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 Long-term life in Thailand? 5 reasons private health insurance pays off in the long run
Thailand is a great place for expats and retirees, offering a warm climate, affordable living, and rich culture. However, healthcare can be tricky for foreigners since they aren’t eligible for public health coverage, and private care can be expensive. Private...
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Finance Ministry approves stimulus package to spur tourism
PHOTO: Among other things, the TAT are organising some big concerts over the last three months of 2019. Some of the 50,000 that attended the BTS ‘Love Yourself’ stadium concert in Bangkok in April 2019. The Finance Ministry has now approved a stimulus package for the last three months of the year to boost Thailand’s tourism sector. The aim is…
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Phuket Town – In CNN Travel’s “Asia’s most picturesque towns”
“Though most famous for its beaches, the Thai island of Phuket offers ample opportunities for cultural immersion as well.” Phuket’s Old Town was listed as one of Asia’s 13 most picturesque towns by CNN Travel. The article mentioned, that whilst the island is renowned for its world-class beaches and leisure, offshore and adventure tourism activities, Phuket Town delivers on romance, history…
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European tourism drops 1.5% year on year due to strong baht
PHOTO: AFP European tourist arrivals in Thailand are projected to decline by 1.5% (for the first eight months of this year) compared to 2018, to around 6.66 million. The malaise in the traditionally strong European tourist numbers is not as bad as anecdotally reported and has been partially made up with improvements from other regional demographics. The figures were compiled…
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Thai government introduces new measures to improve tourism
Proposed measures to improve tourism in Thailand have been approved in principle by the council of the economic ministers. The steps, proposed by the Tourism and Sports Ministry, are expected to be put in place before the end of 2019 and will mean an increase in the number of places and agents offering a VAT refund service to visitors to…
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Tourists rush to climb Australia’s Uluru before ban kicks in on October 26
by Holly Robertson Large numbers of tourists are rushing to scale ‘Uluru’, aka. Ayers Rock, ahead of a looming ban on climbing the enormous natural monolith in the centre of Australia, sacred to indigenous Australians. Critics have been lashing the last-minute climbers as “ignorant”, saying they’re going against the wishes of the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land, the Anangu.…
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Chiang Mai hotels face a quiet end to 2019
PHOTO: Spice Roads Chiang Mai hotels are bracing for a quiet end to 2019, along with other Thai tourist hotspots, due to the strength of the baht, an over-supply of rooms and the growing popularity of home-sharing accommodations like Airbnb. Hoteliers in the northern city are also suffering the fall-out from the smoke haze crisis earlier in the year which…
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Pattaya getting set for the Indian era – OPINION
by Dan Cheeseman I was a bit taken back by posters across the social networks where I shared the post that simply would not accept the Indians were bringing any value to Pattaya. Claiming Thailand would regret squeezing out the Western market and turning to the Chinese and Indians. It came across as sour grapes to me and also a…
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Thailand’s changing tourist demographic – the Indians
Take a walk around the markets of Pratunam in downtown Bangkok and you’ll soon discover there’s a new type of tourist in town. For years, Thailand’s tourism scene was dominated by Chinese visitors, with 10.5 million in 2018 alone, accounting for about 28% of total foreign arrivals. It still is. But after the tour boat Phoenix, carrying mostly Chinese tourists, sank off…
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Round two of the “Eat, Shop, Spend” tourism stimulus
Round one of “Eat, Shop, Spend” (Chim, Shop, Chai) was a resounding success with the allotment for registrations completely subscribed on the days of registration. It was a 1,000 baht ‘gift’ to encourage Thais to travel and spend outside their home provinces. Now the government are rolling out the second round of the stimulus packages to keep the local tourism…
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Thomas Cook customers may have to wait 2 month for refunds
PHOTO: Rick Findler/PA Wire Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority says that refunds of bookings by failed travel giant Thomas Cook’s customers could take longer than expected. At this stage the regulator says they don’t have all information needed from the collapsed travel firm. The British Civil Aviation Authority says it was launching a new, online payment system next week for bookings…
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Thailand’s indigenous people being marginalised, warn human rights groups
PHOTO: Pinterest A report by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, shared by ThaiVisa, says that human rights groups are warning that Thailand’s indigenous people risk losing more of their land and being further marginalised by a tourism industry that continues to ignore their plight. Emilie Pradichit, Director of the Manushya Foundation, says the increased demand for hotel accommodation means authorities are…
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Economic ministers to meet next Monday for economic and tourism ‘Council of War’
The council of economic ministers will meet next Monday, on October 7 in Bangkok, to discuss the current economic and tourism situation. Kobsak Pootrakool, the deputy secretary-general to the PM for political affairs, says the meeting will confront obstacles facing the country’s tourism industry. “The ministers will also discuss the country’s export situation”. The Nation reports that the Commerce Ministry…
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Samui airport ‘spy cam’ taken offline after police raid home of British expat
FILE PHOTO: panvimanresortkohphangan.com Police, immigration and airport authorities have closed down a ‘spy cam’ that was providing real-time video of activities at Koh Samui’s Airport. Police headed to a house next to the Koh Samui Airport after complaints that a CCTV camera was recording take-offs and landings at the airport. The authorities deemed that the camera could pose a security risk.…
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Renting a motorbike in Thailand? Have a valid license.
Transport minister Saksayam Chidchob says he’s intent on tackling Thailand’s shameful road toll. Recognising that motorcycles are the main culprit (75% of road deaths in Thailand involve motorcycles and motorbikes), he’s proposing some new laws, at least for tourists at this stage. Up until now tourists have been easily able to rent a motorcycle by just showing a passport, according…
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Pubs and nightclubs in Pattaya and Bangkok poised to stay open until 4am
The Minister for Tourism and Sports says he’s making headway with plans to allow opening until 4am for ‘some’ tourist areas in Thailand. The proposals were mooted several months ago as a tonic for dropping tourist numbers in some of the traditional holiday ‘hot spots’. Sports and tourism minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn says that details were still being discussed but the plan is now…
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12 month “Medical Visa” proposed among updates to Thai visa offerings
A new visa category is being proposed that could allow people to stay in the Kingdom for up to a year for medical treatments. The so-called “Medical Visa” (Non-MT) would visitors to stay for 12 months. The Thai deputy PM and health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, and the tourism and sports minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn announced yesterday that countries that will benefit are wealthy…
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Two flying lantern events in Chiang Mai for Loy Krathong get their permits revoked
PHOTO: Rove.me Chiang Mai’s City District Office has scrapped permits previously granted to organisers of two ‘sky lantern’ events that would have released a total of 5,000 flying lanterns during the upcoming Loy Krathong Festival, on November 11. The two events, one at the dinosaur-featuring Hidden Village Chiang Mai attraction and the other at the Royal Park Rajapruek in tambon…
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Thomas Cook demise will affect British tourism to Thailand for the rest of 2019
“British tourists have contribute between 900,000 – 1,000,000 tourists to Thailand annually for the past seven years.” The failure of the British Thomas Cook travel business will cut the numbers of arrivals from Britain to Thailand for the remainder of this year. Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand says they are also assessing a drop in northern-European…
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UK travel icon Thomas Cook bankrupt, stranding tourists
PHOTO: Axios.com “This marks a deeply sad day for the company which pioneered package holidays and made travel possible for millions of people around the world.” British travel giant Thomas Cook declared bankruptcy today after failing to reach a last-ditch rescue deal. The collapse triggers the UK’s biggest repatriation since World War II to bring back stranded passengers. The 178 year…
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UK travel giant Thomas Cook collapses leaving 150,000 holiday-makers stranded
PHOTO: Bye bye Thomas Cook – The Independent Thomas Cook, the iconic British travel and airline company, has collapsed after last-minute negotiations failed to find a solution for the debt-ridden company. The tour operator’s failure affects 22,000 jobs worldwide, including 9,000 in the UK alone. Thomas Cook had been operating for 178 years. The company is now bankrupt. The collapse…
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New branding for the old town – tweaking Phuket’s Old Town
PHOTO: Many renovated buildings and putting the crappy overhead cabling underground is bringing the old town alive Though Phuket remains among the world’s most popular tourist destinations, injecting some 477 billion baht to the Thai economy, with its “Pearl of the Andaman Sea” branding, its future status is being questioned due to competition from Indonesia and Vietnam. In response, Phuket…
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Obligatory travel insurance for visitors to Thailand? Don’t worry about it for now, says government
Chote Trachu, representing the Thai Ministry for Tourism and Sports, says tourists visiting Thailand don’t have to worry about the mandatory requirement for travel insurance at this time. Thailand’s tourism industry is currently experiencing some challenges, explains the Ministry’s spokesperson, and for this reason, the requirement for all visitors to have travel insurance is being postponed until 2020 – or…
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Thai poll favours new airport in Nakhon Pathom, west of Bangkok
Sanook report that most Thais are in favour of building a new airport in Nakhon Pathom, 57 kilometres west of the capital Bangkok. The old Don Mueang airport is to the north of Bangkok and Suvarnabhumi, to the east. In a Nida Poll 65% of respondents thought the new airport in Nakhon Pathom was a good idea citing benefits to tourism and the…
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Why the Chinese are more important than Western tourists to Thailand
OPINION by Dan Cheeseman – Dan About Thailand We need to wake up and smell the roses, us Westerners are no longer an important group for the Thailand tourism industry – in fact, we are what you would call ‘niche’ – and with good reason. The Chinese are here in numbers and not only will this continue to grow but…
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Uptick in Thai tourism – August arrivals up 5.6%
Foreign tourists arrivals in Thailand rose 5.6% last month compared to a year earlier, with Chinese visitor numbers rebounding strongly, according to audited numbers published by the tourism and sports ministry. (Percentages rounded up to the nearest .1) Revenue from the 3.41 million foreign arrivals in August was 170 billion baht, up 7.1% year-on-year. The number of Chinese tourists, Thailand’s largest…
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Hundreds of Pattaya tour guides rounded up in crackdown
PHOTOS: Sophon Cable TV A crackdown by the tourist police in Pattaya had resulted in 475 tour guides being fined for disregarding regulations related to tour company business, since the start of 2019. Sophon Cable TV report that local tourist police chief Lt-Col Piyapong Ensarn says eighteen illegal tour guides face a year in prison or fines up to 100,000…
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Welcome to Wat Samphran, unlike any Thai temple you’ve seen
The Emerald Buddha? The Grand Palace? Khao San Road? A cruise on the Chao Phraya? And now for something completely different. It’s big, it’s pink and it’s unlike any temple you’ve ever seen. Wat Samphran, aka. The Dragon Temple, is located about 40 kilometres west of the city centre of Bangkok in Nakhon Pathom. Somehow this excessive architectural wonder has…
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Thailand’s tourism industry ponders drop of Chinese tourists
Thailand’s tourism authorities are getting jittery as the Kingdom continues to bleed Chinese tourists in the wake of a surging baht. They fear Thailand is losing its reputation as one of the most affordable destinations in south east Asia for Chinese tourists. Thailand’s most popular resorts, Pattaya and Phuket, have been particularly suffering from the discernible drop in Chinese visitors. Chinese tourists have…
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Indian visitors to Phuket surge whilst total numbers drop
by Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com The soaring number of Indian visitors to Phuket for the first seven months of 2019 has propelled Indian tourists into the Top 5 arrivals for the first time. Arrivals from India from January – July, compared to the same period in 2018, grew 354%, amassing a total of 186,360 arrivals. Mainland Chinese arrival figures continue…
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The Suvarnabhumi shopping shambles
Retailers want ‘in’ at the world’s 21st busiest airport in the world. With through-traffic of 60 million+ each year, and growing, Thailand’s biggest retailers want a slice of the passenger spend. But if you can’t get a shop inside the airport, build your own shopping centre just outside to capture passengers, and some of their money, just before they arrive at the…
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