Thailand to Finalize Entry Plan for Foreign Visitors by October

[webfact]

Thailand to Finalize Entry Plan for Foreign Visitors by October

By Randy Thanthong-Knight

 

Photographer: Andre Malerba/Bloomberg

 

Thailand is planning to reopen to long-term foreign visitors to help revive an ailing tourism sector and save millions of jobs.

 

A plan to be submitted to the government for approval and targeted to be finalized before the end of October seeks to allow visitors coming through its international airports provided they do a mandatory 14-day quarantine at the port of entry before being allowed to travel freely, according to Thosaporn Sirisumphand, secretary of the Center for Economic Situation Administration.

 

Thailand, one of the economies reliant on tourism, is facing its worst contraction this year.

 

Full story: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-09/thailand-to-finalize-entry-plan-for-foreign-visitors-by-october

 

-- © Copyright Bloomberg 2020-09-10

 

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[SVC Porter]

Here we go again!

[sammieuk1]

Forget it at the 14 day quarantine stage with a myriad of boltons no one will come unless you pay for it end of story ????

[Jack Hna]

Get real on your ASQ or kiss goodbye to all that you have been given. 

[Laughing Gravy]

Like trying to put a house fire out with a water pistol. This is a minor and insignificant gesture.

[RichardColeman]

49 minutes ago, webfact said:

seeks to allow visitors coming through its international airports provided they do a mandatory 14-day quarantine at the port of entry

 swampy airport is going to be pretty full then, what will they do, make departure lounge a huge quarantine ? still on the bright side, you could get an expensive burger king

[madmen]

Great news for retirees , condo owners etc 

[SpanishExpat]

They should really stop wasting their  time with this bs, as it won’t work. As someone who studied hotel- and tourism management, I just can tell most hotels in Europe need 45-55% occupancy rate to break-even. It‘s a bit lower in Thailand, as the the HR factor is much cheaper.

 

Still...with all those unrealistic plans it’s close to impossible to get higher occupancy rates than 25%. And that already includes domestic tourism! 

Yes..the quarantine hotels may get quite full, but most of the guests will just countdown the days and leave to other provinces, their gf/families/own houses/condos etc . The lullaby of the wealthy tourist coming to Phuket/Samui etc and staying months in a hotel..what a joke ????????. 
 

Most privately-owned Hotels don’t have the resources to operate many more months below break-even. The sooner Thailand accepts that fact, the better for them. Even if Thailand reopened in October with just the requirement of a negative Covid-test, most hotels would still End the high-season below break-even. Quite a few people would come, but the mass international travel is dead until at least Summer 2021 (which is anyway the low season for Thailand). Sad, but true!

Edited September 9, 2020 by SpanishExpat

[ezzra]

Like a dog with a bone relentlessly trying to force a round peg into a square hole to bring few hundreds tourists here as if this will save tourism in this country...

[Grumpy John]

It's totally stupid without a doubt.  I just don't understand why they persist with an idea that is doomed to fail???

 

Do they not understand people with money are smart enough to go somewhere else if confronted with a ridiculous rule.

 

But at least my prediction that the terrible reality of the situation will set in by December will be proven to be true.  The coming disaster and the fallout will be huge!  Think of a word that starts with "R"....

[Hayduke]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand to Finalize Entry Plan for Foreign Visitors by October

 

Brilliant..…we will have a “Final Plan”…which will remain final at least until it’s not final anymore.

 

 

[Shey420]

Looking back on the pass scheme they presented to help the economy you could say they like to dip their toe in the water.

That will be the downfall of the reopening scheme. If you are going to reopen with some kind of quarantine(3)(5)(7)(10)(14), it would make zero sense not to reopen to everyone to maximize the pool of tourist.

Alot of people don't have funds to travel so be sure not to alienate those who do then back track a couple of months later and expect them to have the money to come

 

Sure they want revitalize phuket but like Spanishexpat said people will just leave after the quarantine. If I'm able to get back i will 100% leave phuket after quarantine. They need to open other parts. You can't force people to spend money in a place they don't want to be. 

[Destiny1990]

There where lots of long term staying farang  sun seekers visiting in 2010-2015 somehow they have left.

[Pungdo]

What person in their right mind would come here, spend 2 weeks in quarantine, stay a little longer and then head home to another 2 weeks in quarantine, they are truly kidding themselves, dream on you numpties.

[spiekerjozef]

49 minutes ago, Grumpy John said:

It's totally stupid without a doubt.  I just don't understand why they persist with an idea that is doomed to fail???

Failure is in the genes of every politician.

[spiekerjozef]

19 minutes ago, Hayduke said:

 

Brilliant..…we will have a “Final Plan”…which will remain final at least until it’s not final anymore.

 

 

It's the final plan before the last final plan....

[RotBenz8888]

This just confirms their incurable delusion, still believe tourists will do anything to enter Thailand. 

[colinneil]

Stupidity knows no bounds, tourism here is dead and will not come back for the forseeable future.

All the silly restrictions put in place will just drive tourists elsewhere, but the plonkers running the country have not got the brains to see it.

[Crash999]

Tourism restart plan #1425112

 

Meanwhile does anyone want to take bets that next week we will hear an entirely different story, that the Phuket plan is back on and will start end of the month? 

[baansgr]

What's the alternative? Open borders...

[mrwebb8825]

They should now introduce the "Prepaid Future Fun Act" where you send them 10,000-20,000 baht now and they will add your name to a list so when you finally do get to come next year they will make sure you have loads of fun at a 25-30% discount. 

[bodga]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

provided they do a mandatory 14-day quarantine at the port of entry

yeah  theyll be queuing up...............again,  until the next dumb announcement

[bodga]

14 minutes ago, spiekerjozef said:

It's the final plan before the last final plan....

finally!

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

I was in one of my favourite pubs on Sukhumvit, where they play the American morning CNN news in the evenings for us Yanks. On it I caught an Amazing Thailand commercial.

 

It featured happy, young, attractive Westerners, doing the typical things. Looking at temples, riding in boats, mountain climbing, bungie jumping, dancing in clubs. Then it shows a guy in an office looking at their pics on social media, with a "Wow!" face. Yes, amaze your friends with Amazing Thailand, once you get here.

 

At the end, their new tagline. "We're still waiting for you". ????????????

[Destiny1990]

4 minutes ago, mrwebb8825 said:

They should now introduce the "Prepaid Future Fun Act" where you send them 10,000-20,000 baht now and they will add your name to a list so when you finally do get to come next year they will make sure you have loads of fun at a 25-30% discount. 

Hey hey they will like this great corona proof plan !

First the investment but without the investor.. ????

[FlyingThai]

Great thanks for this article. I needed a good laugh in the morning.

[Sharp]

I really do question Thailands approach to all this ....To be honest they should of been jumping around about the virus in Jan and Feb when the country was mobbed out with Chinese ..I firmly believe it went through Thailand and there's why there's so few cases nowhere along with less testing.

BUT i will say after glancing at the UK Sky news last night and their new regulations being put in place its CLEAR the UK Goverment HAVENT GOT A CLUE!!!!

[Percy P]

3 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

Forget it at the 14 day quarantine stage with a myriad of boltons no one will come unless you pay for it end of story ????

You intended to stay 30 day and the first 14 day are in isolation, not on. Sorry

[yellowboat]

???? Open it up and they come?  Didn't the Chinese embassy say they will not be opening up to Thailand for a while?  China has a vibrant middle class and the country is rebounding.  What makes the Thai authorities think people will actually go there?  cha cha just showing his desperation.  The hole has been dug.  It will take years to get out of it.  The army just acts woefully unprepared.  The should look at building a middle class, but nothing like that has been spoken.  Even the self sufficient economy has not be mentioned for the last several months. t will take several years, but it Thailand needs a middle class more than it needs the army.   

[shavedPotter]

It seems the appropriate metaphor for this is 'Trying to hold back $hit'.

Edited September 10, 2020 by shavedPotter