.

"The red tape is killing us," said Bill Barnett, the managing director of hospitality consultancy C9 Hotelworks.

"If you're in Singapore and want to come to Thailand for the weekend, it's not easy. Those short-term trips matter."

American Kiran Stallone, who is visiting family in Thailand, said getting the Thailand Pass required proof of vaccination, insurance coverage of at least $20,000 and reservations at a qualified hotel, all submitted on a Thai government website.

"The government website was hard to navigate, and I had to seek outside help," Ms Stallone added.

Ms Stallone said she was told to avoid some steps known to cause submission glitches that would delay her application.

The website does not allow users to save progress or return to previous pages and rejects PDF files.

A Facebook group on the Thailand Pass has ballooned to 90,000 members, with would-be travellers asking anxious questions about changing flights, new entry rules and some venting frustration over rejected applications.

Similar forums have also emerged on sites such as TripAdvisor.

You shall not pass

Thailand received 39.9 million visitors in 2019 when Bangkok, the capital, was named the world's most visited city.

That year, Singapore and the Philippines recorded 19.1 million and 8.26 million arrivals respectively.

Thailand aims to attract 5 million to 10 million visitors this year, but critics call its Thailand Pass system an unnecessary obstacle.

"It’s uncompetitive for Thailand and complicated for travellers ... who lose all flexibility," hotel tycoon William Heinecke, chairman of Minor International Pcl, told Reuters.

Earlier this month, he urged the government to drop all Covid travel restrictions before the tentative date of June 1 to rescue the economy before it is too late.

An approved Thailand Pass can only be used one week before or after the date indicated.

The tourism council also said the system's requirement of individually filed documentation made it tougher for tour operators to bring in groups.

Taweesin Visanuyothin, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration spokesman, said tourist arrivals have been increasing as measures were relaxed and recognised that domestic infections outnumbered those from abroad.

However, Thailand's staggered approach to relaxing the rules has also caused confusion.

Entry for vaccinated tourists with limited quarantine resumed in February after a brief suspension over the Omicron variant.

At the time, travellers had to take at least three Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests; one each before departure, on arrival and on the fifth day of their stay.

In March, that final test was replaced with a rapid antigen test and insurance coverage was dropped to $20,000 from $50,000. In April, the pre-departure PCR test was scrapped.

From next month, insurance of $10,000 is required but tests for vaccinated travellers and advance hotel bookings have been dropped.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/23 ... le-changes
KeithAmbrose

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

Post by KeithAmbrose »

Jun wrote: Fri Apr 29, 2022 4:39 am On the subject of travel insurance, I just purchased a multi-trip policy for Europe. There's no mention of covid, coronavirus or sars-cov 2 anywhere. I also searched the word pandemic, which only occurs in cancellation terms, not medical care. So essentially covid is now regarded as just like any other medical issue over here in the UK.
The upper limit for medical cover is £20 million and the insurance cost comfortably less than the price of 2 drinks in a Bangkok gogo bar. Admittedly I've gone for max 21 days per trip & to be fair, a worldwide policy will be more, but this is back to a pre-covid price scale.

Now last time I looked, Thailand required specific references to treatment including coronavirus, complete with statement of the medical care levels, even though the upper limit was pitiful.
If that's still the same, their insurance scam will exclude some perfectly good foreign insurance policies.
I have just purchased, in UK, Annual multi trip insurance, worldwide, Inc USA. It specifically covers COVID, max amount £10m. Cost £520, pretty good as I am 73. They wrote back in hypertension, AF, after I declared all my pills!
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