Removing entry restrictions for foreigners - when?

[gearbox]

3 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

According to my daughter who should have been here yesterday trying to get insurance for CV is nigh on impossible after a certain date that was in the UK I dont know about other countries 

Im also thinking when the airlines are able to fly what will be their prices? bad enough the other week 4000 pound one way to the UK 

The Aussie government has a blanket travel ban and issued level 4 warning for overseas travel. In short that means new travel insurance policies are not issued, and even if you have already one, it might not cover you for anything, not only coronavirus. People forget that there could be far more complex things to cover, e.g a heart attack or a bad road accident.

[Surelynot]

As soon as it looks like the Chinese are ready to surge back. End of April, mid-May. They won't need need certificates or insurance for sure.

[ThaiPauly]

22 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

Virus flareup continues in China and every country in the world 2020-2022.

Many countries in Africa reduced to total anarchy. 

there is no tourist industry. 

lack of demand for oil collapses Russian and middle east economies.   

massive recession in the west borderline economic depression followed by war in 2022-2027 after collapse of US petrodollars.

Vaccine fourth quarter of 2021. Vaccinated or antibodies present "passports" required for all travel worldwide.

anyone in the west not owning physical gold, silver, bitcoin and real estate in your home country without a mortgage is going to be financially ruined. 

 

but lets see how things go during the Songkran lockdown. If we get through that we should be OK.

 

  

 

Thank you Nostradamus ☹️

[simple1]

Yesterday rec'd a message from Thai Airways. No flights between Oz and Thailand until at least 30 June, so provides some indication. Of course may well extend the flights ban depending on circumstances.

[JohnBZ]

I am waiting to fly out of Thailand and back to China.  China does not all non citizens to go there.  I expect this total ban to last till the end of April.  In May, international school and university there will reopen.  Chinese government may allow foreign teachers to go back at the end of April, one month after they announced the bank: purely my speculation.

 

This may be a bit too optimistic, but I think within 2 months in fairly likely for China for foreigners with legit reasons.  For tourists, Sept 1 for China is my guess as by then all schools including kindergartens are supported to be back to normal. 

[smutcakes]

8 hours ago, Number 6 said:

Came here to say this.

 

 

They can't keep the boarders closed forever but how they reopen is another matter.

 

No one can speculate with any accuracy. On top of this the government backtracks and changes it's plans often.

 

I think entrance to kingdom with medical certificate, screening, quarantine here to stay forever. Maybe insurance as well.

 

 

Don't be ridiculous. Non invasive temperature screening a slim possibility, the other two, not a chance. Insurance should be mandatory anyway.

[Kwasaki]

I would say to you at this time your guess would be as good as mine. 

[timendres]

15 hours ago, ChouDoufu said:

how would that work?

 

re-entry permit usually expires along with the visa/extension, right?  so if we're outside thailand and both our extension of stay and re-entry permit expire, we'll be given up to 12 months after expiration of both to return?  and hopefully no heartache at immigration to do a renewal within one year of expiration?  no need to start over as long as we can provide the standard documents?

Okay, so my Thai employee reread the section I was referring to. He confirmed that re-entry permits are to be extended. I believe the intent is this: with the announcement, temporary visas are being extended automatically. Since re-entry permits are tied to the length of the visa, they are essentially saying that those re-entry permits extend "along with" the visa. In other words, if you left the country, and your visa expired in April, then your re-entry permit would have also expired in April. However, your visa is being extended to (for example) May. Likewise, the re-entry permit extends to May with the visa.

[bermondburi]

6 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

Virus flareup continues in China and every country in the world 2020-2022.

Many countries in Africa reduced to total anarchy. 

there is no tourist industry. 

lack of demand for oil collapses Russian and middle east economies.   

massive recession in the west borderline economic depression followed by war in 2022-2027 after collapse of US petrodollars.

Vaccine fourth quarter of 2021. Vaccinated or antibodies present "passports" required for all travel worldwide.

anyone in the west not owning physical gold and silver, bitcoin and real estate in your home country without a mortgage is going to be financially ruined. 

 

but lets see how things go during the Songkran lockdown. If we get through that we should be OK.

 

  

 

Can't spend bitcoin in Tesco. 

3 hours ago, smutcakes said:

Don't be ridiculous. Non invasive temperature screening a slim possibility, the other two, not a chance. Insurance should be mandatory anyway.

Not so ridiculous, they're are many countries around the world already where medical checks are needed to show disease free status before a visa can be issued. I would expect many countries to then include C19 checks as well. 

 

 

[bkk6060]

They definitely should not allow any Chinese here until they get rid of those bat and animal markets.

[MaiDong]

1 minute ago, bkk6060 said:

They definitely should not allow any Chinese here until they get rid of those bat and animal markets.

We've got them markets right here in BKK. In my opinion, the people who run them should be quarantined forever.

[bkk6060]

3 hours ago, JohnBZ said:

I am waiting to fly out of Thailand and back to China.  China does not all non citizens to go there.  I expect this total ban to last till the end of April.  In May, international school and university there will reopen.  Chinese government may allow foreign teachers to go back at the end of April, one month after they announced the bank: purely my speculation.

 

This may be a bit too optimistic, but I think within 2 months in fairly likely for China for foreigners with legit reasons.  For tourists, Sept 1 for China is my guess as by then all schools including kindergartens are supported to be back to normal. 

You are that desperate to go there for a teaching job?

Seems very sad..

[MaiDong]

7 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

Virus flareup continues in China and every country in the world 2020-2022.

Many countries in Africa reduced to total anarchy. 

there is no tourist industry. 

lack of demand for oil collapses Russian and middle east economies.   

massive recession in the west borderline economic depression followed by war in 2022-2027 after collapse of US petrodollars.

Vaccine fourth quarter of 2021. Vaccinated or antibodies present "passports" required for all travel worldwide.

anyone in the west not owning physical gold and silver, bitcoin and real estate in your home country without a mortgage is going to be financially ruined. 

 

but lets see how things go during the Songkran lockdown. If we get through that we should be OK.

 

  

 

Keeping it cheery, I like it ????

[EricTh]

It is possible that it will be extended towards May 30 because the situation in the rest of the world is worsening.

 

The Chinese call the shots because they are the biggest spenders as to when Thailand will open its borders again,. 

 

 

Edited April 10, 2020 by EricTh

[Tounge Thaied]

13 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

They definitely should not allow any Chinese here until they get rid of those bat and animal markets.

 

[RotBenz8888]

13 minutes ago, EricTh said:

It is possible that it will be extended towards May 30 because the situation in the rest of the world is worsening.

 

The Chinese call the shots because they are the biggest spenders as to when Thailand will open its borders again,. 

 

 

Once the boarders opens, Chinese tourists will get free visa and no restrictions. Falang however, will need will need to pay for visa + cmpulsory insurance + neg covid test and 14 day in a "hotel"of an IOs choice. 

[Sheryl]

Nobody can say when, it will depend on the course of the pandemic not only in Thailand but in the rest of the world.

 

Pretty certain that the ban will not be lifted 1 May though. No plausible reason for it to be, it will be extended.

 

And pretty likely even once the total ban is lifted there will remain bans on entry from any country where the disease is still prevalent which is surely going to include most of Europe and  USA for at least 2 more months.

[tifino]

let the Wuhan back in and it won't matter any more...

 

[chessman]

A lot of this will also depend on reliable point-of-care tests. Those might come along fairly soon (definitely before a vaccine) and that would allow countries to relax their border rules a bit...

[lamyai3]

10 hours ago, gearbox said:

This will kill the tourism forever. Who is going to get certificate and insurance for covid19 and spend 2 weeks in quarantine in order to book 2 weeks holiday in Thailand?

I suspect as time goes on, a reliable and cheap covid-19 certificate will be increasingly easy to obtain, and the two week quarantine rules will be relaxed. 

[gearbox]

36 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

I suspect as time goes on, a reliable and cheap covid-19 certificate will be increasingly easy to obtain, and the two week quarantine rules will be relaxed. 

These are good things to come eventually, but I don't really see this happening in the next 2-3 months. Any form of quarantine is a show stopper for the short term tourists, and these are important for the Thai economy. I would say different rules would be applied for the important Chinese market, now that China is getting on top of the problem.

Unfortunately I'm stick in India and the number of cases is going higher here, which would further reduce my chances going back to Thailand if the things get out of control.

[ross163103]

Same situation for me; I'm outside Thailand at work and due back sometime in late May. My retirement extension of stay runs out in June, so not much hope!

I'm not a tourist--so to speak, I have a house and Thai family there and have been there for 27 years. I hear all the people wanting to leave Thailand to go home--and I understand that, but I'm the opposite, I want back in. Guess it will be quite some time........

[Senior Player]

I disagree about a covid-19 certificate that shows you haven't got the virus. Surely it's going to be the other way around, as in a certificate that shows that you have the necessary anti-bodies required to fight the virus having already caught covid-19 that is going to allow you to travel more freely? The only problem with an anti-bodies certificate is scientists still have no idea how long your immunity system will last to combat the virus. The theory is 18 months. It could be shorter, it could be longer. The research is still ongoing. The only real solution is for a proper vaccine to be discovered and distributed worldwide.

 

For the time being, the data isn't looking good for Thailand with only 0.39% per thousand people being tested in the country for the virus. That's 27,049 Antigen tests based upon the most recent data gathered by the Oxford University who is compiling all the data from around the globe. Compare this with Germany who has tested 15.97 per thousand people; 1,317,887 in total. The USA is 7.12 per thousand people; 2,360,512 in total (as of 09 April 2020). As it stands, nobody knows the true figure of community spread in Thailand due to the poor testing there. Malaysia isn't doing that much better at 1.93 per thousand people; 63,367 in total (as of 10 April 2020). But if you think Thailand's Antigen testing is poor, look at India's: 0.02 per thousand people; 26,798 in total (as of 27 March 2020). The data collecting and testing in India has been very poor for a country that has such sophisticated bio-medicine throughout its country. 

 

Should Europe reach its herd immunity before Asia, then I think it'll be Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the USA that will be keeping its borders closed to incoming travellers from Asian countries in future until they've got their testing and results up-to-speed and in order. According to the latest ongoing research from Germany, it's looking increasingly likely that Europe is getting closer to herd immunity than previously thought, which is now figured to be between 60% to 70% of the population. Again, research is constantly being updated and news is incredibly fast moving, so this could change again. However, the current German research is based upon their findings from a controlled number of a populated town of Gangelt in Heisberg that has already had the virus and didn't show any symptoms or awareness that they'd had it, who had tested positive for anti-bodies anyway. That was 15% of the town's population that had already had covid-19 but had zero to minor symptoms compared to the other 4% that had severe symptoms. Simply put, it's believed that anything as high as 50% of the overall population in Germany could've already had covid-19 asymptomatically and now have anti-bodies. The current thinking is that the fatality rate is now 0.37% and not the high numbers that were originally thought before. Again, this controlled population test is also being carried out in Italy and the UK. Of course, the alternative to hoping that the German research is wrong and that we'll all be in permanent lockdown, whether it be on-and-off, until a successful vaccine is produced. By then, I'm afraid, every economy in the world will be trashed beyond repair. Let's hope the Germans are right on this one. We'll find out more when the Italians and UK amalgamate their findings with Germany.

 

If you want to read more about the research carried out in Gangelt, Germany, then you'll have to go to the Daily Telegraph who has the report. 

Edited April 10, 2020 by Senior Player

[sniggie]

22 hours ago, ChouDoufu said:

how would that work?

 

re-entry permit usually expires along with the visa/extension, right?  so if we're outside thailand and both our extension of stay and re-entry permit expire, we'll be given up to 12 months after expiration of both to return?  and hopefully no heartache at immigration to do a renewal within one year of expiration?  no need to start over as long as we can provide the standard documents?

Hoping against hope that this info. is genuine. I'm at present in the UK and my extension based on retirement runs out on 23rd of this month and I was dreading going through the whole process again. It would be a real weight off my mind if this was true. 

[ChouDoufu]

4 minutes ago, sniggie said:

Hoping against hope that this info. is genuine. I'm at present in the UK and my extension based on retirement runs out on 23rd of this month and I was dreading going through the whole process again. It would be a real weight off my mind if this was true. 

keep going in the thread.  that was a misunderstanding.  the re-entry for one year past expiration applies only to those with residency certificates.

 

unless the 0.0% return of the free-spending tourist doesn't ignite some love for the cheap charlie retiree, we'll be starting all over again.

 

it should be easy, since we know the process, and have our banks squared away.  30-day waiver and apply for o-visa, easy-peasy.  but anything can happen in the hub of unpredictability......

 

[gearbox]

10 minutes ago, ChouDoufu said:

keep going in the thread.  that was a misunderstanding.  the re-entry for one year past expiration applies only to those with residency certificates.

 

unless the 0.0% return of the free-spending tourist doesn't ignite some love for the cheap charlie retiree, we'll be starting all over again.

 

it should be easy, since we know the process, and have our banks squared away.  30-day waiver and apply for o-visa, easy-peasy.  but anything can happen in the hub of unpredictability......

 

That's another issue I'm facing. Even if somehow I manage to get in, my reentry permit based on my original O-A visa will expire September. I was thinking of switching from O-A to O with money in Thai bank to avoid purchasing Thai insurance. From the limited reading I've done so far this would require leaving Thailand again to get a tourist visa. The normal visa places in Laos and Penang are currently off limit, and leaving Thailand even for a couple of days may require again certificates, insurance, quarantine, etc...the whole process again, provided that the foreigners are allowed in at all.  May need to bite the bullet and get an O-A extension with useless insurance.

[ChouDoufu]

4 minutes ago, gearbox said:

That's another issue I'm facing. Even if somehow I manage to get in, my reentry permit based on my original O-A visa will expire September. I was thinking of switching from O-A to O with money in Thai bank to avoid purchasing Thai insurance. From the limited reading I've done so far this would require leaving Thailand again to get a tourist visa. The normal visa places in Laos and Penang are currently off limit, and leaving Thailand even for a couple of days may require again certificates, insurance, quarantine, etc...the whole process again, provided that the foreigners are allowed in at all.  May need to bite the bullet and get an O-A extension with useless insurance.

how will thailand survive through the summer without tourism?  surely they'll have to open up somewhat, and by that time cheap and fast testing should be available.

 

in that case, the visa run guys should be able to get you to a viable land border crossing.  get a 30-day visa waiver and apply for an o-visa at immigration.  you already have the bank account and funds which is the hardest part for most.

[JohnBZ]

nope. I don't teach in China. I have a high tech job that I like to go back to.  I figured that if they let teachers back, they will let me back as I am higher on the priority list in china's employment visa category.

 

My point of my discussion is mainly to help guess when foreigners will be free to move around in Asia:)

[gearbox]

45 minutes ago, JohnBZ said:

nope. I don't teach in China. I have a high tech job that I like to go back to.  I figured that if they let teachers back, they will let me back as I am higher on the priority list in china's employment visa category.

 

My point of my discussion is mainly to help guess when foreigners will be free to move around in Asia:)

I think the first country to open may be the Philippines, the semi dictator there indicated that he'll won't keep the lockdown for too long. Not that they sorted out the issues..

[madmen]

16 hours ago, at15 said:

right. 

look at Philippines , Duterte has already said april 30 is it, cant go past that. everything gotta go back to normal for their economy to survive.

 

if shutdowns start going into May there will be riots around the world. 

He will simply send in his henchmen door to door and shoot any of the effected and their family's.. Problem solved