D-day for Thailand to reopen next month: Area Quarantine hailed as foreign tourists set to return

[richard_smith237]

11 minutes ago, AnnieSeek said:

This method makes no scientific sense. 

 

If you have a new visitor who arrives on day one and has the virus, then surely he can effect someone who has been at the resort for nearly 14 days - who is then released and effects others. 

 

 

IF the AQ tourists are still required to take day 5 and day 12 Covid-19 tests this would limit the risk of quarantinees carrying the virus out of AQ to other area’s of Thailand upon completion of their 15 days.

 

Nothing is perfect, but this is still a far more attractive option than being stuck in a hotel room for 15 days.

 

It will attract those returning to Thailand, but I can’t see many tourists going for it. 

 

IMO - the only viable option for tourists is to rely on Covid-19 tests pre-flight, Covid-19 test on arrival and a 24 hr quarantine period until the result is know. 

 

This still comes with risk, but the risk is significantly reduced. Meanwhile the nation can do whatever if can to speed up the domestic vaccination process.

 

Edited March 6, 2021 by richard_smith237

[nkg]

1 hour ago, alyx said:

Not saying that the idea is overwhelming but I definitely disagree with your statement: grounds may mean resort and a lot of tourists are quite happy with spending an all inclusive stay at a hotels. Not my type of vacations but I have seen this from Mexico to Cyprus and people really enjoy it. As for the staff I guess that they will stuck with the guests and will not be allowed outside either or, at least, not before being tested ( don't ask me how...I am not a health professional )

 

The idea obviously works better in a genuine resort setting as opposed to a hotel. But I can't see beach access being allowed, since all beaches are technically public areas.

 

And most people who enjoy "sitting by the pool" holidays only book for 2-3 weeks before going home. When you add the inconvenience of CoE, special Thai covid insurance, visas, covid test, fit-to-fly etc, you're far more likely to go somewhere like Mexico or Cyprus. Tourists don't like paperwork.

 

[nkg]

3 hours ago, bermondburi said:

I did ASQ back in December. It is way better. Staff will be wearing hazmat suits, mask, gloves, and faceshield like in ASQ. Self service buffet food etc. Be interesting to see if alcohol is allowed. They haven't mentioned that yet. 

 

But ultimately it won't appeal to genuine tourists. 

 

 

Yep. It's another option for returning expats who don't mind spending some extra money, but it's too restrictive for ordinary tourists. They have lots of other places they can go to that are cheaper and more convenient.

 

[Patong2021]

Hilarious. This is  supposed to start in May and they  say;

"Many European tourists are expected to stay up to three months enjoying the great climate and escaping harsh conditions in their homelands. "  Obviously these people have not been in Europe in May, June, July, August, September because it is wonderful in europe and in some places  much nicer than Thailand, with clean air, water and warm weather. 

Russians will travel to Socchi  and Black sea resorts in the summer, not Thailand. Europeans will be enjoying the sun and  fun in Europe this summer, not the rain and dengue in Thailand's wet season. It takes a special kind of stupid to believe that  hordes of Indian marriage people will save Thai tourism. Travel to and from India is still subject to strict conditions.

 

 

[nasko]

Yeah sure, stay at Thai beach resort prison with 35 degrees heat and extreme UV raings 9-11. Be sure and use the gym as a known virus spreader. No Thanks. 

[herfiehandbag]

It is still quarantine. Nobody will take up the offer.

 

Thailand can either insist on quarantine, and accept there will be no tourism, or allow vaccinated and tested people to enter and travel within the country. The only two options.

Just accept that as long as you are requiring quarantine you will not receive any significant tourism

[PatOngo]

Gotta give him one thing, nobody pees into the wind as good a Pipat!

[sungod]

9 hours ago, DJBenz said:

If I want two weeks confined to a resort I can fly to the Med from the UK in four hours or less and go all inclusive. I may even venture outside if the mood takes me.

 

No way I'm flying 11+ hours to Thailand for the same, with the first 3 days in room confinement.

 

I guess they have to try the stupid ideas to realise they won't work.

 

Bad idea because it doesn't suit you? All about choice. The Med is very nice in the summer, have a nice holiday!

[AndresSP]

6 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

IF the AQ tourists are still required to take day 5 and day 12 Covid-19 tests this would limit the risk of quarantinees carrying the virus out of AQ to other area’s of Thailand upon completion of their 15 days.

 

Nothing is perfect, but this is still a far more attractive option than being stuck in a hotel room for 15 days.

 

It will attract those returning to Thailand, but I can’t see many tourists going for it. 

 

IMO - the only viable option for tourists is to rely on Covid-19 tests pre-flight, Covid-19 test on arrival and a 24 hr quarantine period until the result is know. 

 

This still comes with risk, but the risk is significantly reduced. Meanwhile the nation can do whatever if can to speed up the domestic vaccination process.

 

It is more attractive but still hard to see genuine 2-3 week tourists, especially those with families, rolling the dice on their long awaited and often the only holiday.

Anxiety and fear of the unknown - a (false) positive test upon arrival with the consequences it entails or covid policy change or whatever is the opposite of what people want to feel while planning a vacation and paying for it upfront with their hard earned money. It's crazy.

The only requirement i am personally willing to meet is the vaccine passport and medical insurance, that's it. 

[GeorgeCross]

i'm sorry i just don't get the logic of area quarantine

 

firstly if you are tested on day 3 and covid free why not let the tourist be free to roam amongst the general population? why do they have to stay the extra 11 days?

 

because they may still have it?

 

then why the hell would you let them mingle with other guests!!??

 

whats to stop some poor sod on day 14 getting infected by another guest on say day 4-5 AND then letting them roam free in society?

 

it just doesn't make any sense.

 

either quarantine properly or not at all - enough of this drivel please minister.

 

[irishman25]

11 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Let the new variant of Covid-19 spread Pipat, you can handle the heat.  Go ahead push the big red button,  I dare ya....

If this new variant takes hold all travel will stop the worry is the present vaccine May? not be fully effected. that is why all vaccine company's in 4 Country's  are working on this issue, now   

[edwinchester]

No way will my 2 daughters and their respective families be spending 2 weeks trapped in a Thai resort. It's a non starter for 99% of families.

[overherebc]

I'm guilty of not reading the whole thread but is there any mention of what happens if the guest has a positive result during the quarantine?

Does it mean off to hospital and that would mean Covid insurance is required or will it mean banged up in your room till go home day etc. 

[ThailandRyan]

Just now, overherebc said:

I'm guilty of not reading the whole thread but is there any mention of what happens if the guest has a positive result during the quarantine?

Does it mean off to hospital and that would mean Covid insurance is required or will it mean banged up in your room till go home day etc. 

Never saw anything in the article that would address your question. Normally if your positive on a Covid test, it is off to the hospital.  Vaxation in a shambles especially if you only have 3 weeks or so.

[overherebc]

7 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Never saw anything in the article that would address your question. Normally if your positive on a Covid test, it is off to the hospital.  Vaxation in a shambles especially if you only have 3 weeks or so.

 

7 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Never saw anything in the article that would address your question. Normally if your positive on a Covid test, it is off to the hospital.  Vaxation in a shambles especially if you only have 3 weeks or so.

It would, I take it, mean everyone in 'that area' being locked up again until they show a negative result.

[madmitch]

Methinks @rooster59 has used rather a lot of poetic licence in his translation!

[ThailandRyan]

9 minutes ago, overherebc said:

 

It would, I take it, mean everyone in 'that area' being locked up again until they show a negative result.

Yes sir, surround it with concertina wire and post the military around the outside just like in Samut Sakhon with the factories, Right? No harm no foul.....

Edited March 7, 2021 by ThailandRyan

[mommysboy]

Bad idea! Little gain but risks subjecting Thailand to a first real wave of Covid19.

 

Brits and Russians, in particular, will soon break out.

[RR2020]

4 hours ago, herfiehandbag said:

It is still quarantine. Nobody will take up the offer.

 

Thailand can either insist on quarantine, and accept there will be no tourism, or allow vaccinated and tested people to enter and travel within the country. The only two options.

Just accept that as long as you are requiring quarantine you will not receive any significant tourism

 

 

Being vaccinated DOES NOT mean you will not catch or carry the virus and become infected/infect others.

 

Depending on which vaccine you get, you have somewhere between 40% and 5% chance of getting infected and spreading the virus.  No vaccine gives 100% protection.

 

Its therefore crazy to suggest special treatment for vaccinated people.  Everyone, vaccinated or not, has to be treated exactly the same else what is the point..........will it suddenly be ok to let vaccinated people spread Covid in Thailand ??

 

The only way forward is to test, test, and test............. Test before flight, test on arrival, quarantine for 5 days with a further test on day 3.

 

Thats the only way forward until all those at risk people are vaccinated.

 

What Thailand has to do is to eliminate the crazy  CoE and F2F certificates and all the other paperwork - just make it that you have to have a valid visa for entry..........along with a negative PCR result.

 

 

 

Simple

[AnnieSeek]

12 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

IF the AQ tourists are still required to take day 5 and day 12 Covid-19 tests this would limit the risk of quarantinees carrying the virus out of AQ to other area’s of Thailand upon completion of their 15 days.

 

Nothing is perfect, but this is still a far more attractive option than being stuck in a hotel room for 15 days.

 

It will attract those returning to Thailand, but I can’t see many tourists going for it. 

 

IMO - the only viable option for tourists is to rely on Covid-19 tests pre-flight, Covid-19 test on arrival and a 24 hr quarantine period until the result is know. 

 

This still comes with risk, but the risk is significantly reduced. Meanwhile the nation can do whatever if can to speed up the domestic vaccination process.

 

 

IMO the risks for this outweigh any positives. Numbers will still be small, and the risks too high. 

 

You are going to get infections this way, as newer arrivals will infect people about to leave. Then as cases spread around provinces you will have more shut downs. 

 

As i say risks outweigh and positives. Doesn't even seem a fair balance. 

[khunPer]

17 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Under this scheme the foreign tourist will no longer have to endure 14 days of prison like conditions in their quarantine room.

That will only last for the briefest of periods - 72 hours.

 

Thereafter the tourist will have the total freedom of the resort.

 

Yes, they will be able to utilize the grounds and effectively go ANYWHERE they please so long as they don't go outside. 

And what happens if just one of the free movers inside the resort tests positive?

[SGD]

Risks ? what risks ?

You are tested before you fly. You are tested after a couple of days. If clear, you can stay in the hotel grounds.

 

Even after quarantine, you go anywhere and are meeting lots of people who have not been tested for anything and who could give you any number of communicable diseases but that is accepted.

The logic is flawed of course as you are no real risk at all after day 3 and this isn't the bubonic plague, just a little sniffle worse than a cold.

 

In any case, people would demand a reduction in quarantine fees, which won't happen, so it will still look like a rip off.

However, look at my case. I am due in 16th April. If this changes, I get the grounds and not the room. I'd be upset if the whole quarantine was dumped and if I feel it will be, I will simply not fly to be the last person stuck in 65k of quarantine against a regular hotel price of 25k for the same period.

 

But, as I have said since they introduced quarantine, it is easy to set up but very hard to remove. Once you set a date for change or removal, no-one will fly until it changes and that will trap some people in the last weeks of it who would not have had to suffer it if they had flown a week or two later.

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

a better idea will be to scrap that stupid FIT-TO-FLY form.

a complete jock.

and clinic will issue it for 400 baht.

[Sheryl]

"they will be able to utilize the grounds and effectively go ANYWHERE they please so long as they don't go outside. '

 

Presumably by outside they mean outside the resort area, not out of doors

 

A critical issue that is very unclear here is whether at beach resorts people would be able to go to the beach & in the ocean. If not, rather removes the attraction

[Sheryl]

4 hours ago, overherebc said:

I'm guilty of not reading the whole thread but is there any mention of what happens if the guest has a positive result during the quarantine?

Does it mean off to hospital and that would mean Covid insurance is required or will it mean banged up in your room till go home day etc. 

 

in Thailand anyone who tests positive is hospitalized, no choice about it. Even if completely asymptomatic. And will not be released until test turns negative.

 

And everyone entering Thailand must show proof of COVID insurance

 

What is not clear is what happens to the other guests in an "area quarantine" if one person tests positive.

[richard_smith237]

50 minutes ago, AnnieSeek said:

 

IMO the risks for this outweigh any positives. Numbers will still be small, and the risks too high. 

 

You are going to get infections this way, as newer arrivals will infect people about to leave. Then as cases spread around provinces you will have more shut downs. 

 

As i say risks outweigh and positives. Doesn't even seem a fair balance. 

 

What risks ??? Pre-flight Covid-19 test, and 2x Covid-19 tests with 15 days ‘area’ quarantine...    

 

Covid-19 is not an automatic death sentence... This risk you talk of, what is it exactly ??

 

Nothing is 100% fool proof, we live with risk every day, from eating food prepared by someone else to crossing the road. 

 

Attempting to completely eliminate the risk of covid-19 spread creates a greater issue - the cure worse than the disease. 

 

Living with manageable risk moves us forwards. Being paranoid about minimal risk is prohibitive in the extreme. 

[richard_smith237]

34 minutes ago, SGD said:

Risks ? what risks ?

You are tested before you fly. You are tested after a couple of days. If clear, you can stay in the hotel grounds.

 

Even after quarantine, you go anywhere and are meeting lots of people who have not been tested for anything and who could give you any number of communicable diseases but that is accepted.

The logic is flawed of course as you are no real risk at all after day 3 and this isn't the bubonic plague, just a little sniffle worse than a cold.

 

In any case, people would demand a reduction in quarantine fees, which won't happen, so it will still look like a rip off.

However, look at my case. I am due in 16th April. If this changes, I get the grounds and not the room. I'd be upset if the whole quarantine was dumped and if I feel it will be, I will simply not fly to be the last person stuck in 65k of quarantine against a regular hotel price of 25k for the same period.

 

But, as I have said since they introduced quarantine, it is easy to set up but very hard to remove. Once you set a date for change or removal, no-one will fly until it changes and that will trap some people in the last weeks of it who would not have had to suffer it if they had flown a week or two later.

 

I was of this mindset in July last year....  Why jump through all these crazy hoops, pay £2500 for a one way flight, pay for Quarantine etc just to see the Emergency Decree lifted and normal operations resume within a week or two of exiting quarantine... I took the risk, 8 months later - it turns out it was a good choice. 

 

Once again I face the same situation, a few weeks away from travelling back to Thailand and the jungle drums beating of quarantine reduction, Area quarantine etc.. even a lifting of the emergency decree in time for Songkran. 

 

Imagine flying into Thailand, going to quarantine only to see the Emergency decree lifted and travel in and out return to normal but you have to finish your quarantine !!!

 

The reality is that any developments are too difficult to predict - the only thing I can do is to do what I need to get back again and hope things change before hand.

[connda]

19 hours ago, rooster59 said:

D-day for Thailand to reopen next month: Area Quarantine hailed as foreign tourists set to return

Quarantines and returning foreign tourists are contradictory concepts.  The more you have of the former, the less you have of the latter.  But?  TAT would celebrate the return of 37 foreign tourists as long as they are imprisoned in a 10 star luxury villa while the businesses in most destinations that used to be visited by foreign tourists remain closed, boarded up, or out of business with the landlords hanging For Sale signs on their property which no longer generate rental revenue as the banks come a-knock-knock-knocking for their over due mortgage payments.

Destruction Day (D-Day) for a large percentage of tourist-based businesses has come and gone.

[Abik]

This decision is a provocation to the spread of disease all over Thailand. The correct and only method is:

1. Continue closing 14 days.

2. Receiving vaccinated people arriving to Thailand  for two days closure only and after serological examination release them including follow-up.

3. Accelerating immunization in Thailand according to priorities.

[connda]

FYI.  Mexico is wide open to tourists.  No restrictions at all.  No quarantine, no tests required.  My friends who used to come to Thailand annually are now on the beach in Mexico.  Better beaches than Thailand imho.  Thailand's done lost its Mojo and it ain't ever getting it back anytime in the next 5 or 10 years if ever.  Chinese and Indians?  Probably. Yeah, they may show up.  Normal everyday Farangs?
Hasta la vista baby.