Just saw this posted by Richard Barrow on facebook, I put the link to the story underneath it but unfortunately it's in Thai, hopefully an english version appears soon. For those that went over with Test and Go well done as you may have beaten this one, I think it will be interesting to see if it does get discussed or not and if it does what outcomes they come up with. I believe it's the emergence of the omicron and that it's getting into Thailand that is fueling this train of thought, if it is it may well be a case of a little too late going by todays Thai news.

 BREAKING: According to Thai media, the Minister of Public Health said in an interview today that he will propose to the CCSA to cancel Test and Go and bring back quarantine for everyone. This is expected to be discussed soon. Thailand has found 63 Omicron cases & 20 more are pending results.

Quarantine travel proposal

khaosod English story

63 cases in nation of 70 million seems not excessively alarming at all. I think world enters phase of idiocy over this. And no, I, m not Corona sceptic nor covid denier, fully vaxed etc. 

I'm afraid that at one point impatient nations will elect really dangerous leader who will promise to end this lunacy. And THAT would be truly disastrous outcome of whole pandemic.

Whether or not you support quarantine, I predict this policy is likely to be shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.  Omicron is likely to already be in circulation.

Rational policy would have been to introduce test and go, or even restriction free travel months ago, at a time when most nations had delta, because Thailand had the same variant.

Then when Omicron appears, if Thailand favours quarantine, do it immediately, to delay introduction of Omicron to Thailand. Once Omicron is here, quarantine is too late.

Also, some of the tourist regions probably can't take more of these daft restrictions.  There are already lots of closed businesses. 

It appears that everyone in Thailand has already had the option of 2 or more vaccines, so opening up and getting on with life ought to be the way forward.

 

1 hour ago, vinapu said:

63 cases in nation of 70 million seems not excessively alarming at all. I think world enters phase of idiocy over this. And no, I, m not Corona sceptic nor covid denier, fully vaxed etc. 

I'm afraid that at one point impatient nations will elect really dangerous leader who will promise to end this lunacy. And THAT would be truly disastrous outcome of whole pandemic.

I agree ,It seems that the Omicron is more contagious but not more lethal . Unfortunately governments all over the world are making lot of idoicity and histeric decisions these days and I won't be surprised if the Thai government shutdown the borders again soon.

5 hours ago, TMax said:

 

BREAKING: According to Thai media, the Minister of Public Health said in an interview today that he will propose to the CCSA to cancel Test and Go and bring back quarantine for everyone. This is expected to be discussed soon. 

Quarantine travel proposal

khaosod English story

Indeed, this is just a proposal at the moment.  I imagine to be put to the CCSA meeting on Friday (Fridays, the daily meeting is chaired by the PM).

The Public Health Ministry will recommend the suspension of the "Test and Go" convenient entry programme for fully vaccinated air travellers because of the escalating Omicron variant situation worldwide.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/.../test-go-entry-may-be...

3 hours ago, Boy69 said:

I agree ,It seems that the Omicron is more contagious but not more lethal . Unfortunately governments all over the world are making lot of idoicity and histeric decisions these days and I won't be surprised if the Thai government shutdown the borders again soon.

Hope if   they do after I leave if at all

Any chance of a variant of the Phuket sandbox scheme for those of us visiting Bangkok or Pattaya? Any quarantine longer than the one night makes my trip a no-no. And there's the small matter of the return to the UK to consider....

Friends have said that the higher ups will initiate a 7 days quarantine for all.

6 hours ago, z909 said:

Rational policy

In Thailand?  Please give me about 15 minutes to finish having my little laugh.

And if you really want to start laughing, that controversial health minister - the one who called us "dirty farang" announced today that he is "ready to be Thailand's next Prime Minister".

Left hand forgot to tell right hand about some changes (easing) to test and go arrivals recently announced, such as allowing for a journey of up to 5 hours from point of entry.

https://www.tatnews.org/2021/12/thailand-reopening-exemption-from-quarantine-test-go/

Of course a day is a long time in this covid journey in every country.   The Greek alphabet has a way to go. 

2 hours ago, TotallyOz said:

Friends have said that the higher ups will initiate a 7 days quarantine for all.

With a 30-day visa as the prize, a 7-day quarantine might as well be 30 days when measured in effect.

It would only be considered by returning citizens or retirees with residence in Thailand. And a small numbers of those on business.

 

I hope it will not happen. I really want to be in Thailand again. Dont want to reschedule my flights again

British Airways announced they were stopping their direct routes to Thailand again. Today there are reports in the Guardian that quarantine free travel is being considered. Not sure if they are quoting local media or whether they have their own sources. 

Don't panic yet! Some media report "back to quarantine", some media report "back to Sandbox scheme" (wouldnt be that bad but doesnt make any sense), so let's just wait and see what will happen in the end,probably nothing will happen (unless Omicron turns out to be a really bad guy)

for every 1 known case of omicron - there are likely hundreds unknown positive omicron with many asymptomatic, yet still contagious.  way too late to shut the borders anywhere 

of course, this doesn’t mean the politicians won’t make policy designed for propaganda w no practical effect 

Agreed.  The time for Omicron quarantine would have been as soon as they heard of it.   Now it's pointless. 

The UK recently introduced quarantine for a few African countries and has dropped it already, since it was a case of shutting the stable door weeks after the horse bolted.

I'll put this one here rather than start a new thread, until further notice and or discussions no doubt. Sorry for those that were about to apply.

BANGKOK — PM Prayut Chan-o-cha on Tuesday afternoon said Thailand will no longer accept any further applications from international travelers for quarantine exemption until further notice, starting today.

Prayut said he gave the order to suspend the “Test and Go” program during a meeting with the government’s coronavirus response center. Accordingly, the Thailand Pass system, which is required by travelers to forego quarantine provided that they test negative for COVID-19 on arrival, will stop accepting new applications.

However, people who have already applied will still be allowed to come.

Suspension of test n go applications

Another lunacy introduced by panicky politicians not knowing what to do. 

Nothing particular about Thailand as that is worldwide phenomen

I suspect the suspension will be reversed before Christmas , yes this 2021 Christmas. 

After claiming less than five days ago that Thailand should keep the country open to tourists and not panic, the PM has does just that. Not withstanding that indeed, TIT, it's still sending an unambiguous message: don't trust your vacation plans to Thailand. Worse, it pulls the rug from under the hospitality industry--and the hundreds of thousands whose livelihood depends upon it.

Heartened by the reports of the early arrivals, many of us have purchased air tickets, insurance and quarantine hotels. We have only ourselves to blame for trusting that the junta would make good on it's part of the arrangement.

Thailand was receiving the safest tourists, fully vaccinated and tested before and after arrival. Now it erroneously languishes under the misconception that it can prevent an Omicron outbreak by keeping out these very individuals. 

 

Richard Barrow is under the impression that "Test and Go" Thai Pass applications stop at midnight.  

So anyone who has the documents required to apply has little to lose by making an application quickly.

According to the official announcement, even those who have received approved Thailand Pass but have not yet arrived will experience a new wrinkle:

"Passengers who will arrive in Thailand under Test and Go and Sandbox Programme must undergo their 2nd COVID-19 test using the RT-PCR technique (not ATK self-test) at government-designated facilities (no additional cost)."

 

The joys of travel in trying times.

Yesterday I decided I needed a backup plan in case test-and-go was terminated, so I contacted the owner of the villa on Koh Samui and asked if I could extend my booking forward a few days to enable me to switch to the Sandbox program. I was assuming the 7-day Sandbox was a safe bet. Not possible as the villa is not SHA+.

Not to worry as there looked to be plenty of good SHA+ options available.

I thought adding the flight to Koh Samui to my international ticket would be the big problem. To qualify for Sandbox the domestric flight has to be part of the international booking. So I planned to call the airline first thing in the morning as in my time zone their office was closed.

Late in the evening before going to bed I looked at SHA+ options again and found they had shrunk dramatically on Expedia. Lots of 'you just missed out' notices on Agoda. A lot of people thinking the same thing as me?

So I rang the airline's 24 hour desk in London. No problem adding the flight at all.

The tough part turned out to be the easy part as the other bookings were painful to change. Everything was fully cancelable at no charge ..... except the quarantine fees at my first Bangkok hotel were not. Thai law. $180 gone. The Bangkok Airways flights were changable at no charge ..... but I ended up having to cancel and re-book as the on-line system could not accommodate the fact that I now only needed a one-way ticket while Bangkok Guy need a return ticket. $60 in cancellation fees plus waiting time on a long distance call attempting to get a customer representative to make the changes. 

Then there is a the cost of our new Koh Samui accommodation. Eye watering would be a fair assessment. 170% the cost of the villa, which was already a piece of self-indulgence. 

I had to submit the new arrangements to get a new Sandbox Thai Pass and luckily I did it straight away rather than leaving it until the morning. Almost instant approval. I guess a benefit of already being in the system. 

And now, after finishing my early morning calls, I log onto this Forum and find out that I would have been ok just leaving things alone.  

Ah well, rather an expensive insurance policy that you never use than an uninsured loss.

 

 

  

5 hours ago, reader said:

According to the official announcement, even those who have received approved Thailand Pass but have not yet arrived will experience a new wrinkle:

"Passengers who will arrive in Thailand under Test and Go and Sandbox Programme must undergo their 2nd COVID-19 test using the RT-PCR technique (not ATK self-test) at government-designated facilities (no additional cost)."

 

That's relative peanuts if it,s free

A second test just means a slight increase in the risk of failure and getting sent to a "COVID jail(hospital)"

Assuming they just send people to any local test centre.