Thailand to allow long-stay tourists in island of Phuket from October

[tomauasia]

1 hour ago, newnative said:

   They should be doing much more outreach to get the long-stay expats to return for the winter months--and not just to Phuket.  Many come year after year to Pattaya--to condos that they own here or to rentals that they rent every year.  Start with getting the expats back.  Forget the tourists for now--no tourist is going to quarantine but someone coming for 3 to 4 months to escape the bitter winter months might.  Start thinking outside the box for once.  Grant free 2 year long-stay visas and scrap the 90 day reporting.  Add much more flexibility to the income requirement.  Thailand needs to get more expat long-stays while tourism is a non-starter with a quarantine in place.  

They are racist and this was happening before COVID..Thais want a new PM

[ExpatOne]

Phuket isn’t worth 14 days in quarantine.

[sitanonchai]

I'll take my holiday on my terms, not on country terms. If I don't like a country term I simply don't go.

Who wants to be stuck in an hotel for half of his holiday. 

 

Bad times to come for Thailand an not only mean tourist arrivals.

[sitanonchai]

5 minutes ago, tomauasia said:

They are racist and this was happening before COVID..Thais want a new PM

You are right however I take my long stay in Spain, nearby and cheaper.

 

[agood1963]

20 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

Tourists will have to stay for at least 30 days, with the first 14 days in quarantine in a limited vicinity of their hotel, before they can visit other areas, Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Yuthasak Supasorn told Reuters.

Sorry Thailand no takers lets have another idea .

[Ketyo]

20 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

Thailand has gone nearly three months without a confirmed case of a local COVID-19 transmission.

 

20 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

extended a state of emergency for another month until the end of September to control the outbreak

????????????????

Panic. Scared old man. Overreaction. Ban. Crackdown. Control freak. Tank the economy. 

 

 

Edited August 22, 2020 by Ketyo

[Kadilo]

It will only attract the few desperate ex pats who want to find a way back at any cost and are willing to do whatever is asked. 
 

No one else in their right mind would even consider this suggestion. 

[Bluetongue]

Adverts for Thailand on Australian TV today, I am told. " when the world is ready to travel, Thailand is waiting"

[dallen52]

20 hours ago, MadMac said:

But perhaps a way for stranded expats to come back, if anything at all.

So you come back as a tourist and put the up to 30 days, in a quarantine location. 

Plus testing. 

Then i assume you can go off to somewhere else in Thailand?

Visa?

What type?

Flights?

Do you need a CoE?

Do you need a medical certificate?

Do you need the 72 hour pre flight test?

Insurance?

Did i mention that?

 

Yawn......

 

No money left after all this, and taking care of the family in Issan. ????

 

[taxin]

20 hours ago, mehrdad said:

Who would be will to go on such a journey? 
 

Many will, some are very desperate to get back, there will be many foreigners currently outside of Thailand who are married to Thais, they will jump all over this, this can be their way back in.
 

This also may be good news for Tourists currently in Thailand on the amnesty who don’t want to go home, leave on or before the 26th Sept and return on the 1st October.
 

Of course all depends on flight availability, it won’t happen if the airlines can’t sell enough seats.

[dallen52]

45 minutes ago, kensawadee said:

NEXT.... They will recommend that ALL 'foreign tourists' just STAY HOME and SEND YOUR MONEY........

I'm doing this presently waiting for the okay to return. 

[Kadilo]

5 minutes ago, dallen52 said:

I'm doing this presently waiting for the okay to return. 

I can see this as being almost a dummy run to see if it, or a version of it can be worked in other areas. There is obviously a lot more detail needed to be worked out. 

The first sign of non compliance or a positive test then back to square one  

Edited August 22, 2020 by Kadilo

[dallen52]

43 minutes ago, ExpatOne said:

Phuket isn’t worth 14 days in quarantine.

Phuket is the place you pass through on the way to somewhere else. 

Once in Patong was enough. 

To use it as a three weeks quarantine to get elsewhere...

At a possible 20k a week plus testing etc..

No way José. 

[dallen52]

1 hour ago, aussienam said:

Looking at 90,000 minimum I read, then can move on.  I am stranded abroad but having to spend that sort of cash ($4,500 AUD) just so I can get back to my home where I am still renting, plus the higher airfares, add on my visa renewal that's now expired, health insurance.  And then a gamble whether I could then convert back over to a retirement visa whilst there?  

It's heartbreaking as expats stranded abroad need to get back and are suffering.  Tourists don't have a need, rather a leisurely desire at their whim.  Not urgent for them.  What about creating a 'bubble zone' for retired expats then, who can come back on their non-imm O or O-A visas instead and quarantine too?  They are already allowing a limited category of expats back, but if they are going to allow tourists then please have mercy on those of us who are stuck all over the world living out of a suitcase, not our homes like tourists are.  Thanks.

Well said. 

Its six months for me.

The family is holding together. 

Myself I'm not too sure.

Literally thousands of people like us.

They know how many. 

And a guaranteed return. 

 

Tourists are an uncertainty. 

Virtually non starters under these terms and conditions. 

 

Beats the life out of me how they keep getting it so wrong...????

[Chongalulu]

20 hours ago, Sheryl said:

And how exactly are tourists going to get there? Will they start to issue tourist visas again? Flights?

Thailand - the hub of thinking things through..

[Chiang Mai Bill]

20 hours ago, shady86 said:

I'm looking forward for foreigners to spend their money to quarantine 14 days at 5 star resorts!

It's unbelievable that anyone would contemplate that tourists will spend money on an expensive 10-12 hour plane trip, then spend 14 days in quarantine -- all for a 14-day holiday!

 

These people are so out of touch -- and they're running the country -- it's incredible! You couldn't make it up!

[mr336]

Quite possible the head honchos all volunteered to do the test trials for Medical Mary.

[Johnthplumb]

20 hours ago, NE1 said:

 

So the cleaning ladies don't get to go home to feed the kids at the end of their shift ?

and won't see the kids and the old man for weeks on end ?

 

 

I know some who would be quiet happy with that!

[K in BKK]

1 Oct: Arrive

15 Oct: Tourist develops covid symptoms

16 Oct" Typical panic decision making process and the Island is locked down, tourists "invited" to enjoy another 14 days in quarantine.

 

That's a hard pass from me

[Billpro785]

Anyone with common sense can see this is geared toward long stay expats, and those on retirement visas. Not the idea way to return, by at least a way. Due to work, Thailand is my home for the next 3 years. This allows me and others to return to our homes here in the Kingdom. My employer has informed me our rotation schedule has been changed to 7 weeks on to 50 days off.  That will allow us the time in Phuket , and at least 21 days home in Northern Thailand. We all have multiple entry retirement visas as well.  Flights will arrive in Bangkok, and you will catch a domestic flight to Phuket. flights will only be on certain days. Again not the ideal way, but as lesast a way back home. 

[Raphus]

There are just too many variables in the whole set up for this to work or be effective.

it is going to fall on its face and the government will turn around and say ‘Well, we did try’.

????????

[black tabby]

The headline doesn't really stand for the  contents of the text. Not at all.

It is simply repeating  same non-sense of the 2 weeks detention on arrival.

Who ever wants to come to the country to put up with 14 days isolation at the accommodation of unknown costs at own expenses?

Looks like none of the current decision makers of this country has the very basic understanding of the  human psychology.

Absolutely no near-future prospect for the Thai inbound tourism sectors as long as they remain in charge.

 

Edited August 22, 2020 by black tabby

[Chongalulu]

20 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

There is so much negativity on TVF that you aren't seeing the big picture. Assuming that this goes ahead, and it likely will, it'll be taken up by thousands and thousands of people. And yes, details will still need to worked out.

 

I can't speak for Phuket, but on Samui there are approximately 10,000 people who spend the winter on the island; they have money and want to come back. On a personal note, I have had approximately 15 friends from the 'Snowbird' group who have already asked me when and how they can return. How many people spend the winter on Phuket in a normal year?

 

if you were in Northern Europe, Russia, Canada, etc, wouldn't you want to spend your winter in Thailand? The land of tropical islands, hot chicks, great food, beaches, etc?

 

Think it through...

 

Barring a massive increase in numbers of virus cases in Thailand, this will go ahead and it is a good thing; thousands and thousands of poor Thai people will get an income, businesses will be saved, and hopefully enough people will be able to generate enough income to see them through until next year when a more proper tourist season can occur.

 

This is a very good thing.

 

 

Take your normal tens of thousands,reduce it by the factors relating to disinclination to travel due to pandemic,a much reduced availability and cost of flights,severe  restrictions on hotels able to partake,the onerous quarantine disincentive- and that’s before the devil in the detail that will surely emerge in the other conditions which will certainly not have been thought through yet and you’ll find those thousands will have dwindled to hundreds. Not enough to make any appreciable difference. 
This sounds more like someone with a business desperately looking at this through rise tinted spectacles hoping this will somehow provide some salvation. It is a forlorn hope. Reality is not negativity.

[theonetrueaussie]

20 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

There is so much negativity on TVF that you aren't seeing the big picture. Assuming that this goes ahead, and it likely will, it'll be taken up by thousands and thousands of people. And yes, details will still need to worked out.

 

I can't speak for Phuket, but on Samui there are approximately 10,000 people who spend the winter on the island; they have money and want to come back. On a personal note, I have had approximately 15 friends from the 'Snowbird' group who have already asked me when and how they can return. How many people spend the winter on Phuket in a normal year?

 

if you were in Northern Europe, Russia, Canada, etc, wouldn't you want to spend your winter in Thailand? The land of tropical islands, hot chicks, great food, beaches, etc?

 

Think it through...

 

Barring a massive increase in numbers of virus cases in Thailand, this will go ahead and it is a good thing; thousands and thousands of poor Thai people will get an income, businesses will be saved, and hopefully enough people will be able to generate enough income to see them through until next year when a more proper tourist season can occur.

 

This is a very good thing.

 

 

and all it will take is 1 person to slip through the net and hello corona outbreak....then all of us get to experience another 2-3 month lockdown and everything closes again....I'm sure the ten's or hundred's of thousands of poor thai people will be so grateful to lose their income for months again....

[Burma Bill]

Quotes:-

"Tourists will have to stay for at least 30 days, with the first 14 days in quarantine"

"Visitors will have to take two coronavirus tests during quarantine before they are able to travel to the rest of the island"

"Visitors will have to take an additional test and remain within the province for another week before they can travel to other parts of the country"

 

This comes to mind:-

 

Have a happy holiday folks!!!

[Rockbottom]

20 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

There is so much negativity on TVF that you aren't seeing the big picture. Assuming that this goes ahead, and it likely will, it'll be taken up by thousands and thousands of people. And yes, details will still need to worked out.

 

I can't speak for Phuket, but on Samui there are approximately 10,000 people who spend the winter on the island; they have money and want to come back. On a personal note, I have had approximately 15 friends from the 'Snowbird' group who have already asked me when and how they can return. How many people spend the winter on Phuket in a normal year?

 

if you were in Northern Europe, Russia, Canada, etc, wouldn't you want to spend your winter in Thailand? The land of tropical islands, hot chicks, great food, beaches, etc?

 

Think it through...

 

Barring a massive increase in numbers of virus cases in Thailand, this will go ahead and it is a good thing; thousands and thousands of poor Thai people will get an income, businesses will be saved, and hopefully enough people will be able to generate enough income to see them through until next year when a more proper tourist season can occur.

 

This is a very good thing.

 

 

Thousands and thousands?? Do you work for the TAT? 

[MRToMRT]

Its good for those of us who want to come back but don't fit into the 11 groups. My major concern is that management of the return of the 11 groups has been so overly beaurocratic, poorly resourced and haphazard to say the least that it's a bit of a disaster so far. I am sure this plan will follow in its footsteps. 

 

[Harry Fingerling]

Announcing TATs new Phuket mobile travel bubble.

[Aussie Col]

17 hours ago, Issanman said:

I will gladly play the game. Just tell me how to get back there!

Esecially for those with wifes and or children here

[sydneyjed]

Encouraging(allowing?)tourists from anywhere at the moment is surmountable to Russian Roulette. Has this been remotely thought through from a Bio-Security perspective? I think not as we all know the almighty dollar has influenced this crazy/thoughtless brain snap!