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Home » Reader Submission » February should be a peak tourist month, but….. (readers' submission)
Better times for the Covid pandemic
A friend of mine traveled from his mountain village to Chiangmai yesterday. He has a stall where he used to sell pancakes, Pad Thai and Burritos on the bridge of the Loi Kroh.
He didn't assume Chiangmai was overrun with tourists, but hoped there was at least something to do, as he hasn't sold anything in two years. He showed me the streets around the Night bazaar at 20.00pm. It was saddening. Completely extinct. Not a single stall and all shops closed. It's all 'For Rent'. 'For Rent' and 'For Rent'. Even the store of the former Burger King (a prime location) was empty and for rent.
February should be a peak month. It is incomprehensible that Thailand does not allow fully vaccinated tourists with a PCR test in advance and a rapid test on arrival. Which tourist wants that hassle with Thailand Pass, medical insurance, being locked up in a hotel for another PCR test for 2x a day?
Submitted by Adrian
Apparently it is not only the Thailand Pass, medical insurance and being locked up twice a day for tourists that is the reason why it is quiet in Chiang Mai and Thailand in general.
Apparently it is also quiet with the domestic tourism of the Thai itself.
I just looked up the number of fatal corona cases in Thailand.
Today it is 27 and in the last 46 days it has only been higher once, which is 1.
I suppose the Thai is also taking it easy financially and trying to avoid large groups of people in tourist areas.
But indeed with all the restrictive measures for tourists, many do not feel the need to go on holiday to Thailand. This also applies to other holiday destinations.
That PCR obsession where the extremely deep samples are also run with a super high number of cycles in Thailand will soon be over. Many countries are now open without too much hassle and more will open soon, including here in the region.
And not to forget: the risk of being found positive on arrival or on day 5 and then, even if you have no symptoms, being confronted with high costs for isolation in a hospital or 'hospitel'.
The Office of the Insurance Commission of Thailand, the official regulator of insurers, recently ruled that Thai insurers will no longer reimburse non-medically necessary costs for asymptomatic cases. Contracts concluded before that date will remain in force.
https://www.asiainsurancereview.com/News/View-NewsLetter-Article/id/79270/Type/eDaily/Thailand-Criteria-tightened-for-COVID-related-health-insurance-claims
https://www.thaipbsworld.com/mild-asymptomatic-covid-19-cases-not-entitled-to-claim-under-new-insurance-rules/
Well what can I say just back from the Dominican Republic there you could walk over the heads from the airport to the beach, so to speak.
Maja there are also virtually no entry restrictions for a longer period of time, tourists do not like continuous uncertainty about their holiday.
And the time when Asia was known as unique and cheap is also slowly over, they will really have to make a choice before next winter what they will do with corona measures.
And if these are too strict, have to accept that tourists and therefore money and a lot of money will stay away.
First you have to take care of your flight ticket, the correct hotel bookings, and a mandatory insurance policy that is prepared to issue an English written statement with the required insurance sums, and then the procedure begins to apply for a possible E visa.
As I have already seen online, they ask for a Non immigration 0, even if you are married to a Thai, add to the usual documents and now also ask for an income or bank receipt.
I used to find the wage or income question on the TM6 form, which everyone on the plane had to fill out, more than ridiculous.
If I didn't have enough income, first of all I would never take on such a trip, and in case I would think a thousand times to marry one of their Thai nationals.
Anyway, that aside, but when you finally have done all the bookings, visa, and insurance fuss. Scanning and applying for this Thai pass still starts, where you still don't know whether you are at the mandatory PCR test at home, or will remain negative upon arrival.
Apart from the fact that many are not so fit on a computer for the application of a Thai pass, I think that many will move to countries that will organize it a bit more tourist-friendly.
I have been on a road trip through northern Thailand for 16 days and currently in Loei. Now I'm starting the isaan for a few weeks. There are certainly Thai tourists on the way, but not as many as usual. The better hotels are fairly full.
What is striking is that you do not see any farangs. Last week we were in Chiang Mai and things are indeed sad there. Very many shops closed and only a few farang seen. Chiang Mai owes it to itself because they don't want to modernize, everything is old and dirty. They can take an example from Chiang Rai where everything is much more modern with many new hotels and, indeed, quite a few farang to see.
Thailand is going in the wrong direction because of their pride and their stupid policy people. Or maybe they are smart about their own wallets? The common people have to figure it out, the elite don't give a damn about the common man and try to double their billion baht.
My house is in Huahin and it is also sad there, also a lot of vacancy and the bars and restaurants that are open have only a few customers.
What I have also experienced several times is that Thai people are averse to farangs and step aside, afraid of being infected.
Yes, the beautiful land of smiles no longer exists.
Your house is in Hua Hin? Is that possibly a different Hua Hin than the one in Prachuabkhirikhan where I am?
Admittedly it's not a season as we knew before covid. But the beach chairs are almost 50% full anyway. And the bars (sorry, "restaurants") are crowded.
Okay, Soi Binthabat is empty. And there is not much going on in the entire old center. But Baan Khun Por actually hasn't had a bad day in the past two years. And Soi 94 is bustling.
Crying is easy. But please don't make things worse than they are.
For the doubters: put everything together and just come. Don't let negative stories scare you. There's plenty to do here. And you are very welcome.
Pretending the situation more positively than reality is just as bad as crying along.
I was in Hua Hin last week and it was sad indeed. When I hear the stories of others, it is just the same in many other touristic places.
As long as the tourists are not welcomed with open arms, the situation will not get any better, whatever they say.
Indeed, few foreign tourists, and I think that will continue to be the case throughout this year if the current restrictions are not lifted. But averse to farang? Nothing noticed. I've just been back a few weeks, I've been in Lopburi, Udon, Nongkhai and Jomtien in over 4 weeks and I really didn't experience it that way. Just the same as always, provided of course you have your face mask on everywhere, including outside, otherwise they will (rightly) look at you crookedly.
I was in Central Pattaya last week and I also noticed that there were a lot of farangs walking around with their masks under their chins. The Thai themselves have a bit more discipline in this area.
We had booked 2 nights in a hotel just outside the center and it was terribly empty there. In the late afternoon we had the pool to ourselves. During breakfast there were 3 tables occupied. Quite exceptional situations for a city like Pattaya.
As a retired farang, married to my dear Thai wife, I would have loved to visit the family in my home country.
I haven't been outside Thailand for almost 3 years. All the restrictions imposed on us (when returning to Thailand) prevent me from traveling to Europe.
Some friends and family have also asked me for advice about a holiday here in Thailand. I have advised them not to do this for the time being.
We have been coming to Thailand for years (since 1992) and enjoy it very much.
In March 2020, left Huahin at the last minute with KLM.
For us, Thailand will not be back until all rules and pcr tests have been abolished.
Not to mention the extra compulsory insurance.
A good health insurance and travel insurance is sufficient in my opinion.
So I hope, also for the Thai population, that the "government" will allow tourists again as before.
I've been living in Northern Thailand for years, don't go out much, let alone travel within Thailand which I was used to doing.
With Corona you have become careful.
You can travel internationally, but if you get a test somewhere that is not good, you cannot go back home in Thailand for the time being, ie only with an expensive, expensive quarantine.
All the paperwork to return to Thailand in good health is therefore secondary and more complicated.
What is indeed striking is that there are few foreign tourists in the picture at the moment, mostly Thai tourists (who then use the electric tram for the tour in the city and which is an indicator for tourism in the area)
Soon I will be forced to go to the coast in the South because of the rising air pollution, which is a luxury problem for me.
However, the locals have little choice to leave and spending money on an air purifier is not a priority.
And can you imagine today's message in the Telegraaf that it is expected that travel to distant destinations, including the Far East and Thailand in particular, will run a storm because Thailand has also lifted all restrictions.
How do you come up with that.
People go and are on vacation and don't feel like doing administration or worse… locked up in an expensive hotel. They already have enough administration in their home country. As long as they don't act in Thailand like they used to, it will be very difficult to attract tourists. to get.
Lionel.
It can be called sad.
I am now in Bangkok and need to stay here for 6 nights.
I was tested in the Netherlands and on arrival in Bangkok.
I wanted to continue to Udon Thani after the first test, but that is not allowed.
There are no hotels in Udon that perform the second test.
I'm on my way to my wife, but if I'd just been a tourist, I wouldn't have given up on this.
It takes a week to get a visa.
To get a Tailand pass another week further.
2 x take out insurance because the first time nothing was mentioned that your insurance must be 10 days longer than your stay, then AXA only responded 3 days later to extend your insurance and in my case that was much too late to travel to Thailand pass on time. So drama.
Please note if you do travel to Thailand, if you arrive in Bangkok and want to fly to Phuket for example after 1 day, that you are on 1 of 2 flights per day that comply with the Covid rules. I have now spoken to many people who had booked a flight that you are not allowed to take as a 1x tested…. money gone.
The night bazaar is closed on Sundays. No stalls on the street. This is because the walking street is open on Sundays, as previously reported.