Government to introduce “Thailand Plus” application for foreign tourists

[connda]

The Thai government has been presenting plans to track foreigners long, long before Covid ever arrived.  But now that it's here, "Never let a good crisis go to waste." 

Now they can ram it down the foreigner's throats in the name of "safety."

[Mango Bob]

They should also have a App to follow the PM and his Deputy.    We are watching you.

[dave s]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

The Thai government is to introduce a new application, called “Thailand Plus”, to enable the tracing of foreign tourists in the country.

The STV rules say that, among other things, "aliens" must install an unnamed tracking app. Is this it? Google Play doesn't seem to know anything about an Android app called "Thailand Plus" right now, so maybe it doesn't work yet, and hence has not been submitted to the Google store yet for aliens to install.  An October 12 blurb in Thai from MGRonline is rendered by Google Translate as:

    Prime Minister Watch a demonstration of using the
    Thailand Plus app: more than you think. It is a
    collaboration between the Ministry of Digital
    Economy and Society, Department of Disease Control,
    Ministry of Public Health. Ministry of Foreign
    Affairs Ministry of Tourism and Sports Ministry of
    Interior Ministry of Transport Immigration office
    And the Digital Government Development Agency
    Develop an application for tracking foreigners
    entering Thailand To accommodate special tourists,
    Special Tourist Visa (STV) and business people in
    the future. As a personal travel record Which can
    identify risks in various locations and alert
    government agencies There will be no impact on the
    rights and freedoms and personal information. The
    Prime Minister thanked all sectors for the
    application development. Thailand Plus: There are
    more than you think. It helps to build confidence
    for tourists to travel to various places, while
    the people in the country will become more
    confident. Because we have a tracking system
    Screened and quarantined for 14 days, it was
    considered a stimulus along with disease prevention.
Perhaps a non-working mock-up or prototype was used to demonstrate the eventual look of the app to the PM last month.

 

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Similar to a GPS system, he said that officials will know the whereabouts of the tourists during their stay in Thailand, in case any of them are found to have contracted the contagion, so that action can be taken immediately to prevent its spread.

Um, once the alien is detected to have the virus (how? constant testing during the entire visit?), he will have been wandering around for a while, infecting people he comes in contact with. At that point, the government might try some remedial action, but this is not preventative: it's too late by then, the damage has already been done. And, while the government may know where the alien has been, there is no indication in this description that there is any way for them to know who else has been at that location and is now also infected, so what good is it? If you have allowed your Android or iOS smartphone to update its system software since spring of this year, it now contains code collaboratively written by Google and Apple that does indeed communicate with and record nearby phones, but that only works if everyone nearby is running that code all the time. The earlier Thai Chana app, which, like masks and social distancing and hand-washing, has now fallen into almost total disuse, was fake: it did not use Bluetooth LE or GPS at all. Unless the new "Thailand Plus: there are more than you think" app constantly uploads its GPS readings to a central government server, which then performs a massive match up against all the GPS data from everyone else in Thailand, who you infected is unknown, so the whole thing is worthless from the get-go. The Google/Apple code does the hard, complicated work for the app programmer, of trying to record all those others who were close enough for long enough to cause infection, and only such people, to keep the tracing small and manageable. It was estimated that maybe about 3/4 of the people in an area would have to participate, for this scheme to be reliable and useful. So, just what "action taken immediately" are the police planning with this system?

[rupert the bear]

14 hours ago, ukrules said:

If the quarantine works then why is this needed?

 

my guess is moneys involved but yes u r correct!

[MasterBaker]

14 hours ago, BEngBKK said:

What happened to the GPS tracking bracelet???

Too expencive

[MasterBaker]

i wouldn't worry too much about it, none of apps developed so far ever worked. Sorry a bit upset not be able to register for fast queue for DMV license renewal... and 90 days online, and...

[peter zwart]

They can introduce what ever they want. But for me it seems useless if there will be no tourist.

[DPKANKAN]

15 hours ago, colinneil said:

Just more pathetic made up nonsense from the geriatric brigade.

Photo of the new app!!! ????????????????????????????????

[Destiny1990]

For my next tourist visa extension i will give a certified copy of my front-door key..

[Dario]

C*R*A*Z*Y

[Dialemco]

Want to scare potential tourists from visiting Thailand this is the right way to proceed. It is bad enough having to report every where you stay and now this hairbrained scheme. Just gives the impression Thailand is so dangerous it is better to go elseware. Wait for the vaccine and then open up normally about June next year if all goes well

[polpott]

13 hours ago, racket said:

I never going to tip again, ever. Keep tracking our asses and you’ll see how much <deleted> these ideas produces. 

That'll teach Prayut. 555

[tonray]

15 hours ago, smedly said:

This will require a smartphone

 

I personally know of 4 people that visit Thailand on a regular basis (or used too) and do not use a smart phone - I know several living here who also do not use a smartphone

Do they ave any issues with getting Grab Food to deliver to stone age cave dwellings?

[Aatsi]

So when Thais arrive from aboard to Thailand they not need Thailand Plus application cause they not spread the virus but when foreigner come to Thailand they need the app cause they can only spread the virus?
Why can't Thais politely announce that everyone coming to the country should download the Thailand Plus app. Why only foreigners? Very selfish commenting.
Why Thais cant 

Feels pure racism!
Amazing Thais!!!

[Homburg]

Wow! "We are watching your every move because we must know where foreigners are at all times." I'm now wondering if North Korea may be more welcoming to tourists than the Land of Control Freaks. No longer a place for a holiday is it?

[mike787]

This works best, or just microchip ALL farang.

[Kaopad999]

I have several friends who were supposed to come out here this Xmas. Usually they stay out here for around 3-4 months,  and spend a fair bit of money out here.
They have all said to me that the main reason why they have no interest coming out here this year,  is due of the ridiculous costs involved to quarantine for 2 weeks.
And now this... 

[sandyf]

16 hours ago, ukrules said:

If the quarantine works then why is this needed?

 

Virtually every country in the world has come to the same conclusion, some quicker than others, that there is no silver bullet.

Defeating the virus will come from making use of all tools available, tracing being one of them.

It is fairly obvious that any sense of normality will not return until the virus is contained on a global basis,  but some seem to believe their own situation is far more important.

This is not going to be over anytime soon, in the meantime we will continue to make good use of the domestic tourism incentive.

 

Coronavirus restrictions are set to continue until at least the end of March in England, after Boris Johnson announced a new set of tightened rules to replace the current lockdown.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/covid-tier-boris-johnson-speech-lockdown-b1760469.html

[sandyf]

7 minutes ago, Kaopad999 said:

I have several friends who were supposed to come out here this Xmas. Usually they stay out here for around 3-4 months,  and spend a fair bit of money out here.
They have all said to me that the main reason why they have no interest coming out here this year,  is due of the ridiculous costs involved to quarantine for 2 weeks.
And now this... 

I also know many from the UK that come for the winter months, but as you say not this year.

Quarantine was not a consideration, the overriding concern was the FCO travel advice which fluctuates and can invalidate travel insurance.

[dougiemac52]

16 hours ago, ukrules said:

If the quarantine works then why is this needed?

 

Totally agree. George Orwell 1984, big brother is watching you. This will be the death of Thailand 

[Kaopad999]

1 minute ago, sandyf said:

I also know many from the UK that come for the winter months, but as you say not this year.

Quarantine was not a consideration, the overriding concern was the FCO travel advice which fluctuates and can invalidate travel insurance.

Most of my friends have no issues issues to quarantine here, but rather the insane prices involved in doing so. A few of them run seasonal businesses back home, so their time here is usually spent as a holiday/ business trip. 

[SomchaiCNX]

And why our embassies keep quiet? 

[CLW]

4 minutes ago, SomchaiCNX said:

And why our embassies keep quiet? 

Why would they say anything? Personal travel for leisure is none of their businesses....

[kcpattaya]

They've lost the plot since a few years already.

Nothing surprises me anymore.

[smudger1951]

Where am I ?

Thailand.

What do they want ?

Information.about Covid-19

I am not a number on a cellphone app.

I am a free man.

 

 

 

 

 

[sandyf]

9 minutes ago, Kaopad999 said:

Most of my friends have no issues issues to quarantine here, but rather the insane prices involved in doing so. 

That is a personal perspective, prices range from around 30K to over 100K and even the top end can hardly be described as "insane"

When I went to my nephew's wedding 2017 in the north of Scotland, The cheapest B&B I could find was £85/night, if i had stayed at the venue, a mediocre hotel, it would have been £150/night for B&B.

 

ASQ is full board plus.

[Srikcir]

As related to community spread of covid-19, the app is meaningless so long as tourists do "covid-bubble" travel meeing necessary testing and quarantines.

Thailand's biggest challenge is illegal entry by migrant workers who come from infectious countries and too early release from quarantine. This app is more likely to be used by persons far less likely to contract covid-19.

[barryw52]

14 hours ago, Hockeybik said:

I'm not a tourist but if I were, would TOT pay for my roaming charges to have this app connected all the time? The article mentioned that 600,000 Thai citizens have downloaded the Mor Chana app, that's a resounding success with a bit over 0.9% of the population using it. Is a similar success rate expected from tourist visitors? 

I had similar thoughts on roaming charges also some tourist buy local sIms but others only use on hotel WiFi. The other issue I seen at least on Google apps is the Thais set them as only available if the Google location is set to Thailand which it is not for any tourist so you cannot download the app! 

[Jiggo]

17 hours ago, BEngBKK said:

What happened to the GPS tracking bracelet???

they must have lost it

[agood1963]

17 hours ago, webfact said:

The Thai government is to introduce a new application, called “Thailand Plus”, to enable the tracing of foreign tourists in the country.

There will soon be no tourists to track the numbers were dropping well before the virus so that will continue after , because it as become to expensive and tourists are treated like prisoners .