Special Tourist Visa: Thailand can welcome the first tourists again
27 September 2020
Tourists in Bangkok (Athawit Ketsak / Shutterstock.com)
Thailand is ready to receive tourists again, but strict conditions apply. Tomorrow, the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration, chaired by Prime Minister Prayut, will give the green light to the Special Tourist Visa (STV), intended to interest long-stay travelers in traveling to Thailand again.
The Ministry of Tourism and Sports and of Health and other relevant services are ready, said government spokesman Traisuree.
Thailand expects 1.200 travelers a month with an STV, who will spend 1,03 billion baht. Within a year, that number will increase to 14.400 travelers, generating 12,4 billion baht in revenue.
The requirements to enter Thailand are:
- Tourists must first apply for a Special Tourist Visa (STV) at the Thai Embassy.
- The foreign traveler must take a Covid-72 test no later than 19 hours before departure to Thailand.
- The Thai embassy must confirm that they are negative.
- Travelers were required to have health insurance with Covid-19 coverage up to US$100.000.
- Tourists must sign a statement that they will comply with the measures taken by the Thai government.
- You must wear a face mask during the flight (charter flight) and en route.
- The flight crew must wear protective clothing and gloves.
- Newspapers, magazines and brochures are not allowed on the flight.
- Duty free items are not sold, food is served in closed containers.
- Upon arrival, STV holders must self-quarantine for XNUMX days in government-designated accommodation, where they will be tested twice. These costs are for your own account. After that, they are allowed to travel freely throughout Thailand.
Source: Bangkok Post
What continues to amaze me is that as a – unmarried – holder of a non-immigrant visa with a valid period of residence, a re-entry permit and the willingness to meet all other obligations, you cannot enter the country.
It remains to wait for the final, binding formulation of the conditions, because you are always confused by seemingly different rules.
Too bad, but unfortunately no Thailand for us for the time being. We are getting older and hope that we can go again. We think it is a wonderful country and we now have many friends there. But it is no different. special hotel.
As long as it remains in quarantine for 14 days, few people will travel after Thailand.
'Tourists' won't be queuing up much, I expect. But what if in the longer term also for the currently excluded expats / retired long-stayers etc., undergoing quarantine is the only option to return to Thailand?
Hello everyone,
Apart from tourism that seems to be far from getting started, have you also seen that people in Thailand can now face 2 years in prison, just by posting a negative review on Tripadvisor ??? This is currently happening to the American Wesley Barnes (who works in Thailand). In July 2020 he had posted a negative review about Sea View Resort in Koh Chang. Whereupon the owner of the Sea View complained that Barnes had posted unfair reviews about his hotel on TripAdvisor (cf. Colonel Thanapon Taemsara of the Koh Chang police against AFP news agency). The latter said Barnes was accused of "causing damage to the hotel's reputation and arguing with staff for not paying corkage for alcohol he brought from outside the hotel…
Barnes was arrested by the immigration police after that complaint, held for 2 days and only released after posting bail. He will later have to appear in court and risk up to 2 years in prison.
According to the Trip Advisor review Barnes posted in July, he encountered "unfriendly staff" who "acted like they don't want anyone here."
Thailand has strict defamation laws, which are seen as problematic because companies and influential individuals can use those laws to intimidate critics.
All this according to RTL News and yesterday's Bangkok Post.
But then it gets really crazy and dangerous for tourists: tourists and foreigners who go to Thailand for vacation or work and are not allowed to say what they think about a hotel and the service of that hotel on pain of a fine and imprisonment.
And I thought that Thailand was the pinnacle of friendly and safe tourism (we went there 3 weeks a year in recent years and last year even to Koh Chang).
So watch out for anyone who wants to leave as soon as possible. The 'ambiance' does not seem to be good !!!
I've been here for 4 years now and have no problems. Just act normal. Maybe I'm a little less at risk because I don't drink alcohol, don't smoke, don't do drugs, don't go to bars or prostitutes but enjoy a home life and spend a lot of time around the house. I did have a new fast Volvo that I have to learn to control better because I received 4 verbals at home of 500 THB each (own fault) Camera control warnings that were first seen as 'fake' are now 'very real' ha, ha… it criticize and even complain about something you don't like, remember that you are in Thailand and it is still much better than in your native country. We are guests here and you adapt as you should.
I'll wait a year. These conditions are really not normal.
I think the government is bit affected by Covid 19 . Everyone would have to spend almost 1 million bath. Seems pretty exaggerated to me
That is converted 860.000 baht per tourist
I think the Thai math wizards assume this is for the full 270 day period and then factoring in the high cost of the first compulsory self-pay quarantine they are pretty close to this 800k
How do you get the 1 million baht, 15 days quarantine from 29.000 baht. Flight is more expensive let's say double, then another 10.000b. Where do you get the other 950.000 baht?
With 29.000 Bath I don't think you'll get there. The cheapest is 28.500 Bath and in Bangkok. And if there is no more room, you will have to make do with a much more expensive one. And just eat what they serve, otherwise you pay extra.
The article clearly states that the Thai government expects this. Or at least an amount that comes close.
What I wonder: “What is meant by 'Tourists'?”
If I, and others with me I think, want to go to my girlfriend / fiancée in Isaan and stay there for 90 + 90 + 90 days at her home, am I also a tourist? Or are tourists only those visitors who visit the big cities, condos?
and don't forget the resorts
My husband and I are already not participating this year, not next year either, and 2022 remains to be seen, because what do you have to do there in Thailand? Hotels are empty, there is minimal staff, the kitchens are running at half capacity, menus have been adjusted in quality, tourist markets and street sales have disappeared, shopping centers have lost their cosiness and have become empty building blocks, etc. No, thank you the cuckoo. We will stay in the Netherlands this year, and next year a renewed acquaintance with Paris, Vienna, don't forget Tuscany.
Also remember that the Thai are getting grumpy. The "farang" is accused of bringing in corona. The measures taken by the Thai government are causing a kind of lockdown. That word is not used but the effects and consequences are the same. The finger is pointed at the Western tourist/resident. A good example of this can be found in the following article: https://www.ad.nl/reizen/amerikaan-riskeert-celstraf-in-thailand-na-negatieve-review-op-tripadvisor~af1f930d/
And years ago I moved to Korat and formerly Khon Kaen to stay far away from all tourist phenomena. There is no significant tourism in these large cities and provinces, but there are many large (evening) markets, various large department stores similar to Bangkok, an endless amount of restaurants, sports and recreational opportunities in abundance, swimming pools, zoos, (national) parks, cycling opportunities, beach entertainment on the various lakes. With or without the tourists in Thailand it doesn't matter to me because outside the tourist hot-spots normal Thai life continues and that's why I deliberately chose these regions.
The article is about tourism. Not about long stays. There is a difference if you visit Thailand, for example, with a 60-day tourist visa, then leave the country for a week, and then another 30 days and return home. Do you live in Thailand on the basis of retirement od then you as the Thai and it doesn't matter because you live according to where you are. But again: it's about the tourist.
You are right but…
Who are we to judge what the Thai government decides? but somehow I don't follow their philosophy very well...
Not long ago “Europeans and Australians” saved the lives of many young Thai children trapped in the Tham Luang cave, and now those same farangs are “dirty”…that's weird.
Covid19 is an unofficial experiment by the Chinese that has gotten out of hand, but they are apparently treated with the cloak of love ... understand who can ! Money talks shit walks ?
Of course it is difficult for the Thai government, they have to choose between the plague and the cholera, but this is no reason to paint us as dirty farangs who have contributed 15 to 20% of their GDP in recent decades … not to mention of the maintenance of millions of Isaan and other inferior groups who have always been left out in the cold … and are now co-victims.
It is a pity for those we loved and for us who loved them, especially since there has never been any rivalry between 95% of the Thai population or the tourists, on the contrary… we loved, I say “loved” their cuisine , smile, of the beautiful nature … as they loved our behavior (with a few exceptions), sympathy, respect and of course our expenses …
I still communicate regularly with Thai friends and all of them would not prefer us to visit them again, of course Corona free, but this is a matter of "initially" having decent devices that give a definite answer within 24/48 hours (that they do this first to develop) !).
Last but not least, who says that somewhere, in their own ranks (own country), no game is being played to keep the money spent in overseas territories in their own country / continent? I'm running out of nothing anymore.
Whatever has happened or will happen one thing I hate and that is to be labeled “dirty farang” .. have given money to many beggars, have “treated” children of the owners of bar/restaurants keepers ice cream on the beach always gave extra tips … also to old people who supposedly kept an eye on my moped on a trip … gave drinks and bought unnecessary gems from old ladies who tried to earn their living in the heat on the beach … and much more … I could do that and is that possible … I have shown respect … depicting myself as a dirty farang is therefore out of place … sadly all, very sad …
Ryan, I live in Thailand. Yes, it is true that hotels are empty. But everything else you mention? I may not live in Pattaya, but near Hua Hin and it's not that bad.
And that article you refer to? I think you didn't read well. That American had gotten into a fight with the resort because he wanted to consume alcohol from outside without meeting the hotel's conditions. They charge a “corkage fee” for your own drinks. The American refused to pay that, eventually got his way and wrote bad reviews about the hotel on TripAdvisor in the weeks that followed. He accused the owner of treating the staff like slaves. He also mentioned the nationality of the man (he was not Thai) and compared the hotel with the corona virus (girls if they had a corona virus). The hotel was its own company and they would suffer a lot of damage. The owner has sent several e-mails to sent that man and tried to accommodate him. But he did not respond to those emails at all. Only when the owner wrote that he was going to file a report for defamation, did he respond. He also wrote on Tripadvisor under various email addresses. He was really there out to falsely accuse the hotel of something that was not right.
He has already achieved his goal with you. Exactly what the owner of the hotel wrote: people who don't speak English can draw wrong conclusions and this hurt the company.
It remains that the general Thai tenor is that the ordinary tourist is not welcome, that there is virtually nothing to do for the ordinary tourist, and that long-stayers outside Thailand, such as my husband and I, will have many obstacles to overcome when we return next winter. want to visit our premises in Chiangmai. It also remains that the effort to take those hurdles does not outweigh what you get back in Thailand. Hence: avoiding Thailand for a while (not: girls) becomes our motto.
Another failure coming up. Who goes to a self-pay quarantine hotel for 14 days? It is really worrying this way of governing in Thailand. of course few infections, but it remains dangerous on the road. Better to pay attention to that. We don't come this way anymore; Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines will thus take over the business from Thailand. Even though there is a higher degree of infection there, but all in all safer and friendlier. If you are healthy, you will not die from Covid either, that much has become clear by now.
Remains dangerous on the road, respond to this because why do you write that? I have been driving in Thailand for 30 years accident-free and with great pleasure and generally think the Thai are good drivers. I also read the telegraph and see what is happening on Dutch roads and that is not sickening. Canals and ditches are in the way, terraces are driven on, house facades are knocked down, trees that have been there for 20 years are also in the way, as if people no longer learn to stay on the road surface. It's good to be critical, but be realistic.
too complicated for me, stay home this winter
The protective clothing and gloves for the crew already show that everything is well exaggerated.
Do not eat newspapers or magazines during the flight (although the virus does not store on paper) and food from closed containers.
But what is really TOO MUCH about it: you have already been tested at home, you have papers that you do not have Covid-19 and then you have to stay in a kind of prison hotel for another 14 days with 2 more tests to do, a hotel (or prison cell ?) which you also have to pay yourself, but which you cannot choose. Of which you yourself cannot know in advance where it will be located or check whether it is possible for us to have us locked up there as delinquents for 14 days… Or would they still plan to draw up a brochure with those prison hotels and to let you choose ??? A hotel where you don't know what those rooms are like, whether there is comfort, whether you can move enough during those 14 days, what the food is like, etc… .
And moreover, sign a statement that you comply with the measures imposed by the Thai government : given that the Thai government changes its mind every week and given the way they currently treat their own people and their students, you can do the same (by paid yourself) money as well end up in a Thai prison the following week for whatever reason they can think of in the meantime and you don't know how or when you will get out.
In short, you really have to be more than a bit crazy or “maso” to go into this !!!
Well, and then you end up, Covid-free tested and all, on the same plane as returning Thais who do not have to undergo a Covid Test before departure. Who can explain to me the reasoning behind this?
Thai no test?? Why would you think that ?? Yes, they also have to undergo a covi test and also do quarantine
Quarantine yes, Covid test no.
To be clear, I am talking about the pre-flight Covid test.
What Cornelis says is correct, I flew back to Thailand in August with my Thai wife, had to do a covid test myself 72 hours in advance, but my wife didn't have to.
The rules imposed, just ridiculous, you can't add more to that.
Moderator: Please keep discussion to Thailand.
LS
Still an impracticable situation.
At the Thai embassy you must submit a health statement from the doctor that you are negative from corona!!!
Must be time with the neat doctor!
Must not be older than 72 hours!
An application for an STV visa already takes 5 days !!
You can always buy a ticket, but it must fall exactly in those 72 hours!!
And who tells me that I am among those 1200 people who are allowed to enter Thailand?
Am I finally in Thailand I have to quarantine for 14 days a 40000 Bath,. PP
The government only wants to let people in from a country that has not had a new infection for 60 days??
No country in the world has that.
With me there are many who leave Thailand for at least a year.
With all the consequences!!
The whole economy is and is going to the c…
Just yesterday I got pictures from Pattaya and Jomtien completely deserted !!
At 23.00 it seems like a ghost town!
Many small restaurants and bars have disappeared.
Hotel occupancy only 20 to 30 %.
The Dutch people who sit there no longer go out in the evening, they no longer feel comfortable.
We will have to be patient and wait to see what the future brings us.
Maybe one day to Thailand ???
GR Rob
Totally agree. And what I'm afraid of: all those local hotels, shops and restaurants will go bankrupt and the places will be taken by large project developers and Chinese companies
Is it so bad in Thailand, ghost towns empty shopping malls that look like building blocks?
An economy that is said to be screwed up.
Got a very different impression here in Lamphun today.
At the Makro and Big C as well as Global house crowds as normal. At the Big C and Makro we had to look for a covered parking space.
Who was no longer there so just walk across the large parking lot.
We parked our now 16 year old Mitsch between the latest pickup models from Isuzu and Ford and Toyota with all the trimmings.
And they weren't from Farangs.
And to get help for the garden with me is still an impossible task, because everyone has work with us in the village.
It all depends on where you live and stay and what you believe read or are talked about.
Jan Beute.
This is what the World Bank said about Thailand's economic situation in March this year. Corona had yet to strike: https://www.thailandblog.nl/achtergrond/armoede-neemt-toe-in-thailand-lagere-inkomens-dalen/
And the following article from 3 months later indicates what Corona will do to Thailand: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/06/30/major-impact-from-covid-19-to-thailands-economy-vulnerable-households-firms-report
I have already seen so many different conditions and proposals from the government to allow tourists, which change again a few days later that it can no longer be taken seriously.
I wonder if this is conscious , the Thai logic to solve problems ? Don't know. A Covic test that may not be older than 3 days must be approved by the embassy and also arrange a ticket in between ?? I also wonder who wants or can do this?
In my opinion, this is not the way to boost tourism. I sometimes try to understand the Thai logic, but in this case I can't.
Tjemel,
1,3 billion divided by 1200 vacationers spend 9 Bhat per person for those 858.333 months…..
either 95.370 Bhat per month or 3.179 per day.
Must be rich people, I think. So are not the state pensioners of the Netherlands.
Quote: Within a year, that number will increase to 14.400 travelers, generating 12,4 billion baht in revenue.
If people have to go back after a maximum of 9 months, the total will not exceed 10.800 tourists and probably lower, because there will also be people who stay shorter - if anyone comes at all, of course.
I always wonder how they get all those numbers after the comma.
They don't know how much money people are going to spend.
The story of the charter flights seems to have disappeared? I also don't see how you are going to fill it, because if they have to fly from a country to Thailand, how do you get all those passengers, also from other countries, to that plane?
And 12 hours with a face mask on in an airplane?
That sounds like torture to me.
But maybe it's only about planes from China.
You may wonder whether people will come from China. Firstly, the average length of stay was around 5 days before the Covid-19 outbreak and that is due to the holidays of only 1 week that the average Chinese have and then a mandatory 14-day quarantine does not get you very far. In addition, the pension situation in China is also not favorable and large deficits are expected there because the population is aging and, like Thailand, people are also dependent on the help of family for care at an older age, and then you will not spend your savings and stay in spend Thailand. However, there is interest from Japan, where people are somewhat more wealthy, and you see more Japanese seniors spending their retirement in Thailand; There is a market for that and I think people in Thailand look at those with a lot of time and more money and then you end up with the aforementioned Japanese and the Northwest Europeans such as the Dutch. Belgians, Germans, Scandinavians who try to escape the cold and bad weather conditions.
The “Special Tourist Visa” will, although only for 1200 people per month, for the suffering
tourism will remain a desperate drop in the ocean at most.
Even if one expands the 1200 people over time, which should certainly be necessary to achieve success, the question is already arising who will take on the extensive Visa procedure and the mandatory 14-day quarantine for this.
Taking on the entire procedure and quarantine, in order to be able to travel freely in Thailand afterwards, which is no longer comparable to the old tourist infrastructure that people were used to.
Closed restaurants, hotels that can only keep half of the staff given the covid measures, unemployment, and even more begging people who make an understandable attempt to ask the farang tourist even more for help, certainly do not contribute to the pleasant expectations that a vacation should normally have.
In my opinion, tourism can only be saved if we have an adequate vaccine, so that we can travel en masse without major procedures and mandatory quarantine.
It is indeed a lot to ask to be allowed to enter Thailand as a long stayer for 270 days.
But in my opinion, it is absolutely not too much to ask to prevent Thailand from experiencing a second corona wave. People absolutely do not want to go in the direction of countries such as Spain, England and India, and perhaps soon: the Netherlands.
Everyone has to make their own decision as to whether they are willing to do it all. It is possible that the costs and the quarantine period can be reduced in the future. Otherwise it is waiting for a vaccine or a good medicine.
Aren't those 1200 holidaymakers calculated per day? If you do those 1200 x 30 days you arrive at 36.000 holidaymakers. If they all have to raise the said 1,5 billion baht, you will soon arrive at much more realistic figures. Then also the costs of the quarantine hotel and the 3 x 1900 bath extend visa. Then spread it out over those 9 months and it will become very normal expenses again
And then also remember that Thailand almost reached 19 visitors before Covid 38.000.000. So the calculation could not just have been plucked out of thin air.
It's really 1200 a month. 36000 per month the quarantine hotels cannot handle. And I don't think there are 36000 people a month crazy enough to go to Thailand for a long time under these conditions.
Have you said before; I have been in Thailand for 34 years now, but wait for now, maybe skip next year ….
I always wonder what the situation is like in Cambodia and Vietnam, for example, can someone tell me something about that?
Seems like a good alternative for next year .
gr. John
For me, this “opening” is pure window dressing. Who oh who is going to get these conditions?
You must be VERY desperate to come to Thailand. Those relatively few people who bring their family (wife/girlfriend/children) here don't make the difference in my opinion.
And they don't bring 1,03 billion baht into the country either.
As far as I'm concerned, dream on.
“It will certainly not work next spring”
It seems to me, based on the rules now given, impossible to go on holiday in Thailand next year.
And I don't think that will change much because it is apparently based on a rigid, tourist-unfriendly policy.
– The timing: the (b) search of an available flight, the visa procedure, the health declaration. That can't be closed.
– The quarantine policy results in a pure quality loss and is too expensive.
– The uncertain, limited if not absent holiday pleasure, such as restaurants, shopping, sight seeing etc..
– Then the question remains whether you can stay, travel out and return to the Netherlands responsibly.
Too bad , maybe someday .
Jan W
Hello John . Yes I have also roamed in Cambodia and Vietnam . In Vietnam it is a tip to go to the Mekong delta and also in the city where you arrive you also have a backpackers area, but you can also look for a hotel that is a bit more luxurious and there is plenty to offer for tours. I worked in Cambodia as a volunteer for 6 years and traveled a lot after work. Phnom Pen has a lot to see and the best is to go to the famous Capitol Guesthouse e who are specialized in good advice, such as Killing Fields e Tuol Sleng Prison , but you have to be able to withstand all that suffering, you can also do the expensive Angkor Wat, by boat or bus to Siem Riep. I have been to many places because I have to visit many remote places for my work and that was free because I traveled with the staff of the Don Bosco organization,,,,so John ,,you will get there, but I still try to get to Pattaya despite the hassle of the Thai officials because I celebrate my 78 birthday there with my family ,,,,I hope on November 7 greetings and do your best Jan
from how many days does the long stay start if you don't want to stay for 270 days, are you not welcome?
Who says you need 1 million bath? give out?? That the government expects this in terms of possible income…that could be, but this is of course not an obligation.
You only have the quarantine costs, more expensive? ticket and test costs as an extra….
How desperate can a person be to undergo this self-torment.
Even if I was awarded a million baht, I did not want to undergo this humiliation and inconvenience.
You go to Thailand to relax, if you see the long list of conditions then you must be ticked off by Lotje to want to comply with this.
Anyway I know there are people who will and have to travel to Thailand regardless of what and what absurd conditions, so having you locked up against payment is no problem at all.
1200 persons per week = 62.400/year on an arrival of almost 39.800.000 last year?
I do believe they will get there even with their exaggerated rules, enough people worldwide who want to go back to their loved ones, tourists (big spenders) will not be among them.
and then they will crow victory in the government that they are successful, but the people will continue to perish without sufficient income.
ICT
1200 a month, not a week.
I read today that if the first admission of tourists goes "good", the 14-day quarantine may be reduced to 7 days.
Alex
Alex do you have a source where you read that or is this bullshit?
Will Counterbosch
https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/2020/09/25/tourism-minister-suggests-cutting-tourist-quarantine-to-7-days/
The Minister of Tourism had said this somewhere in an interview that if everything went well he would propose to limit the quarantine to 7 days.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1991191/shorter-quarantine-if-tourist-test-succeeds?
Who knows?
I am always amazed that there are people who want to go to Thailand, but not just there, but to any holiday destination, but I understand for the people who live there or have family, is it so bad not to go on holiday? Are we all so spoiled that a holiday is vital?.
I personally am not going anywhere and just patiently waiting for this pandemic to be over and there are vaccines I also have a Thai wife and her daughter and family live in Thailand but she too is sensible and just waiting.
Let's all do that, the sooner everything will be over and we can fly across the world again.
As soon as there is a travel organization that offers a complete trip, including quarantine hotel and tests, where you know in advance where you will be staying and whether there is also a drink etc. available to get through those 14 days more comfortably, it might be an option. Arranging an STV, a test, a trip and a quarantine hotel within 3 – 5 days seems very difficult to me.
It is clear again where the interests of the government lie here. Do not let in the pensioners with a valid annual visa, not the people with a condo or house and belongings here, but only “new” tourists who bring in money from the hotels owned by the Hiso's.
They want the money to go to the big companies they own, and they have absolutely no interest in the people who spend their money with the small companies and underclass in Thailand.
Money number 1 as usual. I think that the current plan, which for the time being is only valid for a number of countries and not for a Europe, has completely failed. There will be some people who will use this visa to enter and then go again for their 1 year visa, and then it will stop
Tourists don't come with a 21-step plan, 2 weeks of expensive prison and a lot of fuss. Prayut and his friends are a clown show. Let's see what the next new plan is that comes from a Thai who has ended up in a high position without competence.
For the record.
These are tourists from "safe" countries, who can apply for the new visa.
This is the situation now, draw your own conclusion:
Many countries including France, UK, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Canada, Iran, Bangladesh, Philippines and Indonesia continue to record thousands of new cases daily, while Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Myanmar, Singapore and Australia are recording hundreds of new cases Register.
Source: The Nation
“Thailand expects 1.200 travelers a month with an STV, who will spend 1,03 billion baht. Within a year, that number will increase to 14.400 travelers, generating 12,4 billion baht in revenue.”
Does this mean that for almost a year only long-stayers will be welcome? By then, the tourism industry has been almost completely silent for a year and a half (March 2020 – Sept 2021). With all its consequences.