Top tourist zones WILL start opening for quarantine-free travel in July – TAT

[Gaybutton]

No matter which vaccine you get (and I admit I have not read up on it) how long before the vaccine takes effect and you can now consider yourself immune?

[Guest]

53 minutes ago, Gaybutton said:

No matter which vaccine you get (and I admit I have not read up on it) how long before the vaccine takes effect and you can now consider yourself immune?

The general advice is about 2~3 weeks.   However, they appear to be building in a safety margin, as if we look at the data from the Pfizer trial, something is happening at about 10 days (blue line).

In the UK, very few people died after receiving the vaccine.  In fact I read that of those who had died, the median number of days between vaccination and symptoms was something like 5 days.  ie They caught covid before the vaccine was effective and could have even caught it at the vaccination centre.   

So after hiding at home for months, do remember to wear the N95/N99 mask for the vaccination.

[anddy]

7 hours ago, z909 said:

The Bangkok Post showed an estimated timeline for this (below).    That's 60 million doses of Astra Zeneca before the end of the year.    In which case, the high risk people should all have been vaccinated by then.

Today the Bangkok Post is also reporting that samples from test batches of Thai made vaccine has passed Astra Zeneca quality checks in Europe. 

 

 

 

 

 

I find it important to note that this timeline is vaccine doses delivered by the manufacturer and received by the government, NOT doses administered to people. This super capable government may think "oh that's same same but different" but evidently it is not. 

If they want to fully vaccinate 70% or approx. 50 million people by year end , starting June, that's over 500k shots to be administered every single day on average starting June 1st. That looks like a fairy tale to me. But then again, better aim too high and miss than too low and hit. And better to increase the urgency late (i.e. now) than not at all. 

[Guest]

I'm not sure whether they will hit their targets for supply of vaccines.

However, if they have the vaccines and the syringes, I see no reason at all why they should not be deployed quickly.

The UK has a similar population to Thailand and there have been times when we have averaged 600,000 per day over a week and even that was constrained by vaccine supply.

Also, the cycle time certainly wasn't as quick as it could have been.   When I went in, their computer system went down, so I was given a paper form to fill in and sign. I was called forward and they were asking me the same questions I'd already answered on the form.   The actual injection takes less than a minute, so if that part is separated from the form filling, one nurse ought to be able to get through an awful lot of people in an hour.  

Also, the Astra Zeneca vaccine can be stored at the temperature of a normal fridge, so that should not be a barrier.    The Pfizer vaccine comes with some special dry ice packaging.

Finally, at least the current outbreak ought to ensure people come forward for vaccination quickly when it is available.  

So I expect the main constraint to be vaccine supply, not deployment. 

[reader]

From VN Express

Thailand eyes travel bubble discussion with Vietnam

Thai authorities said they are considering travel bubbles with some Asian countries and territories, including Vietnam, so that international tourism could resume possibly in October.

Once Covid-19 community transmission is under control, the Thai government would resume travel bubble discussions with Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Laos, and Malaysia, Bangkok Post newspaper quoted Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn as saying.

"We have to speed up inoculations, particularly in Bangkok, to achieve herd immunity by the fourth quarter. The number of daily infections should be below 200 by the end of this month to restore international tourism confidence."

No country wants to have a travel bubble discussion with Thailand when it still has a high rate of infection, he noted.

The minister added it would be easier for Thailand to create travel bubbles with Laos and Vietnam as they share a border.

Thailand was Vietnam's fastest growing tourist market before the pandemic, with the number of visitors from that country rising by 46 percent in 2019 year-on-year to 509,000. Vietnam received 18 million foreign arrivals in 2019.

Many Thai investors have also been eyeing the Vietnamese market in recent years.

Travel bubbles are an exclusive partnership between two or more countries/territories that allows travel between them amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

https://e.vnexpress.net/news/travel/places/thailand-eyes-travel-bubble-discussion-with-vietnam-4275511.html

[Guest]

2 hours ago, reader said:

The minister added it would be easier for Thailand to create travel bubbles with Laos and Vietnam as they share a border.

#1  According to the maps I have seen, Thailand does not share a border with Vietnam.    Have I missed some obscure shared island, or is this another example of Thais typically having no clue about maps & geography ?

If he means a travel bubble where people cross 2 borders, then China could be included.  Why not make it 3 borders and include Russia or 4 borders, which gets us to Norway or Poland ?       I don't see any sense in his shared border argument.

#2  I would have thought it would be just as easy to create a travel bubble with a distant country as a nearby one.    Just route the flights into a specified part of BKK airport and process them as appropriate.   The only advantage of a travel bubble with a nearby country is that an official travel bubble might result in fewer illegal immigrants creating an unofficial travel bubble.

#3  I would imagine tourism revenue from Vietnam would not be much of a boost to the Thai tourism industry and could even be a net loss, as Thais would be able to holiday abroad, instead of at home.

[spoon]

All i care is i saw malaysia in the list lol. Hope that ill be one of the first to enjoy the travel bubble.

[reader]

1 hour ago, z909 said:

#1  According to the maps I have seen, Thailand does not share a border with Vietnam. 

No, you misinterpreted the sentence. It states that Laos and Vietnam share a border. Vietnamese not flying into Thailand normally enter via Lao border checkpoints.

"The minister added it would be easier for Thailand to create travel bubbles with Laos and Vietnam as they share a border."

1 hour ago, z909 said:

#3  I would imagine tourism revenue from Vietnam would not be much of a boost to the Thai tourism industry and could even be a net loss, as Thais would be able to holiday abroad, instead of at home.

Vietnamese place a higher value of products available in Thailand because they are of better quality and available at lower prices than in Vietnam.

Vietnamese shoppers are represented in large numbers at the Big C opposite Central World, particularly on weekends.

 

[Guest]

36 minutes ago, reader said:

No, you misinterpreted the sentence. It states that Laos and Vietnam share a border. Vietnamese not flying into Thailand normally enter via Lao border checkpoints.

 

 

Irrespective of how you choose to interpret it, this is a quote from a Thai minister & two border crossings are needed to get from Thailand to Vietnam over land, as those two countries do not share a border.  

If Thailand wants to start a travel bubble with any country that requires 2 land border crossings, then approximately half the world population will satisfy that particular requirement.  Of course, additional criteria will be applied.   

 

[reader]

And the Thai minister--like the rest of us--is aware that Thailand doesn't border Vietnam.

And anyone who has been to Thailand knows it would require two border crossings to travel between those countries.

Was your point simply to attempt to make the Thai minister look like a jackass?

[Guest]

50 minutes ago, reader said:

Was your point simply to attempt to make the Thai minister look like a jackass?

Is your objective just to make a silly argument with everything I post & keep a long term grudge ?      

All because you were once unable to correctly count the number of rails in a monorail.     Rather than quickly exiting that one by saying "oh yes, it has 2 tracks", you decided to foolishly prolong a lost argument, finally ending with one of your crude and abusive posts.   Very undignified.     

I suspect you're heading in the same direction here, as you know no other way.  

 

Irrespective of what your opinion is, the fact is, it takes 2 border crossings to get from Thailand to Vietnam.   Requiring 2 land border crossings is no basis for deciding who is in a travel bubble.    

If it is a basis, then approximately half the world's population would be within 2 border crossings of Thailand.   

Also, it it's no more difficult to manage immigration after 2 land border crossings than 1 or 2 flights.   

[reader]

This is paranoia on steroids. You've convinced yourself, yet again, that this is example of a grudge I supposedly hold against you because I posted an article--two years ago--about the then new Gold Line that you didn't agree with.

Flash: not everything is about trains.

My posts above are strictly about you trying to subvert a clearly written news story into an opportunity to post yet another know-it-all response. Worse, you made the Thai spokesman the butt of your joke. Very sad indeed.

But that doesn't mean I don't still love you, my dear friend.

[10tazione]

Why would Vietnam agree to a travel bubble with Thailand which has a 40x higher infection rate? They should have done it last year while both were at 0.
And when Thailand has the current outbreak under control, which might take a few more months, there are enough vaccinated people waiting all over the world to travel to Thailand.

[Guest]

6 hours ago, 10tazione said:

Why would Vietnam agree to a travel bubble with Thailand which has a 40x higher infection rate? They should have done it last year while both were at 0.
And when Thailand has the current outbreak under control, which might take a few more months, there are enough vaccinated people waiting all over the world to travel to Thailand.

Agreed.   The infection rate rules out a travel bubble between the countries at present.

Also I doubt Vietnam would consider only 2 border crossings as any kind of criteria for a travel bubble.    As far as I know, they don't even have a travel bubble with China which is an immediate neighbour and claims to have a negligible infection rate.

[Guest]

16 hours ago, reader said:

This is paranoia on steroids. You've convinced yourself, yet again, that this is example of a grudge I supposedly hold against you because I posted an article--two years ago--about the then new Gold Line that you didn't agree with.

Paranoia is a figment of your imagination.      

I enclose a photo of the Gold line trains below.   You described it as a monorail & threw the toys out of the pram when I pointed out it's not a monorail.   

The train has rubber wheels at each corner.   I suspect they are rubber to reduce noise when the train goes around some of the tight corners on the route.  Allowing for waiting time, I would say the service is marginally faster than walking. 

 

 

[reader]

Oh dear, Z, your obsession with trains is far more advanced than I thought.  But fear not, my dear friend, I will help cure what ails you by the simple application of evidence and logic.

We’ll begin your therapy with a look back at the original post that was :

https://www.gayguides.com/forums/topic/13079-gold-line-monorail/?tab=comments#comment-145579

Here are the first two paragraphs of the article:

“Now that all three driverless trains for the BTS Gold Light Rail Line have been delivered, trials on the 1.8-kilometre route will begin immediately before the service is officially launched on October 29.

The monorail will stop at three stations – Krung Thonburi, Charoen Nakhon and Klong San – before linking up with the BTS Green Line.”

 

You’ll note that the monorail’s path has just one rail running along the center. On ether side of the elevated rail are reinforced concrete platforms on which the wheels travel. It is the single steel rail, however, that guides the trains. Hence, we have a monorail.

Here's an article from the Bangkok Post:

Monorail ushers in hope

If anyone has visited Charoen Nakhon area in Thon Buri area recently, they might be surprised by the bumper-to-bumper traffic -- a situation rarely seen elsewhere during the Covid-19 pandemic. The congestion has been caused by the construction of the country's first monorail known as the Gold Line.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1930496/monorail-ushers-in-hope

You repeatedly claim that it travels only marginally faster than walking. Take a ride on the Gold Line in this You Tube video and you’ll see that wrong again.

And not to worry. I know this will have you feeling better in no time.

 

[Guest]

You repeatedly fail to understand that a monorail is supported on a single track.

This runs on two concrete tracks, but you have applied your own unique definition of a monorail not corresponding with the normal definition.     

 

Also, you continue to contest everything I write, without any logic.

I said "INCLUDING WAITING TIME, travelling on the Gold Line was only  marginally faster than walking".   That's based on my experience actually riding on the Gold Line, when there was a long wait and a slow trip.    [The wait was well over 10 minutes and then the train went at a snails pace.    It's a 16 minute walk from the Silom Line station].

You attempt to disprove me with an edited YouTube video that excludes most of the waiting time and some of the trip.  What exactly does a video that excludes the waiting time and some of the trip prove ?         

Am not entirely sure why I am even wasting time on this, as arguing with trolls is rarely a productive use of time.

 

    

[reader]

So you're claiming that the Thai media got it all wrong and Thai officials got it all wrong in their description of the Gold Line monorail.

And You Tube is conspiring against you, also.

Only you, z909, got it right?

Brace yourself, Z, for an education.

Think, if you will, about planes. There are all types, but they're still all planes. Take the sub category of commercial transport aircraft and there are many sub types even within that grouping. Some of wings attached to the top of the fuselage and some have wings attached below. Some have engines mounted on the wings and some have them in the rear. But they're all commercial transport aircraft.

Now think about trains. There are all types. Some are electric powered while others use diesel. Then there's the subcategory of passenger trains. Within that category, there are monorails. Within the monorail category, there are different configurations. Some look like the type used, for example, in Kuala Lumpur, some are suspend while yet others are like the system the Gold Line uses. But they're all monorails and all  monorails are trains.

We could go on and discuss ships in the same manner but I think you get the idea.

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, reader said:

Brace yourself, Z, for an education.

 

An education from you ?       That will be the day.

1   Your latest basis for describing the Gold Line as a Monorail is based on the argument that The Bangkok Post is never wrong on technical matters. Really ?  Someone with the handle "Reader" really ought to know better.

I put forward a Dictionary definition of a Monorail

 

"noun

noun: monorail; plural noun: monorails

1. a railway in which the track consists of a single rail, typically elevated and with the trains suspended from it."

The Gold line has the train on two concrete tracks, which is not a monorail by definition. 

 

2   Your YouTube reference doesn't even contain any evidence to support your challenge about the relative speed of walking v the gold line train.   So it is nothing more than you trolling again.         

 

[reader]

You even misinterpret your own definition of monorail. As can be clearly seen in the photo in the OP, there is only a single rail (right down the center of the pathway) on the Gold Line.

But what really pisses me off has nothing to do with rails or definitions. It's the way you disparage Thais in general. Here are your own words from a post above.

On 5/10/2021 at 10:01 AM, z909 said:

Have I missed some obscure shared island, or is this another example of Thais typically having no clue about maps & geography ?

You mock their intelligence. You are quick to find fault with those who ask for more baht than you want to part with and dismiss many of the bars and massage shops for similar reasons.

Your idea of a banner day is when you find some hungry, out of work guy who'll agree to come to your room for 500 baht.

You've made 13 posts in this thread and this is my 9th, including the OP.  And you call me the troll? How blind you are to your own false claims and paranoia.

 

[Gaybutton]

What's the matter with you two?  You're going to war with each other because of a monorail? 

Both of you are important and informative posters on this board.  How about calling a truce and getting back to that? 

[Guest]

15 hours ago, reader said:

You even misinterpret your own definition of monorail. As can be clearly seen in the photo in the OP, there is only a single rail (right down the center of the pathway) on the Gold Line

Everyone else can see it runs on two concrete tracks.       As a clue, think about what the wheels are for.     If that's beyond you, just go back to parroting out links to other articles.

 

15 hours ago, reader said:

Your idea of a banner day is when you find some hungry, out of work guy who'll agree to come to your room for 500 baht.

Do you have to resort to lies to prolong your malicious attack ?    I don't tip under 1000 & usually significantly over.    

[captainmick]

What has the definition of monorail got to do with Quarantine Free Travel in July?  This thread has gone off the rail.

[reader]

8 hours ago, Gaybutton said:

How about calling a truce and getting back to that? 

Two people have to be willing to do that but z909's intention is to continually bring up his monorail tale.

2 hours ago, captainmick said:

What has the definition of monorail got to do with Quarantine Free Travel in July?  This thread has gone off the rail.

Actually it's z909 who has kept it on the "rail."  

It was z909 who took it off track with his snarky remark about Thais being ignorant of maps and geography, followed by his introduction of his monorail obsession. That was the series of events that brought us to this point.

I'm amenable to the truce Gaybutton talks about but--like in politics--it takes two to sustain an agreement. I see no indication that my dear friend wishes to do so. Even after Gaybutton posted his appeal, z909 immediately followed with yet another train story.

[Patanawet]

1 hour ago, captainmick said:

What has the definition of monorail got to do with Quarantine Free Travel in July?  This thread has gone off the rail.

I have always wondered on all three boards if it would be possible to flag threads that have gone far away from the the original thread title.

How annoying if one is, for example, looking for information on tourist zones with quarantine free opening  to be confronted with lengthy discussions on monorail definitions and no way, without reading them all, to know if someone has hopefully gone back to the OP's meaning.

This is only an example; all boards are guilty of this.