Tourism
Thailand is re-opening. When can I travel there? | VIDEO

There are many moving parts in the Thailand travel situation right now – new visa options, changes to the quarantine, ASQs, area quarantines, golf quarantines. The road back to a healthy tourist industry in Thailand, even ANY tourism industry, will be a long slog. But Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com is optimistic that we’ve turned the corner and Thailand is now heading in the right direction. Tim Newton speaks to Bill Barnett, and also asks him which vaccine he will choose.
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Transport
Thailand aims for only electric vehicles by 2035

Thailand has announced an ambitious plan to move to only sell zero-emission electric vehicles by 2035 as it aims to be at the forefront of the electric car market. Right now in Thailand, less than 1% of the vehicles on the road are electric but an advisor to the Energy Ministry’s national policy committee said that it’s clear the world is heading that way and Thailand should grab hold of that market to help recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. The country already has a stable supply chain and strong production of conventional automobiles, so it is hoped that the transition to zero-emission vehicles will be successful.
The automotive industry brings in about 10% of Thailand’s economy and supports about 850, 000 employees. Other industries such as plastic, steel, iron, and petrochemicals are all heavily supported by the automotive industry. And 50% of cars produced in Thailand are exported around Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
The ambitious plan to make Thailand an electric vehicle country by 2035 has equally ambitious benchmarks along the way. A previous target of 30% of all vehicles registered to be electric vehicles has been upgraded to 50% by the end of this decade. But phasing out traditional gas guzzlers will require facilitation by the government to make the transition. Creating the appropriate infrastructure, developing regulations for EV manufacturing, and offering both tax incentives to manufacturers and consumer incentives to purchase electric cars will be necessary to push the public and the manufacturing sector to achieve this goal.
The Electric Vehicle Association of Thailand pointed out that letting the transition occur naturally with the growing popularity of electric vehicles may take too long, and that an ambitious target such as this is a good way to attract investors in these new technologies and manufacturing sectors. While zero-emission vehicle adoption is still low in Thailand with only about 1% of vehicles on the road being electric, the EV market has handled the economic ramifications of the Covid-19 pandemic much better than the traditional automotive market. Gas-hungry traditional cars saw depressed sales down 26% in 2020, but zero-emission electric vehicles recorded an increase of 1.4% during that same period. With the right implementation and incentivisation, Thailand’s dream of becoming Southeast Asia’s electronic vehicle production hub may be possible.
SOURCE: Bloomburg
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Thailand
New Covid-19 wave could cause the Thai economy to lose 100 billion baht per month

With more than 18,000 Covid-19 cases in 22 days, the new wave of infections may have a dramatic impact on the Thai economy… possibly a 100 billion baht loss per month, according to the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.
They say the outbreak is likely to primarily impact the service sector and the number of workers is expected to drop. With pay cuts and layoffs due to the outbreak, household debt could rise to 92% of GDP, according to the university president Thanavath Phonvichai. At the end of 2020, debt hit a record high of 89.3% of GDP.
Thanavath says gross domestic profit is expected to drop by 1.2% to 1.8%, but with economic stimulus measures, the economy could grow 1.2% to 1.6% this year.
“If there will be economic stimulus measures, the economy may grow 1.2% to 1.6% this year.”
The number of active cases making up a third of Thailand’s total reported cases since the start of the pandemic last year. The new wave of cases is expected to be under control within the next 2 to 3 months.
SOURCE: Reuters
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Thailand
37 inmates at Chiang Mai prison test positive for Covid-19

At least 37 new inmates at Chiang Mai Central Prison have tested positive for Covid-19 in routine testing during the quarantine period for new inmates before they enter the general prison population. Provincial public health chief Jatchuchai Maeerat said the inmates who tested positive for the virus were sent to a field hospital at the prison in Chiang Mai’s Mae Taeng district.
The Chiang Mai public health office is now urging other prisons in the area, particularly the Chiang Mai Women Correctional Institution and the Fang District Prison, to follow similar protocols as the Central Prison to prevent the spread of the coronavirus among the general prison population and the staff, Jatchuchai says.
âWe test new inmates after they have been monitored for symptoms during a 14-day quarantine and then sent to the inner zone… All infected prisoners are separated and sent to a field hospital within the prison.”
Since April 1, there have been 2,448 Covid-19 cases reported in Chiang Mai. So far, 134 patients have recovered and have been released from the hospital. The Chiang Mai public health department has 16,000 tablets of the antiviral medication Favipiravir. He says it’s enough to treat the patients in Chiang Mai.
Earlier this month, there was a Covid-19 outbreak at a prison in the southern province Narathawit. The outbreak prompted prison officials to cancel visits to contain the virus.
SOURCE: Nation Thailand
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Robert Bunker
Thursday, March 11, 2021 at 5:45 pm
Well worthwhile video Thaiger. Informative, even given the number of unanswerable questions in play.
D-Boy
Thursday, March 11, 2021 at 7:02 pm
I there an explanation why you need COVID19 insurance if you have been vaccinated?
Or will this be addressed in the meetings next week?
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Stephen Vaughn Kelly
Thursday, March 11, 2021 at 7:09 pm
The vaccine in the past three months rule only allows a ten week arrival window. It is not as if you can just request the vaccine like you can for Yellow Fever, so this will be a big stumbling block to regaining mass tourism.
BangkokBen
Thursday, March 11, 2021 at 8:16 pm
“People had to take their shoes off at the airport after 911”. 20 years later, we STILL have to take our shoes off at the airport. Bad analogy.
Paul
Thursday, March 11, 2021 at 9:20 pm
Well worth the watch – I seriously look forward to getting back to Thailand I miss my partner and friends in Hua Hin so much – really hoping to be able to come with out having to Quarantine in December.
Ian
Thursday, March 11, 2021 at 11:27 pm
Talk about how long is a piece of string so many unanswerable questions pointless video
David Mann
Friday, March 12, 2021 at 1:36 am
Stephen Vaughn Kelly. Why do you say itâs a 10 week window? Surely itâs 3 months which is at least 12 weeks if not 13? The clock will start ticking from the date of your second Covid shot and will expire 3 months later. Is the assumption that the 3 months much cover the period you are there? I would assume itâs the day you arrive otherwise it would stop people visiting for 90 days ?
Apologies for not doing a reply to your comment directly, but for some reason the reply buttons no longer work for me on an iPhone. Just takes you straight to a new comment!
Issan John
Friday, March 12, 2021 at 2:38 am
Agreed 100%, Ian – neither informed nor informative.
Harry Duff
Friday, March 12, 2021 at 7:09 am
Its all guessing, hoping, praying. As someone commented before, it is highly likely Thailand will only open its borders with no quarantine when most of the population have been vaccinated as im still not aware of any data suggesting transmission is eliminated after taking the vaccine. Interestingly though, France announced today they will be accepting a select group of countries citizens to enter soon, vaccine or no vaccine (although still need to take covid test within 72 hours of departure). Seemingly not concerned about transmission? and i dont think anywhere near the majority of their population have been vaccinated.
sjshffj
Friday, March 12, 2021 at 8:52 am
Whatever tourism will managed to be reinstated, I have a feeling that these new strains of the virus will cause another total lockdown after a few months.
Issan John
Friday, March 12, 2021 at 11:20 am
The reply buttons don’t work at all, David M.
It’s just over ten weeks as it starts a fortnight after the final jab and ends at the three month point.
Ian
Saturday, March 13, 2021 at 2:27 am
Ij I can have my jab next week in UK then the next in upto 12 weeks so this means that come say September/October at the latest my 3 months are up and if I’m not in thailand By then it’s start again lol so confusing
ishnum munshi
Wednesday, March 17, 2021 at 7:38 pm
This is a good video guys. Ignore some of the negative comments above. It’s so hard to get any information at all these days and this helps a lot in my opinion. Can you try to update us on whatever you know with a new video every month even if it’s just general feelings and sentiments about what will/might happen? As you say, these are so important.