Thai News

Thailand has taken a number of knee jerk responses to China's re-opening of its boarders to foreign travel even though there is a significant surge in covid cases in China.

Thailand is desperate to see the return of Chinese tourists and is also desperate to keep in China's good books. So instead of imposing border restrictions on Chinese visitors bring in covid, Thailand decided to avoid seeming to discriminate against Chinese visitors by applying covid based restrictions to all foreign inbound travellers.

And ludicrously Thailand decided to impose restrictions with hardly any advance notice. On Saturday Thailand announced that it would bar all incoming travellers that had not received a full dose of covid vaccination (typically 2 shots). It sent round a communication to all airlines to stop unvaccinated people from boarding flights arriving from Monday.

This lead to significant holiday cancellations, particularly from Russia, where vaccination coverage is low. Thai hoteliers loudly protested their loss of trade and seem to have persuaded Thai authorities to change their stance. So on Sunday Thailand changes its rules again and said unvaccinated people could board flights but would be tested on arrival.

Of course Thailand has not specified how such testing would take place, and what are the nightmare consequences should a traveller test positive for covid.

No doubt there will be further developments to follow.

Update: Total policy failure

10th January 2023. See article from thepattayanews.com

Thai Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul stated on January 9th, 2023 that a controversial rule to require proof of documentation of Covid vaccination to fly to Thailand will be canceled.

 

Offsite Comment: Nobody Won After the Recent Debacle

10th January 2023. See article from thepattayanews.com

Thai and Cambodian border police at Aranyaprathet and Pong Nam Ron have detailed new more complex rules for those who who extend their stay in Thailand via a visa run. The new entry stamp can be extended for a further month at immigration offices for 1,900 baht (US$50).

Borey San, Cambodian clearance officer, said applicants must register with a Pattaya tour and minibus operator in advance of heading for the border, seemingly giving Pattaya's numerous cowboy operators even more opportunities to rip off visitors.

The tour company must then send a copy of the passport to the border post of choice to ensure the applicant is eligible for renewal.

Unregistered individuals arriving at the frontier under their own steam will not be serviced the same day and would need to spend several days or a week pending review of their application.

Thai Visa Center offers the service, including all costs and including lunch, for 5,500 baht (US$140), including the Cambodian entry visa worth 1,150 baht (US$30) and minibus fare. The visa run price was about 2,500 Baht prior to the coronavirus epidemic.

Thailand is to scrap all emergency provisions as it seeks to boost a very fragile economic recovery.

Thailand is to cancel all requirements concerning the virus emergency from October 1st including those for incoming passengers as the kingdom gears up to abolish the Emergency Decree introduced at the end of March 2020. It comes with a growing realisation that lasting economic damage to the kingdom's foreign tourism industry and the overall economy has resulted from the measure which will take at least another year just to see the country recover lost economic ground and at least another two years after that again before the kingdom has any chance of witnessing visitor numbers like that seen in 2019.

Entry into Thailand for foreign travellers will be the same as existed before the start of 2020 with just a passport and immigration check-in on arrival. Specifically, this will mean passengers arriving in Thailand will not be asked for any information related to the virus including vaccine certificates or test results.

People should avoid sexual contact with foreigners in order to contain the spread of monkeypox, the Medical Council of Thailand advised this week.

Amorn Leelarasamee, a member of the Medical Council of Thailand, said he was uncertain whether monkeypox would become endemic in Thailand as the disease can be transmitted from person to person and from animal to person.

Amorn asked people who develop fever, a red rash and blisters to immediately take a monkeypox test and isolate themselves for 21 days. He also advised Thais to avoid sexual contact with foreigners as most monkeypox cases worldwide have been found in gay men.