No sign of the Chinese
The Beijing authorities say they don’t want to restart charter flights and group tours for some months yet. They fear that tourists may bring back something nasty for public health. The pilot scheme regionally for Chinese tourists is likely to be Cambodia which is currently in negotiation about a travel bubble and escorted trips to Sihanoukville (gambling) or Angkor Wat (culture). Thailand likely won’t be on the map until late 2022.
EMS survives
Thai postal authorities are abolishing the domestic registered post system at the end of the year. In recent years it has been little used because of the popularity of EMS which offers, more or less, next day delivery. That option remains. Registered post remains for international post, although this proves only that you visited the post office. Only courier mail, such as DHL, can prove delivery beyond a reasonable doubt.
Covid visa extensions ok
Tourists and others have been able to obtain 60 day visas and extensions without much hassle for over eighteen months now. The idea was to permit longer stays for foreigners claiming to be travel-trapped by the international Covid pandemic. The window to apply for yet another two months has been extended to the end of December, giving permission to remain to the end of February 2022. Whether this is the final extension nobody knows.
Expats not tourists
The evidence so far is that any increase in the number of foreigners in Pattaya reflects the return of expats and family members rather than tourists. Apart from booze disappointments, holidays to Thailand are now much more expensive than in 2019. There are extra charges in mandatory insurance, Covid tests before and after arrival and the one night quarantine in approved hotels. Not to mention the rise in air fares caused by international oil hikes.
Thailand Pass confusion
All foreigners entering Thailand need a QR code to show at the airport and to immigration here. So everyone has to survive the Thailand Pass bureaucracy. Sadly, a number of foreigners have left Thailand over the past few months in the belief that their re-entry permit would be enough to come back. Not so. The re-entry permit is just one of several documents to be uploaded to TP, including mandatory Covid insurance.
Onward air ticket
Thai immigration offices will gladly extend the visa-exempt 30 days stay or the 60 days tourist visa without much hassle. However, those coming into the country report that airlines sometimes require to see an onward ticket with a flight date before the individual’s stated permission date ends. This is because airlines are nervous of being fined for flying in people without an onward flight within the time scale of the actual permission. Airlines sometimes say they don’t know about extensions of stay.
Pattaya music festivals
There are musical events every weekend in the country’s favorite seaside resort. The numbers attending are obviously smaller than in pre-pandemic times, but domestic tourists (especially from Bangkok) have been supporting well in spite of the theoretical booze ban. Weekend traffic jams are certainly back and parking at night poses as big a challenge as in the days of yore.
Temperature checks spasmodic
The once-strict protocols on entering stores and malls in Pattaya seem to be in abeyance. Often, there is nobody on duty to check entrants for their temperature and to ensure they leave a record of their identity. Meanwhile, nobody seems to be checking whether restaurant staff are having regular Covid health checks. Sadly, only a renewed Covid epidemic in the city is likely to waken everybody up.
Pound falling again
The British pound briefly reached 46 baht last month, but the recent trend has been downwards. Some say that the old benchmark of 40 will be tested within the next few weeks. The kerfuffle between the European Union and the UK about goods travelling to Northern Ireland from Britain is the issue. Speculators worry that a full-blown trade war could result any time soon. Brexit issues are here to stay for the indefinite future.
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