80% of domestic tourists cancel Songkran trip due to Covid fears, financial woes

Petch PetpailinTuesday, March 29, 2022Last Updated: Tuesday, March 29, 2022

246 1 minute read

80% of domestic tourists cancel Songkran trip due to Covid fears, financial woes

Photo by Ronit Bhattacharjee via flickr

More than 80% of domestic tourists in Thailand have cancelled their trips for Songkran, the Thai New Year, due to the spread of Omicron or financial issues during the pandemic, according to the Tourism Council of Thailand. A tourism official says the government should launch more measures to promote domestic tourism.

Songkran is celebrated from April 13 to 15 and many Thais will travel back to their hometowns to see their families. Many planned trips around the end of March to the end of April, but many cancelled their trips following the uptick in cases, according to the Deputy Director of the Tourism Council of Thailand, Puriwat Limtaworn.

Puriwat says the highly transmissible Omicron variant is still spreading, and Thai people are still worried about getting infected. Financial stress has also led many Thais to cancel their trips. He added that many Thais are far more worried about financial problems than about the virus. With Thailand entering its rainy season in a few months, which coincides with the low season for tourism, businesses aren’t expected to recover until the end of the year.

SOURCE: Khaosod

Petch Petpailin

Petpailin, or Petch, is a Thai translator and writer for The Thaiger who focuses on translating breakingThai news stories into English. With a background in field journalism, Petch brings several years of experience to the English News desk at The Thaiger. Before joining The Thaiger, Petch worked as a content writer for several known blogging sites in Bangkok, including Happio and The Smart Local. Her articles have been syndicated by many big publishers in Thailand and internationally, including the Daily Mail, The Sun and the Bangkok Post. She is a news writer who stops reading news on the weekends to spend more time cafe hopping and petting dwarf shrimp! But during office hours, you can find Petch on LinkedIn and you can reach her by email at petch@thethaiger.com.