Welcome to Thailandblog.nl
With 275.000 visits per month, Thailandblog is the largest Thailand community in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Sign up for our free e-mail newsletter and stay informed!
Newsletter
Language setting
Rate Thai Baht
Sponsor
Latest comments
- Johnny B.G: “I usually give a decent tip at the end to compensate.” This is what it's all about, right? Many Thais are stingy
- Nicky: The easiest way is through English. Using Dutch you usually get complete chaos,
- GeertP: Dear Frans Do you want to get married for the law or for Buddha? The latter has no consequences for your benefit provided you are not at the same time
- Freddy: Hello, I have never completed my tax return with the intention that the tax authorities will not see it... Never received a question in all these years, AI
- Johnny B.G: Could it also have something to do with the fact that 90 days is quite long? A 2-week stay request makes everything so much easier
- Sacri: Machine translations almost never work very well for unique tonal languages such as Thai or Chinese. Thais also has a complex
- walter: I still have the concern that many people just mess around (sorry for the expression used) and then go against the proverb
- Henk: For example, a large study in the leading medical journal The Lancet shows that worldwide more m
- Werner: Strange indeed. Alarm bells are going off everywhere and you don't notice any difference from before. My Thai wife already has me
- Eric Kuypers: Walter, your son will first have to obtain a work permit and the employer will apply for this. Does that go together with the word '
- Eric Kuypers: Frans, assuming that you now have the single state pension and a pension, things will certainly change upon marriage. Your AOW pension
- Eli: Everything has consequences. Take a look at the SVB website or place a search on this site. When you get married and you
- John: I don't think people with (small) children are allowed on the exit seats. The intention is that these people
- Aad: April is always very warm in Thailand, isn't it? Notice no difference from previous years And that people die from the
- Chris: There is also such a thing as mismanagement. I rented a 2-room apartment in Bangkok for 4.000 Baht per month (excl. water and electricity).
Sponsor
Bangkok again
Menu
Arrivals Bangkok Airport
DOSSIERS
Learning objectives and topics
- Background
- Activities
- Advertorial
- Diary
- Tax question
- Belgium question
- Sights
- Bizarre
- Buddhism
- Book reviews
- Column
- Corona crisis
- The Culture
- Diary
- Dating
- The week of
- Dossier
- To dive
- Economy
- A day in the life of…..
- Islands
- Food and drink
- Events and festivals
- Balloon Festival
- Bo Sang Umbrella Festival
- Buffalo races
- Chiang Mai Flower Festival
- Chinese New Year
- Full Moon Party
- Christmas
- Lotus Festival – Rub Bua
- Loy Krathong
- Naga Fireball Festival
- New Years Eve celebration
- Phi ta khon
- Phuket Vegetarian Festival
- Rocket festival – Bun Bang Fai
- Songkran – Thai New Year
- Fireworks Festival Pattaya
- Expats and retirees
- state pension
- Car insurance
- Banking
- Tax in the Netherlands
- Thailand tax
- Belgian Embassy
- Belgian tax authorities
- Proof of life
- DigiD
- emigrate
- To rent a house
- Buy a house
- In memoriam
- Income statement
- King's day
- Cost of living
- Dutch embassy
- Dutch government
- Dutch Association
- News
- Passing away
- Passport
- Retirement
- Drivers license
- Distributions
- Elections
- Insurance in general
- Visa
- work
- Hospital
- Health insurance
- Flora and fauna
- Photo of the week
- Gadgets
- Money and finance
- History
- Health
- Charities
- Hotels
- Looking at houses
- Isaan
- Khan Peter
- Koh Mook
- King Bhumibol
- Living in Thailand
- Reader Submission
- Reader call
- Reader tips
- Reader question
- Society
- marketplace
- Medical tourism
- Environment
- Nightlife
- News from the Netherlands and Belgium
- News from Thailand
- Entrepreneurs and companies
- Education
- Research
- Discover Thailand
- Opinions
- Remarkable
- Calls
- Floods 2011
- Floods 2012
- Floods 2013
- Floods 2014
- Winter prices
- Politics
- Poll
- Travel stories
- Travel
- Organizations
- Shopping
- Social media
- Spa & wellness
- Sport
- Cities
- Position of the week
- The beach
- Language
- For sale
- TEV procedure
- Thailand in general
- Thailand with children
- thai tips
- Thai massage
- Tourism
- Going out
- Currency – Thai Baht
- From the editors
- Real estate law; and
- Traffic and transport
- Visa Short Stay
- Long stay visa
- Visa question
- Flight tickets
- Question of the week
- Weather and climate
Sponsor
Disclaimer translations
Thailandblog uses machine translations in multiple languages. Use of translated information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for errors in translations.
Read our full here disclaimer.
Royalty
© Copyright Thailandblog 2024. All rights reserved. Unless stated otherwise, all rights to information (text, image, sound, video, etc.) that you find on this site rest with Thailandblog.nl and its authors (bloggers).
Whole or partial takeover, placement on other sites, reproduction in any other way and/or commercial use of this information is not permitted, unless express written permission has been granted by Thailandblog.
Linking and referring to the pages on this website is permitted.
Home » Reader question » Can my partner travel around Thailand and Asia despite covid?
Can my partner travel around Thailand and Asia despite covid?
Dear readers,
I ask this question on behalf of my partner who has been in contact with an owner of a Travel agency in NL-Bangkok today.
My partner wants to go on a big tour all over Asia. He indicated that he wanted to buy a 4×4 suv/pickup in Thailand and then, after traveling around Thailand for several months, would like to visit different countries, such as Laos, Vietnam, China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia/bali, Australia/ NZ etc. He wants to stay in each country for about 1-3 months and travel around.
But this person tells him that this was simply impossible, because all countries are locked due to covid and this was actually only possible in a travel group organized by a travel agency.
Does anybody have experience with this? Is what this person told my partner true?
Regards,
Patricia
Editors: Do you have a question for the readers of Thailandblog? Use it contact form..
Hi,
You may have something here. Per world, and per country overview of whether or not you can enter as a tourist in this covid time. https://travelbans.org/asia/china/
Thailand has only been “open” for a short time without quarantine for visitors with proof of vaccination. This entrance fee in Thailand only applies to visitors arriving by air. It has been explicitly stated that the regulation does NOT apply to entry by road or water. This of course has to do with the ease of checking larger numbers via the airport. Such an arrangement could very well exist for the other countries mentioned. Such a trip overland by car is not easy under normal circumstances. I think that now, Asia is still in full COVID arrangements, it is still too early to undertake something like this by car.
Group tours are explicitly mentioned to avoid areas with higher COVID figures, but I think Thailand is open to travelers with a vaccination certificate who show a negative COVID test on arrival.
Driving around Thailand doesn't seem like a problem to me at the moment. How COVID is evolving
I think you know yourself that now traveling around the world is a big risk.
This is evident again with the new Omikron variant.
I think many countries in Asia are still locked down now, Australia, New Zealand, Japan.
China has strict quarantine rules.
I don't know if you mean that your partner wants to go to all other countries with the car you bought, but you certainly won't enter China with a car alone. I don't think Vietnam either.
So I would certainly take the advice of that travel agency.
With the latest corona variant, everything can be different again in a month. Wibar already gave a perfect website.
He can also always look at English-language websites of newspapers in the countries concerned.
I am surprised at his intention to buy a car in Thailand… for only 3 months? Or does he also want to travel around neighboring countries? In Thailand people drive on the left, in neighboring countries they drive on the right... So driving a car bought in Thailand is a little more dangerous.
Then paperwork to go to Laos by car: https://www.travelfish.org/board/post/laos/27638_can-i-bring-my-thai-registered-car-into-laos. Insurance!
And then sell the car afterwards… with difficulty and perhaps a loss.
Rent a car with a driver in every country (not expensive in Thailand, Laos): nice and easy and ultimately not much more expensive (possibly cheaper), I think.
I know that, at the moment, it is absolutely impossible to enter Japan as a tourist. It doesn't matter if you travel alone or in a group.
I would also like to make an addition: as a visitor to Thailand without your own home address, you cannot buy a car.
In addition, the advice of the travel agency
for a group trip: yes, yes, we all know that the largest travel agencies are already bankrupt and group trips are only offered per country or not at all. And then I wonder if there is a group trip to Thailand, for example. Or that the intention is to have you make a down payment or more... and after a while you have lost your money because which travel agency is not on the hook... Just arrange a ticket to Thailand yourself, etc. Singapore is just opening from Thailand and Vietnam is also moving in that direction. Would wait a little longer and then the partner can travel from one country to another more easily. Although the latest variant has now arrived, I expect everything to be locked down within 1 or 2 months, the same goes for Thailand, because it is super contagious.
In mid-December 2018, upon entering Thailand, I received a permit to stay for 90 days on the basis of a Non-immigrant “O” retirement visa. At the end of December 2018 I managed to renew my almost 4 year expired 1-year driving license at the Department of Land Transport, Building 2 (Chatuchak) with a Visa support letter from the Dutch embassy on which the address of the hotel where I stayed for a few weeks stayed. The statement was carefully checked for authenticity with a magnifying glass and the address on the statement was also checked with Google Maps.
At the beginning of January 2019, I also managed to buy a second-hand motor scooter and have it registered to my name at the Department of Land Transport Office Bangkok area 2 (Taling Chan) with a Visa support letter from the Dutch embassy on which the address of the hotel where I was staying stayed for a few weeks.
But just like with investing, the same applies here...
Past results are no guarantee for the future. This is Thailand.
PS: I didn't have to shift tea money.
Dear Patricia,
since I don't know when your partner wants to take this tour through Asia, I would say: let's forget about the Corona, with all its limitations, and say that it's just 'normal' travel.
I can absolutely advise you to read up country by country very carefully.
Buying a car in Thailand in your own name, without a permanent residence, is virtually impossible because you will never get that car registered in that way.
Renting a car to travel to countries outside Thailand is, for understandable reasons, also practically impossible and if it succeeds, it will have a very high price tag.
Then, even if you succeed in buying a car in your own name, you still have to get across the border with it. This is almost impossible with a rental car. With your own car, this requires a lot of administration. Whatever has to be done in advance, otherwise you will not be able to enter the country. Try entering Cambodia with a car, even a motorcycle, for example…..
.
With a purchased Thai car you are sitting with a car with the steering wheel on the right as they drive on the left here. In almost all other countries, here in Asia, they drive on the right, so it's already a problem, not easy driving though.
You must have a visa for each country. For some countries this can be arranged in advance, for others it can be done at the border. therefore also requires serious preparation.
The language problems: not everywhere they speak or understand English.
The driver's license: in which countries can you drive around with an international driver's license and for how long?
I would, personally, consider another method of touring.
e.g.: making major journeys by plane, bus or train. Then you arrive in a big city where there are many more options in all areas. Rent a car there and explore the country.
I have been living in Thailand for years, have my own car, but would never want to make a tour through Asia in the way you propose. You have to be a really seasoned globetrotter to start something like this.
Good luck.
thank you all for your contributions.
we/he want to travel to Thailand Aug-Sept 2022. most likely I will follow x weeks later as he first has to get his Thai passport, ID card and driver's license in order.
he is going to find and hopefully meet his family there. I'm going along purely because he wants me to meet them too. Thailand and Asia don't really appeal to me.
he has already traveled a lot for his work. but never been to Asia. because he just wants to be mobile at all times and go wherever he wants, he is thinking about just buying a car in Thailand (preferably western model with left-hand drive). and first to travel around Thailand for x months, then cross the borders.
also due to covid and infections (he is a high risk person with diabetes so extra careful) he would rather not take a train or public transport. his friends in Thailand have told that the vaccinations are going positive and they have already been vaccinated 1 x.
On the one hand, he can act 'panic' about this because he has already lost 2 good friends to this serious illness.
he wants to visit the most beautiful natural places. into the jungle with the special forces of Thailand (he has contact with people).
my partner himself has served in the para commandos for years and has had and given many training courses in different parts of the world and nature areas.
his interest lies mainly in nature and learning survival techniques from the locals. wants to set up his own 'outdoor survival school' within 2 years.
he wants to travel in many countries for 1-3 months. China, Mongolia Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia/Bali, Australia and NZ. and just maybe then OR drive the car back from there. OR sell the car and take one of the most famous luxury train journeys.
what was especially impossible or very difficult to cross the national borders with your own car, according to this man, was because the correct documents had to be arranged and requested.
But I know him and nothing is impossible for him!
Dear partner of Patricia,
I would say take Lung addie's advice above to heart.
And maybe you can get advice from Kees and Els van de Laarschot https://www.trottermoggy.com/
To really experience and get to know all those countries in scents and colors, I think you should do that on foot, by bike or on a motorcycle (scooter). Then you are part of the environment. In an (air-conditioned) car you look at the surroundings, more or less as you watch television.
If you can get a Thai Passport, it will also be possible to get Thai car and motorcycle licenses. The driving exams are a lot easier and cheaper than in the Netherlands.
Good luck with the preparations.
Hello TheoB he has a motorcycle license. he is thinking of renting or even buying a motorbike there. he also wants to rent a boat there and go boating-fishing. one of his big hobbies which he will do a lot there. hire local guides.
he will certainly go into nature and look for the most beautiful places.
he is currently traveling for work and will be back one of these days. Thai passport ID card driver's license will be arranged for him.