Cabinet to consider special tourist visa next week: TAT

[fondue zoo]

6 minutes ago, LEKPHUKET said:

Let's not be to excited the details of the magisterial plan are not published yet.

2 weeks quarantine will be killing their great new idea.

But about the expats  travelling abroad having a retirement visa nobody speaks,  they forgot them completely

..and a possible 2 weeks quarantine on the return journey.

[Sheryl]

22 minutes ago, trucking said:

 

 

I can't help thinking these constant announcements from various government agencies are more about getting on the gravy train than of coming up with any new ideas to benefit the economy..

 

 

Actually I think these announcements to the media are often a Thai way of testing public reaction/ having a dialog of sorts. If the reaction is negative the idea is shelved until next time.

[rkidlad]

I remember when they did away with the double-entry tourist visa and replaced it with the 6-month-multiple entry one. I actually thought they were making it easier. Then when we looked through how to obtain one - it was all just a ruse.

 

If Thailand has taught me anything, it's that the government can never just give something with no strings. it's always something with caveats attached. And it's usually a worse deal. All fur coat and no knickers. 

 

I wait to be proven wrong.

[smudger1951]

1 hour ago, aussienam said:

And like always, NEVER any news of retirees being allowed back on the currently suspended Non Imm O & O-A visas (unless you are married and/or married/spouse with Thai child) continues.  

Retirees are being treated with zero consideration.  Thousands of us stranded abroad, yet special tourist visas have become more of a priority and will sidestep retirees with their 800,000 baht bank deposits.  WHY? 

Because, it's all about the money. 

[DrTuner]

And the the IO will grill you at the border and deny entry because they are in a bad mood and claim you are working illegally in Thailand. 

 

No, it's not about visas.

[GordonP]

<deleted> Like many others I have considered Thailand to be my home for a few months short of a decade, I pay tax directly and indirectly. My Thai gf and I just want to come back and live in our apartment. We buy at the local market, eat at the local restaurants, drink at local bars and get hair cut, hands and feet manicured and pedicured and regularly have massages. All local.

We see the tourists being dropped off at the hotel opposite. With the exception of  bottled water and Tiger Balm products they buy at 7-11 they spend sweet **** locally. 

 

[Raphael54]

Nobody in government has the guts to take any decisions because they don't want to run the risk of later being blamed for even 1 case.

 

Instead of learning to live with the virus and manage it and learning  how to treat patients, the government here (and the press) maintains and promotes the freak-out attitude.  In Europe they may nowadays have a second peak of infections, but mortality rates are very low because doctors have learned to manage the disease. This will not happen in Thailand.

 

Even with a vaccine, Covid-19 will probably be with us in future.  So if the government continues its zero-risk policy, Thailand will never re-open.  And in 500 years from now, tourists from outer space will perhaps visit those lovely by-forests-overgrown tourists resorts on Phuket island, just as today's tourists are visiting Angkor Wat. 

[Classic Ray]

I went to Krabi for a few days. Thursday beaches and hotel deserted, Friday to Sunday packed out, Monday on back to no bookings. Krabi town deserted and mostly shuttered throughout. The impact will kill many businesses if there is no really positive Government action and incentives. Not holding my breath, even though I’m wearing my mask.

[Oldie]

45 minutes ago, vandeventer said:

Maybe if we didn't have to keep 400/800 baht in the bank we would spend more time in the hotels.So they would need less tourist to make everyone happy. A happy ending?

They don't put your money in a shoebox. The banks give it to people as credit and they will spend it. Perhaps not for booze and ladies ????

[ICELANDMAN]

Wait here I have lost something, without Covid checks, documents and Covid insurance, or 14-day quarantine? No tell my I dream.....

[miamiman123]

Thailand in big trouble 

this won’t help because they won’t come now

Fear of CV plus no money 

[barney42bb]

"And the exhorbatant 14 Day quarantine, in a Phuket Cage get's binned as well eh minister?"

[bluesofa]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Cabinet to consider special tourist visa next week: TAT

I can hardly wait. Those who need a special tourist visa - will it be stamped as "Special Needs Tourist"?

[Destiny1990]

Nice plan just a bit late about 6 years too late !

[Justgrazing]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

for Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to discuss the matter with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

Mensa eat yer heart out .. 

[iamariva1957]

2 hours ago, Mavideol said:

and the "great ideas" keep coming, as I said before, they should revise/restart/reset ALL their visa requirements and then we talk

Absolutely correct! overhaul The entire system. Remove at the very least 50% of the financial requirements so those extra funds can actually be freed up to spend .  Or do away with then entirely and go back to the old system which proved easier and brought folks in. Okay... add a negative 19 test prior to leaving and administer another later while in country? Possible and not cost prohibitive. Just an idea for the vacant logic and common sence government  departments

[bluesofa]

4 minutes ago, Justgrazing said:

2 hours ago, webfact said:

for Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to discuss the matter with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

Mensa eat yer heart out .. 

'discuss the matter'?  They''ll be playing 'my bank balance is bigger than your bank balance' all night.

[newnative]

It's a start but make it free. And, get on the stick and roll it out.  Way too slow on decision-making.  This should have been done months ago.

[bluesofa]

1 minute ago, newnative said:

It's a start but make it free. And, get on the stick and roll it out.  Way too slow on decision-making.  This should have been done months ago.

Yes, but don't forget the old adage: Don't do today what you can put off until tomorrow.

[Meat Pie 47]

1 minute ago, bluesofa said:

Yes, but don't forget the old adage: Don't do today what you can put off until tomorrow.

And tomorrow never comes

[Justgrazing]

1 minute ago, bluesofa said:

'discuss the matter'?  They''ll be playing 'my bank balance is bigger than your bank balance' all night.

Given some of what the health minister comes out with he's got the intellect of a lab rat or been doing too much self administering of the marijuana that he's championing .. 

Instead of coming up with stuff that would'nt be out of place in a fairytale book they want to get real to the situation that they are facing the collapse of the tourist industry .. 

[Destiny1990]

1 hour ago, vinci said:

why don't they just offer 30 days extension for 1900, unlimited until everything go back to normal, keep what you already have in the country, these are virus free customer, they do have to spend on living is not that they live for free in Thailand, i don't understand why they have to make thing so difficult

Nah i would miss these nonsense interrogations in broken English at the airport about why i visit here again?  Since my last visit was only 11 months ago?  and why my return flight back home for this time is in 2 months ? while i don't have applied for a 2 month visa?. Now their supervisor will have to interrogate me further checking carefully all pages my passport.  bla bla..So i decided no-longer to come at all !! Instead I fly directly to the Phillipines where at their airport they greet me with Hello Sir welcome back!

Edited September 10, 2020 by Destiny1990

[hotandsticky]

47 minutes ago, cardinalblue said:

Ex pats who live here but no family are screwed...most have O or OA visas...they can’t get in....

 

shoukd not be made to get a new tourist visa to gain entry as they live here up to a year....they bring in a lot more money than people on tourist visas solely based on their time they spend here as well as investments like vehicles,  helping poor families etc

Wrong....most expats living here have the correct 13 month extension to match their status in Thailand.

.

 

[khunPer]

They should also consider to offer this new 90-days visa, with two optional prolongations, to the "stranded" tourists already here, they have even done a quarantine and are Covid-19 free, and are therefore ready to continue to spend further money inside the nation.

[bluesofa]

1 minute ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

And tomorrow never comes

Oh buggar, and I was promised free jam tomorrow.

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

The visa will be valid for an initial 90-day stay but can be renewed twice – 90 days each time – for a maximum stay of 270 days. The visa, which costs Bt2,000 per person, is suitable for foreign tourists who want to stay in Thailand for a long time, Yuthasak said.

As if there are not enough types of visa already.. lets create another monster.

[hotandsticky]

1 minute ago, Destiny1990 said:

Nah i would miss these nonsense interrogations in broken English at the airport about why i visit here again?  Since my last visit was only 11 months ago?  and why my return flight back home for this time is in 2 months ? while i don't have applied for a 2 month visa?. Now their supervisor will have to interrogate me further checking carefully all pages my passport.  bla bla..So i decided no-longer to come at all !! Instead I fly directly to the Phillipines where at their airport they great me with Hello Sir welcome back!

 

Nice of you to still keep in touch with a Thai internet forum.

[Chiang Mai Bill]

1 hour ago, madmitch said:

I see the TAT statistical department have been pulling figures out of the air again. None of them seem to have any logical basis.

Yes, it seems very strange that the quoted figures of ''2.5 million jobs out of a current 4 million in the tourism sector may be lost'' as last week they announced 2 million tourist sector jobs already were lost.  And, due to the permanent lack of tourists -- and the fact that many 'jobs' were casual -- no one really knows how many are/were working in the 'tourist sector'!

 

I do like the optimistic term 'may be lost' -- especially as there has been a derth of tourists in Pattaya, Phuket, Samui, Chiang Mai, etc., etc., for some months now -- how all these people are still working!  Must be lots of 'benevolent' employers!

[Destiny1990]

7 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

Nice of you to still keep in touch with a Thai internet forum.

Who knows i might re-visit in the future if the climate drastically improves.

Edited September 10, 2020 by Destiny1990

[Chiang Mai Bill]

While the 2-week quarantine is in place tourists will not 'flock' back!

 

The thought of sitting for up to 12 hours on a plane, with a face-mask on, with potentially a number of infected passengers, the $100,000 covid insurance, the 'covid-free' bit of paper obtained less than 48 hours before flying (it takes me a day to get to the airport never mind the 2-5 days waiting for test results) -- never mind the increased cost of flights -- would put many 'tourists' off visiting the LoS!

 

And I wonder what the proportion of 'over-90-day visitors' is compared to the 10-, 14-, and 21-day tourists are? I bet they spend more money than the '90-dayers' -- the short-stayers pay and go on sight-seeing trips, rent cars, bikes, etc.!