Feel like I won a lottery and that's not much exaggeration, considering how few vaccine shots are available to expats in Thailand -- unless you live on Phuket or Samui.

I won a vaccine slot for AstraZeneca at Phyathai 2 Hospital next week. The only hospital taking care of expats! (Yes, there are bidding wars for slots at each private hospital for "promised" Moderna shots in Q4.) Each daily lottery winner's circle is decided in about 6-7 minutes from 0900, if you're lucky enough to get the link to the form and fast enough to submit it. Only 100 doses a day on offer for THIS WEEK ONLY.

The gov freed up a few crumbs for expats over age 60 or with some dire diseases just so they can say they're taking care of foreigners. The 100 doses a day for 5 days only is an insult.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Travel ... 7&si=44594

Thailand opens Samui for vaccinated visitors despite delta threat
Hotels ramp up capacity amid optimism in COVID-slammed tourism sector


The Thai government's initiative to reopen tourism has been spreading throughout the country's famous resorts such as Samui island. © Reuters
MASAYUKI YUDA, Nikkei staff writerJuly 15, 2021 15:00 JSTUpdated on July 15, 2021 16:48 JST

BANGKOK -- Thailand's effort to rescue its ailing tourism industry took another step forward as the island of Samui and nearby islands reopened starting Thursday for vaccinated foreign visitors, despite an outbreak of the COVID-19 delta variant in the country.

Hotel operators on the island are looking to ramp up capacity, betting on more foreign tourists as the government tries to kick-start the sector. Thai retail giant Central Group's hospitality arm will open a new resort on Samui island in August.

Bangkok is keen to see the country's vital tourism industry fully back on its feet by mid-October. Before COVID, tourism and related sectors accounted for 20% of the country's gross domestic product.

Centara Hotels and Resorts -- a hospitality arm of Central Group -- as well as Minor International said they would aim to reopen all their locations by the end of the year.

The reopening of Samui and its neighbors will be slow compared to the island of Phuket, which began welcoming vaccinated tourists two weeks ago. International visitors to Samui will initially enter Thailand from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, where they will take a connecting Bangkok Airways flight to the island. According to local reports, only 33 seats have been reserved for flights in July, 20 in August, 10 in September and 17 in October.


Phuket remains open to overseas tourists, allowing foreigners fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to visit the resort island without quarantine. © Reuters

Phuket welcomed 5,174 tourists between July 1 and July 13.

The slow start on Samui reflects travelers' hesitation in visiting Thailand during the delta outbreak. Roughly 9,000 new cases have been reported daily over the past week in the country, while Bangkok -- the epicenter of the local delta outbreak -- faces a shortage of hospital beds. Although Samui and the nearby island of Phangan and Tao have not reported a single case of COVID since April, the delta outbreak in Southeast Asia has tourists thinking twice.

But hotel operators remain optimistic. Centara Hotels and Resorts will open Centara Reserve Samui to inoculated international tourists from August 10. Centara Villas Samui, another property under the company's management, will resume operation in September, while two others will open in October.

Minor International has vaccinated all staff at Avani+ Samui Resort, which can handle seven-day quarantine stays required for incoming tourists. Anantara Bophut and Anantara Lawana Resort on Samui island and Anantara Rasananda on Phangan island will accept tourists after they have quarantined.

Meanwhile, U.S.-based Hyatt debuted its Hyatt Regency Koh Samui on July 5. "The resort will play a part in driving the economy and promoting community tourists on Koh Samui," said Ithichai Poolvaraluck, chief business officer of Samui Vipat, owner of the resort that the American company operates.

Visitors to the island will not have to stay in their hotel rooms but will be asked to remain close to their accommodation for the first three days. The arrangement differs from Phuket and its so-called sandbox experiment, which allows vaccinated tourists to roam the island as soon as they have tested negative for the virus.

Between their fourth and seventh day, foreign tourists on Samui can travel to the island's attractions. Beginning with their second week, they can move freely around the island and to the nearby islands of Phangan and Tao. After two weeks, they will be allowed to travel to other parts of Thailand.

Vaccinated international travelers will have to take three PCR tests at their own expense. The first one must be taken upon arrival, the second on day 6 or 7, and the third on day 12 or 13.

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Sat Jul 17, 2021 10:07 am ohhh shit:

13 July: 8,685 - 56 dead
14 July: 9,317 - 87 dead
15 July: 9,186 - 98 dead
16 July: 9,692 - 67 dead
17 July: 10,082 - 141 dead


With the increasing number of people needing to go on ventilators (went from 364 to 847 in 30 days)

It is getting worse and worse. Chonburi (Pattaya et al) has recorded 10 straight days of triple digit increases, hitting 659 today. It is out of control, like India.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... in-the-air


Fate of 100m-dose vaccination hangs in the air
Leaked letters show AstraZeneca may not be to blame for shortfall
published : 17 Jul 2021 at 18:21


A health worker holds a vial of AstraZeneca vaccine at a gymnasium inside Thammasat University in Pathum Thani on June 7, the day Thailand started its mass inoculation campaign. (Reuters photo)

Leaked correspondence between the Thai government and the Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer AstraZeneca has raised a big question about the former’s commitment to administer 100 million doses by the end of this year.

Isra News Agency on Saturday posted a letter sent by Sjoerd Hubben, vice-president for global corporate affairs of AstraZeneca Inc, to Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul 22 days ago.

The letter explains to the ministry that the most Thailand would get from the European drugmaker’s local contract manufacturer would 5-6 million doses a month, which is consistent with their earlier discussions.

Siam Bioscience Co Ltd, a company owned by His Majesty the King, was retooled to manufacture the vaccine. The government subsidised 600 million baht for the upgrade and officials later said the company would pay back the sum in the form of shots.

The letter caught many by surprise since the government had repeated many times that 100 million doses would be administered by the end of the year to inoculate at least 70% of the population, with 61 million of them being locally produced AstraZeneca.

On various occasions, the government assured people that AstraZeneca would supply at least 10 million doses a month for the rest of the year.

The question that naturally followed is what vaccines the government would buy to achieve that goal, especially when all sides have agreed that Sinovac, which is the most readily available, cannot effectively shield against the Delta variant of the coronavirus. Sinovac also costs at least four times more than AstraZeneca.

According to the letter, the Ministry of Public Health to date has placed two orders for 61 million doses of AZ vaccine in total. The first, concluded in January this year, was for 26 million doses, and the second, closed in May this year, was for 35 million doses.

These 61 million doses were part of the 175 million that Siam Bioscience has been contracted to make. Thailand is to get 34.9% of its output, or 5-6 million doses a month. The rest will be shipped to other countries, AstraZeneca says in the letter.

Furthermore, the letter revealed that in early September last year the government was committed to buying only 3 million doses a month. Therefore, AZ says it hopes Thailand should be pleased that it is now receiving 5-6 million doses a month.

The company also mentioned that it had urged the government back in September last year to enter the Covax vaccine-sharing facility, along with buying directly from manufacturers. Thailand is one of a handful of developing countries that have not joined Covax.

The dates when the agreements were actually concluded, as mentioned in the letter, also raised eyebrows. It showed the agreement for the second batch of 35 million doses was concluded as recently as May this year, even though the third wave has been raging through the country since the start of April.

Mr Anutin told Isra that Thailand had in fact reserved the supply early this year. In any case, the cabinet approved the budget for it on March 5 and it took two months after that to sign the agreement.

Dr Nakorn Premsri, director of the National Vaccine Institute, on July 2 was the first to reveal the shortfall of AstraZeneca supplies.

Deputy Public Health Minister Sathit Pitutecha also admitted on Thursday that AstraZeneca would not be able to deliver all 61 million doses under the two contracts until May next year. The original deadline was supposed to have been December.

Contrary to what people had assumed earlier, he said 10 million doses a month was in fact Thailand’s capacity to vaccinate people, not the number of vaccines it would get from AstraZeneca. He said the company had seen the vaccination plan but had said nothing.

The revelation had led some Thais to think it was AstraZeneca that had failed to honour the contract, potentially derailing the country’s immunisation plan.

The Opposition even urged the government to exercise its authority under the vaccine law to ban exports of Thai-made vaccines when there are shortages in the country.

Anti-Govt rally through Pattaya today, first time I've seen an open protest here so far. Noticeable that anyone on the streets or workers coming out from businesses were showing their support.

Cowshed Cowboy wrote: ↑Sat Jul 17, 2021 8:35 pm Anti-Govt rally through Pattaya today, first time I've seen an open protest here so far. Noticeable that anyone on the streets or workers coming out from businesses were showing their support.

I'm guessing a very small crowd ?, which disappeared very quickly

Haven't seen any pictures of the protest yet

jaynewcastle wrote: ↑Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:33 am

Cowshed Cowboy wrote: ↑Sat Jul 17, 2021 8:35 pm Anti-Govt rally through Pattaya today, first time I've seen an open protest here so far. Noticeable that anyone on the streets or workers coming out from businesses were showing their support.

I'm guessing a very small crowd ?, which disappeared very quickly

Haven't seen any pictures of the protest yet

It was a motorcade, starting on Pattaya Nua along Beach Road, with a stop outside the police station, over and through Jomtien and onto Sukhumvit. I wondered what the noise was and watched it come down into Jomtien from my condo front door. There is one video online filmed from the lead truck with speakers on it. There is so few people on the streets anyway it brought a bit of life to the place. Inevitably the Gestapo must have got wind and had set up a road block outside Terminal 21 and were taking photos of number plates no doubt for future reference