News Forum - Thailand Test & Go update: No more Day 5 pre-paid hotel or PCR test

[Mikke120905]

I still dont buy the first PCR test. I had covid and it can show as positive.. Not gonna risk that shit.. See u Thailand when u go back to normal.

[Poolie]

1 hour ago, Mikke120905 said:

I still dont buy the first PCR test. I had covid and it can show as positive.. Not gonna risk that shit.. See u Thailand when u go back to normal.

Yup, see you anon. Byeeee!

[Mikke120905]

1 hour ago, Poolie said:

Yup, see you anon. Byeeee!

Enjoy youre time in quarantine boy and feel fisted

[SvenRt]

Is there any information regarding the people that already got the aproval of Thailand Pass and paid for two OCR Tests, but will arive on March 7th? Is it possible to refund the second PCR Test and keep the Thailand Pass? Or can I apply again under the new conditions?

[JamesR]

18 hours ago, Soidog said:

Yes, it’s because the Thais think that what we call the English language is in fact the “Farang Language”. It’s spoken by everyone who is a “Farang”. They can’t help being ignorant of the world. It’s how they are educated and brought up. 

Not at all true, do you think that all Thais never went to school?

They think that if they can speak English which is the world language then all farangs should be able to learn English as well.

[Soidog]

3 hours ago, JamesR said:

Not at all true, do you think that all Thais never went to school?

They think that if they can speak English which is the world language then all farangs should be able to learn English as well.

Sorry I don’t understand how you could infer I thought all Thais never went to school?  I said it’s how they are educated. In other words, the education they receive at school, doesn’t equip them with sufficient knowledge of the outside world. 
 

Similarly, “If they can speak English then all Farang should be able to learn English”. How many Thai speak English that justifies that? If that was the view of a Singaporean I could accept it.  
 

My Point JamesR is that not enough Thais appreciate that what they call “Farang” can just as easily be from as far afield as Moscow and Buenos Aries. Or Helsinki and Bogotá. They should be taught to appreciate the world is not simply Thailand and everywhere else. I’m aware that’s not literally the case, but it’s not far off. Many Thais can’t even point to a world map and tell you where Thailand is, let alone appreciate an Argentinian may not speak or read English and hence; returning to why I said what I said,  completing an online form only in English is a challenge. 

[TheDirtyDurian]

48 minutes ago, Soidog said:

Sorry I don’t understand how you could infer I thought all Thais never went to school?  I said it’s how they are educated. In other words, the education they receive at school, doesn’t equip them with sufficient knowledge of the outside world. 
 

Similarly, “If they can speak English then all Farang should be able to learn English”. How many Thai speak English that justifies that? If that was the view of a Singaporean I could accept it.  
 

My Point JamesR is that not enough Thais appreciate that what they call “Farang” can just as easily be from as far afield as Moscow and Buenos Aries. Or Helsinki and Bogotá. They should be taught to appreciate the world is not simply Thailand and everywhere else. I’m aware that’s not literally the case, but it’s not far off. Many Thais can’t even point to a world map and tell you where Thailand is, let alone appreciate an Argentinian may not speak or read English and hence; returning to why I said what I said,  completing an online form only in English is a challenge. 

Indeed, many non-Thai people may not be familiar with a Roman alphabet. Georgian cryillic looks more like Cambodian than anything ABC. 

Your average Thai wouldn't have a clue. 

[TheDirtyDurian]

4 hours ago, JamesR said:

Not at all true, do you think that all Thais never went to school?

They think that if they can speak English which is the world language then all farangs should be able to learn English as well.

And who is they? Pretty much every survey puts Thais well down there on English language ability.

So it's fairly obvious that 'they' are unable to learn English themselves.

Or did you think the taxi had a degree from Oxford?

[Marc26]

1 hour ago, Soidog said:

Sorry I don’t understand how you could infer I thought all Thais never went to school?  I said it’s how they are educated. In other words, the education they receive at school, doesn’t equip them with sufficient knowledge of the outside world. 
 

Similarly, “If they can speak English then all Farang should be able to learn English”. How many Thai speak English that justifies that? If that was the view of a Singaporean I could accept it.  
 

My Point JamesR is that not enough Thais appreciate that what they call “Farang” can just as easily be from as far afield as Moscow and Buenos Aries. Or Helsinki and Bogotá. They should be taught to appreciate the world is not simply Thailand and everywhere else. I’m aware that’s not literally the case, but it’s not far off. Many Thais can’t even point to a world map and tell you where Thailand is, let alone appreciate an Argentinian may not speak or read English and hence; returning to why I said what I said,  completing an online form only in English is a challenge. 

They built an entry system website on the fly

Do you think they were going to spend the money and time to include every language?

They chose the most universal language besides the local one

 

But I do agree that Thais lack of understanding and probably even more important, their lack of curiosity of the world is severely lacking 

 

[Soidog]

1 minute ago, Marc26 said:

They built an entry system website on the fly

Do you think they were going to spend the money and time to include every language?

They chose the most universal language besides the local one

But I do agree that Thais lack of understanding and probably even more important, their lack of curiosity of the world is severely lacking 

Fair enough Marc. But they built this website many months ago. The COE before it has been around for well over a year. Does it take that long to add a couple of other widely spoken languages such as Spanish and French when you are trying to attract international tourism? It wasn’t the time constraint that resulted in only English. It’s the constraints of how Thais view the rest of the world. I’m sure if they asked their embassy staff in Paris and Madrid to help, it could have been implemented inside a couple of weeks

[KomanderChicknNugget]

This really changes almost nothing.  Until all testing requirements and the possibility of forced detention are removed completely, tourists will go elsewhere.

The govt will continue to play games with this to keep the State of Emergency in effect until the election.

It really is a delicate balancing act to look like you are opening up to the world while still oppressing your people.

Edited February 25, 2022 by KomanderChicknNugget

[Marc26]

3 hours ago, KomanderChicknNugget said:

This really changes almost nothing.  Until all testing requirements and the possibility of forced detention are removed completely, tourists will go elsewhere.

The govt will continue to play games with this to keep the State of Emergency in effect until the election.

It really is a delicate balancing act to look like you are opening up to the world while still oppressing your people.

Oppressing your people?

 

Dramatic much?

 

I honestly don't know one Thai that has been that hurt by all this 

Of course of you worked in tourism it's  had its effect

 

But for the vast majority of Thais

Life has gone as normal 

 

You guys on here are ludicrous 

[KomanderChicknNugget]

53 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

Oppressing your people?

Dramatic much?

I honestly don't know one Thai that has been that hurt by all this 

Of course of you worked in tourism it's  had its effect

But for the vast majority of Thais

Life has gone as normal 

You guys on here are ludicrous 

You must be new to Thailand.

[TheDirtyDurian]

2 hours ago, Marc26 said:

Oppressing your people?

Dramatic much?

I honestly don't know one Thai that has been that hurt by all this 

Of course of you worked in tourism it's  had its effect

But for the vast majority of Thais

Life has gone as normal 

You guys on here are ludicrous 

Firstly, most estimates put tourism GDP at around 20%, so when you remove that amount from the economy overnight, that's going to effect and awful more of people. 

You don't know one person affected. . Glad we're being scientific about this. I don't know anyone with cancer in Thailand, or anyone who speaks Russian, does that mean they don't exist?! LOL

 Just going from my own family, the immediate examples I can think of were a SIL and her daughter who worked at a seafood restaurant in Jomtien. Restaurant shut down for ages, no income etc. But okay, that was tourism related so I'll give you that. 

There was also a nephew and his wife who worked at a pineapple factory in Prechuap. Mass outbreak at the factory, it got closed down for ages etc, no income for them. 

There was another family member in buriram who nearly died, on a ventilator for ages. Obviously no income for him. 

Don't even get me started on the online learning for children which has affected anyone with children. We're fortunate in that my wife doesn't work so she could be at home with the children. Have you any idea how difficult that has been for families where both parents are working. 

Think you need to get out more. 

[Soidog]

3 hours ago, Marc26 said:

Oppressing your people?

Dramatic much?

I honestly don't know one Thai that has been that hurt by all this 

Of course of you worked in tourism it's  had its effect

But for the vast majority of Thais

Life has gone as normal 

You guys on here are ludicrous 

There will be hundreds of thousands if not millions associated with the tourism business affected by all of this. In addition, the loss of some 12% of any countries GDP must have an economic affect that will impact all but the super rich. It may not be obvious but inflation and the tightening of loans will be affecting many more. Pure economics says it has to.   
 

Part of the reason why we don’t see it is that Thai media is upbeat about everything. Western media is the complete opposite. The truth will lie somewhere in between I suspect. The two pictures below are examples. See if you can guess which is a Thai headline and a UK headline. Easy to spot!

[Marc26]

6 hours ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

Firstly, most estimates put tourism GDP at around 20%, so when you remove that amount from the economy overnight, that's going to effect and awful more of people. 

You don't know one person affected. . Glad we're being scientific about this. I don't know anyone with cancer in Thailand, or anyone who speaks Russian, does that mean they don't exist?! LOL

 Just going from my own family, the immediate examples I can think of were a SIL and her daughter who worked at a seafood restaurant in Jomtien. Restaurant shut down for ages, no income etc. But okay, that was tourism related so I'll give you that. 

There was also a nephew and his wife who worked at a pineapple factory in Prechuap. Mass outbreak at the factory, it got closed down for ages etc, no income for them. 

There was another family member in buriram who nearly died, on a ventilator for ages. Obviously no income for him. 

Don't even get me started on the online learning for children which has affected anyone with children. We're fortunate in that my wife doesn't work so she could be at home with the children. Have you any idea how difficult that has been for families where both parents are working. 

Think you need to get out more. 

My comment was solely on the "government oppressing "

Not on covid overall 

[Marc26]

8 hours ago, KomanderChicknNugget said:

You must be new to Thailand.

Why does every idiot on here want to measure their Thai knowledge?

 

I've been here this long, I know this much 

 

Like idiots 15 year old boys 

[TheDirtyDurian]

10 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

Why does every idiot on here want to measure their Thai knowledge?

I've been here this long, I know this much 

Like idiots 15 year old boys 

There is a direct relationship between years spent in Thailand and the size of your penis. Everyone knows that, or you would if you'd spent enough time there!

[JamesR]

13 hours ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

And who is they? Pretty much every survey puts Thais well down there on English language ability.

So it's fairly obvious that 'they' are unable to learn English themselves.

Or did you think the taxi had a degree from Oxford?

I have a masters degree from Oxford but I did not notice any taxi's in the classroom, they all seemed to be people to me,  there was one Thai girl on one of my course though, she was doing a Phd.

I suppose as I spend my time in Thailand in Phuket with mostly educated Thais and not in the sticks at the arse end of Thailand then maybe I am biased on Thai people's language skills.

[Fluke]

2 minutes ago, JamesR said:

I have a masters degree from Oxford but I did not notice any taxi's in the classroom, they all seemed to be people to me,  there was one Thai girl on one of my course though, she was doing a Phd.

I suppose as I spend my time in Thailand in Phuket with mostly educated Thais and not in the sticks at the arse end of Thailand then maybe I am biased on Thai people's language skills.

In tourist resort areas, the English language proficiency will be much higher than other non tourist areas .

   How can Thais spend years studying English and then not even know the basics ?

[Marc26]

3 minutes ago, JamesR said:

I have a masters degree from Oxford but I did not notice any taxi's in the classroom, they all seemed to be people to me,  there was one Thai girl on one of my course though, she was doing a Phd.

I suppose as I spend my time in Thailand in Phuket with mostly educated Thais and not in the sticks at the arse end of Thailand then maybe I am biased on Thai people's language skills.

I don't think Thais would score well overall as a country in English proficiency 

 

But I would rank Thailand #1 country when talking about ease of getting by in English

 

I was shocked at how easy it was to get by ok English

 

Much more so than it's fellow Asian countries(including the more developed Japan, Korea and Hong Kong)

And definitely more so than in Latin America 

[TheDirtyDurian]

8 minutes ago, JamesR said:

I have a masters degree from Oxford but I did not notice any taxi's in the classroom, they all seemed to be people to me,  there was one Thai girl on one of my course though, she was doing a Phd.

I suppose as I spend my time in Thailand in Phuket with mostly educated Thais and not in the sticks at the arse end of Thailand then maybe I am biased on Thai people's language skills.

So it would appear. 

https://bangkokherald-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/bangkokherald.com/thailand/thailand-english-proficiency-now-13th-worse-in-world/?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&amp&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#aoh=16457977770210&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From %1%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fbangkokherald.com%2Fthailand%2Fthailand-english-proficiency-now-13th-worse-in-world%2F

[Tim_Melb]

22 hours ago, SvenRt said:

Is there any information regarding the people that already got the aproval of Thailand Pass and paid for two OCR Tests, but will arive on March 7th? Is it possible to refund the second PCR Test and keep the Thailand Pass? Or can I apply again under the new conditions?

I would apply again on the 1st to be sure, but theoretically you should be able to get a refund on your second test. 

[Marc26]

2 hours ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

So it would appear. 

https://bangkokherald-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/bangkokherald.com/thailand/thailand-english-proficiency-now-13th-worse-in-world/?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&amp&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#aoh=16457977770210&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From %1%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fbangkokherald.com%2Fthailand%2Fthailand-english-proficiency-now-13th-worse-in-world%2F

I would guarantee Thais that live abroad speak the respective language in the country they live in more than most Thai expats in Thailand 

 

It really shows the lack of self awareness on here that guys question Thai's English proficiency while ignoring the lack of Thai skills 

 

Oh and 18 years with my wife

She has commented that maybe 4 or 5 farang have spoken Thai at a Thai level

 

Most expats on here that claim to speak Thai don't speak it to the fluent level 

 

PS....I commend anyone that can speak even a bit of Thai or any language that allows them to have a conversation 

[JamesR]

15 hours ago, Soidog said:

Fair enough Marc. But they built this website many months ago. The COE before it has been around for well over a year. Does it take that long to add a couple of other widely spoken languages such as Spanish and French when you are trying to attract international tourism? It wasn’t the time constraint that resulted in only English. It’s the constraints of how Thais view the rest of the world. I’m sure if they asked their embassy staff in Paris and Madrid to help, it could have been implemented inside a couple of weeks

Once the functional software has been written and tested which runs the app/website, adding in different languages is straightforward, it is called Localisation and I do it with my apps, seeing their single highest group of tourists are Chineses speaking then I would have thought the app would also be in both Simplified Chinese and traditional Chinese.