Thailand Mulls Over Reopening May Put Hold On Brits

[Nirish guy]

A second and more deadly wave isn't so much a concern as it is a 100% guaranteed inevitability....... I don't know, I'm a software dude, not a doctor. .......Right now it's winter in the southern hempisphere, hence why they're getting hammered so badly..

See to me that's why software dudes shouldn't maybe talk about 100% !!! guaranteed ! inevitability ! as you're right, they're not doctors and it only leads to more fear and negativity worldwide perhaps. Re the Southern Hemisphere being colder - London today is 18c, Cape Town is 24c, Mombasa is 28c and Cairo is 31c.....so, I'm guessing it's not THAT much colder than here so I'm also guessing that's not the reason why they're having their flare up, but I wouldn't know - as I'm not a doctor either ;-)

[cdnmatt]

Here, in case you've been living under a rock, this guy knows what he's talking about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7cIBIT_I70

[Brad the Impala]

For anyone from the UK(and there seem to be one or two here) looking for Travel Insurance, Trailfinders have just announced that their travel insurance policy will cover Covid and will be available from 22nd June. "policy will provide Covid-19 cover for cancellation prior to travel, for curtailment of your trip, and medical expenses whilst overseas".

They have both single trip and annual policies available which are not dependent on also booking your travel through them.

https://www.trailfinders.com/insurance#/step1

[sglad]

You'd think it wouldn't have been beyond the authorities to allow in husbands and home owners etc, even if they'd imposed a mandatory 2 week quarantine etc that would have been acceptable to most i'm sure rather than be split apart from their wife and child for 6 months, feels very heartless for a Country that prides itself on being so gentle and caring ( at least on the face of it)

My friend doesn't find the Thai authorities and the Thai people heartless at all. He understands that this is not only about him and his family but about the bigger issue of public health and safety. Most, if not, all the positive cases in Thailand in the last few weeks have come from overseas and Thailand is not the only country in the region to have secured its borders for this reason.

And no, the two-week quarantine upon arrival wouldn't be acceptable to most working people. My friend, like me, has only 14-days of annual leave and by law we're not entitled to paid compassionate leave. Any compassionate leave entitlement is entirely as the discretion of one's employer as stipulated in the employment contract. Most people will receive two or three days. And don't forget, even if he could leave Singapore and enter Thailand, my friend would still have to stay in quarantine for another two weeks upon his return to Singapore. So that's a month spent in quarantine without factoring in any amount of time he would be able to spend with his family. My friend's work requires him to be on site and working from home is not an option for him. And applying for any kind of unpaid leave is far too great a risk financially and professionally right now.

And I think most Thais can take pride in their caring nature. The self-organised and supported food distribution queues is evidence of this. People have come together (including some foreigners) to help those who have lost their jobs and sources of income as a result of this pandemic. Yes, it's happening even in mercenary Pattaya where some of the longest food distribution queues in the country can be found and many down-and-out farangs can be seen in them. No, the Thais are not turning them away because they are farangs with no money. Quite a few have been given free board by temples and guest houses. There was one story of a broke farang who was given shelter by your lowly, greedy and lazy phone-playing prostitutes (you know the kind some members of this forum love to sneer at). The most touching and inspiring aspect of all this, and yet not so surprising if you understand Thai society, is that the ones coming forward to help and contribute are not the wealthy but the middle and lower-middle classes who don't have much more themselves other than their big hearts.

[Nirish guy]

I fear you've misunderstood my point SG - I was referring to other people / husbands / farang perhaps who had a wife and kids there in Thailand and LIVED with them, not so much your friend who still works in SG as of course he wouldn't be able to nip in and out for the very reasons you describe.

was thinking more long term Thailand living farang with a wife and kids who and had for whatever reason left the Country either for a short or a long time ( not that way !) and who now needed and wanted to return HOME to their wife and kids, in which case a 2 week quarantine would I thought been acceptable - but hang on - was there not such cases very recently where the Thai Government DID allow in people home on repatriation flights ( maybe this was just just for Thais ?) in such cases only after quarantining them - although was there not them cases of infection after that also - which maybe proves why it doesn't work / shouldn't be allowed perhaps I guess ?