Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing, well as the title suggest we are discussing new rules for certain arrivals in Thailand. Let me be clear this does not pertain to everyone as of the time of this video. I'll get into the deeper analysis here in a moment. 

Quoting directly from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: China arrivals to skip virus testing. Quoting directly: "Those arriving from China will need to produce a Covid-19 vaccine certificate and must present evidence of short-term health insurance covering the infection." Now, the thing to take away from this video just to start with, is first of all this pertains to Chinese arrivals only as of the filming of this video. Things may change in the future but for now this is just a China-based thing; these are arrival rules for those coming in from China; presumably from China, it's not nationality based, it's those of any nationality arriving from China have to go through this. On a personal note I really question why this is even necessary. It is my understanding this whole thing is considered endemic at this point which then begs the question again why is it necessary. At the same time, it is my understanding that anybody here in Thailand who wishes to be vaccinated can be vaccinated so again why is this necessary to impose on new arrivals. That said I understand, it's a fluid situation; we are coming off a situation where the country in question was shut down for a prolonged period of time; they are dealing with their own issues up there so I can understand certain public health issues or public health concerns may arise here. That said I really hope we are not seeing a sort of 'two steps back' situation with regard to travel into Thailand because honestly that is the worst thing we can be dealing with at this particular moment and quite frankly and I'm not going to go in a great detail here but I fail to see where precisely there is frankly an exigent need for this at this point but whatever. As it stands right now starting this week as of the time of this video going into this week, it appears to be January 8th is when China will be effectively reopen especially for their own nationals to go back to China without the need for quarantine which leads one to believe that we will probably see an uptick and that is probably an understatement, of Chinese Nationals coming into Thailand especially as we are looking at Chinese New Year just around the corner. 

So the thing to take away from this video, yes there are some changes with respect to entry rules; they apply to those coming from China specifically. Hopefully they will be gone sooner rather than later. As I noted earlier, I don't really see what the purpose of this is when you consider sort of the totality of the circumstances. That said, policy makers have reasons of their own, oftentimes reasons that I don't fully comprehend and so this is what we are going to be dealing with. That said, again hopefully this is a relatively temporary measure and we will be seeing changes to this sooner rather than later. We will certainly keep you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.