General Reports

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2510109]Negative. I was in Thailand for the curfew. What really did I need to do after 9,10,or 11 pm? Not a damn thing. I am usually in bed at 10 anyway. Compare that to 2 weeks in quarantine, which is basically jail. I am not trying to be cooped up in a room or compound for 2 weeks all by myself or with nobody else for that matter buddy.[/QUOTE]Ditto to the nix on the quarantine. I'm heading back to the USA next month and I'll get jabbed and head on back to SE Asia when it opens up without quarantines. If that doesn't happen by next Fall, well there will be plenty of other warm destinations that won't quarantine ya.

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?

[QUOTE=BananaBoi;2510283]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?[/QUOTE]Life in quarantine depends on where you quarantine in other words the quality of the hotel. Am acquaintance of mine on a work permit recently stayed at the BDMS wellness center on Wireless Road and found it painless enough. His company paid roughly 80000 for the 14 days which included testing, 5 star accommodation and service, all meals with good food and lots of massages. Some other therapies such as yoga and meditation classes were available. The first few days while waiting for the test result meant confinement to his room but after the negative result he was allowed not unlimited but greater freedom to move around. Lower valued packages at some other approved hotels I read are less pleasant but as with a lot in life you get what you pay for. The whole process was handled by an agent here in Bangkok.

I agree with your comment even if you check all the boxes applying does not mean getting. It seems some embassies in the same way some immigration offices here treat applications differently.

Overall I guess extending the STV to all countries is a step in the right direction and we will have to wait and see how a certificate of vaccination might change requirements such as cutting out the $100,000 insurance.

[URL]https://www.bangkokairportonline.com/flight-status-arrivals-departures/https://www.bangkokairportonline.com/flight-status-arrivals-departures/[/URL]

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. Guess you might have to develop some social skills in these asocial times. Thailand and similar places are off the menu until at least summer 2021. Mongers wanting to shoot their load are not a priority.

[QUOTE=BananaBoi;2510283]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?[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=BananaBoi;2510283]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?[/QUOTE]Not sure this helps? But two of these cases I will be the first to admit age might have caught up with them I think you will understand what I'm getting at?

I drink coffee with a guy who left in March he was supposed to be gone a month he is still in Boston. Based on his Line message he has tried a number of times he said the list is long and confusing to follow? He went to the airport mid-November and got turn back next line message said it will be Christmas after he gets his shot? You get the idea here?

3rd hand, again guy not the sharpest tool in the shed? He has a Thai wife only speaks English, started in late July still not here. They contacted the Thai Embassy in L. A. Never got a reply finally they got lead to the right track contact an Embassy back East coast. Said much of the information was confusing one day it was this next something else and she was talking to a Thai representative on the phone in Thai. She for whatever reason booked a flight on Eva her normal airline of choice for Dec 5th, in the end, the Embassy contacted her and said you can only go on this airline which is Korean with a long layover and they have scheduled her for Dec 23rd so I will know then?

Today, at my brother's house he lives in a project a Thai ladies run the complex speak great English married to a German goes back and forth she has been gone since May? She has been out of quarantine for 5 days once I heard I put my mask on she startd to laugh. She said even for a Thai national she went through hell to get back said the list is extension and confusing even for her charge her a arm and a leg for testing and quarantine. She said " don't leave "!

[QUOTE=LittleBigMan;2510356]Not sure this helps? But two of these cases I will be the first to admit age might have caught up with them I think you will understand what I'm getting at?

I drink coffee with a guy who left in March he was supposed to be gone a month he is still in Boston. Based on his Line message he has tried a number of times he said the list is long and confusing to follow? He went to the airport mid-November and got turn back next line message said it will be Christmas after he gets his shot? You get the idea here?

3rd hand, again guy not the sharpest tool in the shed? He has a Thai wife only speaks English, started in late July still not here. They contacted the Thai Embassy in L. A. Never got a reply finally they got lead to the right track contact an Embassy back East coast. Said much of the information was confusing one day it was this next something else and she was talking to a Thai representative on the phone in Thai. She for whatever reason booked a flight on Eva her normal airline of choice for Dec 5th, in the end, the Embassy contacted her and said you can only go on this airline which is Korean with a long layover and they have scheduled her for Dec 23rd so I will know then?

Today, at my brother's house he lives in a project a Thai ladies run the complex speak great English married to a German goes back and forth she has been gone since May? She has been out of quarantine for 5 days once I heard I put my mask on she startd to laugh. She said even for a Thai national she went through hell to get back said the list is extension and confusing even for her charge her a arm and a leg for testing and quarantine. She said " don't leave "![/QUOTE]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.

[QUOTE=IHeartIpa;2510359]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.[/QUOTE]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.

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

[URL]https://sea.mashable.com/culture/13554/thailand-is-opening-its-borders-to-everyone-regardless-of-their-countrys-covid-situation[/URL]

[QUOTE=NicFrenchy;2510621]Come back guys, the economy needs the support of tourists 😊.

[URL]https://sea.mashable.com/culture/13554/thailand-is-opening-its-borders-to-everyone-regardless-of-their-countrys-covid-situation[/URL][/QUOTE]Good to see you back.

[QUOTE=PedroMorales;2510331][URL]https://www.bangkokairportonline.com/flight-status-arrivals-departures/https://www.bangkokairportonline.com/flight-status-arrivals-departures/[/URL]

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. [/QUOTE]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.

[QUOTE=Franciscass;2510301]we will have to wait and see how a certificate of vaccination might change requirements such as cutting out the $100,000 insurance.[/QUOTE]

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.

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.

[QUOTE=BananaBoi;2510636]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.[/QUOTE]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) [B]are not denied to enter Japan when they arrive in Japan[/B] via any of the following 152 countries or regions, which are subject to denial of permission to entry, [B]for refueling or transit purpose[/B]. Those who entered those countries or regions will, however, be subject to the entry ban.

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

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2510632]Good to see you back.[/QUOTE]Thank you and likewise 😊.

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

[QUOTE=PedroMorales;2510331][URL]https://www.bangkokairportonline.com/flight-status-arrivals-departures/https://www.bangkokairportonline.com/flight-status-arrivals-departures/[/URL][/QUOTE]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 [URL]https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ijBJOTgFJPAuWUfkPIA60iniXB9j9Ba2XHafXzA6JCw/edit#gid=686263740[/URL] (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.

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.

[QUOTE=GettingFedUp;2511221]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 [URL]https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ijBJOTgFJPAuWUfkPIA60iniXB9j9Ba2XHafXzA6JCw/edit#gid=686263740[/URL] (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.[/QUOTE]