Bangkok ready to reopen, safely

[reader]

From Bangkok Post

Support for mid-Oct launch grows with fall in infections, jabs boost

When Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha announced on June 16 that the country was gearing up for reopening in 120 days, many wondered if he had set himself an unattainable goal.

The country was languishing in the throes of the Covid-19 crisis and prognoses about the pandemic were not encouraging. The daily caseload was spiking at a time when the government had fumbled over vaccine procurement as it tried to figure out when the next batch of vaccines would come from.

It is now half-way through the 120-day deadline that falls in mid-October. Daily infections which peaked at more than 23,000 have retreated to around 18,000 in recent days. More vaccines have arrived with more than 120 million doses promised by the government by the end of the year.

The government is pinning its hopes on the success of the tourism sandbox programme underway in Phuket and Samui to lure back overseas visitors.

At the half-way mark to the government's mid-October reopening promise, politicians and stakeholders interviewed by the Bangkok Post cautiously agreed the deadline must be honoured as the economy cannot stay shut any longer.

The economy has been in free-fall for long enough as a result of intermittent lockdowns and public health restrictions. It must be allowed room to breathe come the middle of October, said Kla Party secretary-general Atavit Suwannapakdee.

He predicted the pandemic will still be lingering in October although reopening the country should be the rule, not an exception.

"We've reached a point where we can't keep shutting our door. We must also face the fact the government's centralised approach to handling the pandemic is out of place," he said.

"The reopening plan must go ahead. If we delay it, what the country has planned will be ruined and the country as a whole will lose its credibility," Mr Atavit added.

The government's fight against the pandemic has been less than successful with the latest lockdown and restrictions proving an exercise in futility to contain the virus.

"Many won't die from the disease but from being unable to make a living," he said.

The chance of the country getting back to business in October depends on its "saviour", the vaccine.

Continues at

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/special-reports/2172887/ready-to-reopen-safely

[gerefan]

Sounds good. Live with it...which is what some countries are beginning to realise.
 

However, if they are to reopen successfully they must not go all “Thai” over the entry requirements and over what is allowed to open.

It is actually quite simple! 

[spoon]

If this happen, any of the members here will jump on the next available ticket to thailand in mid oct? Hehe

[TMax]

2 minutes ago, spoon said:

If this happen, any of the members here will jump on the next available ticket to thailand in mid oct? Hehe

Not me, I'm prepared to wait until mid next year, will wait and see how everything goes first. Hopefully things will improve to the point we can travel again without too many restrictions but time will tell on how things play out. 

[vinapu]

28 minutes ago, spoon said:

If this happen, any of the members here will jump on the next available ticket to thailand in mid oct? Hehe

if only thing required  will be proof of vaccination and perhaps pre-departure test, I'll go. Any certificates of entry , quarantines and other bureaucratic nonsenses, sorry , no

[spoon]

49 minutes ago, vinapu said:

if only thing required  will be proof of vaccination and perhaps pre-departure test, I'll go. Any certificates of entry , quarantines and other bureaucratic nonsenses, sorry , no

Im on the same boat, plus i need my country to also allow us to travel. Otherwise, its bureaucratic headache both ways. 

[TMax]

Not only is it a bureaucratic nightmare for me to travel (both ways) but the fares are ridiculous, just as an example I looked on google for a two week trip November 8th to 22nd and there is no way in hell would I pay $5400 for an economy return flight to Bangkok (that was the cheapest flight that came up). It would have been on Singapore airlines and Scoot and 11hrs 50mins via Singapore (about 4hrs in transit), previously I would fly direct to Bangkok on Thai airways (6hrs 50mins) and pay about $1000. I also searched Skyscanner and Flight centre and they say there are no flights listed for the above dates. Think I'll wait until things settle.

[vinapu]

26 minutes ago, TMax said:

Not only is it a bureaucratic nightmare for me to travel (both ways) but the fares are ridiculous,

after such long no-travel period your travel fund should be ballooning by now, no?

[spoon]

I did a search just now and flight price is still reasonable for me. Not as cheap but standard price when there is no promotion or sale. 

[TMax]

27 minutes ago, vinapu said:

after such long no-travel period your travel fund should be ballooning by now, no?

Travel fund is quite healthy but I would rather save as much of that for the fun times to come after I get there, fares should come back closer to normal by the time I go back. From Australia we still need a valid reason to travel overseas, unfortunately 2 weeks of sex with some smoking hot Thai guys is not reason enough for our government 😉

[vinapu]

6 hours ago, TMax said:

 From Australia we still need a valid reason to travel overseas, unfortunately 2 weeks of sex with some smoking hot Thai guys is not reason enough for our government 😉

good for you, finally you guys have taste of how life was in former Eastern block and still is  for North Koreans.

[Mateo_37]

Got my flight on November 11th. I hope it will happen

[Londoner]

Good luck. I am envious but at the same time grateful;  a few gay tourists putting their feet in the water and then telling me that it's warm  and safe  enough to swim in will  persuade me to book a trip...in January. 

[gerefan]

4 hours ago, Mateo_37 said:

Got my flight on November 11th. I hope it will happen

Hope it takes off and everything is open when you arrive!
 

Personally I will wait until much nearer the time to make sure enough is open to make the effort worthwhile.

 

[fedssocr]

On 8/29/2021 at 12:34 AM, TMax said:

Not only is it a bureaucratic nightmare for me to travel (both ways) but the fares are ridiculous, just as an example I looked on google for a two week trip November 8th to 22nd and there is no way in hell would I pay $5400 for an economy return flight to Bangkok (that was the cheapest flight that came up). It would have been on Singapore airlines and Scoot and 11hrs 50mins via Singapore (about 4hrs in transit), previously I would fly direct to Bangkok on Thai airways (6hrs 50mins) and pay about $1000. I also searched Skyscanner and Flight centre and they say there are no flights listed for the above dates. Think I'll wait until things settle.

At this point with everything closed I'd guess that most airlines are still in wait-and-see mode with few flights scheduled. If things really open they will add flights which will decrease fares.

I don't have much faith or trust in the Thai government. I'm way more inclined to wait until mid or late next year to see where we stand. As I said in the other thread, from my home to get to Thailand is about 24 hours of travel time. That much time with a mask requirement isn't something I'd want to put myself through. Especially when what's happening on the other end is rather unknown. I prefer to let things settle and get back up and running more "normally" rather than be a pioneer. Although I am vaccinated we are seeing a fair few "breakthrough" infections with the current variant, albeit mostly without requiring hospitalization or inflicting severe disease. Who knows that the next variant will be like. I'd also rather go when most of the locals have been fully vaccinated. 

[Mateo_37]

On 8/30/2021 at 8:13 PM, gerefan said:

Hope it takes off and everything is open when you arrive!
 

Personally I will wait until much nearer the time to make sure enough is open to make the effort worthwhile.

 

still got the option to reschedule if necesary, so in worst type scenario can postpone it till February 2022

[gerefan]

10 hours ago, Mateo_37 said:

still got the option to reschedule if necesary, so in worst type scenario can postpone it till February 2022

Not in my case. Being from the UK a trip to Thailand is for two purposes. First is for a holiday and second, and maybe more important, is to avoid the dreadful UK winter which runs from November until March.

So if Thailand is a non starter in November then I need somewhere else warm to go in November! 

[floridarob]

6 minutes ago, gerefan said:

So if Thailand is a non starter in November then I need somewhere else warm to go in November! 

Mexico...lot's of options. Whenever I show my "not into Asian" friends pics of Thais that I like....they always think they are Mexican or Latin. 

However, I like the brown skin guys...not so much into white 😉

[Guest]

34 minutes ago, gerefan said:

Not in my case. Being from the UK a trip to Thailand is for two purposes. First is for a holiday and second, and maybe more important, is to avoid the dreadful UK winter which runs from November until March.

So if Thailand is a non starter in November then I need somewhere else warm to go in November! 

Avoiding the winter is certainly a priority !

I would hope Cambodia opens up, based on vaccination record performance.   

However, Thailand ought to be moving in the right direction by then as well.     Over 800,000 doses per day is more than the UK was managing.    

Latest daily vaccination data:es:
1st dose: 23,795,098 (+393,633)
2nd dose: 8,212,750 (+431,777)
3rd dose: 592,153 (+2,772)
Total: 32,600,001

 

 

[Boy69]

11 hours ago, z909 said:

Avoiding the winter is certainly a priority !

I would hope Cambodia opens up, based on vaccination record performance.   

However, Thailand ought to be moving in the right direction by then as well.     Over 800,000 doses per day is more than the UK was managing.    

Latest daily vaccination data:es:
1st dose: 23,795,098 (+393,633)
2nd dose: 8,212,750 (+431,777)
3rd dose: 592,153 (+2,772)
Total: 32,600,001

 

 

I would take these statistics very suspiciously , most of the vaccines are the Chinese Sinovac which is unreliable and questionable efficient.

[Guest]

 For tourism purposes, what matters is whether or not the respective governments consider the vaccine programme is sufficient to allow reopening. 

Thailand has enough shots of Astra Zeneca & Pfizer in the pipeline to provide booster shots.

Cambodia has announced that key frontline workers will get booster shots of a different vaccine, procured via covax.  Which implies they will not have a good supply of better vaccines. 

[reader]

From Bangkok Post

Tourism minister backs reopening

The tourism minister has defended the country's reopening plan as promised by the prime minister, stating that five more provinces including Bangkok should be ready for visitors from October, followed by another 21 provinces nationwide.

During the no-confidence debate on Wednesday, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, the tourism and sports minister, said after Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha vowed to reopen the country by mid-October, the ministry and the Tourism Authority of Thailand were assigned to work closely with provincial governors and local communicable disease committees.

However, he said only some provinces or districts are possible to reopen this year under a three-step plan.

The first step started with three projects in four provinces: the Phuket Sandbox and Samui Plus schemes on July 1 and July 15, respectively, followed by two provinces, Phangnga and Krabi, under the 7+7 extension plan in mid-August.

The second step slated for Oct 1 consists of Bangkok, Chon Buri (Pattaya), Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan (Hua Hin) and Chiang Mai, while the third step set for Oct 15 comprises 21 provinces across the country.

In the North, six provinces have been selected: Mae Hong Son, Lamphun, Phrae, Nan, Chiang Rai and Sukhothai. Four were chosen in the Northeast: Udon Thani, Nong Khai, Bueng Kan and Ubon Ratchathani.

The South had five provinces selected -- Ranong, Trang, Satun, Songkhla and Narathiwat -- while the eastern region chose Rayong, Chanthaburi and Trat.

Ayutthaya is planned for the central region, while Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi are priorities in the western region.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2174927/phiphat-backs-reopening-with-a-caveat

======================================

Curfew may be lifted soon, Prayut says

The night curfew in dark-red zones may be shortened or lifted, depending on the Covid-19 situation, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Wednesday.

He said the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) had eased some disease controls, effective from Wednesday, and he hoped everyone would strictly comply with them.

The restrictions could be further relaxed if the situation improved, he said.

As for the 9pm-4am curfew, which remained unchanged, Gen Prayut said it could be shortened or lifted entirely -- depending on the number of infections, fatalities and other indications of the seriousness of the situation.

The prime minister said he knew the curfew had affected entertainment places. His advice was for associations of owners of pubs, bars and other night spots to discuss the matter with the CCSA, and make suggestions for consideration.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2174875/curfew-may-be-lifted-soon-prayut-says