General Reports

[EihTooms]

Things may have changed by now but last I read it was from a list of select government approved hotels and you end up paying more than normal for the hotel. You can Google if you really want to know which hotels are approved but I'm sure that will all change by the time you will be allowed in.

I have not done any research on it myself but the guy I met very briefly in Nana Plaza from the USA who had just finished his 14 day quarantine on arrival in Bangkok said he stayed in the Princeton (Downtown?) Bangkok Hotel near Victory Monument and his total cost was $1,000 USD/30,000 THB, including all tests, food, whatever. He said after the first 7 days he was allowed to roam around outdoors on the hotel property, around the pool area and such, for 40 minutes per day.

[Banana Boi]

For the STV, I know that you have to pre pay for your Q but it reads like you have to choose your hotel and pre-pay for the whole stay. Your thoughts?

Things may have changed by now but last I read it was from a list of select government approved hotels and you end up paying more than normal for the hotel. You can Google if you really want to know which hotels are approved but I'm sure that will all change by the time you will be allowed in.

[GettingFedUp]

Let's say you are accepted for a STV. Has anyone from France/Belgium or the USA looked in to what current flight options there are to fly to Bangkok?

For France / Belgium options would involve travelling via another country e. G. Amsterdam (KLM or Eva), Frankfurt (Lufthansa or allegedly Thai), Zurich (Swiss), Doha (Qatar), Dubai (Emirates), Abu Dhabi (Etihad).

I am curious about the costs of flights. I'd be going from USA.

Emirates quote around USD 1,000 - 1,100 for NY JFK-DXB-BKK (25 hours including 6 hour layover in Dubai) return for outbound mid-January, return late March. Other options from the east coast would be Qatar (via Doha) or connecting at one of the European hubs listed in my response of BB.

West coast options would take some work to find connections on https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...afXzA6JCw/edit#gid=686263740. Options might be via Taiwan (although there is a maximum layover of 8 hours), Hong Kong, Seoul. Possibly Singapore or Tokyo-Narita (although I'm not sure how reliable Thai Airways flight schedules are and the flight may be reserved for "returnees". Be aware you almost certainly need to be thru-ticketed I. E. Just transit not actually going through passport control to check in for the next flight.

[GettingFedUp]

All,

There are Provincial Administration Office (PAO) elections this Sunday, 20th December which probably means no alcohol sales.

https://thepattayanews.com/2020/12/1...early-certain/

The article above says that entertainment businesses in Pattaya have been told unofficially at this stage that they will have to close from early evening on Saturday until after the polls close at 5 pm Sunday. It is unclear whether this will apply to Bangkok which has no PAO but is run by the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA), elections for which are not taking place.

[BayView]

Let's be clear that APPLY does not mean ACCEPTED.

Why not let everyone apply? Doesn't hurt Thailand at all. Who gets in will be another story. Leave your yacht at home guys. Only 6 boats are allowed to enter Thailand, including yachts.

14 day quarantine is no big deal. Aren't many of us basically under a 14 day quarantine in our home country anyways? Personally I'd rather get a reward at the end of my 14 day quarantine than the semi lockdown I have in my home country for the foreseeable future.

Let's say you are accepted for a STV. Has anyone from France/Belgium or the USA looked in to what current flight options there are to fly to Bangkok?

Has anyone here actually applied for any type of Visa for Thailand since COVID began?

For the STV, I know that you have to pre pay for your Q but it reads like you have to choose your hotel and pre-pay for the whole stay. Your thoughts?

I am curious about the costs of flights. I'd be going from USA.

[Berrys66]

COVID vaccine roll-out could take months to curb spread of virus says PROF Karol Sikora.

So today is the day. A Covid-19 vaccine is being rolled out across the country and by the time you're reading this, thousands and thousands of people will have already received their first dose.

https://www.express.co.uk/comment/ex...s-spread-virus

And every country has differing roll out dates over years and some have no roll out dates at all.

[PedroMorales]

There would be, I imagine, in some of those planes, a small number of passengers, Thais who managed to get repatriated, key officials etc. But few of them are Nana Plaza bound. Mongers are so far down the list we are not on the list. Thai muff, for the foreseeable future, is off the menu, for me, maybe forever as I am not taking any half cooked vaccine.

All,

Be very wary of using the airport arrivals as a guide to which airlines you can travel to Thailand on. The flights may be arriving but that doesn't mean that they are carrying passengers. A number of airlines (notably Qatar, KLM and Swiss) have been operating into and out of BKK pretty much throughout but not for passengers. I'm guessing mainly for freight inbound to Bkk and both freight and passengers outbound.

The link on the Thai Embassy Washington DC site for the list of approved "semi-commercial" (whatever that means) flights to Swampy seems to have broken, but via the Thai Embassy Kazakhstan site it appears at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...#gid=686263740 (says last updated 7 December).

On a side note the Thai hot air factory (Ministry of Tourism / TAT) has floated a proposal that the duration of the Visa Waiver be extended from 30 to 45 days from September next year. Note Visa Waiver is what most short term visitors from Europe, North America, Australia and NZ travel on. It is sometimes referred to as a "Visa on Arrival" but that is actually a different species for visitors from China, India, etc.

[GettingFedUp]

https://www.bangkokairportonline.com...ls-departures/

All,

Be very wary of using the airport arrivals as a guide to which airlines you can travel to Thailand on. The flights may be arriving but that doesn't mean that they are carrying passengers. A number of airlines (notably Qatar, KLM and Swiss) have been operating into and out of BKK pretty much throughout but not for passengers. I'm guessing mainly for freight inbound to Bkk and both freight and passengers outbound.

The link on the Thai Embassy Washington DC site for the list of approved "semi-commercial" (whatever that means) flights to Swampy seems to have broken, but via the Thai Embassy Kazakhstan site it appears at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...#gid=686263740 (says last updated 7 December).

On a side note the Thai hot air factory (Ministry of Tourism / TAT) has floated a proposal that the duration of the Visa Waiver be extended from 30 to 45 days from September next year. Note Visa Waiver is what most short term visitors from Europe, North America, Australia and NZ travel on. It is sometimes referred to as a "Visa on Arrival" but that is actually a different species for visitors from China, India, etc.

[NicFrenchy]

Good to see you back.

Thank you and likewise 😊.

Good to be back. So much I have to re-learn LOL.

[Mr Enternational]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but if you are from the USA you can only catch a connecting flight from the above listed countries if you are allowed entry in to those countries. I'm not sure about PI but I'm pretty sure Americans are not allowed to fly in to Japan, HK, Indo, etc.

You do not have to be allowed entry in order to catch a connecting flight.

Note that foreigners (from the countries and regions where the entry bans do not apply) are not denied to enter Japan when they arrive in Japan via any of the following 152 countries or regions, which are subject to denial of permission to entry, for refueling or transit purpose. Those who entered those countries or regions will, however, be subject to the entry ban.

https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page4e_001053.html

[GogoGuyz]

Got excited when I saw the news below but there is still a 14 days mandatory quarantine at designated hotels so unlikely to be many taking up that except retirees with lots of time and the intention of staying in Thailand a few months. For me I am a few days trip type. Wait till vaccine roll out and relaxed restrictions. Now if they really want to boost tourism and they offered quarantine in a suite of a hotel with 5 girls of your choice then I think they might see tourist numbers shoot up.

[Banana Boi]

https://www.bangkokairportonline.com...ls-departures/

Planes from Amsterdam, Tokyo, HK, Manila, Indonesia, some other places. Maybe if you refresh the link, other flights will show up.

Many cancelled flights, I imagine.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but if you are from the USA you can only catch a connecting flight from the above listed countries if you are allowed entry in to those countries. I'm not sure about PI but I'm pretty sure Americans are not allowed to fly in to Japan, HK, Indo, etc.

we will have to wait and see how a certificate of vaccination might change requirements such as cutting out the $100,000 insurance.

A few airlines are starting to include COVID insurance if you fly with them. Cathay as an example offers 200k USD COVID insurance through AXA.

[Mr Enternational]

Come back guys, the economy needs the support of tourists 😊.

https://sea.mashable.com/culture/135...ovid-situation

Good to see you back.

[NicFrenchy]

Come back guys, the economy needs the support of tourists 😊.

https://sea.mashable.com/culture/135...ovid-situation

[HorseTrader]

Thai embassies worldwide are basically stand alone, and have always made up their own rules about visas. With all the requirements the past couple months I'm betting its gotten a lot worse and led to some embassies trying to get $ for getting people approved and others who deny everyone so they don't have to do any work.

Even the embassy in Washington DC does things differently than the consulate in Chicago. Just getting 60 day visas in December 2019 was a different experience for me and one of my buddies. They also change their policies without quickly updating their web pages.

That was back in normal times. I can only imagine how different it will be for the next many months.