News Forum - Tourism calls for Russia and India to be added to safe list

[Dasoba]

8 hours ago, Khun said:

An ozzie is annoyed? " i am not sure about india"!! It has vaccinated 1 billion people, what do you not know?  Except racism of course from a coubtry with just 23 pr is it 24 million people and one of the lowest vacc rates despite this small.number

You are so wrong. Australia has 73% fully vaccinated, not "one of the lowest vaccination rates" as you claim.

As for India, just 51% fully vaccinated. That leaves a huge number of people in real danger, don't you think? Thailand has 55% fully vaccinated. Wouldn't it make sense to set your target to at least the same rate as yourself, ie 55% or better?

It never ceases to amaze me how people always try to play the "race card" when they really have nothing to say.

[Cathat]

The reason for this development is quite simple.

The country is close to broke and it's a last desperate role of the dice.

They are hurting for cash,it is as simple as that.

If they ever had the piles of cash they claimed to have sitting about doing nothing in the central bank they would have injected the liquidity into the retail banks and government employment scheme's ages ago but they have not,why because they don't have it.

If they don't do something about the millions of folk sitting about doing nothing or close to something will give sooner rather than later.

 It's far too late now for any tourism related money making schemes to work now.

they would be better off going to the IMF or world bank with a begging bowl and best they give them a very deep wai and nice smile when they are there.

 

 

[HiuMak]

14 hours ago, Thaiger said:

Now that the 46 countries that can enter Thailand on November 1 without quarantine have been announced, many in the tourism industry are calling for some notable absences to be added to the list. Tourism groups in major travel hubs are calling on the government to add Russia and India to the list of approved countries, believing it will massively boost the number of travellers coming into Thailand this high season. Russia didn’t make the cut for the 46 approved countries because of a recent surge in Covid-19 in the country the only has about a 33% vaccination rate with […]

The story Tourism calls for Russia and India to be added to safe list as seen on Thaiger News.

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I find it amusing that Thailand is promoting tourism during this era of a pandemic. I can understand opening up to travellers for trade, business purposes and returning citizens or residents or even travellers who have relatives in Thailand that they have not seen since the start of the pandemic.

Sandboxes apart, I failed to see the why Thailand is opening up the whole country and would promote tourism now at the cost of jeopardizing public health and risks of tourists. The tourism industry in Thailand is huge but opening up at the expense of citizens/residents risks as well as tourists, this needs to be reassessed. 

[Dasoba]

14 hours ago, Poolie said:

Where did you read the statement from the Thai tourist bosses? Can we see it?

If you carefully read my comment, you will see I didn't say that it is a quote from them. What I said was this is how I read (understand) what they are really saying.

[Wasminbe]

8 hours ago, Tim said:

I truly don't understand why they need Indian tourists... They obviously never experienced staying in a hotel that has Indian guests and never seen groups of 5 men sharing a bottle of Leo from the 7/11 and indefinitely haggle for getting one girl for 5 men.

Agreed! Many times I've seen these sick men haggling with the women on Pattaya beach road trying to get a 3, 4 or 5 for one deal.-Extremely rude to local business workers as well. Some I've met are good people, but the majority I could do without.

Edited October 25, 2021 by Smithydog
Expletive Removed

[Poolie]

3 hours ago, Dasoba said:

If you carefully read my comment, you will see I didn't say that it is a quote from them. What I said was this is how I read (understand) what they are really saying.

Right, my mistake.

You made it up then?

[YesNoMaybe]

3 hours ago, Wasminbe said:

Agreed! Many times I've seen these sick men haggling with the women on Pattaya beach road trying to get a 3, 4 or 5 for one deal.-Extremely rude to local business workers as well. Some I've met are good people, but the majority I could do without.

OK, whos calmest, politest tourist in Thailand then?

Becouse i know they are not british(seen them in Benidorm in natural habitat)

Deffo not russians 

Not indians 

Absolutely not chinese

Prolly japanese, maybe germans.

 

So, are u german or japanese?

 

 

[YesNoMaybe]

1 hour ago, Poolie said:

Right, my mistake.

You made it up then?

Easy big fella 

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2202835/bigger-quarantine-free-list-demanded

 

 

[Brownie]

13 hours ago, Guest1 said:

And it is "only" 250 million fully vaccinated people, mostly with an vaccine that is not even accepted by the WHO, yet.

It's actually around 300 million people fully vaccinated, mostly with Covishield (WHO approved). Covaxin (pending WHO approval)  accounts for just around 12% of the total vaccine doses given. So be certain of your facts before shooting off...

[palooka]

21 hours ago, Khun said:

An ozzie is annoyed? " i am not sure about india"!! It has vaccinated 1 billion people, what do you not know?  Except racism of course from a coubtry with just 23 pr is it 24 million people and one of the lowest vacc rates despite this small.number

Vaccination numbers and statistics | Australian Government Department of Health

73.4% double vaccinated in Australia and you say this is one of the lowest. Which planet are you on?

 

Edited October 25, 2021 by palooka

[mickkotlarski]

20 minutes ago, palooka said:

Vaccination numbers and statistics | Australian Government Department of Health

73.4% double vaccinated in Australia and you say this is one of the lowest. Which planet are you on?

Who cares about facts Palooka. It wouldn't fit Khun's narrative on racism. If he wants to quote imaginary figures so he can feel better condemning then he can enjoy his own company on his own planet.

[JohninDublin]

22 hours ago, Dasoba said:

Why I am annoyed is that, as the article clearly pointed out, Russia is miles behind with its vaccination levels, with only about 33% fully vaccinated, and I’m not sure about India.

To me, I read this statement from the tourism bosses is “we don’t care about the physical health of the Thai people or those visitors who have gone to the trouble of being fully vaccinated. All we want is the money, and if it brings more Covid-19 into Thailand, we’ll as long as we get the money, that’s good enough for us!”

Most of the major countries vax rates can be found here: https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations

Regarding the implication that it's all about the money, I am sure there are those involved in the TH tourist industry, that take the view regarding India and Russia, "Never mind the quality, feel the quantity".

On a personal note, I do have sympathies for the owners of these businesses, but if they go bust, then someone else is likely to resurrect them. But you can't resurrect the dead. I've spent much of this year listening to and reading news stories about planned re-openings, particularly in Ireland, UK and TH. They mostly start by saying, "Let us reopen and we will comply with whatever rules you impose". As soon as someone announces, "You can open but....", the narrative changes to, "We need more", or "We can't ask our staff to check vax status etc". Personally, I'm on the side of the cautious, and I think as far as TH goes, when compared to the UK, the benefits of that caution can be seen comparing the number of infections of both countries.

[JohninDublin]

22 hours ago, Khun said:

An ozzie is annoyed? " i am not sure about india"!! It has vaccinated 1 billion people, what do you not know?  Except racism of course from a coubtry with just 23 pr is it 24 million people and one of the lowest vacc rates despite this small.number

Your figures are wildly out. The vax figures for India are about 300 mill fully vaxxed, with further 400 mill partially vaxxed. https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations That's from a population of 1.4 BN

For some reason, OZ does not appear on that list, but in another place from the same source, you can see that as of 23rd of Oct Oz had 60% of its population fully vaxxed and a further 13% partials. If y0u go to https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations?country=OWID_WRL and check the boxes for OZ and India, you see that your statements on both countries are totally wrong.

But why do you assume that because someone says something that is true and you don't like, is racist?

[JohninDublin]

22 hours ago, YesNoMaybe said:

Haha.

US death rate 1600 PER DAY, cases per day 140k SAFE COUNTRY 

Uk death rate 150, cases per day 50k SAFE COUNTRY 

Lithuania most cases per 100k in a WORLD. Still a safe country 

Bulgaria most deaths per 100k in a WORLD. Still a safe country 

Singapore is about to enter new wave again. SAFE COUNTRY.

Russia 38k cases a day +1000 deaths a day. NOT SAFE.

U either do it honest way. Like INDONESIA did. WHOs safe list? Lets see, Antigua, Poland, and  Bermudas. No tourism, but at least its honest approach.

Or u do it cheat way, like Thailand. They using Russia as a scape goat to justify letting US and UK in. " Hey look, our borders are on control, no virus inside"!

I don't believe that Russia is being used as a scapegoat. I believe it's about the "quality" of the tourist insofar as their ability and willingness to spend is concerned.

[Jason]

Thanks to BigHewer!!! Do my eyes deceive me?? Is that a chart showing vaccination rates?? Amazing Thailand! Thanks mate! Now we need the same info as a percentage of first and second dose by province. Thailand really needs to concentrate on the popular tourist spots with vaccination. That will kickstart tourism again. Trying to vaccinate the entire population is obviously a big ask, but vaccinating key tourist destinations is a good targeted strategy. In reply to a comment on my comment. The poor Thai guy won't die from Covid, because if he's in a tourist area, he would have been vaccinated as a priority already. 

[Poolie]

5 minutes ago, Jason said:

Thanks to BigHewer!!! Do my eyes deceive me?? Is that a chart showing vaccination rates?? Amazing Thailand! Thanks mate! Now we need the same info as a percentage of first and second dose by province. Thailand really needs to concentrate on the popular tourist spots with vaccination. That will kickstart tourism again. Trying to vaccinate the entire population is obviously a big ask, but vaccinating key tourist destinations is a good targeted strategy. In reply to a comment on my comment. The poor Thai guy won't die from Covid, because if he's in a tourist area, he would have been vaccinated as a priority already. 

Correction; you might need it but I'm finding such chaff mind numbing now. Call me selfish, but since I got vaccinated, I don't see the value in trawling the net for each tiny detail.

After all no-one is wearing a badge that says 'kill me, I'm not vaccinated' are they?

[satpete]

the word low risk country is used by government to keep fear low for public,

every fully vaccinated traveller with pcr test before flight is a low risk for Thai people,
whatever country he comes from

[JohninDublin]

22 hours ago, Jason said:

Hmmm. The thing to remember is that as long as there is a very strict regime of PCR test 72 hours prior to arrival and double dose vaccination (evidenced), it doesn't matter which country the people come from. It is the same rule for everyone. Those who try to cheat, will be found out (by the PCR test on arrival). I to have booked to come to Thailand. It's interesting that the country of origin isn't the decisive factor. The decisive factor is Thailand's ability to verify PCR testing and vaccination status.  I am more concerned about the percentage of the people in Phuket who have been vaccinated. The Thaiger hasn't published any stats on this. They just pass on the CCSA case numbers every day. Dasoba, I hear your pain. I feel the same. 

You raise a very good point about verification.

I've said this before, but bearing in mind that at least one person has already accused another forum member of racism for being uncomplimentary about India, I shall try and choose my words carefully:

RE: Delta Virus: When the UK gov announced that it was giving Indians from the UK 72 (or 96 not sure) hours to return to the UK from India, or face Hotel Quarantine at over £2k each room, thousands rapidly returned in that period. To board the flight, they needed a negative PCR test. They were then allowed re-entry to the UK and as long as they could show the test certificate, there were no questions asked at ports of entry,

In a matter of days, we started seeing outbreaks of Delta in areas with large populations of Indian. These included people who had just returned from India or people who had had close contact with same. I am well aware that for a test to prove positive it needs sufficient time to incubate to produce enough viral load to be detectable. But I am also well aware, that India is famed for medical corruption. My guess is that among those thousands who re-entered the UK, there would have been more than a few cases of people who had either failed the test or were not even tested at all, and just paid for the piece of paper or whatever was required, to show they were negative.

So regarding your post, I do think that the ability to verify necessary documents should be high on the list of things that any go needs to do before reopening borders.

[YesNoMaybe]

29 minutes ago, JohninDubin said:

I don't believe that Russia is being used as a scapegoat. I believe it's about the "quality" of the tourist insofar as their ability and willingness to spend is concerned.

Say what?

In dec 2019. Official tat stats.

Russian tourists in Thailand. As many as UK and US tourists combines.

Money spent. As much as UK and US combined.

[JohninDublin]

22 hours ago, Dprasad said:

India sofar achieved 1billion doses shots to its citizens.. We are the leaders of vaccination.... 

A definite case of "statistics can be made to prove anything". True there have been 1BN shots given, but only just over 20% of Indians have been fully vaxxed, and about 50% have received no vax at all.

https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations

[JohninDublin]

22 hours ago, Fanta said:

9,000+ people a day reported infected and that this country is even considering opening shows staggering contempt for the wellbeing of tourists.

Well when you consider that some of those tourists will be coming from the UK where the infection rate is 4X that of TH, you might consider that they are safer in TH than at home.

[JohninDublin]

21 hours ago, Poolie said:

2ND after China, 2.2bn doses thus far.

Wrong! https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations

Population: 1.4 BN. 21% double vaxxed = 300 Mill x2 = 600 mill

30% part-vaxed = 420 mill. 

Total: About 1 BN.

[JohninDublin]

21 hours ago, YesNoMaybe said:

I salute u both, but what exact difference does it make for a poor unvaccinated thai chap whod get covid from a fully vaccinated brit?

That really is the $64 question. 

[JohninDublin]

21 hours ago, YesNoMaybe said:

I wonder if local intellectuals understand the concept of vaccine.

If u vaccinated with pcr and u board a plane then what difference what country u fly from?

And by the way U can arrive from a zero vaccine country and be negative and fly from UK and be positive double jabbed lad.

I think @Jasonraised one significant reason why country of origin is important: Verification. There are certain countries where I would not trust the necessary documentation even if it was stamped "FORGERY".

India would be high on that list.

[JohninDublin]

24 minutes ago, YesNoMaybe said:

Say what?

In dec 2019. Official tat stats.

Russian tourists in Thailand. As many as UK and US tourists combines.

Money spent. As much as UK and US combined.

It does nothing for your case to publish such tables when they are cropped so that there is no indication of the data source, or what the figures are supposed to represent.