News Forum - Philippines reopens Feb 10 for the vaccinated from most countries

[totes]

4 hours ago, samiam123 said:

The problem is flights.  What is available right now is expensive for me.  It's going to take awhile for that to get going again.   I also want to see more details on what happens if I test positive.

The test is pre-departure before you enter PH.  So enjoy - see you in PH!   bye bye Thailand! 

[ace035]

59 minutes ago, Fundok said:

Finally someone has understood. So eventually the Philippines will take away tourism business from Thailand. Let's see how long Thailand will upkeep its current entry regime, given that there undoubtly be a lot of pressure from the Thai tourism industry.

Probably at least a month

[Grumpish]

Having just endured my seven days of ASQ, I am staying put for few weeks. That cold beer tonight is going to taste so good. But for my next trip Thailand is going to have to put up some very convincing arguments in its favour. 

[Artemis080]

Look around the countries that have dropped any restrictions, and it's not because they have seen the light, it's because they have effectively lost control and there is no point. Or politically there is no support or will otherwise.

Thailand must walk a fine line between keeping Asian countries trust that they have control, and are able to react as the pandemic evolves, whilst attracting what little tourists there actually are globally. That's always going to be a bit of messy and uneven journey.

Feel free to go to the Philippines instead. 34% of people are fully vaccinated. Sounds like a great idea.

[smartcontrol]

1 hour ago, Thomazz59 said:

Take me down to Cebu City where the grass is green and the girls are pretty.. Ohhh take me home..

BYE, BYE  Thailand....

my flight to Cebu City is already set up for February 12th.  one PCR test before boarding and show vaccination card and you are done. no quarantine no hotel no BS. BYE,BYE Thailand. the new test and go will be we are not testing and have gone to the Philippines

[smartcontrol]

thaiger.com is wrong as usual. the un-vaccinated can enter the Philippines starting 10 February, only difference is they do a 5 day hotel quarantine.

[Poolie]

54 minutes ago, smartcontrol said:

thaiger.com is wrong as usual. the un-vaccinated can enter the Philippines starting 10 February, only difference is they do a 5 day hotel quarantine.

It's actually the Bangkok Post who reported it.

If so, only for six days, which seems kind of pointless.

Unvaccinated travellers from any country will be fully banned on February 16 from entering the Philippines.

[Oracle]

The PI are a great place for visiting, very friendly, great food, good nightlife, and English spoken by all. But be careful due to Omicron. Every colleague who returned for the year end holidays in Manila got Covid, with a 5 to 7 day home quarantine, though all had mild symptoms.

[Cabra]

Flights (fewer options) aside. Does anyone know what life on the ground in PI is like at the moment? Might be easier to get in, but what's live like inside, and will authorities be on your back restricting movement, and just being generally annoying. Plus getting in is one thing, getting back home might not be so easy. Think I'll sit this one out for a couple more months and see what develops. Rather be a fast follower than an early adopter.

[Lawyers_Guns_and_Money]

Any suggestions on how to tell my Thai girlfriend that I will be visiting the Philippines instead? 

I already told my Thai wife, and she didn't care. She said her boyfriend was still planning on visiting. 

[Stonker]

5 hours ago, BigHewer said:

Please provide a link to demonstrate this assertion.

Certainly, several - I hope you don't mind if I take this point first, since it bears on all your others.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/special-reports/2240807/doubts-linger-over-2022

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-25/qld-covid-delay-international-travel-plans-experts-warn-/100763274

https://www.eiu.com/n/tourism-in-2022-a-shaky-recovery/

https://www.visitbritain.org/2022-tourism-forecast

Do you have links to contradict those, preferably not from those such as the TAT?

5 hours ago, BigHewer said:

The poster referred to “potentially” a lot of tourists and I agree. What “lot of tourists”? What we see as potential numbers. 

Maybe you both have a different definition of "potentially" to me. I go along with Merriam-Webster, Cambridge, and Macmillan, amongst others, so there has to be some element of likelihood involved, so while it's technically 'possible' that there could be 7 billion international tourists this year, those aren't 'potential numbers'.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/potentially

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/potentially

https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/potentially

5 hours ago, BigHewer said:

And how do you define ‘minimal’? What criteria do you consider to arrive at the adjective ‘minimal’?

Again, the same way as Merriam-Webster, Cambridge and Macmillan amongst others define it and consider criteria - barely adequate, very small or slight. 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/minimal

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/minimal

https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/minimal

You may well have a different definition, but I'd suggest that even the most optimistic are unlikely to put international tourist numbers above "barely adequate", etc, which is how they "define 'minimal' ".

5 hours ago, BigHewer said:

Again, by “most people”, are you referring to 51% of human beings on the planet, in which case you would be correct and disingenuous OR are you referring to those interested in international travel, in which case you’d just be plain wrong. Which is it?

Neither or both, depending on what you mean as your two options clearly overlap. ... and while you may disagree, and evidently do, that's also the view expressed in the links I've given above replying to your first point:

"most tourism businesses have told the Bangkok Post they still hope the tourism situation in 2022 won't be any worse than that of last year [2021]",

" virologists and travel experts advise holiday-makers to "delay" trips, with the industry not expected to completely bounce back before 2024."

"Dr Benckendorff, who has spent years studying visitor behaviour and the tourism industry, said ..."We can't expect to see aviation and travel return to 2019 levels until about 2024, so it's going to take a couple of years."

"Tourism has endured a terrible pandemic, and the bad news is that 2022 will only bring a partial recovery. Borders are reopening, but international travel will still be difficult. Compliance with climate-change regulations, as well as higher fuel prices and wages, will also push up air-travel costs in 2022. This will eventually lead to airline mergers, airport closures and higher ticket prices." (their red).

I doubt if they're all "just plain wrong", even if that's your view.

5 hours ago, BigHewer said:

So are you saying that travelers as a rule have less sense than people who do not travel? How do you arrive at this opinion? 

 

No, that's very clearly not what I'm saying as I said (and you quoted me saying it) that in my view they have "more sense at the moment" (my bold), so not "as a rule".

It's possible that those travel experts and dictionaries are all wrong, but in the absence of any more definitive links to the contrary I don't think it's unreasonable to go along with them as there does appear to be a clear consensus.

[Stonker]

17 minutes ago, Oracle said:

Every colleague who returned for the year end holidays in Manila got Covid, with a 5 to 7 day home quarantine, though all had mild symptoms.

Wow.  That would put a lot of people off, particularly those who need to be tested prior to leaving or on arrival home and who then face quarantine.

[BigHewer]

24 minutes ago, Stonker said:

Certainly, several - I hope you don't mind if I take this point first, since it bears on all your others.

The assertion you were attempting to support was: The numbers even to countries that have no restrictions are minimal

Your barrage of links make no reference to these mysterious countries “that have no restrictions”. Your assertion has no foundation.

29 minutes ago, Stonker said:

Neither or both, depending on what you mean as your two options clearly overlap. ... and while you may disagree, and evidently do, that's also the view expressed in the links I've given above replying to your first point

Again, tourism businesses, virologists and Dr. Benkendorff, although considerable in number, do not constitute “most people” as a demographic cohort regardless of which dictionary you use to define the word “most”. You can put up the opinions of hundred doctors if you like but you’re still not demonstrating “most people” to me or anyone else reading this thread. Nope, I think it’s still a case of you being disingenuous or - more likely - that you’re just plain wrong. I could also give you some leeway by throwing in a third option, i.e. that it was merely a careless choice of words on your part, which is also possible. 

36 minutes ago, Stonker said:

No, that's very clearly not what I'm saying as I said (and you quoted me saying it) that in my view they have "more sense at the moment"

Ah, the old “oh no, that’s not what I was saying” argument. Very clearly that’s what you were saying and you can’t just backpedal when you’ve been called out for making such a flippant assertion. Anyone reading this thread would also see it that way. You can’t call a spade a spade and then expect people to believe one page later that you actually meant that it was a shovel. 

43 minutes ago, Stonker said:

It's possible that those travel experts and dictionaries are all wrong

I trust the consistency of the dictionaries you have mentioned; it’s the inconsistency in your arguments that is more the issue. You can’t reframe a statement and shift the goalposts just to suit your flawed reasoning.

In any event, what great news it is that PI is reopening

[ace035]

3 hours ago, Artemis080 said:

Look around the countries that have dropped any restrictions, and it's not because they have seen the light, it's because they have effectively lost control and there is no point. Or politically there is no support or will otherwise.

Thailand must walk a fine line between keeping Asian countries trust that they have control, and are able to react as the pandemic evolves, whilst attracting what little tourists there actually are globally. That's always going to be a bit of messy and uneven journey.

Feel free to go to the Philippines instead. 34% of people are fully vaccinated. Sounds like a great idea.

Absolutely agree with you because the Thai government playing all these dumb f**k rules over and over again making it worst for the tourists to come in and spend more money on Day 1 & Day 5 PCR tests and scamming them if false positives even asymptomatic or mild symptoms ending up in the hospital along with the rest of the infected Thai locals besides that they never gave its people a chance to live their life instead too many rules and restrictions, they won't survive their tourism industry.

[TheDirtyDurian]

3 hours ago, Artemis080 said:

Look around the countries that have dropped any restrictions, and it's not because they have seen the light, it's because they have effectively lost control and there is no point. Or politically there is no support or will otherwise.

Thailand must walk a fine line between keeping Asian countries trust that they have control, and are able to react as the pandemic evolves, whilst attracting what little tourists there actually are globally. That's always going to be a bit of messy and uneven journey.

Feel free to go to the Philippines instead. 34% of people are fully vaccinated. Sounds like a great idea.

But if I've had three jabs, which I have, why am I worried about what other people have or haven't had.

 

[Stonker]

6 minutes ago, BigHewer said:

Your barrage of links make no reference to these mysterious countries “that have no restrictions”. Your assertion has no foundation.

Maybe you need to read them a little more carefully since that's not correct.  Apart from being vaccinated and / or having had a pre-departure PCR test, which I think most people would now take as a given, the links not detailing Thailand are either general or specifically detail countries "that have no restrictions" such as the USA, UAE and the UK.

If my assumption that most people were rational and reasonable enough to now take it as a given that you need to be vaccinated and / or have a pre-departure test was incorrect, and they / you took my referring to "no restrictions" as meaning that anyone arriving would be welcomed with "no restrictions" regardless of whether they'd been vaccinated and / or tested prior to departure, then that was clearly a wrong assumption on my part and I was crediting those here with too much intelligence and reason.

If you feel so strongly about it, maybe you could post some links of your own contradicting that, as you've notably failed to post any at all contradicting anything.

11 minutes ago, BigHewer said:

Again, tourism businesses, virologists and Dr. Benkendorff, although considerable in number, do not constitute “most people” as a demographic cohort regardless of which dictionary you use to define the word “most”.

I never suggested they did - what I said, I thought quite clearly,  was that that was "the view expressed in the links I've given above replying to your first point" (my bold) which referred to "most people" and the likelihood that they wouldn't travel, and that since the authors of the reports were experts while you're not, their collective opinion held rather more weight.

Again, if you feel so strongly that all these experts are "just plain wrong" and that you're correct then maybe you could give some links to support your personal view.

19 minutes ago, BigHewer said:

Very clearly that’s what you were saying and you can’t just backpedal when you’ve been called out for making such a flippant assertion. 

Sorry, but that's "very clearly" NOT what I'm saying or what I wrote, and there's no backpedalling involved.

I wrote "most people are either unable to travel or have more sense at the moment."  That may not be what you'd like me to have said, but nevertheless that is what I wrote - "very clearly".

If you want to see it as a "flippant assertion" when it's supported by the expert authors of the links I gave, without giving any links that contradict them, then that's obviously up to you.

26 minutes ago, BigHewer said:

Anyone reading this thread would also see it that way.  You can’t call a spade a spade and then expect people to believe one page later that you actually meant that it was a shovel.

I prefer to credit those here with a little more intelligence and, with a few exceptions, mastery of the English language.

... and I didn't mean that a shovel was a spade - I meant it was still a spade, still exactly as I wrote.

Again, I clearly wrote "at the moment", not "as a rule" - if you think that's the same then there's evidently a language barrier and anyone who "sees it that way" needs to avail themselves of some language lessons.

35 minutes ago, BigHewer said:

I trust the consistency of the dictionaries you have mentioned; it’s the inconsistency in your arguments that is more the issue. You can’t reframe a statement and shift the goalposts just to suit your flawed reasoning.

I'm not sure why you asked me about the definitions in that case, but my "arguments" are supported by the links you also asked for which I provided - while you have yet to produce any links to support your own arguments.

There was no reframing of any statements or shifting of goalposts, nor any inconsistency.  

As I've attempted to explain, "at the moment" is not the same as "as a rule" - they simply have very different meanings.  If you disagree or can't understand that, I'm sure a local native English speaker or a local English language teacher could explain that to you better than I can here.

... and while you're fully entitled to your opinion that my reasoning is flawed, mine's the conclusion of the experts in the links I gave, which you asked for.  If you think that the experts' articles I linked to are all down to "flawed reasoning" and that you know better, without giving any links yourself, that's clearly up to you and your prerogative.

[Stonker]

41 minutes ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

But if I've had three jabs, which I have, why am I worried about what other people have or haven't had.

I can't think of any reason why you should be worried at all, unless your three jabs have been 2 x Sinovac and 1 x AZ which is what a lot of Thais have had if they've had three jabs.

[Marvin]

I’m glad more countries are opening up without all the BS and over costs to travel. The world is moving in the right direction and Millions of un sick people are moving with it. I still work, go to concerts and travel in the USA just like millions of other people here do. Las Vegas has done tremendous and bounced back big time economically because they learned to live with COVID- found a way to adapt and make it work. Check out their numbers from the last 6 months -  There communities are thriving again. In fact I’ll be there next weekend. Big high five to the Philippines and especially “Denmark”. The pandemic will be over when everyone learns to live with it!!!!

Thank You

Marvin

[King Cotton]

22 minutes ago, Marvin said:

I’m glad more countries are opening up without all the BS and over costs to travel. The world is moving in the right direction and Millions of un sick people are moving with it. I still work, go to concerts and travel in the USA just like millions of other people here do. Las Vegas has done tremendous and bounced back big time economically because they learned to live with COVID- found a way to adapt and make it work. Check out their numbers from the last 6 months -  There communities are thriving again. In fact I’ll be there next weekend. Big high five to the Philippines and especially “Denmark”. The pandemic will be over when everyone learns to live with it!!!!

Thank You

Marvin

Good to read such a positive-sounding post, @Marvin. . . and welcome to Thaiger Talk, too!

[TheDirtyDurian]

Interesting to see a certain amount of schadenfreude from some posters on here re the current situation in Thailand.

[TheDirtyDurian]

45 minutes ago, Stonker said:

I can't think of any reason why you should be worried at all, unless your three jabs have been 2 x Sinovac and 1 x AZ which is what a lot of Thais have had if they've had three jabs.

1 AZ. 1 Pfizer, and 1 Moderna 

Just waiting for the JJ now and I'll have the lot.

[Fundok]

 

Just returned to Switzerland from a 3-weeks trip to Thailand. After 2 yrs unvoluntary Covid-absence it was heart-warming to be back. But this set aside, I found the current Covid-regime in Thailand all but convincing (as I have pointed out numerous times in this forum already) as I question if those measures are really necessary to achieve what they purport to achieve.

Obviously now with the Philippines another southeast asian country has decided to take a pragmatic step by allowing in tourists without a complicated and expensive entry process compared with the T&G or Sandbox in Thailand. Common sense has prevailed in the Philippines.

For us it's too late and my Thai wife, keen to meet her family and friends, would not have approved (to put it mildly) if I had decided to redirect our holidays to the Philippines. But if it weren't for that, the Philippines would be my more likely choice, and I am sure that many potential tourists to this region will contemplate changing their final destination when heading to Southeast Asia because of the simplicity of entry in the Philippines vis-a-vis the cumbersome process currently in place in Thailand. Surely enough, this should not be the only criterion when choosing your travel destination country, but it may be the tipping point.

Let's wait and see how those in Thailand responsible for devising the current entry regime will react, especially if the tourism industry will tell them that the booking numbers remain low whereas those in the Philippines rise.

[Sean1]

6 hours ago, gundam0315 said:

Phillipines probably was studying what Thailand was doing with their entry program and realized that it was not going to work. Also, Phillipines does not have the infrastructure to handle such an organized entry program. A test before departure and vacinnation card should be for all countries and just open up!

Agree 100%!!!!

[King Cotton]

12 minutes ago, Fundok said:

Just returned to Switzerland from a 3-weeks trip to Thailand. After 2 yrs unvoluntary Covid-absence it was heart-warming to be back. But this set aside, I found the current Covid-regime in Thailand all but convincing (as I have pointed out numerous times in this forum already) as I question if those measures are really necessary to achieve what they purport to achieve.

Obviously now with the Philippines another southeast asian country has decided to take a pragmatic step by allowing in tourists without a complicated and expensive entry process compared with the T&G or Sandbox in Thailand. Common sense has prevailed in the Philippines.

For us it's too late and my Thai wife, keen to meet her family and friends, would not have approved (to put it mildly) if I had decided to redirect our holidays to the Philippines. But if it weren't for that, the Philippines would be my more likely choice, and I am sure that many potential tourists to this region will contemplate changing their final destination when heading to Southeast Asia because of the simplicity of entry in the Philippines vis-a-vis the cumbersome process currently in place in Thailand. Surely enough, this should not be the only criterion when choosing your travel destination country, but it may be the tipping point.

Let's wait and see how those in Thailand responsible for devising the current entry regime will react, especially if the tourism industry will tell them that the booking numbers remain low whereas those in the Philippines rise.

Great post, @Fundok . . . thanks a million! And, as you say, let's wait to see if there's any Phili influence coming Thailand's way.

[Fundok]

6 hours ago, ace035 said:

Probably at least a month

A reasonable assumption. In four weeks from the US and Western Europe, to key markets for Thailand, will have the peak of the Omikron infections so most likely most of the tourists from there will not only be vaccinated but will have endured and recovered from an infection. Virtually little risk to bring Omikron to Thailand especially since it is there already. Hence this expansive (and expensive) test regime will become even more pointless. In my view, the best strategy for Thailand would be to upkeep and maybe even accelerate the vaccination of the population, possibly also getting them to get a booster shot (in the district of Chiang Mai where my wife comes from we heard that a lot of people are unwilling to get their 3rd shot). And then, relax and let Omikron take its way. Being fully vaccinated gives you a 99% protection against dying from an infection, so that should be acceptable.