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Thai Immigration: "Travel Bubble" Talks Remain Ongoing?
Transcript of the above video:
As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing "Travel Bubbles" again.
This is definitely a topic that has not been at the forefront of this channel in recent weeks but some really interesting information came to my attention, buried somewhat in an article from thaivisa.com. The article is titled: Thailand to Remain Closed to Mass Tourism Until March, "Travel Bubble" Discussions Ongoing. Quoting directly, and they are quoting Pipat Ratchakitprakarn, who is the Minister for Tourism and Sports. Quoting directly from this article: "Minister Pipat also added that talks with so-called "low-risk" countries regarding the creation of travel bubbles remain ongoing". Exactly what that means remains to be seen although they do go on to list Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan as possible candidates as "low-risk" and we have been discussing this on this channel. China remains seemingly on the list of "low-risk" countries with respect to COVID.
What does this mean exactly? Well I think it means exactly what it has meant in the past few months which is we may see a "travel bubble" and we may not. Every time we have seen it come close, it has been basically put on hold or indefinitely postponed.
What does this mean for the viewer? Well if you are looking to come to Thailand, it is best to go ahead and pursue whatever Visa options are available. For example, Americans or those from the UK, it may be possible to get a Tourist Visa. Folks from Europe, you may be in the same boat there. There are certain countries where the Special Tourist Visa is now being allowed. Meanwhile Business Visas are open; possibly Marriage Visas; for some Retirement Visas may be an option. Again it is going to vary from country to country and from person to person; it is definitely going to vary case to case and the specific situation that you are in, the individual, will probably dictate what type of Visa you can obtain to come to Thailand if any.