News Forum - Can we say good-riddance to the Thailand Pass on July 1?

[PapayaBokBok]

Translation---

Until the Beloved Chinese and their freewheeling spending return then maybe we will end the TP

[MikeCoxsmall]

Why the damn delay until July 1st.??  Do the right thing and welcome back tourists and long term residents starting April 1st.  Making people jump through these present assine hoops is killing any significant economic upturn. 

[Tim_Melb]

13 hours ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

One.

Europe won't be doing any of this rubbish. 

Ditto North America.

I'm based in the Gulf; KSA, UAE, Bahrain are pretty much come on in. 

Countries hanging on to this stuff are going to be in the minority pretty soon. 

Rubbish! The EU is currently introducing EES and have announced that in the near future the proof of vaccination requirement for entry into the schengen countries will be linked to it. This is virtually identical to the Thailand pass without the testing requirements. Many other countries are going down the same road. Making immigration and customs information full digital was already happening before the pandemic adding vaccination information to these systems will become the standard around the world. 

[Manu]

17 hours ago, Johnnyb2 said:

No we don't have to continue being fearful of living. What we need is to move on with life. What is happening in some countries is not going to be the norm. It is unacceptable and shouldn't be talked about as a normal thing. What this new system amounts to is total power and control possessed by a tiny "elite", and way less freedom for the regular people.

It's time for those people who are scared of living to continue  doing what they want to do about that without constantly telling the rest of us how to live. Too many people are pushing an elitist agenda that is not in their favor, nor in the favor of humanity as a whole.

We all die, mostly of terrible stuff, remember? There's just no shortness of horror. So at least be free and enjoy life while it lasts. 

Luckily it seems most people have realised that now, a year ago I was really pessimitic to be honest. But unfortunately for some, fear driven by irrational thinking has reached a point of no return. In my personal experience, on the island where I am in Thailand, Thais and foreigners alike do not care about covid anymore, most of us got it anyway the last few weeks, including myself. Unfortunately, how to get by financially is definitely now the main concern of people around here.

[Manu]

19 hours ago, Tim_Melb said:

It's not likely but it's extremely possible.

Ah, irrational thinking in all its splendor.

[Mamachigawa]

Singapore, Korea, Japan, Indonesia all establishing pre-registration online systems for travel. Cant compare Asia countires to the rest of the world. It will end up being more convenient all the the stuff you have to fill out onboard will be digitized. I don't see Thailand giving up passports stamps and paper arrival cards though.

[fpschubert]

In contrast, by April 01 in the Philippines. 

* Visa-required countries (India, China) are allowed to enter as visa Issuance will resume. 

* No cap in tourist arrivals. 

Also, as of now 24-hr Antigen Test results is accepted in lieu of 48-hr RT PCR test. This is in top of no quarantine in arrival. 

Malaysia will also open its borders without quarantine and online registration. By April 01.

 

Thailand, on the other hand, still thinking whether to ditch Thailand Pass BY JULY. 

 

MY GOD. 

[ace035]

2 hours ago, fpschubert said:

In contrast, by April 01 in the Philippines. 

* Visa-required countries (India, China) are allowed to enter as visa Issuance will resume. 

* No cap in tourist arrivals. 

Also, as of now 24-hr Antigen Test results is accepted in lieu of 48-hr RT PCR test. This is in top of no quarantine in arrival. 

Malaysia will also open its borders without quarantine and online registration. By April 01.

Thailand, on the other hand, still thinking whether to ditch Thailand Pass BY JULY. 

MY GOD. 

It's on Thailand being pessimistic when it comes to tourism as they don't care what other country does in addition to that they want to trick, scam and ripped you off first to a false positive on Day 1 so they can recoup the lost money for the last 2 years. Keep on flip flopping.

[Soidog]

6 hours ago, Tim_Melb said:

Rubbish! The EU is currently introducing EES and have announced that in the near future the proof of vaccination requirement for entry into the schengen countries will be linked to it. This is virtually identical to the Thailand pass without the testing requirements. Many other countries are going down the same road. Making immigration and customs information full digital was already happening before the pandemic adding vaccination information to these systems will become the standard around the world. 

I fear you could be right. Once the world gets scared, it takes decades or centuries for it to come out of hiding. 9/11 was over 20 years ago and yet I still can’t take bottle of water through an airport. 

[Fundok]

Travelled from Switzerland to Spain yesterday. Both countries have distinctively higher new daily infection rates than the ones reported from Thailand. Entry procedure of Spain: one needs to upload the vax cert, they want to know where you were seated in the plane and the 1st place you'll stay. Immediately after the submission I received a QR code for my wife and myself which was scanned at the airport in Spain upon arrival (took an estimated 5 seconds). One document to be uploaded, the application was easy to handle and available in various languages.

This is how Thailand should handle its 'Thai Pass' application in my view too: swift and simple. 

By the way: Switzerland has completely abandoned the previous requirement of an entry form so no paperwork at all when we fly back.

In summary, it is simply beyond me why Thailand insists on keeping this T&G/Sandbox monstrosity in place: its cumbersome and costly, fends off potential visitors and bears no practical benefits to prevent the spreading of the virus. Lastly, given that there have been data security issues, it would be wise to only collect the absolute minimum of documents rather than for instance also a copy of the passport.

[Nick]

I'm hoping they scrap it by May, otherwise I'll be cancelling my trip.

[Shark]

Just now, Nick said:

I'm hoping they scrap it by May, otherwise I'll be cancelling my trip.

Cancel it as they won't.

[Fundok]

23 hours ago, Tim_Melb said:

The Thailand pass is here to stay permanently. 

The associated testing requirements will be dropped in time but the rest of it is just going to become a replacement for the immigration and quarantine cards that you used to fill out on the plane before you entered the country along with your vaccination records. This sort of thing is being introduced by countries all over the world not just Thailand. Covid is here to stay and it will be here for the next 40+ years. Covid is not over either and it may yet kill us all, their is no reason why a new variant that kills 90%+ of people that catch it won't arise and be vaccine resistant and even more contagious than measles. It's not likely but it's extremely possible. The thing about it is if it happens there ain't a dam thing we can do about it so we just have to get on with our lives and find a balance between caution and living. Right now too many people think that we need to get back to the way it was before, if we do that then we guarantee that if something bad evolves we all die. So we need to find a middle ground to give us a chance.

I think certain issues are getting mixed up and need to be separated.

1. The Thai Pass is not a replacement for the Immigration Card and the health status and the status as a visitor are not synonymous. There are other contagious and lethal diseases around, so just focusing on Covid would not make that much sense. 

Another question is the process. In another post today I described the "Spain Travel Health"-procedure which I just experienced myself. Easy and straight forward, and just needing to upload my vaxx cert which the app was able to validate after uploading it. So it is possible to have a system in place that keeps things easy and effective (at least outside Thailand I dare say).

You may be right in predicting that more pre-travel clearing may be the trend of the future, but presumably the focus will not be restricted to your Corona status.

[Fundok]

7 hours ago, Tim_Melb said:

Rubbish! The EU is currently introducing EES and have announced that in the near future the proof of vaccination requirement for entry into the schengen countries will be linked to it. This is virtually identical to the Thailand pass without the testing requirements. Many other countries are going down the same road. Making immigration and customs information full digital was already happening before the pandemic adding vaccination information to these systems will become the standard around the world. 

Sorry to say but this is not true to my knowledge. Travel within the Schengen is usually unrestricted albeit currently some Schengen treaty countries do want a pre-travel declaration. Been to Italy and France last October by car; no one bothered to check. Been to Germany, Liechtenstein and Austria recently, no pre-clearance requirements either, same with Switzerland, no paperwork required, and all of the above are Schengen states. May be a different story when you want to enter the Schengen area from the outside, but Switzerland for instance currently also doesn't request any pre-travel paperwork.

[Soidog]

17 minutes ago, Nick said:

I'm hoping they scrap it by May, otherwise I'll be cancelling my trip.

Personally Nick, I wouldn’t cancel just because of the Thailand Pass. It’s cumbersome for some people but it’s doable. The real show stopper for a tourist is the testing on arrival and even worse day 5 test. I know three people now who failed their PCR on arrival. Two had a nightmare 10 days and one lasted 12 days. All three had bills ranging from 130,000-220,000 baht and all three are having to pay a proportion of that bill as their insurance companies have large excess in the policies. One poor sod was only planning on being here 16 days. Luckily his company accepted he was sick and many UK employers will credit you for holidays lost to sickness. He was able to extend his stay and spent a nice 14 days in Krabi.
 

When I arrived I passed the day 1 test and then took extra care for the next 4 days. It was only after day 5 test I could finally relax and find a few bars to relax in.  
 

Enjoy your trip

[Fundok]

24 minutes ago, Nick said:

I'm hoping they scrap it by May, otherwise I'll be cancelling my trip.

I'm travelling end April too. No hope that it'll vanish completely by then, but I expect to see some further improvements until then, i.e. scrapping this "day 5"-test completely (hopefully the test upon arrival as well but I wouldn't bet on this one).

[Gregrocky58]

Why wait till july 1.it should be april 1.get pcr test in your own country and thats it.time to end this insanity

[riclag]

1 hour ago, Nick said:

I'm hoping they scrap it by May, otherwise I'll be cancelling my trip.

My neighbor is coming in from Wales Next week! His gf who he resides with at the house  has been pleading with him to come, for the last 3 months(young thai lady gossip through the rice patties). 
 I haven’t seen him since March of 2020 , he left in the nick of time. About the time were Heathrow first discovered a baggage handler tested positive . 
We have emailed each other throughout those two years with niceties but never once has he asked for advice!

Me thinks his anxious gf has been guiding his travel plans (hopefully for them they have considered the testing positive scheme that this govt “possibly “ has in store for him),but than again it’s possible he’s not too concerned ,judging from his email he got a Single entry TV ,although he did mention it was crazy expensive arraigning everything!

They are very nice people ,we (the young lady of the house) socialize with them on a Friday nite !

My thoughts are to offer salutations and keep my mouth shut while and when he is here and try to enjoy our time together!

Its possible he’s on this forum ,I don’t know but fingers crossed you dont end up as a victim to the ThaiHOOPLA!

[aladdin]

During the really hot and humid summer ... NOT a good time to travel to Thailand, plus the foolish useless delays in opening up tourist travel requirements will Guarantee FEW Tourists.  Summertime... Go to Scandinavia.

   Dallas aren't stupid. Just disgusted. 

   So who benefits from delays? Everyone at airport s "employed" by covid. Also manufacturers of temperature machines, covid test kits, protective clothing, (useless)vaccine manufacturers, big pharma, hospital gear.. They all want this to go on and on so the money keeps on coming in .    An epidemic is like war, a money maker for the old guard millionaire industrialists, and a way to distract people from seriously mismanaged issues in the home society

 

[Nabashalam]

The covid rates are worse than a year ago! Why wasn't this done then? So the puppet masters have made all they can and now want to make more with the rich touristos?  SOSDD!

[Thaidup]

18 hours ago, Soidog said:

I think you demonstrate your point well 

Poolie doesn't live in Thailand. so he can't speak for farang's.

[Poolie]

20 minutes ago, Thaidup said:

Poolie doesn't live in Thailand. so he can't speak for farang's.

Poolie has spent his life being a farang so I really think he can. Plus the thick end of 17 years being an expat helps.

[Thaidup]

55 minutes ago, Poolie said:

1 hour ago, Thaidup said:

Poolie doesn't live in Thailand. so he can't speak for farang's.

Poolie has spent his life being a farang so I really think he can. Plus the thick end of 17 years being an expat helps.

But he lives down the road from my non farang mate.

[TheDirtyDurian]

12 hours ago, Tim_Melb said:

Rubbish! The EU is currently introducing EES and have announced that in the near future the proof of vaccination requirement for entry into the schengen countries will be linked to it. This is virtually identical to the Thailand pass without the testing requirements. Many other countries are going down the same road. Making immigration and customs information full digital was already happening before the pandemic adding vaccination information to these systems will become the standard around the world. 

Think you're confusing EES, which records biometrics on arrival and exit into the Schengen area, and ETIAS which is pretravel.

I wasn't aware of any requirement of vaccination be implemented for ETIAS when it starts. 

Thailand Pass would be similar to ETIAS in that it's related to pre travel authorization, but even then it's only a visa waiver, so many would still need to obtain a Schengen visa. 

Is there a requirement to show vaccination status to obtain a Schengen visa?

 

[Tim_Melb]

5 hours ago, Fundok said:

Sorry to say but this is not true to my knowledge. Travel within the Schengen is usually unrestricted albeit currently some Schengen treaty countries do want a pre-travel declaration. Been to Italy and France last October by car; no one bothered to check. Been to Germany, Liechtenstein and Austria recently, no pre-clearance requirements either, same with Switzerland, no paperwork required, and all of the above are Schengen states. May be a different story when you want to enter the Schengen area from the outside, but Switzerland for instance currently also doesn't request any pre-travel paperwork.

I'm not talking about travel within the schengen zone, I'm talking about travelling from outside the zone into a schengen country and the digital requirements are the equivalent of the Thailand Pass but without the after arrival test and risk of quarantine. 

Edited March 13, 2022 by Tim_Melb