News Forum - Government says Thailand Pass not being cancelled, being “streamlined”

[Thaiger]

The Thai government says the Thailand Pass is not being cancelled (at least, not for now) but the process will be streamlined to make it faster and more convenient. According to a Bangkok Post report, Dr Sumanee Wacharasint from the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration says the cancellation of Test & Go from May 1 means there will no longer be a need to confirm hotel bookings and PCR tests. As checking vaccination certificates takes less time, this will speed up the approval process. “Therefore, Thailand Pass registration has remained in place, and there should be no problems from May […]

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[Grant]

11 minutes ago, Thaiger said:

The Thai government says the Thailand Pass is not being cancelled (at least, not for now) but the process will be streamlined to make it faster and more convenient. According to a Bangkok Post report, Dr Sumanee Wacharasint from the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration says the cancellation of Test & Go from May 1 means there will no longer be a need to confirm hotel bookings and PCR tests. As checking vaccination certificates takes less time, this will speed up the approval process. “Therefore, Thailand Pass registration has remained in place, and there should be no problems from May […]

The story Government says Thailand Pass not being cancelled, being “streamlined” as seen on Thaiger News.

Read the full story

They are going to miss out on thousands of tourists if they keep this pass !

Just give people a Card with two or three questions re; Vaccines and no problem!

[Vigo]

2 hours ago, Grant said:

They are going to miss out on thousands of tourists if they keep this pass !

Just give people a Card with two or three questions re; Vaccines and no problem!

How will Thailand miss out? The pass is transitioning to one where vaccinated passengers just have to show evidence of vaccination. There will be no more PCR testing of vaccinated visitors. How is this more restrictive than other tourist destinations in the region? Are you aware that Thailand will have some of the easiest entry requirements? 151 countries will have requirements similar or more difficult to Thailand. Of the  35 countries without restrictions, none is a competitor to Thailand's tourism. The countries that are open are places like Gabon, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Mongolia and eastern european countries and the UK.

Thailand is implementing a responsible strategy that will protect the tourism sector.

 

[JJJ]

How exactly does a poorly designed website help protect against covid infection? Why does the situation have to improve before getting rid of this bureaucratic hassle?

The fact of the matter is high season tourists are booking their holidays now and many are avoiding Thailand because of the current restrictions and the past behavior suspending Test & Go in December.  

Frankly at this point even the distinction between vaccinated and unvaccinated is getting to be pointless. 

[rc1]

1 hour ago, Vigo said:

How will Thailand miss out? The pass is transitioning to one where vaccinated passengers just have to show evidence of vaccination. There will be no more PCR testing of vaccinated visitors. How is this more restrictive than other tourist destinations in the region? Are you aware that Thailand will have some of the easiest entry requirements? 151 countries will have requirements similar or more difficult to Thailand. Of the  35 countries without restrictions, none is a competitor to Thailand's tourism. The countries that are open are places like Gabon, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Mongolia and eastern european countries and the UK.

Thailand is implementing a responsible strategy that will protect the tourism sector.

How is this protecting the tourist sector?

There is no link between tourism and Covid. They're two completely unrelated things now. 

[longwood50]

7 hours ago, Thaiger said:

The Thai government says the Thailand Pass is not being cancelled (at least, not for now) but the process will be streamlined to make it faster and more convenient.

Many years ago the US government was facing some problem but exactly what it is I don't recall.  On a nationally broadcast network one of the panelists was George Will who is a brilliant man and a political commentator. 

They posed a question to him that if he believed the USA would find a way to solve the problem.  He responded of course.  The USA had 525 members in Congress who were amongst the best and brightest the country had to offer.  The country had the leadership of the President and with that all of the resources of the USA and all the best minds and scientists from around the world.  He stated he was sure they would marshall all of those experts together, study the problem, and develop a list which would include the absolute best and certain way to solve the problem.  Finally he said, they will implement that certain best strategy but only after months and perhaps years of trying every other conceivable lamebrain program first. 

Thailand is no different.  Each month they go from one lamebrain plan to the next.  Eventually they will come to the right solution and that to require vaccination to enter the country and drop any other requirement and get back to living as normally as possible and revive the tourist economy.  They seem intent on resisting that so long as the economy still has a pulse. 

[Poolie]

All the world is an expert. It does make me chuckle.

[AdvocatusDiaboli]

38 minutes ago, Poolie said:

All the world is an expert.

X number of people, Drips under pressure.

[Vigo]

10 hours ago, rc1 said:

How is this protecting the tourist sector?

There is no link between tourism and Covid. They're two completely unrelated things now. 

Thailand's new entry requirements are minimal and they certainly easy to comply with.  Tourism and  disease are very much related in Asia. Asians will not visit destinations if there is an infectious disease outbreak at the destination. This was demonstrated with the SARS outbreak 20 years ago. Asian tourism collapsed.  Thailand's tourism market is Asian focused and vaccination status is very much a concern to Asian tourists.

The requirements for vaccination promotes a safer travel environment. The vast majority of tourists are now vaccinated. Opinion sampling  shows that they are overwhelmingly in favour of travel vaccination requirements. The last thing a tourist destination needs is an outbreak of disease amongst  foreign visitors. No one  wants to travel to a place where disease is rampant. 

Now that we know that unvaccinated people  spread disease and present a serious risk to society, including those who are vaccinated, it makes sense to reassure the  majority of travelers that they can visit with a reduced risk.

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/study-unvaccinated-people-increase-covid-19-risk-even-among-vaccinated-people

[rc1]

4 hours ago, Vigo said:

Thailand's new entry requirements are minimal and they certainly easy to comply with.  Tourism and  disease are very much related in Asia. Asians will not visit destinations if there is an infectious disease outbreak at the destination. This was demonstrated with the SARS outbreak 20 years ago. Asian tourism collapsed.  Thailand's tourism market is Asian focused and vaccination status is very much a concern to Asian tourists.

The requirements for vaccination promotes a safer travel environment. The vast majority of tourists are now vaccinated. Opinion sampling  shows that they are overwhelmingly in favour of travel vaccination requirements. The last thing a tourist destination needs is an outbreak of disease amongst  foreign visitors. No one  wants to travel to a place where disease is rampant. 

Now that we know that unvaccinated people  spread disease and present a serious risk to society, including those who are vaccinated, it makes sense to reassure the  majority of travelers that they can visit with a reduced risk.

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/study-unvaccinated-people-increase-covid-19-risk-even-among-vaccinated-people

High vaccination rates are a good thing.

But Covid isn't an "outbreak at a tourist destination". It isn't anything like SARS. Its established pretty equally in most countries and isn't going away. 

There's no link between tourism and Covid now. You're no more likely to catch it staying at your normal domicile vs travelling to another country. 

So given that, maintaining any travel restrictions isn't justified. Proof of vaccination OK, that will stick around for a while. 

 

 

 

 

[Ted]

On 4/29/2022 at 11:58 PM, Vigo said:

The requirements for vaccination promotes a safer travel environment.

No it does not! how is it that most people seams to forget that a vaccinated person can just as well spread C19. And I would guess, the chances are perhaps even higher as they [we] think 'we are invisible' and protected against all harm in the world. 

Wake up world! and start focusing on real problems, the world has, that is wayๆ worse than C19s different mutations. As poverty -food & water, biodiversity, climate change,  obesity, credit -overuse on one side and  access to the other...and so on.

[Vigo]

4 hours ago, Ted said:

No it does not! how is it that most people seams to forget that a vaccinated person can just as well spread C19. And I would guess, the chances are perhaps even higher as they [we] think 'we are invisible' and protected against all harm in the world. 

Wake up world! and start focusing on real problems, the world has, that is wayๆ worse than C19s different mutations. As poverty -food & water, biodiversity, climate change,  obesity, credit -overuse on one side and  access to the other...and so on.

Yes it does.  The unvaccinated  serve as a breeding reservoir and are a dynamic threat to the well being of others, even those who are vaccinated. An infected unvaccinated person sheds a higher viral load and is infectious for a longer period of time than a vaccinated person.  Perhaps if you took the time to read the link I provided?

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/study-unvaccinated-people-increase-covid-19-risk-even-among-vaccinated-people

The issues you have raised have not caused the economic problems, nor impacted the world in the same manner as an infectious disease.  One can choose to overuse credit, just as you can choose to be obese. One cannot necessarily avoid an infectious disease like covid, but one can take measures to reduce the risk. Covid  brought health care systems around the world to a crashing shutdown, and the direct injury to the population because the health system could not operate has done significant harm with  procedures delayed such that people are now dying because they could not access basic health care for almost 2 years.