The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand now says the proposed “travel bubble” scheme, which could have allowed limited numbers of tourist arrivals from designated “low risk” countries, may have to be “postponed indefinitely”, after its 3 target partners – China, Japan and South Korea – experienced new outbreaks of Covid-19. On Tuesday, the CAAT’s director-general told reporters he expected Thailand to start exchanging tourists in August with countries that had controlled their coronavirus epidemics as Thailand has. But while negotiations have begun, new outbreaks in Beijing, Tokyo and outside Seoul now mean “we probably will have to postpone indefinitely.” He […]

A former PM of Thailand is criticising the administration of PM Prayut Chan-o-cha for what he called the “lack of improvement in people’s livelihoods” and the absence of a solid welfare system. Former PM Abhisit Vejjajiva made the comment during a seminar on socio-economic issues yesterday. The seminar was organised by We Fair, a group advocating turning Thailand into a welfare state. “The wealth gap is widening… and the government must improve its policies to address issues and improve the people’s quality of life. Policymakers should view a welfare state as a basic right, and not a form of assistance. […]

The president of the Tourism Council of Thailand is warning that close to a third of tourism-related businesses are likely to be permanently shuttered in the second half of this year, due to the impact of the Covid-19 crisis. Chairat Trirattanajarasporn says many will simply run out of liquidity to keep their businesses afloat and be forced to close up shop altogether. “The impact of Covid-19 will become most serious in the third quarter this year after many operators tried to cut costs by letting some of their employees go, but after more than a million positions cut the situation […]