Tourism News
Thailand tourism news, travel updates, visa policies, and destination highlights—stay informed on hospitality trends, cultural experiences, and major infrastructure projects. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted source for Thailand travel news.
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Sponsored Why traders in Thailand are choosing EC Markets for gold and forex trading
Gold and forex trading have long been favourites among investors in Thailand, but why are so many traders now turning to EC Markets? The answer lies in a combination of tight spreads, ultra-fast execution, Thai baht (THB) deposit support, and...
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PM calls for long-term plans to revitalise Phuket and Koh Samui
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is calling for long-term plans to rehabilitate Thailand’s tourist destinations following his visit to Koh Samui and Phuket where he saw first hand how the Covid-19 pandemic affected both islands. Prayut says conditions at Phuket are much more drastic as the province heavily relies on international travel. The prime minister says Phuket generates the second-highest income from…
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Hotels reluctant to apply for ASQ status due to government’s cap on tourist arrivals
With the number of foreign arrivals who can enter Thailand on the special tourist visa limited to just 1,200 a month, hotel owners say they’re reluctant to apply for alternative state quarantine status. Hoteliers say a lack of tourists in sufficient numbers, coupled with the number of quarantine facilities already in existence, means the investment required to gain ASQ approval…
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Government to consider rescue packages for tourism businesses in South
The government will hold a mobile Cabinet meeting in Phuket today to consider potential rescue packages for tourism-related businesses that have been ravaged by the closure of international borders. The proposals, which include soft loans for airlines and other businesses, come after PM Prayut Chan-o-cha met with Phuket business representatives and local officials yesterday. The Bangkok Post reports that the…
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Phuket is “100% ready” for Special Tourist Visa flights – Transport Minister
The Phuket International Airport is ready for international tourists. The airport has been preparing for weeks and initially expected a group foreigners on the new Special Tourist Visa to arrive last month. Covid-19 mobile testing vehicles were even sent to the airport in early October, prepared to test all the tourists upon arrival, but the travel plans were cancelled last…
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PM in 2 day visit to economically-ravaged islands of Phuket, Samui
The PM and his Cabinet are visiting Phuket and Samui today and tomorrow, in order to meet with business leaders and provincial government, to discuss ways to help the decimated local economies. Since the closure of borders in late March, as the Covid-19 pandemic began its worldwide rampage, former tourist hotspots like the southern islands have borne the brunt of…
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Answering the question, who will fight for Phuket’?
OPINION by Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com Thailand’s tourism industry is sadly at the short end of the stick as policies gyrate over the reopening of the country to international travellers, yet no single province has more to lose than the resort island of Phuket. Phuket’s economic engine is leveraged on tourism. It’s a place where on a combined basis, one…
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When hoteliers emerge from 2020, the business will be hard
OPINION Is it time re-imagine the guest relationship? Globally, more than a hundred million travel and hospitality jobs will be lost in 2020 due to Covid-19. Here in Phuket, where I moved in 1988 as the opening general manager at Amanpuri, we have seen as many as 60,000 job losses in the hotel sector alone, which accounts for 86,000 registered rooms,…
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Foreigners who test positive for C19 in Thailand won’t be able to use the public health system
The battle to reopen Thailand’s borders is shaping up as a 3-way PR fight between economic hawks who are eager to re-open to reboot the country’s tourism industry, a government and medical officials resting on their laurels after containing the virus, and a risk-averse population who, survey after survey, indicate they are keen to keep the borders closed. In another…
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Suvarnabhumi’s new terminal ready for 2022
The extension of the Suvarnabhumi terminal will be operational by the start of 2022, according to Thai transport minister Saksayam Chidchop. The new Satellite Terminal 1 at Suvarnabhumi International Airport will increase the total capacity of Thailand’s largest airport terminal by 15 million passengers a year, allowing the total airport capacity to cope with traffic up to 90 million per…
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From tourist heroes to zero – how the world’s former tourist magnets are coping
If over-tourism became the buzzword in the travel industry in 2019, the opposite applies in 2020 when most of the world’s most popular tourist magnets are now facing a genuine economic crisis, forced on them by government closures and a risk-averse travel public, most of whom are prevented from travel beyond their own borders. We visit Dubrovnik, Santorini, Ibiza, Barcelona,…
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Ang Thong National Park – Thailand’s most beautiful islands?
Today Manit takes you to Thailand’s second-largest island Koh Samui and then on to the stunning Ang Thong National Marine Park off the coast of Surat Thani in the Gulf of Thailand to seek the answer to the question… are the Ang Thong National Marine Park islands Thailand’s most beautiful. Then we will explore a magnificent turquoise lagoon, enjoy paddling…
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Phuket tops travel destination list of cheapest hotel prices – Dertour 2020 Price Index
Phuket tops a list of the cheapest travel destinations with a 1 night stay at a hotel costing on average less than $30 USD, according to a study by the German travel company Dertour. Phuket is going through what some say is a “crisis”, certainly a current tourist vacuum. The island province largely relies on income from foreign tourists, but…
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Health officials propose reducing quarantine to 10 days
Health officials are suggesting cutting mandatory quarantine for international arrivals to 10 days. Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul says the proposal will be submitted to the government’s Covid-19 task force for approval. It’s hoped that a reduction in the quarantine period could help revive Thailand’s battered tourism sector. ”The priority now is to strike a balance between people’s health and the…
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Cruise ships and yachts to dock in Thailand, visitors to enter on Special Tourist Visa
Cruise ships and yachts will be allowed to dock in Thailand and visitors will be allowed disembark under the Special Tourist Visa. The new measure hasn’t been made official yet, but it will go into effect 30 days after it’s published in the Royal Gazette. The Cabinet approved the new guidelines yesterday which allows captains, crew and passengers travelling from…
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Is Koh Pha Ngan Thailand’s best island?
OPINION Koh Pha Ngan was voted third best island in Asia in the 2020 Condé Nast’s Readers Choice Awards. The island is widely known for its monthly Full Moon parties on Haad Rin beach, but Surat Thani governor Wichawut Jinto, who boasted about the island’s recent rating, said there’s more to Koh Pha Ngan than Haad Rin. Condé Nast publishes…
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Government confirms re-opening for foreign tourists, yacht crew, under Special Tourist Visa
Thailand is preparing to re-open to more international tourists and foreign yacht crew, after Cabinet specified updated guidelines for the Special Tourist Visa scheme. Deputy government spokeswoman, Traisulee Traisoranakul, says the new regulations will be in force until September 30, 2021. The STV has been introduced in an effort to re-ignite international tourism in the Kingdom, which has been severely…
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Thailand tourism officials to tap into Chinese market as they attract more visitors
Thailand has so far welcomed 2 flights with Chinese visitors on the new Special Tourist Visa, a first step after a 7 month ban on international tourists. Now, tourism officials are proposing to bring in more whilst tapping into the vast Chinese market to draw in more visitors. Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Yuthasak Supasorn says they’re planning on 7.45…
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Phuket told to prepare “response plan” in case of second Covid-19 outbreak
As Phuket awaits foreign tourists, city officials are told to prepare a “response plan” in case of a second wave of Covid-19. An official from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports held a workshop in Phuket today to discuss the risk of another outbreak as the country opens up to those on the Special Tourist Visa. The ministry’s permanent secretary…
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Pattaya – fighting to survive its Covid crisis
Pattaya, like some of Thailand’s other former tourist hotspots, is facing some critical challenges. Hundreds of thousands of workers have left the city because there’s simply no work and up to 50% of the city’s shops are closed, some never to re-open. The Thaiger filmed most of this video on a long weekend at the end of October, the busiest…
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Pattaya springs back to life over the long weekend, more to come
Pattaya, struggling along for the past 7 months with a handful of domestic tourists and Bangkok weekenders, has had its busiest weekend for a long time, albeit a long weekend created by the public holiday in commemoration of King Chulongkorn. Much of the increased traffic were Thai faces, a big change to the city’s old demographic of international tourists and…
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Foreign yachts allowed to dock in Thailand, tourists to quarantine onboard
Overseas yachts are now allowed to dock in Thailand, but foreign tourists and crew members still need to adhere to strict health measures, according to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Tourists will need to quarantine onboard the yacht for 14 days and be tested for Covid-19 tests 3 times before entering Thailand, according to the CCSA spokesperson Taweesilp Visanuyothin.…
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China ban on inbound, outbound tour groups to continue
The Chinese government is to keep the current ban on inbound and outbound tour groups, amid fears that the winter months could bring a resurgence of Covid-19. The Bangkok Post reports that the country’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has confirmed on its website that the ban remains in place. After several months with very low case numbers, officials are…
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Health Minister says quarantine could be reduced to 10 days, maybe eventually zero
Health officials are ready to reduce the mandatory quarantine period for foreign tourists, provided other relevant bodies agree. The current quarantine period is set at 14 days, but the Public Health Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, says this could be reduced to 10. He adds that if the reduction is successful, quarantine could be further reduced, eventually reaching a point where quarantine…
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Thai hotels to offer 1,000 baht discounts for expats
To stimulate domestic tourism and help revive the economy after the pandemic, hotels plan to offer expats a 1,000 baht discount on rooms until the end of the year. A debt moratorium, put in place to help businesses hurt by the pandemic, is ending this month and hotels need a boost. The Thai Hotels Association, or THA, says they will…
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From 40 million visitors to 41: first STV tourists arrive
In 2019, almost 40 million tourists arrived in Thailand. Yesterday, it was 41. As the Thais say, cha cha… Thailand is slowly, slowly, re-opening its borders after the Covid-19 pandemic forced a total shutdown in March. Yesterday, the Kingdom welcomed its first tourists in 7 months, with the arrival of 41 Chinese tourists from Shanghai. The group landed at Bangkok’s…
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Some tourism officials concerned with political climate, ask government to open dialogue
In the midst of Thailand reopening its borders to foreigners on the Special Tourist Visa, political protests have only grown in Bangkok and are now being held in cities across Thailand. Now tourism operators are worried and are asking the government to engage in dialogue with the protesters. President of the Tourism Council of Thailand Chairat Trirattanajarasporn says he’s worried…
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10 international airlines now offer flights to Thailand
With Covid-19 travel restrictions – slowly – easing up, 10 international airlines have started selling flights to Thailand, the Ministry of Transport announced. The airlines include: Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Swissair, Austrian Airlines, Eva Air and KLM. Don’t get too excited. It’s still not easy to get into Thailand. All international arrivals must go through a…
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International travel slow to take off, Covid-19 restrictions evolving
While Thailand is working on safely, and slowly, reopening its borders to foreign tourists after a 7 month border closure, other countries are also adapting to new, pandemic-induced, travel measures and restrictions. Now some are slowly lifting restrictions and resuming flights, while some remain grounded. What’s happening in your part of the world? In all cases, check your local travel…
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4 billion baht medical hub planned for Phuket
Phuket officials are setting aside around 4 billion baht to transform medical tourism in the southern province of Phuket, by developing a state-of-the-art treatment hub in the north of the island. The Bangkok Post reports that the Treasury department is planning to give the Public Health Ministry permission to use 141 rai of government land in the sub-district of Mai…
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“Open the borders, safely”, Bill Heinecke, Minor International interview – VIDEO
Bill Heinecke speaks to Bill Barnett. The two heavy-hitters of Thailand’s hotel and hospitality sector, mull over the current Covid situation and the reopening of Thailand’s borders to some form of tourism. Bill Heinecke is the Chairman and Founder of Minor International. Bill Barnett is the Managing Director of c9hotelworks.com Now the Thai government has approved the special long-term tourist…
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