News Forum - Officials discuss ending second Covid-19 test requirement for international arrivals

[ace035]

6 hours ago, Grumpish said:

Anyone with a negative pre-arrival test and day 1 test, but testing positive on day 5 is highly likely to have been infected locally, as well, so should be allowed to self-isolate the same as locals. A week living off 7/11 and Grab deliveries wouldn't be much fun, but would still be better than hospital or "hospitel" isolation.

Absolutely, you are right, you'll be lucky enough to have first 2 PCR testing negative on departure and Day 1, I would just self isolate for the next 4 days if it is me to avoid being positive on Day 5 and I make sure I'll wear KN95 mask not surgical mask or double mask because those does not work and get another 10 days in the hospital with the amount of at least B100K.

[Freeduhdumb]

6 hours ago, Manu said:

Yeap… but what can we do?

Do know there is no LAW requiring you to wear a mask in Thailand?

[sprez33]

19 hours ago, Grant said:

Hi Manu

when did you become an expert on mask wearing?

And where did you get that false information that masks are useless anyway ?

Fox News?

Masks outside are completely useless in normal situations. Marginally effective, maybe, in very crowded outdoor spaces (N95 only).  Marginally effective in indoor spaces (N95 only).  Do some research if you don't believe me.

We just had an event here in the US where ~80,000 people gathered for an evening in a 'indoor' stadium and no one wore masks. Event was 5 days ago and hasn't produced a noticeable spread.  Along with millions having unmasked home parties as well.  Covid rate keeps dropping.

Free your mind......

[sprez33]

19 hours ago, EdwardV said:

A distinction without a difference. Doesn’t matter what type of test they use if it will lead to being quarantined. A second test of either type is a non-starter. Even a first test will decrease numbers. 

Not necessarily true.  The PCR test (detects viral DNA at extremely low levels through an amplification method) is much more sensitive and more likely to produce a 'false positive' result by detecting dead, previously infected cells or an exposure without infection. ATK tests for the presence of the viral antigen which is only present in active infections.   Of course there's the difference in time and cost of the two tests.

BTW, to reduce the possibility of a false positive if you're scheduled for an RT-PCR test, do frequent nasal lavage to remove any dead cells.  

[EdwardV]

29 minutes ago, sprez33 said:

Not necessarily true.  The PCR test (detects viral DNA at extremely low levels through an amplification method) is much more sensitive and more likely to produce a 'false positive' result by detecting dead, previously infected cells or an exposure without infection. ATK tests for the presence of the viral antigen which is only present in active infections.   Of course there's the difference in time and cost of the two tests.

BTW, to reduce the possibility of a false positive if you're scheduled for an RT-PCR test, do frequent nasal lavage to remove any dead cells.  

We are talking about two different things. I’m talking about tourist numbers and that any level of testing in country depresses numbers. Not about the tests themselves. 

[Lawyers_Guns_and_Money]

22 hours ago, DoUKnowWhoIAm said:

It's not enough to attract tourists, they'll have to scrap the day1 pcr+hotel too. ATK on arrival is acceptable though.

A less reliable ATK can still test positive and put you into quarantine. No good.

[AussieBob]

18 hours ago, Fundok said:

Slowly moving in the right direction.

Just need to come to understand that the day 5 test is completely pointless if only tourists are tested. 

Thailand doesn't need to worry too much about the import of the virus because it's already there. Make sure that all visitors are vaccinated at least twice, have an antigen test (for free) upon arrival (take it from the 300 Baht 'entry fee') and more tourists will come. Off-season already, but maybe some would come to enjoy Songkran or Easter. Or is Songkran 2022 called off? 

Everything you said, but no test on arrival - that is the only acceptable thing. Any tests mean quarantine if positive.  I can control Covid (to some extent) when at home, but when travelling to airport, at airport, on plane, at airport, on way to hotel/hospital for test, I cannot control much at all. So if I test negative at home, then ther only reason I tested positive after arrival, was because I went to Thailand.  The only solution - dont go to Thailand - until they stop testing on arrival.  They dont test all Thais arriving at Phuket on a holiday - so why only test me - it aint about health reasons.  

[sprez33]

1 hour ago, EdwardV said:

We are talking about two different things. I’m talking about tourist numbers and that any level of testing in country depresses numbers. Not about the tests themselves. 

Sorry if I missed your point.  I agree with you about the relation between tourist numbers and testing.

[AussieBob]

2 hours ago, sprez33 said:

BTW, to reduce the possibility of a false positive if you're scheduled for an RT-PCR test, do frequent nasal lavage to remove any dead cells.  

Good tip - all travellers need to see that one - flush out the old noggin when you get to the airport toilets - before going through customs/tests etc. 

[Manu]

2 hours ago, sprez33 said:

Masks outside are completely useless in normal situations. Marginally effective, maybe, in very crowded outdoor spaces (N95 only).  Marginally effective in indoor spaces (N95 only).  Do some research if you don't believe me.

We just had an event here in the US where ~80,000 people gathered for an evening in a 'indoor' stadium and no one wore masks. Event was 5 days ago and hasn't produced a noticeable spread.  Along with millions having unmasked home parties as well.  Covid rate keeps dropping.

Free your mind......

And 2 years down the line, I find it amazing that this obvious statement is still argued (well, a couple of dubious sacarstic sentences followed by a few yellow faces for my friend Grant). The ones that still defend the use of mask outdoors have definitely abandonned rationalism to be replaced indifinitely by fanatism.

[DoUKnowWhoIAm]

1 hour ago, Lawyers_Guns_and_Money said:

A less reliable ATK can still test positive and put you into quarantine. No good.

I agree that it's not good. But I don't think an ATK vill scare away tourists in the same way as a pre payed PCR.  

[Fundok]

9 hours ago, AussieBob said:

Everything you said, but no test on arrival - that is the only acceptable thing. Any tests mean quarantine if positive.  I can control Covid (to some extent) when at home, but when travelling to airport, at airport, on plane, at airport, on way to hotel/hospital for test, I cannot control much at all. So if I test negative at home, then ther only reason I tested positive after arrival, was because I went to Thailand.  The only solution - dont go to Thailand - until they stop testing on arrival.  They dont test all Thais arriving at Phuket on a holiday - so why only test me - it aint about health reasons.  

Fair point, makes sense.

Edited February 20, 2022 by Fundok
Typo (auto correction)

[AussieBob]

7 minutes ago, Fundok said:

Fair point, James sense.

Thanks. But dont call me Shirley 

[DoUKnowWhoIAm]

23 hours ago, AussieBob said:

Disagree - any testing on arrival means quarantine if positive - unacceptable.  When they drop all testing on arrival - then and only then, will tourists and visitors return in the numbers they need to revive the economy. We will certainly not be travelling there to visit family and friends with the ever present threat of a 10-14 quarantine (and all the additional costs) for one or both of us looming over our heads. 

Happy to have proof of vaccinations and boosters, plus accident and Covid insurance coverage if get sick, and an ATK test up to 72 hours prior to departure, but nothing more than that.  If we are too big a risk for Thailand to accept for health reasons, when in fact the likelihood is that we would catch Covid on the trip over rather than take it there, then Thailand can wait until we are not such a big risk. 

Thailand is not testing every single Thai person travelling on a domestic holiday to places like Phuket, and they are not imposing them with the same threat of enforced quarantine if they test positive.  Thailand's current testing and quarantining impositions on international tourists (but not domestic tourtists to the same locations) is not valid or reasonable anymore. Just like in Indonesia - it has been turned into yet another tourist scam and 'vested interests' are refusing to back down - so far.

As I have said for months - Dont Travel to Thailand Now.  Only when tourists numbers do not increase massively (as they have so far not done) will the Thai authorities decide to over-rule the vested interests and drop all the testing and quarantining after arrival.  It is not about health - it is about international tourist money - and only when they are not getting enough international tourist money will they stop testing and quarantining people.  But be careful when they do drop it - be prepared just in case they suddenly bring it back again - just like Test and Go and so many other things in Thailand that come and go and come and go again - based on whatever 'agenda' has the limelight that week. 

 I don't think tourists will back away just because of an ATK. I actually believe the pre departure pcr and insurance are much bigger deterrents due to the cost, even though a positive ATK on arrival will cost them alot more...  

[ChrisLa91]

3 hours ago, sprez33 said:

Not necessarily true.  The PCR test (detects viral DNA at extremely low levels through an amplification method) is much more sensitive and more likely to produce a 'false positive' result by detecting dead, previously infected cells or an exposure without infection. ATK tests for the presence of the viral antigen which is only present in active infections.   Of course there's the difference in time and cost of the two tests.

BTW, to reduce the possibility of a false positive if you're scheduled for an RT-PCR test, do frequent nasal lavage to remove any dead cells.  

Or at least you can present a certificate of recovery. Then you are fine, even if you get tested positive. 

[koute]

23 hours ago, Thaiger said:

Wanting to ease travel procedures, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has asked the Department of Disease control to consider getting rid of the second Covid-19 test requirement for international arrivals. The test is taken five days after arriving in Thailand. This news comes after the airline company AirAsia claimed that many tourists are discouraged from coming to Thailand because of travel procedures. Anutin is now working to balance recovering the economy, and people’s safety. Anutin said to end the second test requirement, there must be increased preventative steps, such as speeding up vaccines. He said hospital beds and medicals supplies […]

The story Officials discuss ending second Covid-19 test requirement for international arrivals as seen on Thaiger News.

Read the full 

russia and ukraine dont care about deadly deadlt covid. stop those news pls

[Lawyers_Guns_and_Money]

On 2/18/2022 at 6:27 PM, Thaiger said:

Wanting to ease travel procedures, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has asked the Department of Disease control to consider getting rid of the second Covid-19 test requirement for international arrivals. The test is taken five days after arriving in Thailand. This news comes after the airline company AirAsia claimed that many tourists are discouraged from coming to Thailand because of travel procedures. Anutin is now working to balance recovering the economy, and people’s safety. Anutin said to end the second test requirement, there must be increased preventative steps, such as speeding up vaccines. He said hospital beds and medicals supplies […]

The story Officials discuss ending second Covid-19 test requirement for international arrivals as seen on Thaiger News.

Read the full story

Every time someone arrives using the Test and Go, it is confirmation to the Thai Government that the program works and people will meet requirements. 

The only way to ensure it dies, is to stop feeding it.

[AussieBob]

3 hours ago, DoUKnowWhoIAm said:

 I don't think tourists will back away just because of an ATK. I actually believe the pre departure pcr and insurance are much bigger deterrents due to the cost, even though a positive ATK on arrival will cost them alot more...  

Perhaps - but I reckon the Thai Govt will remove the 5 day test first. Lets see if the numbers jump massively after that - I think they wont jump massively until after they stop all tests after arrival.

[ninja]

3 hours ago, Manu said:

And 2 years down the line, I find it amazing that this obvious statement is still argued (well, a couple of dubious sacarstic sentences followed by a few yellow faces for my friend Grant). The ones that still defend the use of mask outdoors have definitely abandonned rationalism to be replaced indifinitely by fanatism.

Facts, facts, facts.    Now i am ALL sure we can Grant the  surity and responsible activity of mask wearing when applied to driving in a car .    It can not be denied, that if one does not have covid and he/she wears the mask in the car,  they will NOT get covid.  SEE !     Now, ok, if one has covid and wears the mask in the car, Surely we can agree that he will not get covid again at that time.  ( studies are being funded to determine whether a person with covid can breathe into his mask, and somehow a "new' variant might develop that would re-infect the wearer with said variant.   )    These new studies should not be confused with the ongoing hundreds examining used masks to find the exact time they become useless.  

Personally,  i have used the same one for months and find that wearing it at just the right placement upon my chin has indeed kept those creepy little covid droplets from entering my biosphere.  Safe driving to all members 

[Manu]

44 minutes ago, ninja said:

 

Personally,  i have used the same one for months and find that wearing it at just the right placement upon my chin has indeed kept those creepy little covid droplets from entering my biosphere.  Safe driving to all members 

 

Well I thought mine was still on my chin but last time I looked, it had mysteriously disapeared, I guess it went away with "those creepy little covid droplets". And guess what, it made me smile. Safe smiling to all members.

[Fundok]

8 hours ago, AussieBob said:

Thanks. But dont call me Shirley 

Sorry mate. The auto-correction of my tablet is a pain in the somewhere, simply replacing what I have typed with something it believes I might have wanted to type. It's ok when I write something in German, but when I write in English it's a real pain. I have to virtually check each and every word I type and sometimes this thing prevails. So instead of "Makes sense" it auto-converts it to "James sense" (whatever this is meant to say). Again, sorry mate, no sinister intention from my end.

[Grant]

On 2/19/2022 at 7:10 PM, Freeduhdumb said:

Researchers in Denmark...

Dr. Henning Bundgaard, lead author of the experiment and a physician at the University of Copenhagen, told the reporters the results of his research are clear.

“Our study gives an indication of how much you gain from wearing a mask,” Bundgaard said. “Not a lot.”

Surgical masks do not protect the wearer against infection with the coronavirus this large randomized clinical trial concludes. This study is still likely one of the best scientific evidences to date on the efficacy of masks.

https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-6817

https://fee.org/articles/new-danish-study-finds-masks-don-t-protect-wearers-from-covid-infection/

A Physician??

Did a study on mask wearing??

So the masks don’t do much??

Then why doesn’t this one Doctor tell all the countries in the world that they should not wear masks to perform surgery and no need to wear them in hospitals???

Uncle Joe said it !

Auntie Jean told me!

A Boy Scout with a magnifying glass did research?

Plus masks are not only to protect you!!

But selfish people don’t get it!

The mask protects others from you!

Are people so gullable to believe one right wing Doctor’s investigation?

Did he give details of what masks he tested ?

How he tested them?

and how he came to a conclusion that would stop all Doctors and nurses from wearing masks as they are useless?

You believe this and portray this as defined evidence !

[ninja]

43 minutes ago, Fundok said:

Sorry mate. The auto-correction of my tablet is a pain in the somewhere, simply replacing what I have typed with something it believes I might have wanted to type. It's ok when I write something in German, but when I write in English it's a real pain. I have to virtually check each and every word I type and sometimes this thing prevails. So instead of "Makes sense" it auto-converts it to "James sense" (whatever this is meant to say). Again, sorry mate, no sinister intention from my end.

Shirley you jost !    sorry, mite  ( must be an aussie auto correct)

[AussieBob]

16 hours ago, Fundok said:

Sorry mate. The auto-correction of my tablet is a pain in the somewhere, simply replacing what I have typed with something it believes I might have wanted to type. It's ok when I write something in German, but when I write in English it's a real pain. I have to virtually check each and every word I type and sometimes this thing prevails. So instead of "Makes sense" it auto-converts it to "James sense" (whatever this is meant to say). Again, sorry mate, no sinister intention from my end.

All good mate - no problem at all - it was a joke reference by me.  There was a great comedy actor called Leslie Nielsen (passed away now) that starred in some hilarious movies starting back in the 80s. One of his best lies was this:

 

[Soidog]

On 2/20/2022 at 10:58 AM, DoUKnowWhoIAm said:

 I don't think tourists will back away just because of an ATK. I actually believe the pre departure pcr and insurance are much bigger deterrents due to the cost, even though a positive ATK on arrival will cost them alot more...  

I tend to agree, even though @AussieBob comments about the concerns of quarantine hold true. Oddly enough, the preflight PCR tests gives me some comfort that my fellow passengers are clear of the virus. The cost however for many will put them off. Especially in the coming months as places such as Spain or Greece will be more favourable options for most Europeans