vaughn

I agree with Vinapu on this. It's a risk, but a small one considering the number of arrivals and positive test rates on arrival. I think i saw the number of positive arrivals in the test&go scheme was 0.05, your risk of arriving with covid can be further minimized with proper precautions (N95 mask, self isolation before flying, window seat, good hygiene) depending on how much you are willing to do to mitigate the risk. I would put this risk along side 'mototaxi accident putting me in hospital', it could happen and ruin my holiday but will it stop me getting on one for a short trip. For others it might, for me it won't.

From what people were reporting in the Phuket sandbox it was generally less than 6 hours from test to result, but Bangkok might be another story. I think until a few weeks have passed and we see it working in action we won't know. If you're landing next week and don't have time to wait to find out, i would prepare for the possibility of extending to a second night or see what fees might apply to late check-out after 12pm. to be safe maybe pick a hotel that has partnered with a major hospital for testing and is close in proximity, confirm with the hotel they will be able to test at midnight or 1am when you arrive, find out what the latest checkout possible is before you need to book a second night.

I have mentioned in other threads that I plan to visit for the full month of April. I have booked my first week in Bangkok and the second in Pattaya with fully refundable hotels, from the second week (Songkran) I will decide whether i go back to Bangkok, stay in Pattaya, or explore elsewhere. If alcohol restrictions are in place with all gogos and bars closed in March, or if restrictions get any worse than they are as planned at Nov 1 'quarantine free', I will cancel. Here's hoping i will be writing my live trip report in 5 months time.

It depends on so many unknowns at the moment, i'm planning for April because i can't risk getting stuck and living in Australia adds another level of unknown to the return. If i could do Dec-Jan, i would wait until end of November to decide because right now they are trying to change the arrival process so the picture should be clearer by mid-late november.

I guess that the reason the tourism minister is even raising the entertainment venues issue is because he has heard the message loud and clear, the two groups of tourists who are likely to jump on a plane this high season are couples without kids or single guys, both of which *usually* enjoy nightlife and drinking. I'd give them a week or two, I'm sure they will announce something positive around nightlife reopening for December in provinces with high vaccination rates

I'll take it as a good sign that at least the tourism minister is raising the proposal. He obviously sees the need for entertainment venues if they want larger numbers of tourists to return.

Before the latest lockdowns i saw a lot of thais posting photos on twitter outside or at Krubb. Both VCK and Krubb are on my list to visit, they seem to have a good crowd of locals in their 20s going on weekends.

I haven't stayed at Crowne at Lumpini, but every other country i have stayed Crowne there is no issues with joiners. Western chains, particularly any 4 stars or above will not hassle you over guests or joiner fees.

The free spending rich, private jet traveling tourist isn't going to land anywhere that their coke stash will put them away for life 😅 On a serious note, if TAT want the big spenders they should be focusing on upper-middle class. This group loves to spend and show off their disposable income. The super rich don't spend as much outside of their bubble as TAT might think.

I wonder how this will impact the migrant workers doing border runs on tourist visas, i can imagine handing over another 500 baht a month might be significant to some of them. If it's an airport tax then fair enough, I don't really care, it will just make its way to a bunch of politicians bank accounts anyway.

I wonder what the reaction would be to a feature request asking to search hotels based on whether they are guest friendly 🤔 It is a little bit hilarious that they announce the launch of a site for searching for hotels, but the search functionality isn't implemented yet, very on brand for TAT.

Will there be the ability to travel to Thailand.. Yes Will it be quarantine free, easy, worthwhile (subjective) or taken up by tourists immediately.. No We're in uncharted territory with a government that makes snap decisions then poorly communicates them and then wraps it up in a nice bundle of bureaucracy, red tape and paperwork. I think giving them some more time to work it out would be wise, but there are some brave souls out there who might want to take a chance.

With the way Thai bureaucracy works it could take a couple of months haha. I'm planning and booking for my next trip to be April, i figure that should be enough time to sort out how reopening will work and hopefully get bars back to operation.

That caught my attention as well. I am no expert on the elite visa and rights within Thailand, but my understanding was that if you wanted to own land previously you had to do it under a trust or company with a Thai citizen (lawyer or partner etc) as the majority holder. I know that there are ways to game this and keep the asset safe but it sounded tedious. If this allows a foreign individual to own land and property that would be a big incentive.

https://thepattayanews.com/2021/09/14/tourism-authority-of-thailand-plans-to-propose-no-quarantine-tourism-under-one-sop-one-system-scheme-for-fully-vaccinated-foreigners/ It is refreshing to see some small steps in the right direction and a proposal that looks to standardize the process rather than adding another level of complication. The article has a lot more detail, but nothing is set in stone yet and decisions are a few weeks away.

I think i have asked maybe once or twice with working boys, usually after poor performance haha. The type of guys i am attracted to are usually fairly obviously gay, my main question is usually 'Are you bottom?' and then usual 'get to know you' kind of vetting.

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.

I had no idea importing 'pornographic material' was illegal in Thailand, does that include travelers bringing their own toys in their luggage or is it the sale of toys that is illegal? I'm guessing it's a law that is not exercised much? maybe there was an existing dispute with these two and the police or tea money was not paid on time.

I have no idea how you have come to this conclusion. Hotels have had to let go of a lot of their staff, close their kitchens, and in many cases completely close the doors. Bars aren't even allowed to serve drinks, so no one is 'surviving' as a bar. Bars have had to negotiate rent reductions from landlords just to hold on to their properties.

Always worth the risk. Congrats and good luck! it is good to read some happy news in these times.

It feels like a lifetime ago. I keep making new tentative plans in my schedule in the hope that we return to some semblance of normal, and can return to Thailand (or anywhere in SEA).. each time that dates comes and goes and i push it back another 3-6 months, forever in a blind optimistic hope that the return to normal can be as rapid as the disaster unfolded. Maybe 2022.

I am not sure, i believe we have been donating excess AZ supply to Papua New Guinea and some other pacific island nations but I can't be certain on numbers for that because we were already producing and sending AZ that way to help out. The health advice has been very confusing here, so the federal health advice at the moment is 'if you are under 40, you can still get AZ if you give informed consent and speak to your GP' but uptake has not been very high on that from my understanding. It seems like a lot of our population in that age group and some older age brackets are holding out for more Pfizer and Moderna supply. Even without the AZ changes we would likely be way behind in our vaccine rollout, our government has mismanaged the vaccination program from the start. source

I'd say you're spot on from what i've been reading. A similar thing happened in Australia with AZ when health advice emerged on not giving AZ to under 40s by our health agency (rightly or wrongly). We put a lot of our eggs in the AZ basket in Aus, then we didn't have the vaccine diversity to switch out to mRNA vaccines for under 40s to keep up with demand, resulting in a stunted and slow roll out. It seems to be a bit of a lesson in diversification for a lot of countries at the moment who put too much hope in a single supplier.

Yeah it's a bit of a mystery to me too. I have an appointment for my first pfizer shot this week, but it was also reported that QLD have low stock and may run out this week... so not really sure what will happen on my appointment day.

Some good news (or at least hope) coming out for us Australian's who have been sitting with complete uncertainty over our governments plan around reopening borders for outbound and inbound travel. No dates or details around the timeline yet, but at least it seems like some kind of plan is forming. Without getting into the politics of it for those who aren't aware, Australia has one of the lowest vaccination rates of the developed world, with supply shortages through mismanaged procurement, and a strategy that seemed to change frequently with no real direction. Now we have a four phase plan outlined below, it seems like the most optimistic news i've seen in recent months that travel is on the horizon.