Thai Pass

[Londoner]

A further complication(s) according to  the Pattayaone website, as reported on the Sawatdee forum...

1) arrivals need to complete a T8 form. This is a medical declaration. This may be the same as we have to complete for our airline. 

2) and download the Thailand Plus app.

And what else? who knows?

 

 

[TMax]

Lord only knows what will happen soon, not much of a story attached but it will be a wait and see if anything changes.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is calling on all tourism-related agencies to ensure the Thailand Pass system is efficient and makes travelling to the country easy, government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said on Saturday.

He also said Prayut has advised the agencies to pay heed to users’ comments to improve the system.

The story here

[Guest]

On 11/19/2021 at 10:23 AM, Londoner said:

A further complication(s) according to  the Pattayaone website, as reported on the Sawatdee forum...

1) arrivals need to complete a T8 form. This is a medical declaration. This may be the same as we have to complete for our airline. 

2) and download the Thailand Plus app.

And what else? who knows?

Form filling is no big deal. 

There are people who haven't managed to download the app & apparently they haven't had any problems. 

 

The only significant risk I see is being packed off to quarantine if sat near someone who failed a test on the plane.

[vinapu]

4 hours ago, z909 said:

The only significant risk I see is being packed off to quarantine if sat near someone who failed a test on the plane.

that risk may be mitigated by the fact that planes rarely are full those days

[reader]

From Bangkok Post

Some hotels deceiving travellers with Thailand Pass packages

Some hotels are deceiving visitors from overseas, taking room reservations but omitting transport from the airport and Covid-testing, which means they must buy a new package on arrival or be rejected.

Apisamai Srirangson, a spokeswoman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, said on Monday that some hotels misled visitors and booked them only for the room.

The charge did not include a limousine service from the airport to the hotel or the RT-PCR Covid-19 test on arrival, even though both were required as conditions of entry on a Thailand Pass.

However, the hotels gave misleading details, which were used by the applicant for QR approval for a Thailand Pass via the foreign ministry's web portal.

On arrival they then had to buy a new package or be denied entry.

Some hotels did not give refunds to visitors who then cancelled their room reservation and bought a package elsewhere, Dr Apisamai said.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2219591/some-hotels-deceiving-travellers-with-thailand-pass-packages

 

[vinapu]

1 hour ago, reader said:

 

Some hotels deceiving travellers with Thailand Pass packages

 

 

or travellers deceived themselves by rushing bookings but not reading what they are buying. Some hotels if not all of them are selling both quarantine  and regular bookings and at least on Agoda it's easy to make  a boo-boo. 

[TMax]

If it were me making a booking I would first get in touch wth the hotel to double check that it included limousine and test before making the booking. Then I would make sure I would leave comments when booking to include both along with the hotel room.

[spoon]

All hotels that offers the 1 day quarantine will have normal bookings too. Agreed that travellers should read and check, but hotel shouldnt provide misleading details that the traveller can use to apply for the thailand pass. I believe both are definitely at faults, and thai officials also inst exactly blameless too as the requirements set were still too complicated and changed too frequently.

[Londoner]

I trust Agoda; I bought my (very expensive) ASQ there. Plenty available in BKK, only one in Pattaya. It cost £120! but Agoda reimburses cancellations up to the day of departure. I'm hoping that airport tests will sooner or later replace the overnight stay.

By the way, rather cynically, I wonder if the ASQ hotels are lobbying the government to keep the present system going? Some of them must be making a mint.

 

[vinapu]

9 minutes ago, Londoner said:

 It cost £120! but Agoda reimburses cancellations up to the day of departure. I'm hoping that airport tests will sooner or later replace the overnight stay.

By the way, rather cynically, I wonder if the ASQ hotels are lobbying the government to keep the present system going? Some of them must be making a mint.

 

when you consider that in price is included PRC test which is quite costly and deduct it form total price you paid  suddenly deals become much sweeter.

[reader]

58 minutes ago, Londoner said:

I trust Agoda; I bought my (very expensive) ASQ there. Plenty available in BKK, only one in Pattaya. It cost £120! but Agoda reimburses cancellations up to the day of departure. I'm hoping that airport tests will sooner or later replace the overnight stay.

Unless you're dealing with a hotel you have prior relationship with, agree that you're probably better off booking through trusted site like Agoda. You have more recourse if things go sour.

You can also rely on appealing to credit card issuer if hotel fails to abide by terms of booking.

[vinapu]

45 minutes ago, reader said:

 you're probably better off booking through trusted site like Agoda. You have more recourse if things go sour.

 

that's right, in spring I made few reservations for October hoping they will work as charm but they did not so I cancelled them nd money was back in my C/C account next day.

One thing to watch is whether booking is cancelable , most of them those days are but terms vary from 1-7 days before arrival but still there are   some which are non-refundable.  

[gerefan]

3 hours ago, vinapu said:

when you consider that in price is included PRC test which is quite costly and deduct it form total price you paid  suddenly deals become much sweeter.

Not only that, but they have to provide transport to Pattaya which would cost you 1500 baht (£35) for an equivalent taxi!

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Londoner said:

I trust Agoda; I bought my (very expensive) ASQ there. Plenty available in BKK, only one in Pattaya. It cost £120! but Agoda reimburses cancellations up to the day of departure. I'm hoping that airport tests will sooner or later replace the overnight stay.

By the way, rather cynically, I wonder if the ASQ hotels are lobbying the government to keep the present system going? Some of them must be making a mint.

£120 is about 5280 baht.  

My ASQ hotel is at an almost identical price point.

For that, I get:

1  Transport from the airport to central Bangkok  ~500 baht ?    (Admittedly I use the rail link normally)

2  A PCR test which costs about 2700 if I get one privately in Bangkok.

So that leaves 2000 to cover the hotel, complete with 3 meals included.    Since I'm confined to the room, I've gone for a spacious and nicely appointed room & would imagine that goes for more than 2000 normally.

 

[reader]

From Richard Barrow Twitter site

Over the last three weeks, 262,008 people have applied for #ThailandPass out of which 206,814 have received approval. So far, 33,303 applications were rejected. Many of these were rejected because they did not book a SHA+ hotel package that included RT-PCR test & hotel transfer.

[Guest]

12 hours ago, reader said:

From Richard Barrow Twitter site

Over the last three weeks, 262,008 people have applied for #ThailandPass out of which 206,814 have received approval. So far, 33,303 applications were rejected. Many of these were rejected because they did not book a SHA+ hotel package that included RT-PCR test & hotel transfer.

Out of those rejected applications, I'd imagine many would be feckless tourists who are too lazy to read the regulations. So they deserve the result they get.

In the covid era, in the few weeks before traveling,  I actually do something I don't normally bother with & have a look at facebook to see what can be learnt off other travelers about arrival processes, quarantine hotels etc. 

Some are very helpful. Others just ask questions when it's obvious they have neither read the regulations nor the information already in the facebook "Thailand Reopening" page.  

Quitting following facebook after this pre-trip research period is no problem at all.

[reader]

From Thai Enquirer

Covid numbers not spiking three weeks after reopening

It has been three weeks since the country reopened to vaccinated tourists and there has been no spike in the number of daily Covid cases, according to data released by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation (CCSA) on Tuesday.

A total of 90,737 air passengers arrived between November 1 and 22. Of that, 118 or 0.13 per cent tested positive for Covid.

From the total number of passengers, 69,809 went through the “Test & Go” procedure which is what the CCSA is calling the one-night quarantine and test period.

This option is only available to vaccinated tourists from 63 designated countries and territories so far.

The remaining 16,997 have entered tourist sandboxes or the “Blue Zone” in 17 destinations which comes with a seven days quarantine period within these destinations, 1,426 entered seven-day quarantine facilities and 2,505 entered 10-day quarantine facilities.

At the same time, the daily number of Covid cases in the general Thai population (excluding cases found in prisons and imported cases) continued to decline from 7,049 confirmed cases on November 2 to 5,014 cases on November 23.

The top ten nationals that have arrived between November 1 and 22 including 11,032 from the United States, 9,469 from Germany, 7,824 from the Netherlands, 4,354 from the United Kingdom, 3,984 from Japan, 3,677 from Russia, 3,350 from France, 3,255 from South Korea, 2,413 from the UAE and 2,317 from Israel.  

Despite the low numbers of infected arrivals and the continuous decline in the daily number of cases, Dr Apisamai Srirangsan, a deputy spokeswoman for the CCSA, said on Monday that some foreign tourists who came for business meetings within the tourist sandboxes were not following the Thai government’s Covid prevention guidelines, especially refusing to wear a facemask at a social gathering.

She warned that a tourist who entered the tourist sandboxes could still be fined up to 20,000 baht if they refused to wear a face mask at a social gathering or a public space.

https://www.thaienquirer.com/35219/covid-numbers-not-spiking-three-weeks-after-reopening/

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

From Bangkok Post

Thailand orders 30m more Pfizer doses

The cabinet on Tuesday approved a Department of Disease Control plan to buy 30 million more doses of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and expected a new generation of the vaccine that might be suitable for children, according to the government spokesman.

Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said the cabinet endorsed the department's plan to sign its "Third Amendment to Manufacturing and Supply Agreement" with Pfizer. The Public Health Ministry proposed the plan to the cabinet on Tuesday.

The newly amended agreement saw Thailand order a total of 60 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, he said.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, reader said:

The newly amended agreement saw Thailand order a total of 60 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, he said.

Good policy.

Allowing for a few anti-vaxxers and toddlers, that's approximately one Pfizer dose for everyone adult who wants one, if distributed fairly.

[Londoner]

My impression is that Thailand is less troubled by ideological (and sometimes quasi-religious) vaccine-deniers than some of us in the west. Is that true?  

[vinapu]

5 hours ago, Londoner said:

My impression is that Thailand is less troubled by ideological (and sometimes quasi-religious) vaccine-deniers than some of us in the west. Is that true?  

true,

people busy surviving have less time for idiocies

[Lucky]

The Washington Post must read this forum! Here's a summary of the rules for travel to Thailand:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/tips/thailand-travel-open-americans/

[spoon]

Another potential good news for those still considering travelling to thailand. In summary, proposal to change the requirement from pcr on arrival to antigen rapid test. Lets hope itll pass

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2221647/entering-thailand-may-get-easier-next-month

[vinapu]

if that passes I wonder what happens to people who purchased 'test and go 'packages including costly PCR tests- will they  get refund , still will be required to take PCR test as new rules will apply only to new Thai Pass applications? 

Just curious.

I guess we 'll learn soon enough.

I guess tourist arrivals are picking up because I noticed slight increase in hotel prices on Agoda in recent days

[spoon]

They have few options, partial refund, full refund in case u would like to stay somewhere else, or allow u to do the pcr on departure instead as some airline/country might require it. Or they can simply ignore and says this bew ruling only apply to new thai pass applicants.

[vinapu]

it looks that they are changing testing regime to antigen from Dec 16th so practically  it  applies to new Thai Pass registrants