Thailand may be locked down again if people don’t observe Covid-19 preventive measures once the country reopens, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul warned on Tuesday.
It would seem that some government ministers are hell-bent on sabotaging any hope the Thai people have of returning to something resembling the prosperous country they had until only 18 months ago.
After all, how many tourists are going to risk Thailand as a holiday destination this season if the government is threatening to shut the entire country down again, at any moment, on a whim.
To add to the mixed messaging the Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha announced in a televised address on Monday that he has instructed the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration and the Public Health Ministry to only ‘look into’ opening the country on November 1.
Initially, tourists from 10 low-risk countries will be allowed to travel to Thailand without having to quarantine provided they are fully jabbed and test negative.
The list will be expanded to cover more countries in the first week of December and then again in January 2022.
This morning, Anutin said that the detail of the 10 countries was under discussion and will be proposed to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration on this Thursday.
Asked about a tendency to close the country again, the heath minister said it depends on Thai people. If they don’t follow the preventive measures strictly, Thailand tends to be shut again.
Meaning, if people don’t do exactly what we tell them too them we will lock them all up at home again.
In addition, Anutin added that risk places like entertainment venues will be monitored seriously, in a bid to prevent the new outbreaks of the sniffles.
Source - BangkokJack
Our VISA AGENT
Wednesday, October 13, 2021
Thai gov’t already warning of new Lockdowns to come
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
Confusion reigns as Thai PM announces end of quarantine and alcohol restart "spoiler"
It was supposed to be Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha's chance to announce the end of quarantine and the opening of the country's nightlife and serving of alcohol.
Instead it has just created more confusion if the online reaction is anything to go by.
Posters on ASEAN NOW seemed more confused than ever and criticized the lack of clarity as par for the course of a government that has chopped and changed at every turn throughout the pandemic but especially over the last six months.
Many felt the proposed relaxation had not gone far enough and that nothing should have been announced before the decisions were set in stone.
Many posters said this kind of "might" and "mull" philosophy was hopeless for foreign tourists who have to plan for a visit well in advance.
Prayuth's Monday televised address was also just a precursor - a spoiler if you like - for the actual decision that will be made by the CCSA on Thursday.
Will they tweak the proposals or reverse them? Tourists both foreign and domestic, expats, and operators in the industry are all desperate to know the score.
Desperate for an ounce of clarity.
As it stands Thai Rath reported what has been announced internationally.
That tourists from ten countries including Singapore, Germany, the US and the UK will not need to quarantine but will need to have been double vaxxed and have tests before and after arriving.
But what other documents they will need and what other countries are on the list remained unclear.
China was also on Prayuth's lips - but there has been no announcement from the Asian giant that they are allowing their citizens to travel. So that is effectively a moot point.
When it comes to alcohol the situation is still utterly unclear.
About as cloudy as a Pernod and water.
The Thai media interpreted the PM's announcement that alcohol would be allowed in restaurants from December 1st.
But that pubs, bars and nightclubs would only be allowed to reopen.
It wasn't stated that the blanket alcohol ban would be lifted for all establishments.
Prayuth has stated that the tourism industry cannot stand another decimated high season. He has avowed that the risks of reopening outweigh the continuing calamity caused to the economy by the pandemic, especially its tourism sector.
But his comments about the possibility of reversing these "decisions" remains if cases spike, as they are expected to even by the PM's own admission.
Others like the Rural Doctors group have stated in the last 24 hours that Thailand's infection rate is not dropping as official stats state.
Yet another example of "you pay your money and take your choice" when it comes to believing police and stats coming out of Thailand.
Thursday's Center for Covid Situation Administration meeting may provide a little more clarity.
Source - ASIAN NOW
Our VISA AGENT
Monday, October 11, 2021
Thailand can earn THB1.5 trillion by opening on Nov 1
The government hopes to reopen Bangkok and some towns in four provinces to foreigners without a quarantine requirement from November 1, government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana has said.
The towns waiting to reopen are Muang, Mae Rim, Mae Taeng and Doi Tao in Chiang Mai, Hua Hin in Prachuap Khiri Khan, Cha-am in Phetchaburi and Pattaya City, Bang Lamung and Sattahip in Chonburi.
“These places will be reopened provided there are no big or serious infection clusters between now and November 1,” he said. “The other conditions for visitors are that they must be fully jabbed and test negative for Covid-19 before arrival.”
Thanakorn added that the government expects revenue from tourism in 2022 to reach 1.5 trillion baht, of which 850 billion baht will come from Thai tourists who are expected to take 160 million trips in total and 650 billion baht from 15 million foreign tourists.
“The 1.5-trillion-baht target is about half of the total tourism revenue earned in 2019 before Covid-19 hit Thailand,” he added.
Thanakorn also said that as of September 27, the Phuket Sandbox scheme which kicked off on July 1, has generated 2.33 billion baht in revenue.
As of Thursday, there were 43,026 arrivals under this scheme and most of the tourists came from the United States, Israel, United Kingdom, Germany and France. – The Nation
Source - BangkokJack
Our VISA AGENT
Sunday, October 10, 2021
“The Rescue” – What really happened inside Tham Luang caves?
We all followed the events of the cave rescue. We think we know what happened. But we don’t.
“The Rescue”, by directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, has peered behind the heroic narrative that was cultivated at the time of the Chiang Rai Tham Luang cave rescue in July 2018.
13 young men – 12 teenagers and their 24 year old soccer coach – rode their bikes to the Tham Luang Caves in Chiang Rai, Northern Thailand, for a quick excursion following training of the Mu Pa (wild boars) team. It was Saturday, June 23, 2018. Following torrential monsoonal rain, trapping the team inside, they wouldn’t be seen for a harrowing 9 days, until a team of volunteer cave divers happened upon them. This film explains how improbable finding them was.
It would be another 8 days before an unlikely, and totally implausible, rescue mission eventually brought them all out. Alive.
“The Rescue” shows that this first happenstance, finding the young men, and then actually getting them out alive, was much, much more tenuous and complicated than anyone wanted to admit at the time. The world media gravitated to the compelling human stories – the lost boys, the international co-operation, the worried families, the personalities – to weave and broadcast daily 3 minute grabs about heroism, Thai culture and hope.
We now know the reality was very different. Touched on in the film “The Cave”, the whole search, and then rescue, was a mess of Thai politics, misplaced pride and incompetence. Not a popular conclusion to come to, but without the international volunteer cave divers that were flown in (reluctantly by many of the Thais leading the mission), the 12 teenagers and their coach would have surely perished. Even the valiant and well-trained Thai Navy Seals were completely unprepared for a mission so fraught with danger and outside of their standard training.
“The Rescue” has been skilfully crafted and co-directed by Academy Award winners Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (“Free Solo”) to authentically recreate the situation inside the caves, then use interviews with the cave divers to retell the story. The recreated scenes are seamlessly interwoven with real video at the time.
And you will learn things you never knew about the mission, particularly about the almost impossible method of extraction that, even by their best estimates, had a minuscule chance of success. But, in the end, it was the only chance they had.
Rick Stanton was a retired British firefighter who had spent 40 years diving deep into lonely, claustrophobic caves around the world. Fortuitously, his girlfriend was a resident of Chiang Rai, so he heard about the search situation early on. Rick teamed with another cave diving mate, John Volanthen, to fly to northern Thailand to see if they could help.
There are also never-before-seen conversations between the divers, that chanced upon the team on Day 9 of the search, totally different and revealing compared to the short snippets we saw at the time.
The clips, from Rick’s phone camera, tell us a lot more about the divers and their fears. And the calmness and composure of the trapped young men. We see his attempt to rally the spirits of the 13 team members before saying goodbye with a promise of imminent rescue.
In one of the interviews Rick Stanton, slowly swimming back through the maze of jagged rocks, mud and swirling waters to the cave mouth, realised, having found them, that it would be virtually impossible to get them out.
“Looking into their faces I realised we might be the only ones that ever see them. What in earth are we going to do now?”
Another revelation is the rescue, a few days before the effort to extract the team began, of a smaller rescue of four adults stuck inside the cave. They would have to swum out where they would be immersed in the caves muddy waters for 30-40 seconds. Some of the adults, even after the process was thoroughly explained, panicked, ripping off their face mask. If not for the brevity of the dive, and the professionalism of the divers, they would have drowned.
For the 13 soccer team members trapped 2 kilometres inside the cave, they were a lot younger and they would be underwater for up to 2 to 3 hours! How could this even be possible?
“We were brutally honest, we promised multiple fatalities.”
For the re-enactments, Vasarhelyi and Chin used Rick, John and other divers who were involved in the rescue – the actors playing themselves and their frightening predicament. It also follows the completely outrageous idea from 2 Australian doctors (also cave divers) who came up with an implausible solution to extract the young men.
It’s visceral, raw and real. Highly recommended.
Source - The Thaiger
Our VISA AGENT
Wednesday, September 30, 2020
6 groups of visitors allowed into Thailand
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announced on 29 September 2020 the 6 groups of foreign visitors allowed into the Kingdom. The Centre also announced the extension of the Emergency Decree until 31 October 2020. The 6 groups of foreign visitors allowed into the country along with the regulations for each group is as follows,
2. Thai Airways Pilots and Crew on Pepatriation Flights bringing Thais back home and sport participants into the Nation. Those on the flight will be quarantined in a state quarantine center. At least 300 persons are estimated to be in this group.
3. Non-Immigrant Visa Holders traveling into Thailand. The foreigners must show their 6-month statement with at least 500,000 THB of deposits.
4. Special Tourist Visa Holders planning for Long Stay in the Nation. Foreigners will have to quarantine for 14 days at the state quarantine center in the province where they are traveling to. Foreigners can travel within a 1-kilometer radius. After they are confirmed to not be infected with Covid-19, the foreigners can leave the state quarantine center and remain in Thailand for 90 days. Visas can be extended 2 times, a total of 270 days. If they wish to travel into a different province they must quarantine again for 7 days.
5. APEC Card holders, these are businessmen approved by 18 Apec countries. This is to help boost Thailand’s economy. The businessmen allowed in are limited to low-risk countries including New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, China, Hongkong.
6. Short term and Long term visitors can travel into the nation for 60 days. Another 30-day extension is allowed with an exception, provided that the foreigners must show their 6-month statement with at least 500,000 THB of deposits. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will determine whether the visitor can apply for the 30-day extension.