When will Thailand remove the Test and Go restrictions for backpackers?

I’m sure there are amazing places in your own country to go backpacking without money……..

Expensive for everyone give Thailand a miss this year

The cowardice must end. Let's get some adults into the room.

Do they charge backpackers more ?

i'm waiting for them to scrap buying airline tickets, very expensive for begpackers!!

Can I leave Thailand 🇹🇭 after my 1st test? Or do I have to stay in Thailand until my 5th test?

Now it's all just about money and control...its a scam now to make money

On the fence?

Backpackers are at the bottom of everybody’s list, its completely unnecessary travel to everyone except their inflated egos and underdeveloped cognitive abilities, traveling just to make another country a scene for their money-saving games should be disallowed… dirty bird-shit ignorant greedy/stingy backpackers… the scum of the rich world !

Pretty simple, their country their rules. Don't like it? Don't go!

i think that

- dont want to loose face

- and paranoia

are the 2 main personnality traits of all asians

so its not finish yet ...

40yo backpacker ffs. Stay home!

No hurry I would say. We are in Thailand, economy moving forward gradually. All foreigners in the country are helping the country. Yes, Thailand has the right to make its rules. And yes, people have a right to decide whether to come or not. Thanks to everyone who followed the process to be here.

If u complain about the strict restrictions then dont travel for now, we are almost there hang on and hopefully it should be back to normal in a year.

A lot of my friends recently went to Sri Lanka which they said was amazing.

Forget Thailand at moment, but i see you are an Indian National you have some truly amazing places to travel within India.

I really hope all this stuff dies down so i can travel there hoping to get back to Jim Corbett National park again.

Good, no more tw*tpackers.

Mexico has none of that , just saying

I think everyone hates everything about this new normal except big companies. Life sucks now. Let's try to break apart the big companies. 😂

Anything that deters those wankers gets my vote

Theft

expensive was paying for the test before i left in america...(350 usd).... can get a testandgo hotel very cheap (about 100 usd all included) insurance is cheap also (75 usd) lol if you cant afford that you shouldnt be traveling internationally and probably couldnt enter thailand as your bank statement would reflect that and you wouldnt have the minimal amount

Hopefully never so cheap peeps like u don’t come🤷🏿‍♂️

And for families

So, you all want to scrap all the requirements, come in sick, spread the virus, have Thai people die, then really have the country shut down tight, all because you can’t be inconvenienced to take a couple test? What’s wrong with this picture? Stay home.

Test n Go is a great policy, and much better than 15 days in ASQ. Backpackers and all travelers must realize the world has changed and travel even more, the days of hopping over borders on a whim are gone.

Well considered response.

Much as I fully support backpacking around the world (I wish I could resume my own version of it right now), I don't think accommodating backpackers is the priority of the Thai government right now. Its priority is protecting their people and that involves balancing two things:

1) Keeping infection rates low

2) Bringing in money

Neither of these priorities are really helped by backpackers. Yes, they spend a bit of money, but not enough to balance the risk. Also, backpackers are probably the biggest risk due to the travel.

Soooo...accommodating backpackers is not likely a high priority.

I'd rather pay them double the amount and not deal with it all

Expensive is just the start. The paperwork... the $50k insurance and the 2 PCR tests once in country will justvadd to the joy.

Im suprised the people of Facebook cant answer this...

Test and Go is an incredibly inexpensive solution to the problem of letting people with Covid into the country. Yes, not having to do anything would be nice, but Thailand has the best solution to keeping the doors open of any Asian country.

Backpackers are not welcome anymore. Thailand is targeting big spenders

If you’re broke just say so…

No more backpackers are welcomed here

Here there fucking idiots. I had friends coming over. To complicated. Went to Bali instead.

I’m hoping to go to Thailand in April , I’m fully vaccinated what do I need to apply for and provide on arrival , I will be staying for 1 month . Cheers 🙏

Be ok if it was simple get day 1 test free for 4 days. day 5 another test what is that all about

My wife and I came to Thailand as backpackers in 1990. We returned as family holiday makers many times and are now living here. Its entitlement to say keep out.

Not really.. its just hoops to jump through. Its not difficult for anyone with a brain

never i hope

I think that’s the point… just saying.

as a backpacker you should be able to figure that out on your own.

take your dreadlocks elsewhere then

India scrapped testing requirement, just vaccination certficate

France scraped long time back

Ukaraine scraped too

Not sure why does this, it should open up for build the economy, local poor people are suffering as Thailand survives on tourism, Govt is killing that ..

Won't be before sonkran is my guess

From experience by what I have witnessed personally, the exclusive enclaves for wealthy tourists ie plush 5* beach resorts don't benefit local businesses outside the resorts or the local people. Native Thais working for the resorts are on long hours for minimum wage. The tourists themselves spend ridiculous amounts of money on over priced daily faraway sightseeing excursions or eating in the overpriced restaurants in the resort. Yes it's always been that way and each to their own but this should still be about personal choice. Not all travellers want luxury tailor-made vacations. What made destinations like Thailand, Vietnam or Kampuchea different from other places was the unique experience of quite literally 'getting away from it all' breaks. From a few weeks travelling around to much longer stays with unintentionally extended periods with visa runs to neighbouring countries, where naturally foreign visitors would spend their hard earned dollars on local people and businesses. From the two-week-millionaire bar hounds to backpackers or the large majority of expats, foreigners would put their money in the local communities and businesses.

Did Covid change all that? Not entirely because the vibe and scene in Thailand was changing quite a while before the Sars-CoV-2 farce hit. Covid is the convenient switch for cynically endorsing political ideologies, pushing for change through stealth with social and economic change. The Thailand that most of us on this platform fondly remember has sadly gone forever.

When covid has gone or is no longer and issue that causes hospitals to over crowd. Soon hopefully

Just go with the flow! If your in a hurry to travel, this is what’s expected!!!!

Don’t get me wrong, I have family that haven’t seen their Thai family for over two years! I realise everyone is keen to travel ! ❤️ 🇹🇭

Should scrap it for residents first who go to work .

It's all part of the travelling game now, take it or go home 🤷‍♂️

Isn't that even a appreciated side effect?

They tried to make it inconvenient for backpackers for many years. More restrictions at borders, immigration, visa.

Backpackers often work illegally and ending up being deported.

6-8 months

I can't afford either so that's why i won't go

When I go to other countries it soooooo expensive too …. I have to pay for the visa and expensive hotel .. and will follow any rules of that country if they want …

So, if u wanna go to somewhere , just accepted their rules … if not … just stay home or go somewhere else …

It works though, I think yesterday there were 182 tourists nabbed bringing the tourist covid here, meanwhile there were 15,000 new cases of Thai covid. And yes there is a difference, the tourist covid is much worse than the Thai covid and must be stopped.

That’s why you have Laos and Mongolia.

Thailand does not want backpackers anymore. Go somewhere else.

Thailand will milk it for as long as possible

Thailand needs all the visitors it can get, just have a look around and see the devastating effect on local communities the lack of tourists has had. Rich or not they all eat sleep and drink somewhere spreading the money around keeping the communities an income.

Things will not improve untill things are back to pre covid travel conditions.

God forbid the backpackers are inconvenienced by the price of test and go. Never mind the rest of us….

Dam soon EVERYWHERE I hope , the entire concept is utterly ridiculous and ludicrous , that many people with this thing , you'd never know the numbers , just let it rip and get on with life .

it's expensive when it is inaccurate anyway

Simple if you cannot afford to go,stay at home

We all want that.

Dude!! Really!! 😳🤠😎

Just worked out over thousand barht for 1 month not happy

Isn't the sandbox programme more expensive? 🤔 Hopefully thing will be a bit more normal again soon, but for now. Just pay for the 2 days at hotell and pcr tests or go somewhere else 😄

They want millionaire to retire in their country ...

No Bagpackers wanted nore allowed! Too much COVID in the bagpacks and too little money ☝️

Thailand don’t want backpackers anymore they need tourist what spent so much money in short time like 2 weeks

Thailand is no longer a destination. There are many more better less expensive places.

If you haven't got the little money to come here tells me you not have Money to spend .

If you can't afford then don't come. you will have more headache if you come and you are detected infected

Government only welcome money not overcrowded

Backpackers are the least of their problems. They dont bring in any money.

Their whole agenda is premium tourism so if you expect them to enable travel for backpackers you will wait forever.

It's expensive for anybody and certainly ridiculous when the rest of the world is opening up

When they’ve squeezed enough 💵 from it. Until that point, covid is still a very real threat.

Actual advice: Go to south America instead and you'll save a ton on visa related costs.

That's a great point, I didn't even think about that. I'm meeting with the Prime Minister on Monday, I'll let him know backpackers are upset with the health insurance requirement to enter the country. He's probably not aware that not showering for 3 weeks at a time builds a natural bacterial layer on the outside of the skin that makes you immune to just about anything. I'm sure he'll understand.