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You mean I can get paid for doing that?

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.

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.

Those of us who buy sim cards on arrival will soon have fewer--if practically none--choices in the future. From Bangkok Post Telecom firms Total Access Communication Plc (DTAC) and True Corporation Plc have agreed to merge, to pursue new tech business and raise venture capital for startups. The merger plan was approved by their respective executive boards on Friday and their decisions forwarded to the Stock Exchange of Thailand on Monday. The two companies on Monday also signed a memorandum of understanding for an equal partnership to form a new merged firm to pursue tech business. The companies said that Citrine Global Company, a joint venture of Telenor Asia, the parent firm of DTAC, and Charoen Pokphand (CP) Holding, the parent firm of True, would make a conditional voluntary tender offer for all shares of the two firms - 5.09 baht per one share in True and 47.76 baht per one share in DTAC. Norway's Telenor and CP issued a separate joint statement, that both True and DTAC will enter into equal partnership to form a new tech firm that will pursue new tech businesses, create a digital ecosystem and set up a fund to support startups. https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2219499/true-dtac-formally-announce-merger-plan

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

I appreciate the good intentions of ex-pats living in Thailand who have been warning about the potential for disappointment if we arrive in the near future. But I'm at that age where I don't really know who many trips I have ahead. For me, the future is at hand. I last left Bangkok in March of 2020. I'm hoping to return in February--a month shy of a two-year absence. I can't account for ether what has happened during that period of what I will find when I arrive. The only thing I do have control over is the decision to remain home or to go. I don't need--or expect--it to be exactly the same place. What I need are the sights, sounds and--yes--smells of Bangkok. I want to be in a place where I'm free to be the myself. I first found that place nearly 20 years ago and I'm not ready to part with what has become a ritual for me. I'm grateful for those members--expat and tourist alike-- who have shared their Bangkok and Pattaya experiences with us. They showed us that it's still possible to enjoy yourself amid much tighter restrictions then we would now encounter. They helped keep hope alive. I think know about what Jim Morrison (The Doors, "Light My Fire") advised in 1967: The time to hesitate is through No time to wallow in the mire Try, now we can only lose And our love become a funeral pyre

From Pattaya Mail Entertainment venues ask government to speed up the reopening The National Security Council (NSC) has indicated that discussions will take place next week over relaxing Covid curbs on additional activities such as entertainment venues, bars, pubs, and karaoke places. The prime minister will then make a decision before December 1 whether the relaxation will be implemented. National Security Council chief Gen. Supoj Malaniyom said further assessment is required before entertainment venues, pubs, bars, and karaoke places can be allowed to open. He said the government was concerned for the businesses and the prime minister had been calling for the plights of all groups of businesses to be addressed. Gen. Supoj referred to requests from a group representing pubs, bars and musicians asking for the government to speed up the reopening of entertainment venues. Although entrepreneurs representing the group had asserted they were ready to adhere to COVID-19 prevention measures, the group was told that the situation did not favor a reopening of the venues on December 1. The plans and proposals submitted by the representatives will be presented to the prime minister. The NSC secretary-general said the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration will be evaluating the situation once more next week and will present its findings to the prime minister for consideration before December 1. Gen. Supoj added that the number of countries and territories whose nationals will be allowed to enter Thailand without quarantine will be re-evaluated on December 1, but a full lifting of restrictions in all provinces was not yet at hand. (NNT) https://www.pattayamail.com/coronavirus/entertainment-venues-in-thailand-ask-government-to-speed-up-the-reopening-380000

I don't see an any anti-gay intentions in the scheme to attract more tourists from India and the Middle East. The reverse may even factor into the decision. Gays from both locations don't have many ways to gather comfortably in their home countries and have been finding their way to Thailand in the same way way have. If the plan can attract more to Thailand it will increase diversity of tourists--gay and straight--and that can only be a good thing in the long run.

From Pattaya Mail Thai government to back gay rights bill By Barry Kenyon Following an expected ruling by the constitutional court which limits the definition of marriage to opposite-sex couples, the government has agreed to speed up a draft law to protect all genders. Deputy prime minister Wissanu Krea-ngam pointed out the court ruling did include a suggestion that parliament could change section 1448 of the civil and commercial code which discriminated on the grounds of sexual orientation. Two stalled bills are currently within parliamentary committees. One would allow full gay marriage for gays and the other limits the legal protection to civil unions. Mr Wissanu’s announcement appears to support the second and more limited version. One of the main differences is that full gay marriage is required for same-sex partners to enjoy anti-discrimination rights in employment and pension legislation. Depending on the detail, Thailand is scheduled to be the first country in Asia to enshrine legal equality for gays. Taiwan is often quoted as the first nation to permit full gay equality, although there are restrictions. For instance, citizens cannot marry a foreigner. Depending on the drafting process and the enthusiasm of the government parties, a new law could see the light of day sometime next year. If a general election was called, that could create an indefinite delay. https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/news/thai-government-to-back-gay-rights-bill-379744

From Bangkok Post Govt explains delay in reopening entertainment venues The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration has given two reasons for delaying the reopening of entertainment places, and said operators must improve disease control standards. Apisamai Srirangson, a spokeswoman for the CCSA, admitted on Friday that when the government postponed their reopening from December to Jan 16 the operators of entertainment venues were bitterly disappointed. One reason for the delay was that the country had not been able to bring the number of new daily Covid-19 cases to below 5,000 and fatalities continued at about 50 a day, she said. The other reason was the Public Health Ministry and local organisations said the operators of entertainment venues had not registered compliance with the Covid-19 control standard, known as Amazing Thailand Safety and Health Administration Plus (SHA+), Dr Apisamai said. The standard was mandatory for reopening, she said. "Please improve your premises ... Whether reopening will happen or not does not depend on the decision of CCSA, but on the readiness of the premises themselves," Dr Apisamai said. Covid-19 vaccination of staff of entertainment venues was among the criteria of the SHA+ standard. Details of the standard were available from the Department of Health, she said. Premises that met the standard would get an SHA+ sign from the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Visitors would look for such signs at entertainment venues, Dr Apisamai said. Under the CCSA's plan, from Nov 16 to Jan 15 the Interior and Public Health ministries would enforce disease control and ventilation regulations and officials would evaluate the reopening readiness of entertainment places. From Jan 16 onwards, entertainment places would reopen only in high surveillance, surveillance and tourism pilot zones. Places that cause Covid-19 outbreaks would be closed. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2218367/govt-explains-delay-in-reopening-entertainment-venues

Sorry to see this. I've used Air Asia for border runs and short trips. They got you from A to B for unbeatable prices and friendly crews. From Bangkok Post Thai AirAsia lays off staff amid aviation woes Thai AirAsia (TAA) has announced mass layoffs and extended furloughs after struggling with the impact of the pandemic, despite the country's reopening on Nov 1. Tassapon Bijleveld, executive chairman of Asia Aviation (AAV), the largest shareholder of TAA, made the announcement to TAA's employees on Wednesday, indicating that the real situation in terms of the aviation outlook remains unstable, prompting the company to reduce its fleet size next year and consequently reduce its workforce to maintain financial stability over the long run. "Even though we've negotiated with suppliers and banks to help offload aircraft leasing costs, and we may get additional liquidity after restructuring this month, our balance sheet cannot be strong enough if those expenses still run. We have to permanently cut the fleet for at least two years or until international and domestic flights fully recover," Mr Tassapon said at the internal meeting. https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2217999/thai-airasia-lays-off-staff-amid-aviation-woes

From Bangkok Post The cabinet has approved a new campaign called "Visit Thailand Year 2022" to promote tourism, while the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has established a committee to oversee pandemic-related obstacles for the industry. "The Tourism Authority of Thailand will oversee the campaign to draw foreign visitors to travel in Thailand using a budget drawn from both the government and private sector. The campaign will focus on Chiang Mai, Phuket, Nakhon Ratchasima and Ayutthaya," Mr Phiphat said. TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn said the goal of the campaign is to hit a hotel occupancy rate of 50% in targeted provinces. "We will focus on the Middle East and Indian markets in the coming year." https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2217323/new-2022-tourism-campaign-gets-nod

From The Thaiger / TTR Weekly Scoot announces new service between Singapore and London Gatwick via Bangkok Low-cost carrier Scoot, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, has confirmed a new service between Singapore and London, via Bangkok. TTR Weekly reports that the new service will launch on December 16. The announcement means Scoot is the only low-cost airline offering non-stop flights between Bangkok Suvarnabhumi and London. The flight to Gatwick Airport will also be Scoot’s first service to the UK. Its parent company, Singapore Airlines, currently offers non-stop flights between Singapore and London Heathrow. Following its December 16 launch, the Scoot schedule to London Gatwick is expected to operate 3 times a week from March 2022 and frequency could increase further, subject to demand and regulatory approval. The low-cost carrier will use the Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the Singapore – Gatwick route, offering seats in both Economy and ScootPlus, its premium cabin. Scoot currently has 20 Dreamliners in its fleet. The addition of the London Gatwick route means the low-cost carrier will be serving over 30 destinations from December 16, in a gradual return to the 68 cities it served prior to the pandemic. The low-cost airline currently offers daily flights between Singapore and Bangkok. https://thethaiger.com/news/regional/singapore/scoot-announces-new-service-between-singapore-and-london-gatwick-via-bangkok

From Channel News Asia TOKYO: In a major shift for a country long closed to immigrants, Japan is looking to allow foreigners in certain blue-collar jobs to stay indefinitely starting as early as the 2022 fiscal year, a justice ministry official said on Thursday (Nov 18). Under a law that took effect in 2019, a category of "specified skilled workers" in 14 sectors such as farming, construction and sanitation have been allowed to stay for up to five years, but without their family members. The government had been looking to ease those restrictions, which had been cited by companies as among reasons that they were hesitant to hire such help. If the revision takes effect, such workers - many from Vietnam and China - would be allowed to renew their visas indefinitely and bring their families with them, as the other category of more skilled foreigners are allowed to do now. Immigration has long been taboo in Japan as many prize ethnic homogeneity, but pressure has mounted to open up its borders due to an acute labour shortage given its dwindling and ageing population. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/japan-labour-blue-collar-jobs-foreigners-immigration-2321631

From Thai Enquirer When Thailand’s same sex marriage bill was blocked by a panel of Constitutional Court judges on Thursday, the LGBTIQ+ community was devastated. Many believed that the bill would finally be taken seriously. But the LGBTIQ+ community’s doubts were confirmed when the court judges dismissed it. Activists say the ruling signals that Thailand’s conservative elite is still not ready to offer them equal rights. Nattawut Buaprathum, deputy party leader of Move Forward Party, told Thai Enquirer that it seems like it’s still going to take more time. “The court ruled citing section 1448 of Thailand’s Civil and Commercial Code, that only marriage between men and women is constitutional,” Nattawut says. “But they also agreed that Thailand is becoming more diverse.”. Section 1448 under the constitution says that only men and women above the age of 17 are able to marry. https://www.thaienquirer.com/35105/lgbtiq-community-calls-for-greater-rights-as-same-sex-bill-denied/

From Bangkok Post Nearly a third of total job losses in five Asian countries were linked to tourism, with an estimated 1.6 million jobs lost, according to the International Labour Organization. Evidence from Brunei, Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam showed that job losses in tourism-related sectors in 2020 were four times greater than in non-tourism industries, the United Nations labour agency said on Thursday. n Brunei, the tourism sector was hard hit, with employment and average working hours contracted by about 40% and 21% respectively. It was the country that saw the largest difference between employment losses in tourism and non-tourism related sectors. In Mongolia, tourism employment and average working hours contracted by about 17% and 13% respectively. In the Philippines, employment in the sector contracted by 28%, compared to an 8% loss in non-tourism related sectors. Workers in the tourism-related sector working zero hours per week rose two thousand-fold. In Thailand, average wages in the tourism sector decreased by 9.5% as workers moved into lower-paid jobs, while average working hours declined by 10%. In the first quarter of 2021, employment was below pre-Covid numbers in all tourism-related sub-sectors except for food and beverage serving activities. In Vietnam, average tourism wages fell by nearly 18%, with the decline for women employees even higher at almost 23%. https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2217731/a-third-of-job-losses-in-asia-linked-to-tourism-ilo

Credit: Richard Barrow Twitter site

There's no shortage of helpful--and not so helpful--information out there on how to succeed in getting your Thai Pass successfully completed. Richard Barrow today posted that one of the reasons that some get instant approval for their vaccination certificate if they come from one of the 30 countries who share a PKI key (tools used to create and manage public keys for encryption, which is a common method of securing data transfers on the internet. PKI is built into all web browsers used today, and it helps secure public internet traffic). =============================== Border runs to return? Land borders are still closed to tourists. However, with the reopening of Cambodia, and hints that Thailand will re-open their land borders to more people, visa runs might be a possibility again. This, together with #ThailandReopening, might mean the end of the “visa amnesty”. Credit: Richard Barrow Twitter site

From The Loyalty Lobby International Passengers who are in the process of leaving from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport will be impacted by renovation efforts on the security check and passport control zones. Airports of Thailand (AOT) has announced that they will close certain areas of the departure hall in order to facilitate the improvements over the next two months. Suvarnabhumi Airport will make over the security check and passport control Zones 1-2 on the fourth floor of its passenger terminal as part of the on-going works to further enhance service quality. The improvement at Thailand’s main air hub will be carried out between 15 November and 5 January 2022 in such a way that it will not affect departure international passengers, said Mr. Kittipong Kittikachorn, General Manager of Suvarnabhumi Airport. Under the improvement, the security check point and international departure passport check point Zone 1 (behind the Row A check-in counter) will serve first class and premium passengers, air crew and those in need of special assistance. On the other hand, the waiting area for passport check for international departure passenger at Zone 2 (Fast Track area) will be expanded. The renovation is due to start with Zone 1 that will be closed for service. Zone 2 will be closed for the improvement after works at Zone 1 are done and re-opened for service. Following the makeover of Zone 1, the number of passport check counters will be increased to 13, from six currently; the waiting area for passport check will jump to 348 square metres (SQM), from 80 SQM now; and the processing capability of passport checks boosted to 660 per hour from 232 people at the moment. However, during the renovation of the security checkpoint Zone 1, Royal First Class and Royal Silk Class passengers and air crew of Thai Airways International can make use of the Fast Track facility at Zone 2 instead temporarily. Mr Kittipong noted that the improvement of security check in the Fast Track area of Zone 2 is aimed at turning it entirely into a service area for security and passport control for only economy class passengers. Eight passport control counters will be added there to bring the total number to 28, while the waiting area for passport check for departure passengers in Zone 2 will be expanded by 260 SQM to 860 SQM to tackle congestion problems in the terminal. Suvarnabhumi has coordinated with all relevant units such as the Airline Operators Committee Thailand (AOC) and airlines about the renovations of Zone 1 and 2 which would take 52 days. It was agreed that the improvement should not affect the service of departure passengers because the areas will be gradually closed at a time and there are other areas set aside for the service. Meanwhile, the waiting area for security screening will be doubled to 114 SQM from 50 SQM now, with three X-ray machines being added to the two currently in operation. https://loyaltylobby.com/2021/11/15/bangkok-suvarnabhumi-airport-security-check-passport-control-renovation-through-january-5-2022/

From VN Express National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines will operate its first regular direct flight to the U.S. on November 28, achieving a dream conceived nearly two decades ago. The flight will depart from HCMC in the evening and arrive at San Francisco 13 hours and 50 minutes later, CEO Le Hong Ha said at a press briefing Tuesday. The return flight will leave San Francisco on the evening of November 29 (U.S. time) and arrive in HCMC on December 1, 16 hours and 40 minutes later. The wide-body aircraft Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner will be used for the direct flights. Initially, there will be two flights a week and this can be increased to seven when the pandemic situation is under control, Ha said. Vietnam Airlines thus becomes the first Vietnamese carrier to operate regular flight route to the U.S. https://e.vnexpress.net/news/business/companies/vietnam-airlines-direct-flight-to-us-takes-off-next-week-4386594.html

From Channel News Asia KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is aspiring to become the hepatitis C treatment hub for Asia, with promises of treatment at a fraction of current costs. Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said that Malaysia is poised to offer affordable and efficacious treatments for those infected with the virus. This is made possible as Malaysia is the first country in the world to be given conditional approval for the use of Ravidasvir in combination with Sofosbuvir to treat hepatitis C. “I hope Malaysia, launched today as a destination for Hep C treatment will offer those suffering from this disease access to more effective, accessible, and crucially more affordable solutions,” Mr Khairy said in a keynote address at a medical travel conference on Tuesday (Nov 16). A 12-week cost of treatment for hepatitis which in Malaysia could come up to RM356,000 (US$84,000), a factor that prohibits many from seeking treatment. Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had said previously that it is possible to get a 12-week treatment using Ravidasvir and a generic version of Sofosbuvir at a cost of US$100 by getting it produced locally. The hepatitis C virus, which is transmitted through blood, can cause liver cirrhosis, scarring and cancer if untreated. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/malaysia-hepatitis-c-medical-tourism-2316876

From Bangkok Post Myanmar will reopen its land borders with China and Thailand from next month due to improvements in its Covid-19 vaccination rate, its information ministry said on Tuesday. The reopening, for which no specific date was set, would be followed by resumption of air travel in the first quarter of next year, the ministry said in a statement. https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2216471/myanmar-to-reopen-land-borders-with-thailand-china-next-month

Richard Barrow published the following numbers for top 10 “countries of origin” for people flying to Thailand from 1-14 November. The figures do not distinguish how many entered under COE and those arriving on Thai Pass. 1 USA 7,999 2 UAE 7,935 3 Germany 5,648 4 United Kingdom 2,706 5 Japan 2,530 6 France 1,953 7 Russia 1,875 8 South Korea 1,729 9 Israel 1,532 10 Switzerland 1,507