OPINION

Open to tourist trickle

I read in the Bangkok Post's Dec 8 report the cabinet has opened the country to tourists from the world over, in an effort to get the tourism economy going again. It noted that only 825 visitors have taken advantage of the existing Special Tourist Visa.

I reside in Canada and have visited Thailand about eight times in the last six years, as it is my favourite country of over 70 that I have been to. The new rules for Canadian visitors, (and probably all others, this point not yet certain) require that in order to obtain a Thai visa, among other normal documentation, we must submit a bank statement showing at least 20,000 baht, the equivalent of one thousand dollars. My bank manager assured me this is illegal in Canada and they will not back any losses if accounts are hacked. Only a court order can force such information release.

For this reason alone, all my clients who were looking to go to Thailand (I am a travel consultant), have indicated they will go elsewhere this year. There appears to be no record of any country doing this before.

Another problem is the need to book a hotel online, which my computer warns is not secure. This site lists the 107 hotels approved for Alternative State Quarantine. The least expensive hotel, and only one at this rate, is 27,000 baht for the 14-day period....they go up from there, with the average at around 40,000 to 50,000 baht for the quarantine period.

Thirdly, after all this red tape, one must request a Certificate of Entry, online, and include a copy of their travel insurance policy for travel and Covid coverage, and the hotel information. My policy, issued recently, is a 44-page booklet.

When one takes all this into account in trip-planning, it is my view that the return to Thailand for tourists is going to be a small trickle, not a flowing stream, until major changes are made. I hope to return to Thailand soon, under normal conditions. The people there are the greatest.

Re: "Don't take it as read", (PostBag, Dec 3).

The writer uses the French Revolution as an example, impressively highlighting the various alternative theories out there which delineate why the 1789 revolution occurred. He cautions that a lot of the material put on social media about the revolution are not universally accepted truths, but the authors act as if that is the case. Nonetheless, what he fails to realise is that not everyone is aware about what is the universally accepted explanation about why this monumental event happened.

Bearing this in mind, I think it would be useful if he could make it clear to us about what the most plausible explanation is for the 1789 uprising, and what alternative theory he believes to be the most plausible one. After all, the French Revolution served as the basis for all of Western society as we now know it, acting as a template for which most other Western countries followed in creating free and liberal democratic societies. Hence, the above writer could provide a useful service for us all by enlightening us further and clarifying why the incredible uprising in 1789 occurred.