Dear Madam Dear Sir,
Like all of you, the embassy is closely following the numbers of the epidemic in the region. Even if the numbers around the world only reflect part of reality, the evolution in Thailand is encouraging, provided that measures of social distancing, hygiene and wearing a mask are respected by everyone. The disease has not been conquered and the risk remains.
Like many of you, we at the embassy follow the news from Belgium on a daily basis, where things also seem to be slowly improving and where the exit from the lockdown is gradually taking place. Our country has been hit hard by the pandemic. Too many families have lost a loved one. And we are all aware of the enormous work done by the medical staff, in hospitals and rest and care homes.
The weekly magazine The Economist of May 9 pays tribute to the honesty and reliability of the Belgian statistics (“care-home covid, getting to the truth”). Together with France and Sweden, Belgium is one of three European countries that have had the courage to include deaths likely to be related to Covid-19 in retirement homes in the statistics.
Since last month, the embassy has been working alternately in two teams every day to limit the risk of the virus spreading. We focused on the return to Belgium of the many Belgian tourists from Thailand and the three other countries we monitor from Bangkok: Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos. We have tried to inform you as well as possible about the commercial flights available and the charters organized by Germany, France and Switzerland. In addition, we delivered as soon as possible the official documents required by the Thai authorities to extend your visa or to allow you to travel through different provinces to get to the airport in Bangkok.
Last month, the IMF forecast a 6,7% recession for the current year, making Thailand the worst hit within the ASEAN economy by this new crisis.
Our thoughts go out to our Thai friends who have been hit by the economic crisis, but also to you, Belgians in Thailand, who are sometimes hit hard.
Here I applaud the Facebook group (“Euro-Thai Market Place”) that was set up by active members of our Chamber of Commerce to support European and Thai businesses in these more difficult times.
In collaboration with our colleagues from FIT and AWEX, with the Beluthai Chamber of Commerce or even with our European partners, we put Thai exporters of medical equipment in contact with the Taskforce in Brussels. It has been appointed to improve the supply of masks, gloves, respirators and other essential products in our country.
And there is good news: Belgian apples and our premium beef (including the famous “BlancBleuBelge”) will soon be allowed for import into the Thai market. With the help of the embassy, FIT and AWEX, our companies continue to closely monitor the development of the ''Eastern Economic Corridor''. Furthermore, a Belgian company in Thailand could very soon start producing medical protective equipment (masks) for the local market, but also for export to Belgium and Europe.
Your embassy will continue to serve the Belgian community as we have since the beginning of the epidemic, either by email ([email protected]), either by telephone (02 108.18.00), or by appointment if you would like a personal meeting with us. At the moment, the embassy is still not allowed to issue visas. We will inform you when the visa applications can be processed again.
To you and your loved ones, the entire embassy team wishes a lot of courage during this difficult and sometimes tragic period we are going through.
Philippe Kridelka, Ambassador of HM the King
Source: Facebook
It's nice to read that our embassy is doing a good job.
Unfortunately, there are also compatriots who are stuck in Belgium.
I read all kinds of reports about Belgians being repatriated from
Abroad. Myself and many of our fellow sufferers are trapped here.
I want to go back to Thailand, to my wife!! I live there, not here.
Unfortunately we are left out in the cold and apparently there is none
single embassy, not the Belgian one, nor the Thai one who wants to repatriate us
to our Thai families. I've been here for almost 4 months now...
How long???
Anyone who does not have a Thai work permit or residence permit is not regarded as a resident by Thailand, according to Thailand it is not your home country, so they do not arrange repatriation. That your heart says something different than the papers… well, unfortunately. Be patient, and see if you can also obtain a more permanent status on paper in the future than a constantly changing temporary immigrant status.
Dear Rob,
I think your reaction is a bit exaggerated. I have been living in Thailand for 2 years now. This with a pension year visa !! Mandatory to renew every year. I have completely deregistered in Belgium and my official address is therefore in Thailand. You talk about permanent status as if it were so easy to get. If I follow the coverage here on the Thailand blog a bit, I notice that you don't get Thai citizenship that quickly. And if I stay in Thailand for 338 days out of 365 days, then you can already speak of a permanent status. Besides, that's more days in Thailand than that man with his cowboy hat on.
I also planned a trip to Belgium from 18/06 to 15/07. Matter to see some family. There would also be a 5 yearly class reunion and I would visit some clients (I still do insurance until I can retire (01/08/2021). Now my flight has only been canceled on 05/05 (Ethiad Airways). So I watched the cat out of the tree for as long as possible. But as long as Thailand does not adjust its measures, I would not have gone anyway because I cannot get back in, coming from Belgium. The proof that must be provided that you "Covid -19" free, you don't just get stuck. And I'm going to take out that hospitalization insurance in the course of the fall.
The system: two measures, two weights, which is applied everywhere in Thailand and which we as “farang” have to learn to live with, still entails a serious family problem in this situation. Suppose I had been to Belgium, together with my legal (both in Belgium and here in Thailand) Thai wife! My wife is allowed to return, subject to 14 days in quarantine, and I cannot/may not return. However, together we will have incurred the same risks in Belgium. Wouldn't it rather be an easy solution for legally married partners, who stay here with an annual visa (marriage or boarding house), to also have them return and also require them to quarantine for 14 days. I can imagine that this would not be an option for a tourist who comes here for a 30-day holiday! But for our friend Walter above and for myself too, it would not be a task, but a 14-day preparation for a happy reunion. (better for myself, I could go into quarantine with my wife).
Perhaps the embassy of Belgium and the Netherlands and perhaps together with all other embassies can submit this to the Thai government. I think that many foreign “annual visas” residents in Thailand do not find this a problem. Also better for the economy, because those thousands would digest a little extra.
I know that it does not offer a solution for those who enter with a quarterly visa; but in my opinion they are not real residents of Thailand.
So I wait patiently for what will happen in the world in relation to the “Covid-19” beast. Because for the time being we Skype with the family. I help customers with their tax returns via Tax-on-Web. And the 5-year class reunion party has also been postponed to sometime in the fall.
And Ethiad gives me the choice between a free rebooking or a full refund. So no problem at all for the time being and we faithfully follow the figures and measures via the net and via Thailandblog and we rely on “The Man In The Sky” for better times.
Mvg, Andre
Dear André, I understand you completely and that is certainly something where embassies and government should (or continue to?) talk to each other. In short, you have various ranks of citizens in Thailand:
1st rank: The Thai (born and by naturalization)
2nd Rank: People with Permanent Residency ed
3rd rank: People with a temporary status (visa) of months to a year.
That people want to move from third to second class citizens most of the year or even practically all year is completely understandable. You then feel like a resident, but formally you are far from it and you are therefore excluded from all kinds of things or you run into extra obstacles and obligations. That feels unfair, as if you don't fully count. Some people do not mind or wrong to put foreigners at a disadvantage, for me that goes against justice and equality. I think it's fine if with this ever smaller world governments also embrace and really welcome the good people from outside.
However, I don't see it happening so 1-2-3 as long as strict nationalistic (xenophobic?) winds are blowing. And as long as people like you are not really accepted by your home country, that hurts.
Finally something from Belgium that we can be proud of.
This information increases my esteem for the consular staff and makes me feel safe that
I know that the people at the Belgian embassy are absolutely reliable and that we rely on them
can count in difficult times
RUDY
Congratulations Belgian Embassy. This will certainly help the fruit farmers, after years of export ban of apples and pears to Russia.