Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Thailand is Cambodia's neighbor to the West, and this forum is dedicated to Thai news, stories, reviews, blogs, videos, Thai people and anything else related to the country. A lot of expats have both lived and worked in Cambodia and Thailand, and this area is a place to discuss all aspects of life in Thailand and what's going on there. Most topics are about Bangkok and Pattaya because of their larger populations of expatriates and tourists in those cities, but this is for all things Thai.
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phuketrichard
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Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Post by phuketrichard »

if you need info concerning the sandbox join this FB group
https://web.facebook.com/groups/phuketsandbox

and be sure and watch claptons new music video
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
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Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

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https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... g-controls

Govt lifts some bug controls
Indoor dining to be allowed with limits
published : 28 Aug 2021 at 06:00

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The Mall Bang Kapi shopping centre is one of the malls in Bangkok and other red-zone provinces ordered to close due to the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo: Varuth Hirunyatheb)

The government has eased Covid-19 restrictions on certain businesses and activities, including restaurants, shopping malls, beauty salons, massage shops and parks, starting Wednesday.

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However, the government will adopt a "Covid-free setting" approach to ensure safety during the process.

Under this approach, businesses will be required to ensure strict social distancing, proper air ventilation, good hygiene, weekly Covid-19 screenings for staff members and full vaccination for employees as soon as possible.

According to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), customers who have been fully vaccinated are classified as "green cards", referring to people who are allowed to receive services.

Indoor air-conditioned restaurants will be allowed to resume dine-in services at 50% capacity, while those without air conditioning can resume dine-in services at 75% capacity, according to Apisamai Srirangson, assistant spokeswoman for the CCSA on Friday.

She was speaking after a CCSA meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the director of the CCSA.

"Eateries ready to resume dine-in services will still be required to close at 8pm every day and prohibit the serving and selling of alcoholic beverages, similarly to shopping malls and convenience stores, which also have to close at 8pm," she said.

"As for customers, they will be checked to see if they have been [fully] vaccinated or tested for Covid-19 with a rapid antigen test kit before receiving these services," she said.

Dr Kiattiphum Wongworajit, permanent secretary at the Public Health Ministry, earlier said customers who will sit in restaurants must be free from Covid-19.

They have to show vaccination certificates, while those who had been infected must have tested negative for at least one month and not more than three or else they would need to undergo an antigen rapid test before being eligible to be served.

As for beauty salons and barbers, Dr Apisamai said operators will only be allowed to offer haircuts and spend no more than one hour on each customer.

"Travelling from one province to another is still not recommended unless necessary, while public transport [vehicles], such as buses and vans, will be required to [cap the number] of passengers at no more than 75% of all seats."

She said since the outbreak situation has yet to improve significantly, work-from-home measures and the 9pm-4am curfew will remain in effect for at least two weeks.

"The easing of these Covid-19 restrictions on businesses in 29 dark-red provinces will come as an effort to adjust Covid-19 control measures to improve the balance between public health safety and economic rehabilitation," she said.

The Public Health Ministry meanwhile expects the first batch of its 8.5 million Covid-19 antigen test kits (ATKs) from China to arrive in the next two weeks. It is believed the mass ATK import will make them more affordable.
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Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

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https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/21 ... -new-rules

Restaurateurs fume at new rules
Staff, customers must have 2 jabs and antigen tests weekly
published : 28 Aug 2021 at 06:44


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People walk in the quiet Siam Paragon shopping centre as the government orders all malls in Bangkok and other provinces hit hardest by Covid-19 to close. (Photo: Arnun Chonmhatrakoo)

Restaurant and retail operators have vented their deep disappointment over the government's new directives, saying such requirements are impractical and unrealistic.

Leading restaurant chains such as Minor Food, the Mall Group, Zen Plc and Mae Sri Ruen restaurant all predict it is unlikely they can revive their business with the new guidelines issued by the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Friday.

The CCSA lifted most restrictions on retail and dining from next month. Restaurants are allowed to resume dine-in services, with 75% capacity allowed for outdoor dining spaces and 50% for air-conditioned locations.

But all service staff at restaurants must have two doses of vaccine and be tested with antigen test kits every 5-7 days. The new guidelines also require customers to show proof of vaccination and have negative tests before entering restaurants.

"This means only a small number of customers will be allowed to dine in restaurants. We plan to only open restaurants where we already provide delivery," said Prapat Siangjan, chief operating officer of Minor Food Group.

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Riverside Plaza Bangkok on Charoen Nakhon Road temporarily closes as diners queue for deliveries and takeaways.

"The new directive does not help restaurant operators as much as we hoped, so it is better to keep our 280 restaurants shuttered until more practical guidelines are provided. We will only open some branches when we are confident it will not lead to a loss."

Mr Prapat called on the government to relax the measure by reducing the staff requirement to one jab.

Chan Ruengrung, executive vice-president of Mae Sri Ruen restaurant chain, said that it is very difficult for both restaurant operators and customers to follow the new restaurant's guidelines.

"Thais love freedom. They will not be happy to take an antigen test every time they want to eat at a restaurant," he said. "This requirement is not practical because restaurants are never as crowded as supermarkets or convenience stores.

Mr Chan said roughly 50% of his restaurant staff received a first jab and none have a second shot.

"We believe many restaurateurs are in the same situation. If the government really wants to help us, it should prioritise restaurant employees for vaccine allocation, he said.

Mae Sri Ruen has closed three restaurants permanently in the first half this year and plans to shutter two more restaurants soon.

Voralak Tulaphorn, chief marketing officer of the Mall Group Co, said it is quite difficult to ask all of the Mall's tenants to have two jabs.

"Could the CCSA ease the requirement to only one jab and one antigen test a month?" asked Ms Voralak.

Boonyong Tansakul, chief executive at Zen Corporation Plc, the operator of Zen, AKA, On the Table and Tummour chains, called for flexibility on the condition of two jabs.
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phuketrichard
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Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

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starting Finally to ramp up the shots!!!
915,738 people were vaccinated in just one day and now 33.88% of the population has had least one jab & 10.82% are fully vaccinated.
DAY 76: 404,078 <— Saturday
DAY 77: 206,820 <— Sunday
DAY 78: 573,446
DAY 79: 585,214
DAY 80: 637,921
DAY 81: 669,189
DAY 82: 915,738 <— New High

just might make 70% by end of year
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
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nemo
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Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

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The Dunning Kruger effect in full swing there.
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Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

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Field hospital raided after reports of Covid patients doing drugs, having group sex

Police raided a field hospital in central Thailand after reports that the Covid-19 patients were doing drugs and having orgies. A staff member at the field hospital in Samut Prakan, just southwest of Bangkok, told police the patients engaging in group sex and getting into fights where some patients were injured.

https://thethaiger.com/news/national/fi ... -group-sex

:?
Silence, exile, and cunning.
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Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

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Sandbox at risk of collapse after surge
published : 30 Aug 2021 at 06:00

PHUKET: Local tourism organisations have called for strict Covid-19 curbs to be relaxed to help with a quick recovery despite authorities struggling under the weight of a new surge of up to 200 infections a day.

Thanet Tantipiriyakit, president of the Phuket Tourism Council (PTC), said the latest cases were not caused by tourists but by local activities.

Disease control measures should be eased to allow visitors who are fully vaccinated and pass swab tests to enter the province to boost economic recovery, he said.

Chernporn Kanchanasaya, president of the Federation of Thai Industries' Phuket Chapter, said September will be a pivotal month. It is essential to vaccinate as many local residents as possible to shield them from the virus.

She also said the Digital Economy Promotion Agency is expected to set up smart checkpoints to screen visitors in October.

"The best measures must be put in place before people are allowed to enter Phuket,'' she said.

Sarayuth Mallam, chief adviser to the PCT, said that if the island is put under a two-month lockdown, it could spell doom for the Phuket Sandbox scheme.

"Foreign consuls have said foreign visitors already feel deceived having arrived in Phuket. If the province is locked down again, no visitors will come at all," Mr Sarayuth said.

"Tourists from Bangkok and Europe will disappear during the high season. We need to strike a balance to coexist with Covid," he added.

Tourists from Europe want to dine and have a beer and wine together, but right now they can't do anything. Many have said they have felt cheated for three months now.

"If Phuket was not ready, then why reopen? Without an easing of the curbs, all will be ruined,'' Mr Sarayuth said.

Phuket governor Narong Woonciew said local authorities are stepping up efforts to contain the surge of infections as quickly as possible. Many of the new cases were detected using antigen test kits, whose results were confirmed again for accuracy by RT-PCR, he said.

Transmissions have increased among residents and migrant workers, he added.

With the spikes in local infections, the prospects for the Phuket Sandbox scheme may look dimmer now than when it first started, he said.

"We have to do everything we can to get through this difficult situation and hope case numbers will slow down.

"We have to join forces and move forward. This is a life-and-death situation for the future of Phuket Sandbox,'' the governor said.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/21 ... fter-surge
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Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

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Tourism ministry sets January date to reopen
Move depends on herd immunity level
published : 6 Sep 2021 at 06:40

The Tourism and Sports Ministry vows to open the whole country without quarantine by January next year, but such a move largely depends on nationwide herd immunity.

Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, the tourism and sports minister, said Bangkok was scheduled to reopen in October as part of the second phase for the country, but this phase has been delayed to November as the majority of residents will not receive their second vaccine dose until the end of October.

"The plan for Bangkok is more challenging as it has extended territory covering vicinities that require more elaborate standard operation procedures [SOPs]," he said.

Meanwhile, Chiang Mai, Prachuap Khiri Khan (Hua Hin) and Chon Buri (Pattaya) will go ahead as planned on Oct 1, as well as Phetchaburi, which hasn't yet started its SOPs and needs to speed up this month, said Mr Phiphat.

At a meeting between the ministry and the Tourism Authorities of Thailand (TAT) on Friday, he said they agreed to add some provinces to the third phase of reopening under the 7+7 extension programme.

As a result, from Oct 15 there are 25 provinces tourists can enter via the sandbox programme as second destinations after spending seven days in one of these destinations: Phuket, Samui, Chiang Mai, Chon Buri, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Phetchaburi and Bangkok.

"We need to propose that list to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration in order to allocate a proper amount of vaccines for them in time," said Mr Phiphat.

However, if vaccination does not reach the required level in certain areas, select districts can be isolated or a sealed route is possible in the early stages, he said.

"Only safe areas can reopen to Thai tourists on Nov 1, while international tourists are expected to enter without quarantine from January, led by travel bubbles with neighbouring countries starting on Jan 15," said Mr Phiphat.

The key condition is Thailand must achieve herd immunity as determined by the government within this year.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/21 ... -to-reopen
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Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

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Hahaha
I'm standing up, so I must be straight.
What's a poor man do when the blues keep following him around.(Smoking Dynamite)
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