News Forum - Thailand News Today | Thammasat University massacre, Thailand in UK red list | October 7

[Thaiger]

In today’s report, a lawyer-activist is calling for justice over the 1976 student massacre in Bangkok. The TAT is aiming to boost domestic tourism in lieu of international tourism.

The post Thailand News Today | Thammasat University massacre, Thailand in UK red list | October 7 appeared first on Thaiger News.

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[Anjli]

Hi, my name is Anjli and I am a British citizen currently living in the USA. My husband and I have been waiting to come to Thailand for over 18 months!  We are planning to retire there with a retirement visa and live in Chiang Mai.  We will be passing through UK and are planning on travelling in November.  We have just seen on the UK government website ( https://www.gov.uk/guidance/red-list-of-countries-and-territories) that Thailand  will be removed from the UK's red list on Monday the 11th October at 4am.  So I wanted to reach out and let you know, as your news today says Thailand will not be removed, which is incorrect. 

We watch your news channel and the other updates daily and keeps us connected to Thailand, which we cannot wait to be a part of soon.  

We will most likely be purchasing a condo in Chiang Mail through FazWaz as soon as we get there, so thanks for keeping us up to date on the property market too!

So excited!

[David297]

2 hours ago, Anjli said:

We have just seen on the UK government website ( https://www.gov.uk/guidance/red-list-of-countries-and-territories) that Thailand  will be removed from the UK's red list on Monday the 11th October at 4am.  So I wanted to reach out and let you know, as your news today says Thailand will not be removed, which is incorrect.

Just to confirm, this is true.  It's a pity the news in the UK has been confusing.  Yesterday it was announced that a number of countries (excluding Thailand) would come off the red list; closely followed by another announcement today that more countries including Thailand will come off the red list.  Better late than never!

[gummy]

6 hours ago, Anjli said:

Hi, my name is Anjli and I am a British citizen currently living in the USA. My husband and I have been waiting to come to Thailand for over 18 months!  We are planning to retire there with a retirement visa and live in Chiang Mai.  We will be passing through UK and are planning on travelling in November.  We have just seen on the UK government website ( https://www.gov.uk/guidance/red-list-of-countries-and-territories) that Thailand  will be removed from the UK's red list on Monday the 11th October at 4am.  So I wanted to reach out and let you know, as your news today says Thailand will not be removed, which is incorrect. 

We watch your news channel and the other updates daily and keeps us connected to Thailand, which we cannot wait to be a part of soon.  

We will most likely be purchasing a condo in Chiang Mail through FazWaz as soon as we get there, so thanks for keeping us up to date on the property market too!

So excited!

Please be mindful that whilst it will be much simpler to return to the UK from Thailand without much fuss, Thailand still has many hoops you will need to go through in order to come here. Whether Thailand will reciprocate to allow fully vaccinated people to come to Thailand without any of the current bureaucratic issues and enforced quarantine in November is unknown.

[Graham]

Pity Thailand doesn't follow suit and make things easy for entry as well, still all the BS requirements to enter the country only to find everything closed. 

[Jason]

I think maybe UK has taken these countries off their red list, because there has been a resizable resurgence of Covid in the UK. If you're banning a country that has 11,000 cases a day and you have 20,000 cases a day, it's case of "the pot calling the kettle black"!!!!

[Benroon]

9 hours ago, gummy said:

Please be mindful that whilst it will be much simpler to return to the UK from Thailand without much fuss, Thailand still has many hoops you will need to go through in order to come here. Whether Thailand will reciprocate to allow fully vaccinated people to come to Thailand without any of the current bureaucratic issues and enforced quarantine in November is unknown.

Not whilst numerous hotels which would ordinarily be half empty can profit from it, plus 6000 for a PCR? 

It’s a scam pure and simple and Thailand do them so well. 

[Benroon]

31 minutes ago, Jason said:

I think maybe UK has taken these countries off their red list, because there has been a resizable resurgence of Covid in the UK. If you're banning a country that has 11,000 cases a day and you have 20,000 cases a day, it's case of "the pot calling the kettle black"!!!!

It’s down to vaccination rates and the fear of a new variant as a result. 

[gummy]

8 minutes ago, Benroon said:

Not whilst numerous hotels which would ordinarily be half empty can profit from it, plus 6000 for a PCR? 

It’s a scam pure and simple and Thailand do them so well. 

Hence the perfect verse for Thailand's TAT, " A scam a day keeps the tourists away"

[Timo]

15 hours ago, Anjli said:

Hi, my name is Anjli and I am a British citizen currently living in the USA. My husband and I have been waiting to come to Thailand for over 18 months!  We are planning to retire there with a retirement visa and live in Chiang Mai.  We will be passing through UK and are planning on travelling in November.  We have just seen on the UK government website ( https://www.gov.uk/guidance/red-list-of-countries-and-territories) that Thailand  will be removed from the UK's red list on Monday the 11th October at 4am.  So I wanted to reach out and let you know, as your news today says Thailand will not be removed, which is incorrect. 

We watch your news channel and the other updates daily and keeps us connected to Thailand, which we cannot wait to be a part of soon.  

We will most likely be purchasing a condo in Chiang Mail through FazWaz as soon as we get there, so thanks for keeping us up to date on the property market too!

So excited!

As others have said its still not easy getting here. Removing from the UK red list only really effects returning to UK. My parents are finally able to come visit a grandchild they have not met yet, thoigh i'm not sure how.

I think the best option will be Phuket sandbox for 1 week then fly up to chiang mai. Currently the Chiang mai plan is a North Korean style guided tour.

Also you may reconsider moving to Chiang Mai, its a ghost town, i can see it taking years to get anywhere near back to being good.

[Poolie]

17 minutes ago, Timo said:

As others have said its still not easy getting here. Removing from the UK red list only really effects returning to UK. My parents are finally able to come visit a grandchild they have not met yet, thoigh i'm not sure how.

I think the best option will be Phuket sandbox for 1 week then fly up to chiang mai. Currently the Chiang mai plan is a North Korean style guided tour.

Also you may reconsider moving to Chiang Mai, its a ghost town, i can see it taking years to get anywhere near back to being good.

Was Chaing Mai ever much more than a ghost town?

[Timo]

Just now, Poolie said:

Was Chaing Mai ever much more than a ghost town?

Yeah, i moved here 10 years ago, there was great nightlife, at least 5 clubs i would go to a lot, all got shut down with the coup. The coup changed a lot, befor it i had a bar/restaurant i could stay open til 5am if i wanted, you could have dinner at 6am on the roof of lucky bar, all that changed overnight. It sucks here now tho, was planning on moving south but thats all on hold since April 'lockdown'

[Poolie]

10 minutes ago, Timo said:

Yeah, i moved here 10 years ago, there was great nightlife, at least 5 clubs i would go to a lot, all got shut down with the coup. The coup changed a lot, befor it i had a bar/restaurant i could stay open til 5am if i wanted, you could have dinner at 6am on the roof of lucky bar, all that changed overnight. It sucks here now tho, was planning on moving south but thats all on hold since April 'lockdown'

Yeah, as I thought, it became sleepy in the last eight or so years. I was last there in 2018. Never again.

[BIGGLES]

The removal of Thailand from the UK red list, will have little or no impact on UK arrivals. The reason being, that Thailand is still on the FCOD are still advising against all but essential travel, to the whole of Thailand. 

This means, you are not covered by any insurance.

[David297]

16 minutes ago, BIGGLES said:

The removal of Thailand from the UK red list, will have little or no impact on UK arrivals. The reason being, that Thailand is still on the FCOD are still advising against all but essential travel, to the whole of Thailand. 

Thailand officially comes off the UK red list on Monday 11th October.  I would have thought the FCOD advice would be updated at that time too.

[BIGGLES]

45 minutes ago, David297 said:

Thailand officially comes off the UK red list on Monday 11th October.  I would have thought the FCOD advice would be updated at that time too.

Unfortunately not. 

It was updated Tuesday of this week.

Let us hope that they do a quick update.

[Timo]

3 hours ago, Poolie said:

Yeah, as I thought, it became sleepy in the last eight or so years. I was last there in 2018. Never again.

Yep, a friend of mine came over then, he said 'this feels like a town on the way down'. I cant wait to leave, was planning hua hin, but even UK sounds better than CM

[Anjli]

We love Chiang Mai.  We are not party people but like good food, culture and healing arts.  And Chiang Mai has a lot of that. Each to their own.

Thailand coming off the UK red list does have an impact because it incentivizes the airlines to start creating more direct routes. We are ex BA staff and would love to have the LHR to BKK route back up and running.  Currently it is scheduled to start again on 9th December, but earlier would be better for us.

Also, cannot wait to hear if you can transit through Bangkok to do the sandbox in "Charming" Chiang Mai, as long as you stay airside.  Yes, there are many hoops to jump through and it is very bureaucratic.  Insurance is the key to all this too, which I believe we have a list of agencies that will cover from Thailand.  IF they do make it simpler then that would only benefit the Thai tourist industry.  Seems nonsensical to have all these crazy requirements.

[JackIsAGoodBoy]

On 10/8/2021 at 12:06 AM, Anjli said:

!  We are planning to retire there with a retirement visa and live in Chiang Mai. 

Smoky season so bad during winters, maybe reconsider some other place. Like Phuket or Hua Hin.

[Tipibuilder]

9 hours ago, Benroon said:

It’s down to vaccination rates and the fear of a new variant as a result. 

Agree it is down several elements, in order or significance 1. Genomic sequencing 2. Approved Vaccines 3. Case numbers v vaccine rates.

The UK has always tried to ensure that no new uncontrolled variants enter the island. Initially genomic sequencing was not followed by Thailand ie providing the ‘DNA’ of test results to the WHO / central body to examine if new variants were appearing. Secondly, vaccines procured by Thailand were not approved in the UK, however they are now approved. Lastly, reliance on the cases detected were accurate versus % of population tested

 

[Cape]

Id be interested to know if quarantine for fully vaccinated is officially dropped from 1 Nov.

Also, no sense in demanding covid  insurance - fully vaccinated never get hospitalised.

And if quarantine still required, can I fly into bkk then stay airside and tfer to cnx to do it? From 1 Nov?

[Timo]

5 hours ago, Anjli said:

We love Chiang Mai.  We are not party people but like good food, culture and healing arts.  And Chiang Mai has a lot of that. Each to their own.

I'm not a party person anymore either, got 2 kids now. Its not just the nightlife thats gone. You like good food, most of it gone unfortunatly. I've had a restaurant here for years, shut befor covid as had started to strugle, covid put the final nail  in the coffin for a lot of other places.

I dont want to sound too pesemistic, but you will see when you get here why so many people have left. Move somewhere nice like Hua Hin, 5 million gets you a bungelo with a pool, that money buys you a dirt lot here.

Anyway, i hope you have a great time

[JamesR]

17 hours ago, Jason said:

I think maybe UK has taken these countries off their red list, because there has been a resizable resurgence of Covid in the UK. If you're banning a country that has 11,000 cases a day and you have 20,000 cases a day, it's case of "the pot calling the kettle black"!!!!

The reason why the cases have been higher in the UK is it is fully open to the pubic living here, no restrictions, hardly anyone bothers to wear a mask as most of us have had two vaccinations. 

If you compare the number of deaths proportionally in the UK with the ratio of deaths in Thailand it is much higher there as very few people have been vaccinated.

Thailand can not open fully as the death toll wold be massive under the current conditions. 

It is not a matter of infections, it is matter of the number of deaths and serious ilness proportionally.