Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, yeah it looks like things are turning around, going in a different direction on the issue of travel documentation associated with visitors coming to Thailand. I thought of making this video after reading a very recent article from the Bangkok Post, that is bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Government U-turns on COVID vaccination rule for visitors. Quoting directly: "The Government on Monday rescinded a policy announced at the weekend requiring visitors to show proof of Covid-19 vaccination, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said, citing sufficient immunization levels in China and globally. The Phuket Tourist Association on Sunday lambasted the suddenly-announced vaccination requirement, saying foreign tourism operators were enraged about having to issue refunds to customers, many of whom already en route to airports when the new rule was announced without warning." Good point. Quoting further: "The Association added that the abrupt rule change would hurt the country's tourism recovery - and its image." This is me talking but you think so? Yeah, not a great idea and just for future, not a great idea to just announce this stuff in the middle of a high season. I mean yeah okay, we got through New Year’s, that's always kind of viewed as sort of the apogee if you will of the sort of the high season but it ain't over yet, we are still here in January. We have got another few weeks left and please for the love of God let us squeeze every ounce of tourist juice out of those weeks. But that said let me quote further: "In an abrupt U-turn on Monday, Mr. Anutin said requiring visitors to show evidence of two vaccine doses was "inconvenient" and a panel of experts had resolved that it was unnecessary as enough vaccinations had been administered globally." Quoting further: "Mr. Anutin said visitors not vaccinated at all would also be granted entry without restriction. Quote: "Showing proof of vaccination would be cumbersome and inconvenient, and so the group's decision is that it is unnecessary," end quote, Mr. Anutin told reporters." 

So a couple of things here. Yeah I don't think this was a good idea; I don't think it was particularly well thought out or the execution at least wasn't. I do have to give credit where credit is due here in the sense that the Public Health Minister, Mr. Anutin, there was clear blowback on this. I think it was kind of reactionary for lack of a better term. I think it was done very much in haste, the discussion that this was going to be imposed as a rule and as a result it caused a lot of problems, but I have got to give credit where credit is due. When somebody comes up with a policy, people disagree with it and then they say "yeah, you know what, I am wrong. I'm going to go ahead and rescind that or we are going to go ahead and rescind that, us policy makers". You have got to give credit where it is due and that has occurred. Now the fact that it came up at all kind of upsets me more on a philosophical level than on a practical level. Again as noted in the article, I don't think it is the best thing for Thailand's image that this even happened especially in the middle of high season but okay it's done, just be done with it, that's probably the best way to look at it and let's all just be happy this is not a rule. There is no vaccination requirement to come into Thailand, so all things being equal we are exactly where we were last week; things are chugging along fine. Yes, I am sure that this has caused some consternation for folks and I hope it does not cause people to rethink coming to Thailand. 

Frankly these things kind of happen from time to time. We saw it a lot during Covid. I got very used to this kind of back and forth thing. I think this is probably the last one, at least I hope it is, because quite honestly the tourism sector frankly just needs as much help as it can get. Thailand's overall economy can only benefit. As I have discussed in other videos, I don't even see the purpose of this mandate in the sense that this is already considered an endemic thing here in Thailand. Meanwhile there are serious questions regarding efficacy issues which I am not even going to get into but I linked to articles talking about that in prior videos, I am not even going to get into all that. The point I am trying to make is I have issues on a philosophical level, I will make another video kind of getting into that, why I have an issue with these kind of mandates, so-called. But the long story short and the thing to take away from this video is according to the Bangkok Post, January 9^th, Bangkok time it is NOT a requirement to have a vaccination to come into Thailand as of this moment, it is just not required, so don't worry about it don't fret about it, it's not a documentation thing. This is being turned around, being rescinded. As Bangkok Post called it, a U-turn, so this is definitely good news overall. For those who are kind of feeling overwhelmed or they want a little with a piece of mind when dealing with travel to Thailand, it may not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.