Thailand says nears vaccine passport, hopes to welcome tourists in third quarter

[webfact]

Thailand says nears vaccine passport, hopes to welcome tourists in third quarter

By Chayut Setboonsarng, Panarat Thepgumpanat

 

FILE PHOTO: A staff member  sits under the arrival flight information board at Suvarnabhumi Airport during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Bangkok, Thailand, October 12, 2020. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai authorities are preparing a plan to ease restrictions for travellers vaccinated against the coronavirus, senior officials said on Wednesday, as the country looks to revive a tourism industry battered by travel curbs.

 

Measures for vaccinated visitors would be introduced step-by-step and could include shortening the mandatory quarantine for all arrivals from two weeks to three days for those vaccinated, or waiving it entirely, Tourism Authority of Thailand Governor (TAT) Yuthasak Supasorn said.

 

“We have to be fast because we want to start welcoming tourists in the third quarter,” he told Reuters.

 

The TAT plans to begin selling tour packages after April.

 

The tourism ministry has also requested 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine for tourism workers in Chon Buri, Krabi, Phang Nga, Chiang Mai and Phuket.

 

The five provinces will from next month host “hotel area quarantine” programmes offering 5,000 to 6,000 rooms, where visitors can move around within hotel grounds instead of being confined to their rooms, according to tourism minister, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn.

 

The global vaccine rollout has given hope to the pandemic-hit industry, which makes up about 11% of Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.

 

In 2019, Thailand received about 40 million foreign tourists, who spent 1.91 trillion baht ($63.60 billion).

 

That compared to just 6.7 million visitors last year and revenue of 332 billion baht, due largely to Thailand’s tight limits on international commercial flights and visitors.

 

Since October it has allowed a limited number of tourists to return on long visas, including a group from South Korea for a new “golf quarantine” programme.

 

“This year, we expect about five million visitors, but next year it should jump because the vaccine will have helped, maybe 15 million,” Phiphat told state television.

 

Arrivals could reach 30 million in 2023 and return to pre-pandemic levels the year after, he said.

 

Thailand on Wednesday received its first 200,000 doses coronavirus vaccines.

 

(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Martin Petty)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-02-25

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

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[Don Chance]

CDC says vaccinated travelers need not quarantine. Otherwise it is 10 days. Thailand, get with the program.

[mr mr]

25 minutes ago, webfact said:

“We have to be fast because we want to start welcoming tourists in the third quarter,” he told Reuters.

 

welcome those 10 mil you guys were saying yesterday ? 

[Oldie]

Since now at the beginning mostly old and vulnerable people get vaccinated everywhere expect old and vulnerable tourists to come. 

 

But anyhow. Vaccination doesn't protect forever. How long ago can it be - weeks or months or years? What will happen to avoid fake certificates? You can buy them already for tests.

[Patong2021]

30 minutes ago, Don Chance said:

CDC says vaccinated travelers need not quarantine. Otherwise it is 10 days. Thailand, get with the program.

CDC DOES NOT SAY THIS.

You have misrepresented the CDC position. Thailand position is consistent with the rest of the world. You criticize Thailand for being smart and responsible.

 

I went to CDC website and  looked at what  they say, and what you post is false information.

CDC still has mandatory quarantine for foreign travel arrivals and  there are still prohibited countries.

CDC statement is completely different and does not apply to traveler quarantine.

Fully vaccinated persons who meet criteria will no longer be required to quarantine following an exposure to someone with COVID-19.  At this time, vaccinated persons should continue to follow current guidance to protect themselves and others, including wearing a mask, staying at least 6 feet away from others, avoiding crowds, avoiding poorly ventilated spaces, covering coughs and sneezes, washing hands often, following CDC travel guidance, and following any applicable workplace or school guidance, including guidance related to personal protective equipment use or SARS-CoV-2 testing.  However, vaccinated persons with an exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 are not required to quarantine if they meet all of the following criteria^†:

- Are fully vaccinated (i.e., ≥2 weeks following receipt of the second dose in a 2-dose series, or ≥2 weeks following receipt of one dose of a single-dose vaccine)

- Are within 3 months following receipt of the last dose in the series

- Have remained asymptomatic since the current COVID-19 exposure

Persons who do not meet all 3 of the above criteria should continue to follow current quarantine guidance after exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19.

 

Ok, so now that I have shown that you have posted false information, what is your response? 

Edited February 25, 2021 by Patong2021

[mtls2005]

I'm sure all the Thai people will be thrilled that, while they remain unvaccinated, that foreigners who are vaccinated are welcomed into the Kingdom.

 

 

[ezzra]

The sad part is that they, the so called authorities will move the goal posts regarding incoming tourists many times before they will allow anyone to come in without quarantine or with a vaccination...

[Rumble Tumble]

3 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

CDC DOES NOT SAY THIS.

You have misrepresented the CDC position. Thailand position is consistent with the rest of the world. You criticize Thailand for being smart and responsible.

 

I went to CDC website and  looked at what  they say, and what you post is false information.

CDC still has mandatory quarantine for foreign travel arrivals and  there are still prohibited countries.

CDC statement is completely different and does not apply to traveler quarantine.

Fully vaccinated persons who meet criteria will no longer be required to quarantine following an exposure to someone with COVID-19.  At this time, vaccinated persons should continue to follow current guidance to protect themselves and others, including wearing a mask, staying at least 6 feet away from others, avoiding crowds, avoiding poorly ventilated spaces, covering coughs and sneezes, washing hands often, following CDC travel guidance, and following any applicable workplace or school guidance, including guidance related to personal protective equipment use or SARS-CoV-2 testing.  However, vaccinated persons with an exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 are not required to quarantine if they meet all of the following criteria^†:

- Are fully vaccinated (i.e., ≥2 weeks following receipt of the second dose in a 2-dose series, or ≥2 weeks following receipt of one dose of a single-dose vaccine)

- Are within 3 months following receipt of the last dose in the series

- Have remained asymptomatic since the current COVID-19 exposure

Persons who do not meet all 3 of the above criteria should continue to follow current quarantine guidance after exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19.

 

Ok, so now that I have shown that you have posted false information, what is your response? 

LOL.

 

Is that what you call an oxymoron.

No such thing as Thais being smart or responsible.

[Rumble Tumble]

3 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

I'm sure all the Thai people will be thrilled that, while they remain unvaccinated, that foreigners who are vaccinated are welcomed into the Kingdom.

 

 

its "planned" for the 3rd qtr of this year.

That's still 7 months away.

Just relax. Even 3rd world Thailand should have some vaccination program in place by then

Edited February 25, 2021 by Rumble Tumble
spelling

[dcnx]

Another Somchai getting his 15 minutes.

[dcnx]

1 hour ago, Rumble Tumble said:

Even 3rd world Thailand should have some vaccination program in place by then

Flip a coin. They are already squaring up to be one of the last.

[RichardColeman]

3 hours ago, Rumble Tumble said:

Even 3rd world Thailand should have some vaccination program in place by then

I get the feeling many 3rd world  African countries will have their vaccination plans all dusted before Thailand

[polpott]

56 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

I get the feeling many 3rd world  African countries will have their vaccination plans all dusted before Thailand

AZ manufacturing facility in India is producing the vaccine in large numbers and has already started shipping it to various African countries. Thailand behind the game already.

[stuarty]

5 hours ago, Rumble Tumble said:

its "planned" for the 3rd qtr of this year.

That's still 7 months away.

Just relax. Even 3rd world Thailand should have some vaccination program in place by then

The 3rd quarter starts in 3 months and 4 days

[Lingba]

Then you have the issue of children...who are not being vaccinated...so what happens to the families that want to come...parents are vaccinated but kids arent????

 

[Lingba]

tourists will not come to quarantiene...2 weeks or 3 days...either let them in or shut up

[madmen]

They can't let another high season dissappear and they know it. If they wait we are talking November 2022 

@22 % GDP they going to have to roll the dice, no other option 

[skorp13]

Why don't they stop worrying about foreigners and develop an accelerated vaccination program to protect their own so they can open up sooner with their people protected. Oh right that would make sense and take some work.

[daejung]

What about app tracking and covid-19 insurance ?

[donnacha]

I have been saying for months they would do this. It has been obvious, since it first became clear that the vaccines would be effective, that vaccine passports would replace quarantine, testing, tracking, and special insurance. 

 

I’m not sure why so many members here have been unable to see that this was inevitable. There seems to be a lot of confusion between the concept of vaccines being mandatory (which they won’t be, in any country), and vaccines being mandatory for international air travel for adults, and for entry by adults to countries they are not a citizen of, and for the extension of visas.

 

There also seem to be a lot of people repeating, with great certainty, that old chestnut about vaccines not reducing transmission. Actual experts have always been pretty sure that they would but, since at least a month ago, the latest research out of Israel and other countries with large pools of vaccinated citizens has confirmed it.  
 

Over the next few months, watch the world open up to vaccinated Israeli tourists, followed by the US and UK by the summer, and EU citizens at some point in 2022.

 

Within a year of the vaccines reaching general availability in 2022 (meaning anyone can walk into a clinic and buy them), there will no longer be any such thing as an anti-vaxxer expat, retiree, digital nomad, or tourist in Thailand or the vast majority of other countries. 

 

I expect that to significantly improve the quality of comments on this forum and the Facebook expat groups. It also means that Thai-themed microwave food will become popular in the UK budget supermarkets and Wetherspoons. 
 

 

Edited February 25, 2021 by donnacha

[brianthainess]

On 2/25/2021 at 7:50 AM, webfact said:

Thailand says nears vaccine passport, hopes to welcome tourists in third quarter

Thailand can say anything they like, but a vaccine passport will have to be decided by a world wide authority not by A Nut In the Thai government.

[Sticky Rice Balls]

13 hours ago, Lingba said:

Then you have the issue of children...who are not being vaccinated...so what happens to the families that want to come...parents are vaccinated but kids arent????

 

Similar to the parent motorbike drivers with helmets as they use their kid as an airbag up front(sans helmet)

[Stargeezr]

Okay  maybe it is the 3rd quarter of 2022.  Just a misunderstanding once again.

Geezer

[dcnx]

On 2/24/2021 at 7:11 PM, Don Chance said:

CDC says vaccinated travelers need not quarantine. Otherwise it is 10 days. Thailand, get with the program.

The CDC also told people that masks were not needed for months.

 

 

[dcnx]

53 minutes ago, Xaos said:

Most ppl are not that dumb, they won't accept any covid passports. It's medical terrorism and bullying in to taking jab. In Israel they check vaccine status before u enter shopping mall, it's either vax or no food. Conspiracy theories becoming reality? Ppl were calling it day 1 pandemic started and citing #ID2020 from Gates.

 

 

 

You mean like proof of Yellow Fever vaccination?

 

No, that would never happen. Never.

 

Are you young and not well traveled or are you old and forgetful?

[Xaos]

21 hours ago, dcnx said:

You mean like proof of Yellow Fever vaccination?

 

No, that would never happen. Never.

 

Are you young and not well traveled or are you old and forgetful?

I'm woke. It's different this time.

It's all based on 4 lies lockdowns pcr tests masks and rushed vaccines. There's peer reviewed studies for that. 

 

dr Astrid Stuckelberger she was with WHO and UN she exposes it all. Do some digging. Trials incoming.

 

[foreverlomsak]

On 2/25/2021 at 7:50 AM, webfact said:

The five provinces will from next month host “hotel area quarantine” programmes offering 5,000 to 6,000 rooms, where visitors can move around within hotel grounds instead of being confined to their rooms, according to tourism minister, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn.

So we land up with newly arrived people mixing with people at the end of the quarantine period, so somebody that is about to leave could be infected by somebody that has just arrived, and takes it out into the greater unvaccinated population.

Brilliant planning.

[mtls2005]

3 minutes ago, foreverlomsak said:

So we land up with newly arrived people mixing with people

 

Will everyone on a particular flight have to be vaccinated? Or will people be mixed on a flight, then directed to ASQ, or Bubble-ish Q?

 

 

 

[irishman25]

On 2/24/2021 at 4:50 PM, webfact said:

Thailand says nears vaccine passport, hopes to welcome tourists in third quarter

By Chayut Setboonsarng, Panarat Thepgumpanat

 

FILE PHOTO: A staff member  sits under the arrival flight information board at Suvarnabhumi Airport during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Bangkok, Thailand, October 12, 2020. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai authorities are preparing a plan to ease restrictions for travellers vaccinated against the coronavirus, senior officials said on Wednesday, as the country looks to revive a tourism industry battered by travel curbs.

 

Measures for vaccinated visitors would be introduced step-by-step and could include shortening the mandatory quarantine for all arrivals from two weeks to three days for those vaccinated, or waiving it entirely, Tourism Authority of Thailand Governor (TAT) Yuthasak Supasorn said.

 

“We have to be fast because we want to start welcoming tourists in the third quarter,” he told Reuters.

 

The TAT plans to begin selling tour packages after April.

 

The tourism ministry has also requested 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine for tourism workers in Chon Buri, Krabi, Phang Nga, Chiang Mai and Phuket.

 

The five provinces will from next month host “hotel area quarantine” programmes offering 5,000 to 6,000 rooms, where visitors can move around within hotel grounds instead of being confined to their rooms, according to tourism minister, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn.

 

The global vaccine rollout has given hope to the pandemic-hit industry, which makes up about 11% of Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.

 

In 2019, Thailand received about 40 million foreign tourists, who spent 1.91 trillion baht ($63.60 billion).

 

That compared to just 6.7 million visitors last year and revenue of 332 billion baht, due largely to Thailand’s tight limits on international commercial flights and visitors.

 

Since October it has allowed a limited number of tourists to return on long visas, including a group from South Korea for a new “golf quarantine” programme.

 

“This year, we expect about five million visitors, but next year it should jump because the vaccine will have helped, maybe 15 million,” Phiphat told state television.

 

Arrivals could reach 30 million in 2023 and return to pre-pandemic levels the year after, he said.

 

Thailand on Wednesday received its first 200,000 doses coronavirus vaccines.

 

(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Martin Petty)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-02-25

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

The vaccine role-out is the answer to this issue once over 60% has been vaccinated you can open   this is urgent and every day counts

[RR2020]

There remains ZERO confirmation that vaccination stops the spread.  It prevents the person from getting serious disease, but there is no confirmed proof it stops that person from passing the virus on to someone else.

 

So Thailand is going to open and lets lots of vaccinated virus carriers in with no quarantine to mingle freely with unvaccinated Thai people ????????

 

That would be absurd.   Vaccination does not stop spread it only stops the person getting seriously ill.  

 

The great unknown: do Covid vaccines stop you spreading the virus? | Australia news | The Guardian

 

So those trying to say vaccinated people should be allowed to travel freely are just plain mad.  The vaccine was developed to stop serious disease and death.........it was never designed to stop the spread.  

 

The world still has TB, still has Measles, still has many diseases for which there is a vaccine.   The vaccine DOES NOT STOP the disease spreading, it stops the disease from having serious effects on the person vaccinated.