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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Starting a new life abroad is exciting—new culture, new lifestyle, and new chances to grow. But living far from home also means taking steps to protect your health in unfamiliar surroundings. Without the right coverage, even small health issues can...
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Major makeover proposed for Pattaya’s Walking Street
… but few are impressed. Images on the Facebook page of Pattaya City reveal plans for a major re-imagining and makeover of one of the resort’s most notable, and notorious, landmarks – Walking Street. Gone are the grotty road, broken pavements and lurid signs and frontages, and in their place will be an easy to navigate walking area fit for…
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Powering up tuk tuks for a new era in Bangkok
Electric tuk-tuks have been in use in cities around Thailand for some time, but now the Thai Electric Vehicle Association has launched a new post-Covid-19 electric tricycle as an alternative form of public transportation in the “new normal” era, and supports the vehicle to promote Thai tourism after the national lockdown is fully lifted. EVAT sees the three-wheeled transport as…
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PM says Thailand needs to guard against easing lock-down too early
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is appealing to Thai citizens to be patient when it comes to entering Phase 4 of the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions. Phase 4 would be the final phase and include the re-opening of bars and pubs. The PM says easing of the lock-down must be done gradually and with caution and will require full cooperation from…
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Travelling Bangkok’s klongs with Manit
Should you move to Thailand? In this video I interviewed my friend @Christopher Lau , originally from California, USA and got a little insight of his experience behind living in Thailand for two years. Then I took him for the famous canal boat ride in “Klong Saen Saep” Bangkok. By the end of the vlog we had a very delightful…
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Phuket officially reopens Monday, but with restrictions
Phuket is scheduled to reopen to outsiders on Monday, to coincide with the start of Phase 3 of the easing of Emergency Decree restrictions enacted to fight the spread of Covid-19. It will also be a pleasant respite for the islanders who have been cooped up on the island since the last week of March. Phuket’s outgoing governor says his…
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Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo reopen this week
As the country slowly dusts off the cobwebs of its tourism machine, the most popular tourist attraction of them all is about to reopen in the capital. The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) in Bangkok will be reopened this Thursday, June 4. The reopening will be under strict health and safety measures to provide…
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Government to introduce financial incentives to boost domestic tourism
The Thai government is set to introduce some financial sweeteners to stimulate domestic tourism – essentially paying its citizens to holiday in their own country. A report in Bangkok Biz News, says that from July, Thai nationals will receive a discount of between 40-50% on hotel accommodation within the Kingdom. The scheme, aimed at a domestic kick-start to the country’s…
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July 1 will end all lockdowns in Thailand, including international travel
The Thai government says it will lift all remaining business and activity lockdowns on July 1, according to the National Security Council chief. “This includes interprovincial and international travel, as well as the end of emergency decree and curfew.” The lift of all restrictions, imposed under the country’s emergency decree, would be a “complete reopening of the country”. Officials and…
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Horse riding makes a comeback on Hua Hin beaches
From next Friday, horses are expected back on the beaches of Hua Hin, on the Gulf of Thailand. It follows the easing of more Covid-19 restrictions last week as Prachuap Khiri Khan officials allowed some businesses, including horse-riding operations, to reopen. It’s understood that hotels, department stores and shopping malls are also back in business. Hua Hin is starting to…
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Phuket’s lost summer – looking to 2021 for tourism recovery
In a solemn recognition of the reality of Phuket’s stalled tourist industry, a spokesperson for the southern chapter of the Thai Hotels Association is saying most of the west coast hotels are unlikely to reopen until the last quarter of this year. And that’s just the start of the problems for the popular island beach resort. For now, Phuket’s International…
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Thailand depending on Chinese travellers for tourist reboot
Thailand is looking to China to rebuild its battered travel industry. As the Covid-19 pandemic subsides in Asia, countries are discussing the idea of “travel bubbles,” in which reciprocal nations establish guidelines that enable their citizens to move freely across their borders. The wider tourism industry accounts for 18-20% of Thailand’s GDP and provides jobs for almost a tenth of…
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“Amazing Trusted Thailand” – tourism rebrands
International tourists still can’t enter Thailand, so the country is using this time to rebrand their tourism promotions. The aim is to add some “trust” in regards to the country’s health profile with hopes that tourists will visit Thailand worry-free. Tourism is going from the “Amazing Thailand” brand to “Amazing Trusted Thailand.” The intention is that they want tourists to…
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Phi Phi’s Maya Bay won’t reopen until fully rehabilitated
Maya Bay, Krabi’s main tourist attraction since it was featured in the 2000 Leonardo DiCaprio film ‘The Beach’, will remain closed as natural rehabilitation of the beach and bay continues, after vast areas of coral were destroyed by excess tourism and boat traffic. Indefinitely. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment says that in future boats will not be allowed…
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Ban on international travel into Thailand extended until June 30
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand has today announced an extension of their current ban on international travel another month, until at least the end of June, 2020. The current ban on scheduled international flights was extended last month to cover May, up to May 31. But now the CAAT have announced the extension for at least another month. There…
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Phuket’s economy is more than just tourism
by Bill Barnett While Phuket’s brand and economic reality is that nearly half of its contribution to GPP (gross provincial product) comes from tourism is true, it’s important to understand that there are other generators that will aid in the island’s post-crisis recovery. The island’s real estate sector, that currently has a market value of over 100 billion baht (according…
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Tourism sector prepares to resume business
Businesses that have been battered by the Covid-19 outbreak, especially those in the Eastern Economic Corridor (straddling Chonburi, Rayong, and Chachoengsao provinces) that rely mainly on tourism, are in desperate need of support. But the vice chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce says it’s still too early to predict when tourism will recover, as it largely relies on arrivals…
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South Korea asks Thailand to remove it from list of “high risk” countries
South Korea is asking to be removed from Thailand’s list of “high-risk” countries. The list was drawn up in early March, when South Korea was second only to China for Covid-19 case numbers. It now ranks 40th, and is considered one of the countries most successful at managing the outbreak. To date, none of the 7,000 Thai citizens, who have…
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Minister proposes 300 baht tourist levy
It’s going to be challenging enough for both the Thai tourism industry and the travellers to get Thailand’s tourist wheels in motion again without a new levy being added as well. But now, the Tourism and Sports Ministry says they’re considering a new 300 baht tax from every foreign arrival. The reasoning is that the new levy would cover “pandemic…
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Major slump in tourists expected this year
It’s not looking to good for Thailand’s tourism industry. This year will have the lowest numbers the country has seen in over a decade, and that’s assuming there’s some reopenings for international travel sometime later in the year. With the coronavirus pandemic freezing up international travel, the number of foreign tourists are expected to fall by 65% this year, according…
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Phuket’s tourist-driven economy faces crisis – Phuket Chamber of Commerce
Phuket’s tourism-driven economy is facing what one city official calls a crisis, comparing the economic impact to what it was after the 2004 tsunami. Phuket’s economy has become increasingly focused on tourism and hospitality over the past 2 decades. The Phuket Chamber of Commerce President Thunusak Phungdet said at a meeting last Thursday that Phuket has no income right now.…
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Thailand’s hotels face more pain after European tour group asks to defer debt
Hotels in Thailand, particularly in Phuket and some surrounding regions, have been hit with a double whammy. First the whole Covid-19-related wipe-out, now a cash-flow problem brought about after the TUI Group – an Anglo-German multinational travel and tourism company – has stalled repayments for hotel rooms. The amount owed to Thailand hotels is believed to exceed 2 billion baht. TUI is…
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PM confident economy will rebound when businesses reopen
Or… “what goes down, must go up”. “If workplaces reopen, there will be employment and salaries… If factories reopen and employ people, rehabilitation will start.” Responding to reporters yesterday, the Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha expressed confidence the economy will improve once businesses reopen and people are employed again, and when tourism resumes, with measures in place to give visitors confidence…
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Bangkok’s Chatuchak weekend market is reopening
Chatuchak, Jatujak, JJ, whatever you choose to call it, Bangkok’s legendary weekend market is reopening tomorrow. The massive indoor/outdoor market, popular with both Thai and foreign tourists, will reopen this weekend after weeks of being shuttered, but visitors will be required to observe physical distancing and wear face masks…. you know the drill. Walaya Wattanarat, deputy permanent secretary of the…
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Air Asia publishes fit-to-fly guidelines when they take to Asia’s skies again
Captain Ling Liong Tien, the Chief Safety Officer @ AirAsia, has sent out an email to customers laying down a detailed list of new requirements for early-adopters in the post-covid regional travel world. It doesn’t look like a lot of fun, but there will at least be a means for airlines, airline staff, and passengers, to again take to the skies…
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Thailand visa amnesty extended to July 30
Thailand’s cabinet has approved a second automatic visa extension for foreigners for three more months. The extended amnesty is a bid to prevent long queues at immigration centres around the country. Narumon Pinyosinwat, spokeswoman for the Thai government, says they want to stem the spread of the coronavirus and avoid foreigners having to wait in lines and threaten their own health…
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The China Bounce – are the Chinese packing their bags ready to come back to Thailand?
by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com The results of a comprehensive new survey of consumers in Mainland China’s first tier cities concludes that 53% of respondents would like to travel internationally sometime this year. Citing the opportunity, the most popular months for trips abroad for the remainder of the year are, specifically, August, October and December. Thailand is one of the…
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Back to business – time for Thailand’s tourist industry to get ready
OPINION by Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com Tourism is a vital part of Thailand’s economy. And as the country emerges into the post-Covid world, getting tourists back to the country will be an essential springboard to the rest of the Thai economy. None of that will be automatic or easy as international travel has been severely disrupted and will take months,…
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UPDATE: Phuket Zoo animals left abandoned and starving – VIDEO
UPDATE: Edwin Wiek, Founder at People & Animals Thailand, has made this announcement relating to the tigers at the Phuket Zoo… There are some fundraisers ongoing on the net to help the tigers at PHUKET ZOO that are in need of help. Please be informed that these fundraising campaigns are set up by private people who are not owners of…
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Vendors flock back to Phuket’s Surin beach
Driving past Surin Beach, Phuket, over recent weeks you’d be wondering if you hadn’t travelled back in time to the days, pre-military coup (2014), when the umbrellas and cheap white plastic sun lounges were ubiquitous lined up along Phuket’s beaches. Cherng Talay President MaAnn Samran, has confirmed that the beach chairs and umbrella operators have, indeed, returned to Surin Beach…
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Home alone. Phuket hotels hit a speed bump.
by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com In the latest news, Singapore’s move to impose a stay-home policy or self-isolation for travellers within ASEAN, has hit the industry hard. Here in Phuket, hotels are winding down their traditional snowbird European business which for the most part was booked well in advance. Rates have somewhat held during this time. One key barometer of…
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