News Forum - Starting in May, foreign arrivals to Thailand will only have to take antigen tests

[Thaiger]

Starting in May, foreign arrivals to Thailand will take antigen tests on arrival, instead of RT-PCR tests. Thailand’s CCSA announced yesterday that it will hold off on adjusting the current entry restrictions for foreign travellers to Thailand until after next week’s Songkran festival, as it continues monitoring the spread of Covid-19 in the country. Thailand’s deputy public health minister said tourists can wait for the results, which should take no more than 15-30 minutes to process on-site, without the need to book hotels and wait overnight for the results of RT-PCR tests. After a meeting about easing the current restrictions, […]

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[DoUKnowWhoIAm]

3 minutes ago, Thaiger said:

tourists can wait for the results, which should take no more than 15-30 minutes to process on-site,without the need to book hotels and wait overnight for the results of RT-PCR tests.

And if the ATK turns positive, who will take you to a hospital for a confirmatory PCR? To what cost? And will you be released  after a negative PCR, or is it up to the doctor to decide?

I think they should add this information to their flowcharts.

[gazmo16]

so they will hold off changing current entry restrictions until after Songkran.

If they have spread Covid during Songkran (highly likely) why should that directly penalise tourists arriving ? The tourist has already had to provide proof of vaccination or booked quarantine and those infected are already in Thailand so it makes no sense

seems to me it's just ensuring the money keeps flowing as long as possible. Locals will party and tourists will pay sums it up. 

[KomanderChicknNugget]

Great, test and trap has a new flavor.  STILL NOT COMING UNTIL NO TEST REQUIRED.

[Lawyers_Guns_and_Money]

28 minutes ago, Thaiger said:

Starting in May, foreign arrivals to Thailand will take antigen tests on arrival, instead of RT-PCR tests. Thailand’s CCSA announced yesterday that it will hold off on adjusting the current entry restrictions for foreign travellers to Thailand until after next week’s Songkran festival, as it continues monitoring the spread of Covid-19 in the country. Thailand’s deputy public health minister said tourists can wait for the results, which should take no more than 15-30 minutes to process on-site, without the need to book hotels and wait overnight for the results of RT-PCR tests. After a meeting about easing the current restrictions, […]

The story Starting in May, foreign arrivals to Thailand will only have to take antigen tests as seen on Thaiger News.

Read the full story

Unsustainable if arrivals increase. Hundreds of people arriving every 20 minutes. Where will they corral all these people? 

And what about day 5?

[Soidog]

They don’t say when in May. Certainly won’t by May 1st as that’s simply not sufficient time to asses the impact of Songkran. Most likely mid-May with changes made towards end of May. So travellers arriving in June will be subject to an antigen test rather than a PCR. This is dragging on an on and for what. What does any of this have to do with foreign arrivals. It’s not just the science that’s flawed, it’s the whole logic and thought process that’s flawed. I think they call it “Thai Style”

[Soidog]

21 minutes ago, Lawyers_Guns_and_Money said:

Unsustainable if arrivals increase. Hundreds of people arriving every 20 minutes. Where will they corral all these people? 

And what about day 5?

Even a single B777 arriving with 300 people on board is going to take some time. How many testing stations will they have? If they have 20 and each person takes 3 minutes to check passports details. Record information and perform the test, that’s 45 mins to do the whole plane. Then wait a further 15 mins for results. The whole thing for the unlucky ones at the back will be more like 1-1.5 hours. I can’t imagine each arriving aircraft will have 20 test stations. If they operate it as a collective group, as they do Passport checks, even with just a handful of flights, the process could take 2 hours or more. A perfect start to your “Holiday” after travelling 20-30 hours to get here
 

 

[Manu]

39 minutes ago, Lawyers_Guns_and_Money said:

Unsustainable if arrivals increase. Hundreds of people arriving every 20 minutes. Where will they corral all these people?

Indeed, knowing how long it used to take to go through before covid, with this added nonsense one can imagine the potential chaos...that is if "arrivals increase". I very doubt as anyone else here I am sure that arrivals will increase unless this nonsense is scrapped.

[DoUKnowWhoIAm]

54 minutes ago, Lawyers_Guns_and_Money said:

Unsustainable if arrivals increase. Hundreds of people arriving every 20 minutes. Where will they corral all these people? 

And what about day 5?

Arrivals are probably gonna be kept in some crowded area for hours , and if one tests positive.....

[Fanta]

Baby steps, baby steps. I think the govt will throw out all testing on arrival for the vaccinated after they declare the pandemic to be endemic and not a day earlier. They are already reclassifying Covid deaths and the claimed infection figures are oddly consistent. 

[ace035]

35 minutes ago, Soidog said:

Even a single B777 arriving with 300 people on board is going to take some time. How many testing stations will they have? If they have 20 and each person takes 3 minutes to check passports details. Record information and perform the test, that’s 45 mins to do the whole plane. Then wait a further 15 mins for results. The whole thing for the unlucky ones at the back will be more like 1-1.5 hours. I can’t imagine each arriving aircraft will have 20 test stations. If they operate it as a collective group, as they do Passport checks, even with just a handful of flights, the process could take 2 hours or more. A perfect start to your “Holiday” after travelling 20-30 hours to get here
 

It won't be happening on May 1ST after brainstorming it due to the fact that you will be exposed to thousands of travelers at the same time, I would rather do the T&G upon arrival.

[ExpatPattaya]

1 hour ago, Soidog said:

This is dragging on an on and for what.

 

Why not let the tourists just declare the pandemic is over?

Because the virus is highly contagious Soidog, public safety and health is a responsibility the government takes seriously (unlike road deaths, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer, etc...)  

I understand you, but this virus is something the Thai government and CCSA will not let go of

"89 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 25,877 with 4,179 of those fatalities since the start of this year.

In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 25,140 new Covid-19 cases and 24,854 recoveries. There are now 248,254 people in Thailand being treated for Covid-19."

 

 

[longwood50]

2 hours ago, Thaiger said:

Starting in May, foreign arrivals to Thailand will take antigen tests on arrival, instead of RT-PCR tests. Thailand’s CCSA announced yesterday that it will hold off on adjusting the current entry restrictions for foreign travellers to Thailand until after next week’s Songkran festival, as it continues monitoring the spread of Covid-19 in the country

Now just what exactly does Songkran have to do with incoming tourists?  If there is a spike in Covid infections because of Songkran how will having a PCR test versus an antigen test have any effect whatsoever on that.  

Did it not seem obvious to these MENSA candidates that Songkram is celebrated by locals, and that incoming tourists assuming a spike would have far more to fear from the local population than the local population does from them. 

I swear the politicians who make up these rules are concrete evidence that Darwin's law of survival of the fittest does not apply to the human race. 

[Janneman]

41 minutes ago, ExpatPattaya said:

 

In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 25,140 new Covid-19 cases and 24,854 recoveries. There are now 248,254 people in Thailand being treated for Covid-19."

Most likely there are more cases, 25k is the official number.

In the first 3 months 470.000 persons (tourists?) entered Thailand. That is a little over 5000 per day. About 0.3% of those 5000 test positive on arrival. That means 15 (yes fifteen) per day. 

Makes no sense to focus on those 15 to prevent the spreading of Covid when you have over 25k new cases anyhow.

[Michael0510]

40 minutes ago, ExpatPattaya said:

I understand you, but this virus is something the Thai government and CCSA will not let go of

In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 25,140 new Covid-19 cases and 24,854 recoveries. There are now 248,254 people in Thailand being treated for Covid-19."

Yesterday, there were 25,298 positive tests in Thailand. The number of infections is higher, because not everyone get tested.

25,224 of that positive tests were domestic. 74 were from abroad. Travelers under test&go are just a part of that 74 positive tests from abroad. And the real number of infections under test&go is not higher that its positive tests, because everyone under test&go get tested.

That means, that we are talking about less than 74 cases under test&go versus many more than 25,224 domestic cases. The fact is, that travelers under test&go don’t affect the pandemic in Thailand in a negative way. But they have a huge affect on the economy of Thailand. 

And don‘t forget: To reopen the country was the main reason to vaccinate the people in Thailand. Without the goal to reopen the country - without the travelers - much less people in Thailand would have been vaccinated. That means, that in fact tourism in Thailand saved thousands of Thai lifes. 

So what is the point of what you are saying?

[Soidog]

1 hour ago, ExpatPattaya said:

Why not let the tourists just declare the pandemic is over?

Because the virus is highly contagious Soidog, public safety and health is a responsibility the government takes seriously (unlike road deaths, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer, etc...)  

I understand you, but this virus is something the Thai government and CCSA will not let go of

"89 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 25,877 with 4,179 of those fatalities since the start of this year.

In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA recorded 25,140 new Covid-19 cases and 24,854 recoveries. There are now 248,254 people in Thailand being treated for Covid-19."

Yes I get all of that mate. But I’m talking about the order in which they are doing things. I’ve never been an advocate of “let it rip” and to hell with the consequences. What they should have done, is retain the PCR test before departure. That way you are keeping the infected in their own country and not risking infection spreading at the airport or on the plane. You then end up with a very small amount of inbound infections, all of which are utterly swamped by the infections in the local community. As it is, they are now allow potentially thousands of infected people enter the country, untested and passing on to others and “catching” them when they are 6,000 miles from home. Having to deal with the problem in the country. Families potentially separated as dad tests positive and mum doesn’t. It’s just completely the wrong way to manage this. 
 

The number of daily infections in Thailand is most likely running at near the total daily arrivals of inbound passenger BEFORE the pandemic (100,000). It’s just the wrong way to do things. It doesn’t protect anyone and will just cause mayhem and excessive hospital costs to inbound tourists. If people have any sense, they will continue to have a PCR, or at the very least an Antigen test prior to departure. 

[ExpatPattaya]

1 minute ago, Michael0510 said:

So what is the point of what you are saying?

TIT this is Thailand.  There is little logic to how the CCSA and PM act is the point.  

Also those in power receive their salaries whether or not the economy is good or bad.  Has always been unfair in my view, that government employees are not effected from the economic impact of their decisions 

 

[longwood50]

18 minutes ago, Soidog said:

What they should have done, is retain the PCR test before departure. That way you are keeping the infected in their own country and not risking infection spreading at the airport or on the plane.

This nonsense about inbound passengers being the carriers of covid is nonsensicle.  Passenger traffic into Thailand has shrunk to a trickle while reported Covid infections have risen.  That is proof positive the problem lies with the local population not incoming tourists. 

If the tourist is double vaccinated, and tests negative there should be no quarantine.  It does make more sense to test before getting on the flight.  Tourists knowing that if they test positive upon arrival have to go to quarantine will still be wary about traveling to Thailand.  They don't want to spend the time and money to spend their vacation inside a quarantine room.  So many will just forego travel to Thailand instead of taking the chance. 

[Dialemco]

 Chances of catching Covid now far greater after arrival from local infection. All entry restrictions should be withdrawn except perhaps Covid vaccination certificate  

[oldschooler]

2 hours ago, Fanta said:

Baby steps, baby steps. I think the govt will throw out all testing on arrival for the vaccinated after they declare the pandemic to be endemic and not a day earlier. They are already reclassifying Covid deaths and the claimed infection figures are oddly consistent. 

That’s the key.earliest 1 June present end Covid Emergency. Thai Pass system & local restrictions all really need to go completely then. 

[JJJ]

1 hour ago, longwood50 said:

Now just what exactly does Songkran have to do with incoming tourists?  If there is a spike in Covid infections because of Songkran how will having a PCR test versus an antigen test have any effect whatsoever on that.  

Did it not seem obvious to these MENSA candidates that Songkram is celebrated by locals, and that incoming tourists assuming a spike would have far more to fear from the local population than the local population does from them. 

I swear the politicians who make up these rules are concrete evidence that Darwin's law of survival of the fittest does not apply to the human race. 

My thoughts exactly. How are the two even remotely related? Are antigen tests less accurate because there was an increase in local cases during Songkran? How many true infections are detected by pcr testing vs antigen testing? And is that difference if any significant compared to the local cases? 
 

Well Darwinism does rule — Thailand is the forever middle income country. Thailand May very well contract in 2022  

[oldschooler]

1 hour ago, longwood50 said:

Now just what exactly does Songkran have to do with incoming tourists?  If there is a spike in Covid infections because of Songkran how will having a PCR test versus an antigen test have any effect whatsoever on that.  

Did it not seem obvious to these MENSA candidates that Songkram is celebrated by locals, and that incoming tourists assuming a spike would have far more to fear from the local population than the local population does from them. 

I swear the politicians who make up these rules are concrete evidence that Darwin's law of survival of the fittest does not apply to the human race. 

Thai Av IQ 90 explains everything here.

[Grumpish]

6 hours ago, Lawyers_Guns_and_Money said:

Unsustainable if arrivals increase. Hundreds of people arriving every 20 minutes. Where will they corral all these people? 

And what about day 5?

Cambodia was doing ATK test on arrival back in February, the repeated checking of paperwork turned it into a bureaucratic farce and if the flight I arrived on was anything to go by it was taking close on two hours for them to process just one flight. And that was when the number of people arriving was just a few hundred each day.

[butterfly]

just a way to save face before they admit that all those procedures are pointless and ridicule,

[longwood50]

3 hours ago, oldschooler said:

Thai Av IQ 90 explains everything here.

Yes but the public pulls up the average when you include those in government.