First foreign tourists in Thailand welcome in October
The Ministry of Tourism aims to receive the first batch of international tourists in Thailand at the beginning of October, with Bangkok as the main destination.
“Travel companies can already start promoting long stay packages through the Special Tourist Visa (STV),” said Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, Minister of Tourism and Sports.
Most importantly, tourists can provide all the required documents when applying for the special tourist visa. They must also be prepared to pay for the alternative state quarantine (ASQ) or alternative local quarantine (ALSQ). Travelers are required to quarantine for 14 days. Tourists must also provide a booking of post-quarantine accommodation, a return ticket, a non-Covid-19 statement and travel or health insurance with coverage of at least $100.000 with Covid-19 coverage.
After the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has approved all documents, an entry permit (CoE) and an STV visa will be issued. “If the visa process can be completed on time, tourists will be able to visit the country from October 1,” said Phiphat. Foreign tourists must first stay in Bangkok for 14 days, the city has sufficient ASQ facilities. These are specially designated hotels for quarantine.
During the first phase of Thailand's reopening, international flights will be limited to three flights per week with 100 tourists per flight or 1.200 tourists per month, the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration said.
According to Phiphat, there is a lot of interest from abroad to travel to Thailand again: “If everything goes smoothly in the first month, without new infections, then we want to increase capacity in the next phase”.
Source: Bangkok Post
EEA continues to raise questions and clearly offers no solution for those who stay in Thailand for a long time on the basis of existing visas but have not yet been able to enter the country. Or does the Thai government also see that category as 'tourists'?
I do not think so. Because you have to present a return ticket.
Yes, indeed, that return ticket – while you have to make the outward journey with a charter flight that most likely has to be arranged through the Thai Embassy……….. At 1200 admissions per month, that is only 3 or 4 flights worldwide.
I wonder more and more often whether people really think about such plans. 'Is it policy, or has it been considered?' was a frequently asked question about new plans at the ministry where I once worked……….
I think they are now gently opening the door ajar (to gain experience), but that the door will open wider and wider in the coming months. Thailand also has no choice because they desperately need the money from the tourists.
An important date is the Chinese New Year on February 12, 2021, when Thailand wants to receive many Chinese tourists again because they bring in quite a bit of money. The period for this, in my opinion, is mainly a matter of gaining experience in receiving tourists again.
Hey Cornelius,
Indeed, it has not been thought about, what do you do as an airliner with 100 people, if there are at least 250 to 400 seats in your plane.
And only 3 flights per week are allowed. There were 125 airliners active at Suvarnabhumi airport (source Bangkok airport), which of those 125 may organize a flight.
I think Phiphat is living on another planet, if he claims that there is a lot of interest in being able to travel to Thailand again.
It starts with pre-selected hotels with a hefty price tag.
There you are as a tourist, locked up in a hotel for 2 weeks.
Nice start to spend your saved money.
I assume that people have already been extensively tested before they leave the country of origin.
You must provide a non-covid statement.
Not so long ago it was discussed that people wanted to apply the equal monks, equal haircuts principle.
Which tourist is so terribly desperate to travel to Thailand with these conditions??
Am sure there are many who would be interested in this. But it is not the tourists but the Non-O visa or OA visa holders who dump their long term visas out of total desperation for an STV visa to return to their house, girlfriend, …..
I have nothing left in the Netherlands and have been living in Thailand for 12 years now with my Thai girlfriend. Have a yellow book for residence and property with a 30 year lease, motorbikes, car and 2 dogs and I wouldn't be able to get in either Despite my loyal contribution to the economy of many millions of bath and my intention to spend my entire pension here until the spend the end of my life. And I am treated as someone who is inferior to a short stay tourist. It is shocking and I am very angry and consider ending my Thailand adventure. I'm sure I'm not the only one. People throw their own glasses when the pensioners are going to leave Thailand. Exchanging long-term stable income for short-term income.
That quarantine can still be done for those who want to hibernate for 3 months or more, but the further conditions make it almost impossible:
One must arrive by charter flight. I don't think they exist at all. THAI seems incapable of organizing such a thing. And even then, with only 100 people per flight, that becomes prohibitively expensive.
In addition to the ASQ reservation, you must also submit reservations, invoices or other documents for a 3-month stay. Also a strong restrictive condition
According to the calculations of the TAT, those 1200 tourists are expected to spend around 1 million Baht a month in Thailand. There are people who can do that with ease. But they really don't go to Thailand under these conditions.
It may be a first step towards reopening the border, but 300 travelers worldwide per week seems very little to me. I saw that some quarantine hotels also have the budget between 27000 and 35000 baht. This still seems reasonable to me. What I do wonder if you are also obliged to go back to a hotel or resort after the quarantine period. Because I read that you have to submit this when applying for a visa. What if you want to live with your girlfriend or friends for the rest of the period after the quarantine. Is this allowed? Perhaps some things still need to be worked out and there is no information available yet. M curious.
I can understand any farang/partner of a Thai who wanted to take advantage of the arrangements already in place to see his partner or family again.
Only I personally have little understanding for a tourist who, just to visit the country, takes on the entire mandatory procedure, because they may have such beautiful memories of the country.
After the entire procedure to get a visa at all, after a mandatory 14 days quarantine you end up in a country where due to the Covid-19 measures, much is no longer the same.
It is possible that your booked hotel, where you will continue your stay after your quarantine, is running at most at half capacity, so that very little remains of the service you were once used to.
When you see the other photos that are doing the rounds in the internet, the situation is almost comparable to a ghost town compared to what you were used to before.
Many have had to close their doors forever, and have been forced to return to their village on the land.
This may include the cozy local pub, the restaurant where you could always eat so well, and even the somtam saleswoman from Isaan, who has long since taken off.
There is also the possibility that, understandably because of the crisis, you come into even more contact with the needy, who constantly think that you can help them.
In short, a scenario that makes an understandable yet unavoidable contribution to conditions. who have nothing to do with a nice holiday anymore.
Indeed, we planned to spend the Christmas holidays with the family in Thailand, already arranged in January, but canceled everything this week. If tourism were even possible, it would probably not meet our expectations while it does cost a lot of money! Unfortunately… The Christmas period is usually very busy, will it be completely missed this year?
Who think that tourists will come to those conditions?
Only if everything goes back to the way it was before.
Go crazy those men.
I cannot imagine that anyone (m/f/x) can plan to stay in Thailand for a maximum of 2020 months in 21/9. Even if you wanted to, the government would raise such barriers that you would have to have very strict reasons.
Another question is what you can do there in those months? Hotels half empty, the streets and markets uninviting, the beaches deserted, a limited menu in the restaurants in the evening, the nightlife is broken. To take all kinds of obstacles and hurdles to visit family in Thailand seems a bit exaggerated to me.
It remains that someone who is not married or does not have a family but who does experience the aforementioned stringency, could consider traveling. For example, because you are used to being in Thailand for up to 8 months every year because you have a home there. This is the case with my husband and I. We do not consider ourselves tourists. On the contrary. We are semi-residents.
But as said: Thailand is not very attractive at the moment. In addition, we are used to visiting neighboring countries during our stay, up to Tokyo. But those neighboring countries and especially Tokyo would rather see us go than come, so we will also stay at home in 2021.
In addition, it will be restless in Bangkok tomorrow. Some have reported that it is turning things around. I do not think so. I think that after tomorrow the reins will be tightened even more, under the guise of countering the corona threat. Thai students do not know an organization like in Hong Kong or Minsk. Putting on yellow vests won't help either because it provokes green berets. No, it doesn't get any nicer there in Thailand.
Which airline do you want
fly to Thailand with max 100
persons on board.
Fleeing with 100 men? Which airlines will offer that and at what price and how certain is your return flight? In practice, this is only feasible if some kind of packages are offered that you can subscribe to. The group with the most interest is undoubtedly those with a relationship in Thailand. They should be given priority over tourists. The embassies should play an active role in facilitating this. I don't see them doing that though. Those various plans are all shot across the bow. A concretely developed idea would be much better.
As the latest plan is formulated here, it is only natural that there are countless questions that cannot be answered right away. I would like to go to my Thai partner again tomorrow and I also have several questions, but there is little point in venting them here now. Better be patient and wait a few more weeks for more details. People are clearly working on it, but they also have other (domestic political) problems to solve; do not forget that.
so quarantine at acquaintances' house is not possible, this must be mandatory in an expensive hotel in Bangkok. I won't complain if I have to, but then I can finally see my friends again.
Laptop screen also makes you tired.
I regularly see the number one hundred or more passing by, of which this number is not mentioned in any reporting…
1200 tourists Worldwide….. Europe has 51 countries, 27 of which are members of the EU. That would equate to 23 tourists per country per month for Europe ONLY. But the Thai government is talking about 1200 tourists WORLDWIDE so a number 100 is very much for the Netherlands or even BeNeLux and not realistic in this new proposal and assume that this will not save the economy or the tourist sector 1200 people do you think at the airport let alone back in the country itself…..
I don't think Dutch people even qualify. It will really be a very limited number of countries. It wouldn't be too bad if we were there, given the latest corona statistics. Aircraft departing from Amsterdam with 100 people on board. I don't see it happening.
Theoretically, you must therefore also make a reservation (i.e. pay in advance) for 90 nights in a hotel or condo AFTER the mandatory quarantine of 14 nights. This is what I (also) read on various foreign forums. Apart from the fact whether you can eventually get out of here in Thailand, I wonder whether the Thai themselves find it logical when a tourist plans 3 months ahead. Anyway, if that's part of it now, there will be tourists who pay 90 nights in advance.
Where there is a will, there is a way… I even think that if you even want to jump through these hoops you have virtually no chance of “getting” this visa. And in a few months there will be a number of additional infections, the Thai will panic and lock the country again.
We're in it for the long run I'm afraid.
With 100 passengers per flight, the airline will have to multiply the normal ticket price by four if they do not want to focus too much on it. Strange, by the way, this maximum occupancy, the repatriation flights in July and August were fully booked to the last seat. That is why my Thai partner was able to go back and forth to visit her family for just over € 1.000. But you have to love your in-laws very much to shell out $4.000 for a family visit.
I fear that with these small numbers of foreigners, the operators of hotels, coffee shops, bars will not open their doors !!
Think they are not willing to recruit staff again because 1200 farangs will be admitted.
We'd better bite the bullet and not go into these silly rules.
Try to persevere for a few more months and the problem will resolve itself.
I also hope that everything will be fine again, so that we at least have a perspective for the near future, because at the moment nothing will be comparable as before corona.
Regards, Joseph
If all those tourists stay for 9 months, it will automatically exceed 1.200, because until the tenth month, it will increase by 1.200 every month.
So after 9 months there are 10.800.
But well spread across the country, 10.800 tourists don't add up either.
But what were they going to do with all those superfluous immigration officials?
Can someone explain to me in normal Dutch or Flemish where I can obtain a Fit To Fly certificate?
I have already raised it with KLM on Facebook, but they simply do not answer.
Travelclinic and Medicare issue a fit-to-fly statement in English.
All passengers who have already booked will be entitled to a seat for the price they paid. The planes have to get off the ground, otherwise they get stuck, and the pilots have to make their flying hours. So problem partly solved. Whether 'the problem' solves itself is a question.
I got the (as expected naturally) cancellation of my EVA tickets this week:
We are sorry to inform you that EVA Air canceled all the flight till 31st Dec. 2020 for departure from Amsterdam to Bangkok.
Knack mess
Visited my buddy today to discuss the situation in Thailand. We have decided to move our flight with departure November 1 to departure June 2021. I saw on the Swiss Air site that the price for a flight to Bangkok was the same as the price with departure November 1 (344 euros). Given that we have a flexible ticket, I expect this will not be a problem. I really don't see it happening anymore that we can go to Thailand without quarantine measures before the end of the year.
Normally I would have to rebook my ticket today for departure on 02/07/2021. I think I'm going to ask for my money back. I think that would be the wisest thing to do. NOT??
It says 100 tourists per flight, but that does not mean that these will be flights with only those 100 tourists.
I think that means that on certain flights up to 100 seats can / will be reserved for tourists with this type of visa.
The roughly 200 other places on that flight can therefore also be occupied by returning Thais or other foreigners who can enter Thailand under different conditions.
You never know, of course, but I personally think that as a Dutch/Belgian you should not rush to pack your suitcase.
Yes, we were once again happy with a dead sparrow.
In the meantime, I really no longer believe that the plan was intended to actually attract long-stay tourists. The conditions are too restrictive for that
According to the latest plans, you must first be quarantined at home BEFORE departure, incl. 2 tests, AND a substantial amount in the bank, AND covid insurance, AND a Fit to Fly statement, And 14 days of Quarantine in too expensive ASQ (in advance payment), AND payment and reservation for 3 months accommodation, AND finding and paying for a charter flight, AND a COE from the embassy, AND I'm sure I've forgotten some things.
In this way they have formally (as promised to the tourism sector) created a possibility, which is, however, impracticable in practice.
Thailand has lost a lot of attraction for me in recent years. The only reason to still want to go there is that I have had a steady girlfriend there for years. Good chance Covid will destroy that too. Sad.
I assume quarantine in Thailand expires.
I don't think it's the intention to go into quarantine twice for 2 weeks.
Nothing is known about how large that amount must be in the bank, so also not whether it should be large.
When I was still living in the Netherlands, I also had to take a bank statement to the embassy for my visa.
There is also no longer any talk of a charter flight.
That there is a lot of interest in going back to Thailand is certainly true, but I have serious doubts about the success of the proposal. The caranteine of 14 days is too much.
I believe that if you become infected today, this can already be found in a test after three days.
So no proof of a covid-free test on arrival, but a test after three days on arrival and three days of caranteine in a hotel. Both hotel and test to be paid by the traveler.
Proof of proper insurance with adequate coverage
If you test positive, you're out of luck.
For many years I have had a non-immigrant OA visa and have a permanent place of residence on Koh Samui. I also already have a return ticket for 6 months from October 21 this year. How and where can I meet the conditions to successfully travel to Koh Samui from Amsterdam on October 21?
No one can tell you that at the moment, I'm afraid.
I have a non-immigrand O visa that expires on February 9, 2021.
I have a house on Koh Samui and would like to return after a long time, do I now also need an STV visa
apply or can I just return on my current O visa in December, of course with all
necessary papers and a 14-day mandatory quarantine