Rants, Stupid Shit and Coronavirus in Thailand

BB, I quoted your post from the Pattaya thread and responded here in the Rants and Stupid section because I think this new policy is more at home here.

[QUOTE=BananaBoi;2645709]Kiss Pattaya goodbye everyone. This is a big one!

[URL]https://thepattayanews.com/2022/01/02/chonburi-governor-releases-late-night-updated-orders-around-covid-19-and-food-and-beverage-establishments/[/URL][/QUOTE]This is madness. Nobody is dying from Omicron. What is the latest count: 2? Therefore there is no need to close down entry into the country or impose mandates on the bars & restaurants, or to mandate anything for that matter. Covid is becoming endemic. It will never go away completely. Like the Flu! And currently there are 2 very decent vaccines available to Thais and better vaccines (more comprehensive and longer lasting) are being developed by Pfizer and Moderna among others.

I am sure the Thai Government will reverse these new decisions in a few weeks when the number of new cases peak, but the real problem is this heavy mindset in politicians and various governments around the world. Theses entities will continue to respond the same way with every new variant. So you can follow the bouncing ball: Thailand kind of opened (covid test before & after arrival + proof of vaccination + up to a 24 hour quarantine) in November and most of December although there were strict regulations on the bars, then Thailand closes again now due to a non lethal variant, but will reopen again in February (probably), and later in 2022 they will most likely shut down again in April or May when a new variant arrives in time for the rainy season. 555. What a callosal load of bull! I feel sorry for the Thai people that have had to endure this madness as well as those ISG'ers with real Thai GF's who they have not seen for a long, long time.

Anyway, I have better things to do than play along with this dumb ass open / close / close / open game the government likes to play and fortunately I have better places to go too. Bye Bye Thailand. I had a lot of fun here while it lasted (1989 to 2019).

Seems like everyone I talk to in Pattaya both guys and girls, even non P4 P girls knows a ton of people with COVID now. Unless everyone knows one another which is possible in a small town like Pattaya but all 3,000 cases of COVID reported in Thailand yesterday all live in Pattaya!. Something just isn't adding up to me.

[QUOTE=BananaBoi;2645947]Seems like everyone I talk to in Pattaya both guys and girls, even non P4 P girls knows a ton of people with COVID now. Unless everyone knows one another which is possible in a small town like Pattaya but all 3,000 cases of COVID reported in Thailand yesterday all live in Pattaya!. Something just isn't adding up to me.[/QUOTE]I can say the same thing about Phuket. Published new cases in Phuket have been running at about 80 per day. I don't believe it is that low.

[QUOTE=HorseTrader;2645972]I can say the same thing about Phuket. Published new cases in Phuket have been running at about 80 per day. I don't believe it is that low.[/QUOTE]I follow about 50 Thai Instagram girls that are known to work in the business. There are currently 8 that have come down with covid in this past week. 4 are in Phuket, 4 In Pattaya.

The official Thai numbers have under counted the cases all the way through the pandemic by a large multiple.

[QUOTE=MaxBkk;2646037]I follow about 50 Thai Instagram girls that are known to work in the business. There are currently 8 that have come down with covid in this past week. 4 are in Phuket, 4 In Pattaya.

The official Thai numbers have under counted the cases all the way through the pandemic by a large multiple.[/QUOTE]Yes, in Phuket I am hearing of multiple working girls now with covid.

Just to put this to bed a bit, many major cities across the world, be it in Asia, Europe or North America, are experiencing rises in cases right now, ones that test more, and have tests readily available, like New York City, are also detecting more (duh!) In the US there seems to be at least some indication (which may or may not bear out to be true at the end of the day) that the at home rapid tests have a higher false negative rate with omicron, that means they are less sensitive to omicron, this is direct from the US government but they caution that these are early results and it may change. There also seems to be indication that the 10 day (or 14 day) quarantine was a good baseline, but for vaccinated people it is likely over cautious, and you are likely fine after 5 days if asymptomatic. Omicron cases appear to be mild to no symptoms in vaccinated people. Unvaxxed people are same as always.

We'll get a rise this month, shit will get weird in lots of cities in Jan, than calm down again. I just hope they don't go crazy with travel restrictions cause those can take a long time to sort out. Its already everywhere, no need to do anything other than test, and if you're vaxxed, you're fine anyways.

When/if Thailand changes or adopts new rules, who the fuck knows, the only constant is that things seems to change every couple of weeks, so planning right now is somewhat useless

The Thai Government is making an announcement today in regards to "Test & Go", "Sandbox" and other ways to enter Thailand.

It is anticipated that the current suspension of "Test & Go" and the "Sandbox" schemes except Phuket, will continue.

Currently the only way to enter Thailand is through hard qurantine 7,10,14 days depending on country and vaccination status. Or through the 7 day Phuket sandbox scheme, where you are free to leave hotel during the day and have to get PCR tested twice at your expense.

People that lodged their Thai Pass before December 22 and have been approved can still enter under the suspended "Test & Go" or other "Sandbox" schemes, however it is expected that then Thai government will announce you must enter before January 10 or it will expire.

[QUOTE=MaxBkk;2646422]The Thai Government is making an announcement today in regards to "Test & Go", "Sandbox" and other ways to enter Thailand.[/QUOTE]Seems you missed the announcement that was already made that said they would wait until January 31 to make an announcement.

"Anutin Charnvirakul, Minister of Public Health and Deputy Prime Minister, confirmed this morning to the Thai press, January 3rd, 2022, that he has proposed on behalf of the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) to delay any resumption of the “Test and Go” program until at least the end of January, scheduled for a review by the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration, or CCSA, tomorrow, January 4th."

For those who have approved QR codes for Thailand Pass and think you have an indefinite time to use them Thailand is now considering putting a time limit on when they can be used. They will make the announcement on January 10 and your approved Thailand Pass could be invalid as early as January 10.

The semi-official announcement is that bars will not open on 16 January.

This TikTok girl is documenting her Thailand quarantine on TikTok. This could be you.

[URL]https://www.tiktok.com/search?q=Megan%20Meeke%20&t=1641268634023[/URL]

She wanted water. Hotel says she has to pay cash. She has no cash. Who enters a foreign country with zero cash in that currency? Not smart. Guess she's drinking from the tap.

[QUOTE=BananaBoi;2646525]This TikTok girl is documenting her Thailand quarantine on TikTok. This could be you.

[URL]https://www.tiktok.com/search?q=Megan%20Meeke%20&t=1641268634023[/URL]

She wanted water. Hotel says she has to pay cash. She has no cash. Who enters a foreign country with zero cash in that currency? Not smart. Guess she's drinking from the tap.[/QUOTE]I exchange all my baht at the Thailand airport in favor of USA dollars, better baht to dollars exchange rate there. I have zero baht at home so upon return to Thailand I normally hit the Thailand airport ATM immediately after gathering my luggage and before going to transportation.

Is that concept still possible in the age of Test and Go and Sandbox?

I'm also wondering if it will be possible to buy a Thai SIM card before going to my Phuket Sandbox hotel.

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2646449]Seems you missed the announcement that was already made that said they would wait until January 31 to make an announcement.

"Anutin Charnvirakul, Minister of Public Health and Deputy Prime Minister, confirmed this morning to the Thai press, January 3rd, 2022, that he has proposed on behalf of the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) to delay any resumption of the Test and Go program until at least the end of January, scheduled for a review by the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration, or CCSA, tomorrow, January 4th."[/QUOTE]This is not the official announcement. It is a 3 step process.

Step 1: All ministers put forward their recommendations to the CCSA. The Health minister has the loudest voice as it pertains to public health but not all of his recommendations are followed verbatim. Probably between 60 to 80 % of his proposals have been followed during the current Pandemic.

Step 2: The CCSA meets, which is the meeting today to which I was referring to.

Step 3: It becomes official law when it published in the Royal Thai Government Gazette, usually a few days later.

Along each step of the way things do get dropped and added. For example, on December 22 the CCSA stated that current Thai Pass's would be valid until Jan 10 only. However this was never stated in the Royal Gazette, hence there was no official cut off date. However, this may be corrected today.

[QUOTE=Explorer8939;2646519]The semi-official announcement is that bars will not open on 16 January.[/QUOTE]There was never a statement that said anyone but Sex Started Mongers were target ing Jan 16.

Govt said will assess situation.

Staying at an airbnb for the first time ever in Thailand and the owner upon me checking in informed me that I had to file paperwork with immigration with my passport showing my current residency. But I recalled reading in the Cambodia forum that travel agents would for a fee go to immigration on your behalf for a fee. So I stopped by a local visa agent and for 500 baht they went and filed the paperwork with my passport, just had to pick it up the next day. Anyway got their LINE ID and said I would be stopping by to do the 30 day extension and was informed I could now increase that to 60 days for an extra 2000 baht. Have plans to go to Cambodia but for 2000 baht this gives me some extra insurance if I am delayed, flight cancelations etc.