Forthcoming Holiday in Thailand 2021-2 ?

[Guest]

The Thai vaccination rate is over 500,000 per day at present.    If they keep that up for a few months, it's about an extra 60 million doses delivered by the end of the year.

I guess we will be seeing some board members visiting Thailand later in the year.

https://www.pattayamail.com/thailandnews/over-28-1-million-people-in-thailand-have-received-vaccines-369142

[Boy69]

Most vaccinations are of the Chinese Sinovac which is very unreliable and questionable, Sadly I will pass Thailand for the near future .

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Boy69 said:

Most vaccinations are of the Chinese Sinovac which is very unreliable and questionable, Sadly I will pass Thailand for the near future .

True, but:

1 What counts for restrictions is how the Thai government assesses the risk after vaccination, even with Sinovac

2 Thailand is also expecting many more Pfizer and Astra Zeneca vaccines, so boosters may be offered, or some Sinovac first dose followed by Pfizer or Astra Zeneca second doses 

 

[Guest]

Thailand goes onto the UK red list. 😒   https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58348541

I'm not particularly concerned about this at present, as Thailand should be off the red list by the time I would hope to travel back from Thailand to the UK in March 2022.

If it's still on the red list then, a 2 week stopover in a country without red list rules would be the next option to research.   That's too far into the future to bother now.

[vaughn]

Australia's national carrier Qantas has said it's tentative plan is for direct Bangkok flights to resume in April 2022. So that's my realistic goal at the moment, although if the tide turns and things improve before then I will return sooner.

Quote

Pending government decisions, Qantas said it expected flights to countries with high vaccine rates like Singapore, Japan, the United States, Britain and hopefully New Zealand to resume from mid-December.

Flights to places with lower vaccination rates like Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and South Africa would restart from April 2022 at the earliest, it added.

"One of the biggest unknowns is the quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travellers entering Australia," Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce said. "If it's 14 days in a hotel, demand levels will be very low. A shorter period with additional testing and the option to isolate at home will see a lot more people travel."

 

[sydneyboy1]

29 minutes ago, vaughn said:

Australia's national carrier Qantas has said it's tentative plan is for direct Bangkok flights to resume in April 2022. So that's my realistic goal at the moment, although if the tide turns and things improve before then I will return sooner.

 

Here’s hoping!

[vinapu]

12 hours ago, Boy69 said:

 Sadly I will pass Thailand for the near future .

all depends of what ' near future means", for me it's no more than next 2 months and than I'll start sniffing around for opportunities

[Londoner]

I try to be optimistic and so am heartened that the infection rate has stopped rising and that vaccinations are increasing. As for the  resilient Thai population, I recall the sight of shop-keepers in Pattaya Tai standing knee-deep in flood water  to continue their selling; I suspect that the moment restrictions are lifted we will see a similar determination to resume business. And to put my money in the till. 

[vinapu]

19 hours ago, Londoner said:

I try to be optimistic and so am heartened that the infection rate has stopped rising and that vaccinations are increasing. As for the  resilient Thai population, I recall the sight of shop-keepers in Pattaya Tai standing knee-deep in flood water  to continue their selling; I suspect that the moment restrictions are lifted we will see a similar determination to resume business. And to put my money in the till. 

+1

[gerefan]

This time last year I began looking at my usual winter 3 month trip to Pattaya and it looked as if there was no chance. Not because everything was shut, but because the Thai border was firmly closed. I usually get there in November.

However about October Thailand announced ‘O’ visas would be issued for 90 day stays, so it was Game On. There then followed weeks of paperwork and I eventually got to Thailand mid December and did my solitary. I stayed for 4 months. Most of the time everything operated normally. A good trip.

So, here we are again a year later...Since last year the Thai border has always been open and I can go any time I want, with the same amount of paperwork, but actually simpler quarantine by going to a Sandbox. Good.

However the BIG difference at the moment is all entertainment is closed.

So in answer to the threads question, “Forthcoming holidays 2021/2”, I see absolutely see no problem travelling again in November from the UK to Thailand,  providing I do the quarantine. No big deal if I stay for 3/4 months.

What I’m not prepared to do is travel there and find everything is closed.

So it will be a last minute decision nearer the time depending on what’s open.

 

[abidismaili]

On 8/27/2021 at 4:27 AM, vinapu said:

all depends of what ' near future means", for me it's no more than next 2 months and than I'll start sniffing around for opportunities

Same here. But only if the venues open also. If I go to Thailand and I can’t get massages,  can’t visit bars, can’t see beautiful boys dancing in show bars,  it is pointless.  Certainly if also most boys still are in their home province. For me more needs to happen, then Thailand just be reachable again via plane. 

[vinapu]

30 minutes ago, abidismaili said:

 If I go to Thailand and I can’t get massages,  can’t visit bars, can’t see beautiful boys dancing in show bars,  it is pointless.  

what about all those temples, palaces and blue waters of Chao Praya river not to mention ruins of soi Twilight ?

[PeterRS]

5 hours ago, gerefan said:

So in answer to the threads question, “Forthcoming holidays 2021/2”, I see absolutely see no problem travelling again in November from the UK to Thailand,  providing I do the quarantine. No big deal if I stay for 3/4 months.

Let's remember that during the months you were in Thailand on your last trip, the country was more of less completely open. There had been relatively few cases and only one relatively short lockdown in April/May 2020. The second wave at the Samui Prakan fish market in December did not have much of an overall effect. It was the third wave with the Delta variant that started in early April that has ravaged the country, I assume just as you were flying home. I would not place bets on November/December this year, but hope I am wrong. I think @z909 's estimate of March 2022 is more likely.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, vinapu said:

what about all those temples, palaces and blue waters of Chao Praya river not to mention ruins of soi Twilight ?

You might need a team of archeologists to find traces of Soi Twilight -see photo (through the gap in the gates).

 

3 hours ago, PeterRS said:

 I think @z909 's estimate of March 2022 is more likely.

March 2022 is my estimated return to the UK date, after 3 months or more of holiday, by which time I guess Thailand will no longer be on the UK red list.

Over 900,000 vaccines were done in Thailand on Friday.    Progress is being made.   

[gerefan]

6 hours ago, PeterRS said:

. I would not place bets on November/December this year, but hope I am wrong. I think @z909 's estimate of March 2022 is more likely.

I must have missed something, I thought z909 also intends to travel in November/December PROVIDED things are open. 

[vinapu]

4 hours ago, z909 said:

You might need a team of archeologists to find traces of Soi Twilight -see photo (through the gap in the gates).

 

more of less like Troy

[Ruthrieston]

With the planned lifting of some restrictions on Wednesday this week in Thailand the shopping centres and restaurants will open, but you can only go into the restaurant if you have been double vaccinated and have proof. Given that barely 10% of the population are fully vaccinated the restaurants are going to be rather empty. My second dose is booked for 30th October so two more months before I can eat in a restaurant again. 

[fedssocr]

I'm not planning to travel for 24 plus hours on a plane for quite some time as long as the mask-wearing requirements are in place. 

I don't expect to travel back to Asia for at least another year. 

 

[vinapu]

27 minutes ago, Ruthrieston said:

.... but you can only go into the restaurant if you have been double vaccinated and have proof. Given that barely 10% of the population are fully vaccinated the restaurants are going to be rather empty......

only in first few days I guess, then they will start filling up and checking proofs will be more and more cursory if at all. Who will bother?

[spoon]

12 minutes ago, vinapu said:

only in first few days I guess, then they will start filling up and checking proofs will be more and more cursory if at all. Who will bother?

We have police to do spotcheck for compliance here. Of course if your premises become a cluster, that might spell disaster if u didnt follow the rules.

[Gaybutton]

If anyone really wants to go to Thailand under current and foreseeable circumstances, you might be interested in the following article:

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Guidelines for people planning to visit Thailand

by The Nation

August 30, 2021

The Public Health Ministry has come up with a guide for travellers planning to visit Thailand under the pilot reopening schemes like Phuket Sandbox, Samui Plus and Phuket Sandbox 7+7 Extension.

To be eligible to travel under the programme, Thai returnees or foreigners must be:

• 18 years old and above

• Should have received two doses of Covid-19 vaccines that have been approved by Thailand or the World Health Organisation at least 14 days before arrival

Covid-19 vaccines approved in Thailand:

• CoronaVac by Sinovac Biotech: 2 doses / 2-to-4-week interval

• AstraZeneca or Covishield by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, SK Bioscience (South Korea), Siam Bioscience, and Serum Institute of India (Covishield): 2 doses / 4-to-12-week interval

• Comirnaty by Pfizer and BioNTech: 2 doses / 3-week interval

• Janssen or Janssen/Ad26.COV2.S by Johnson & Johnson: 1 dose

• Moderna by Moderna: 2 doses / 4-week interval

• Covilo by Sinopharm: 2 doses / 3-4-week interval

• Sputnik V by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology: 2 doses/3-week interval

Have you been fully vaccinated?

According to the Public Health Ministry, travellers are considered fully vaccinated if they have received:

• Second dose of two-dose vaccines like AstraZeneca or Pfizer no less than 14 days before travelling to Thailand.

• Single-dose vaccines like Janssen no less than 14 days before travelling to Thailand

• Second dose of mix-and-match vaccines like CoronaVac from Sinovac and AstraZeneca, no less than 14 days before travelling to Thailand.

Apart from being fully vaccinated, travellers to Thailand should have all their advance arrangements in good order.

These include a Certificate of Entry (COE) issued by a Thai embassy or consulate, a Covid-19 health insurance policy with a minimum coverage of US$100,000; confirmation of a SHA Plus hotel booking, and a medical certificate with a negative RT-PCR test result issued no more than 72 hours before departure.

https://www.nationthailand.com/thai-destination/40005465

[Guest]

Thank you.

Those requirements are the same as for my last trip to Thailand, except:

1  I need proof of vaccination, which I already have.

2  Instead of booking an ASQ hotel, I need SHA plus booking.

 

 

[gerefan]

Agree with z909.

The requirements are in fact much easier than last year as there is no “solitary” required. The main hurdle.

I have also read that visitors are allowed whilst in the Sandpit too...which does seem strange! 

Anyway, the main requirement, as has been said many times, is that everything needs to be “ops normal” before most tourists will travel.

[Ruthrieston]

No surprise here, the requirement for people to prove full vaccination status before being allowed to enter a restaurant did not appear in the Royal Gazette, so there will be no such crazy restriction. TiT.

[vinapu]

12 hours ago, z909 said:

Thank you.

Those requirements are the same as for my last trip to Thailand, except:

1  I need proof of vaccination, which I already have.

2  Instead of booking an ASQ hotel, I need SHA plus booking.

 

 

I feel stupid but will ask nevertheless , what SHA stands for ?