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.
-
Sponsored Digital nomading in Chiang Mai? What US$1,000 a month really gets you
Chiang Mai has become a popular destination for digital nomads due to its low living costs, rich culture, and active remote work community. The city offers affordable housing, tasty food, reliable internet, and many co-working spaces, making it a great...
-
Officials brainstorm ideas to revive Phuket tourism
Government officials and business representatives on the resort island of Phuket have been busy brainstorming various proposals to revive tourism, with many calling for quarantine requirements to be waived for vaccinated foreigners. The Bangkok Post reports that Bhummikitti Raktaengam from the Phuket Tourism Association says foreign tourists who can prove they’ve been vaccinated against Covid-19 should be allowed to enter…
-
Thai health officials brush off “vaccine passport” idea for travellers
Thai health officials aren’t onboard with the idea of a “vaccine passport” which would potentially allow travellers who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 to enter Thailand without undergoing quarantine. Health officials in Thailand say there isn’t enough evidence to prove that the vaccine is totally effective in preventing transmission of the virus. While the vaccines are considered to be effective…
-
Tourism Minister to request 5 million vaccine doses for tourism sector
The Tourism Minister is planning to meet with PM Prayut Chan-o-cha to request 5 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine for workers across 7 tourist cities. Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn is also pushing for a vaccine passport scheme that would allow international tourists to return in the third quarter of the year. The 5 million vaccine doses would cover 2.5 million tourism…
-
Krabi mayor hopeful tourism crisis will be over soon
As is the case in many popular tourist spots in Thailand, the economy in the southern province of Krabi has been decimated due to Covid-19. Nation Thailand reports that tourist numbers in Krabi have fallen sharply, from a yearly average of 6 million to just 1.5 million last year. Revenue from tourism has plummeted from around 120 billion baht to…
-
TAT’s new tourism strategy is “SEXY”
“SEXY” is the name of the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s new recovery strategy to move forward after the Covid-19 pandemic. While it sounds provocative, there are no hot deals on strip clubs or go go bars… there’s really nothing sexy about the travel concept. The strategy focuses on implementing public health safety practices, promoting environmental sustainability such as wildlife conservation…
-
Lights, camera, Covid – Tourism Ministry wants film crews to come to Thailand now
Without much luck with their ‘cunning ideas’ to draw back a few of the remaining world’s travellers, Thailand’s tourism officials are turning to the film industry to attract some people and investment. The Tourism and Sports Ministry is aiming to generate around 3 billion baht from foreign film crews and is targeting film projects with an investment over 100 million baht.…
-
34.7% of Thai tourist businesses closed down
“When the tourists start coming back it will be a very different holiday experience for them. Will it ever get back to the numbers before Covid? Never.” A Tourism Authority of Thailand survey, conducted between January 10 – 12, indicates that more than a third of the country’s tourism-related businesses has already shut up shop and gone out of business.…
-
Phuket lifts mandatory quarantine restrictions for ‘high risk’ arrivals. But were they ever applied?
Culminating 2 weeks of mass confusion over the apparent mandatory self-quarantine for arrivals to Phuket from Bangkok and other high risk provinces, Phuket’s provincial communicable disease committee has agreed to lift the mandatory 14 day quarantine “to help boost the local economy hit by the Covid-19 pandemic”. But for the vast majority of arrivals from Bangkok (DMK and BKK) to…
-
Pattaya cleaning up its Walking Street act in time for Chinese New Year
Pattaya City is planning to clean up its Walking Street act in time for the upcoming Chinese New Year. But, as the second wave of Covid-19 mostly destroyed what was left of any foreign or domestic tourism, it might all be in vain. Thousands of businesses remain closed due to Chon Buri province being a “highly controlled” Covid-19 zone, which effectively…
-
The Thai government threw a tourist party (sound of crickets) | VIDEO
The Thai Government, flushed with the success of their containment of Covid-19, decided to market the Land of Smiles to the world as the safe place to travel. With the annual wet season starting to weaken the tourists would flock back to the S E Asian country that had such a remarkable success containing, then almost eradicating itself, of the…
-
Record number of tourism firms quitting Covid-ravaged sector for good
As the devastating economic effects of Covid-19 restrictions persist, a record number of Thai tourism operators are quitting the sector for good. The number of tourism firms surrendering their licences peaked last month, and around 70% of outbound agents have shut up shop indefinitely. The final nail in their collective coffin has been the Covid-19 resurgence, which originated in a…
-
The road less travelled – trekking to the Kalim Viewpoint
There are two well known ways to get from Kathu to Kalim or Kamala – one is across the Patong Hill, and the other is much longer, through Srisoonthorn and along the coastal road from Surin the Kamala (very scenic too). But there’s also another way. Also very scenic but will take you about 2 hours through dense forest although…
-
Travelling in Thailand, Covid and Mor Chana | VIDEO
For people travelling around Thailand at the moment there is still quite a lot of confusion and misinformation about where you can travel to and additional restrictions on travel. We’ll continue to publish any updates to this information at thethaiger.com For people travelling out of Red Zones… that includes Bangkok…. to other parts of the country that are lower-risk zones…
-
Thailand to introduce 300 baht “tourism fee” to insure foreign visitors, manage tourist destinations
Thailand’s Tourism Minister, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, has confirmed a proposal to charge foreign tourists a fee of 300 baht per visit. The fee will be used to develop tourist destinations as well as providing visitors with insurance benefits while in the Kingdom. The proposal has been approved by the National Tourism Policy Committee and is set to be announced in the…
-
Thai travel agents call for vaccinated foreigners to be exempt from quarantine by third quarter of 2021
The Association of Thai Travel Agents is urging the government to do away with the mandatory 14 day quarantine for vaccinated foreign arrivals by the third quarter of the year. The president of the ATTA, Vichit Prakobgosol, says 30% of 10,000 inbound tourism firms have had to close for good due to the financial devastation caused by the pandemic. He…
-
Thai Vietjet announces 6 and 12 month unlimited travel passes
Following the successful launch of Hat Yai Pass and Northeastern Pass, today, Thai Vietjet is now introducing the ‘Thailand Power Pass’ – an unlimited flight pass that allows passengers to fly on Thai Vietjet’s domestic network as often as they like within 6 or 12 months. The passes are available in two types – a 6 months pass at 12,000…
-
No travel ban on British arrivals, quarantine facilities tighten rules
While there’s no ban on travellers from the United Kingdom, quarantine facilities are tightening disease control measures for British arrivals after a new, faster-spreading Covid-19 variant was reported in the European country. British arrivals must now stay in their room for the majority of the stay under new measures set by the Department of Disease Control. The department ordered ASQ…
-
New Year holiday draws homegrown tourists to Phuket, Koh Samui
With the vast majority of foreign holidaymakers still steering clear of Thailand, or simply unable to get a visa at the moment, the country has become almost completely reliant on homegrown tourists. The New Year holiday has brought some slight relief to islands like Phuket and Koh Samui, as visitors from other parts of the country arrived to welcome in…
-
The world aviation industry suffers Annus Horribilis | VIDEO
In the Asia-Pacific, where the affect of Covid-19 has been lower (at this stage), the passenger load was 30-40% down, compared to last year. Overall, international flights for the latter part of 2020 are down 75% year on year. The world’s aviation industry has been profoundly affected by the border closures and restrictions as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic…
-
The case for temporarily closing hotel and restaurant operations
OPINION by Bill Barnett As the final days of disruptive 2020 come screeching to an erratic end, hotel, and restaurant owners are peering into an unpredictable year ahead. Here in Thailand over the past week, the tourism industry has been shaken to its core over an uptick in Covid-19 cases and backroom speculation over fears of another round of lockdowns. (Restrictions,…
-
Domestic tourism subsidy extended, 200,000 rooms booked in first 12 hours
The Tourism Authority of Thailand says an extension to the domestic tourism stimulus campaign has led to 200,000 hotel room bookings within the first 12 hours. TAT governor, Yuthasak Supasorn, says average bookings before the extension were around 50,000 – 60,000 a day. Transactions under the scheme are now being closely monitored, following the discovery of fraudulent bookings during the…
-
2021’s new normal – the digital Covid passport
Looking forward to travelling, shopping, going to the movies? Now that Covid-19 vaccines are beginning to be rolled out around the world, you may now need something in addition to the actual vaccine. Documentation… a vaccine passport. Documentation, including your current Covid status and vaccination details, will become 2021’s biggest challenge as governments, businesses, and world travel, try and re-establish…
-
TAT launch new Alternative State Quarantine “one stop shop” in Thailand
The TAT have launched a new “one stop” shop for quarantine (Alternative State Quarantine) bookings in Thailand. The new website is designed to be a single place for booking quarantine hotels during the time when arrival in Thailand is welcomed with a mandatory 14 day stay (which seems to end up as 15 days in many cases) in a government-qualified…
-
Thai government promises more long weekends in 2021, travel bubbles after April
In a bid to further boost domestic tourism, the Thai government plans to create more holidays in 2021, as well as introducing travel bubbles after April. The Tourism and Sports Minister, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, says every month in the coming year could have a long weekend, as homegrown tourists continue to be the main focus for at least the first quarter…
-
Holiday season travel expected to drop by 5 million trips due to recent Covid-19 cases
Due to the recent cluster of Covid-19 infections in Samut Sakhon, hitting a record high in daily infections, tourism officials say the yearly tally for domestic trips is likely to fall by 5 million. With lockdown measures and international travel restrictions this year, the Tourism Authority of Thailand focused on local travel and set a goal of 100 million domestic…
-
Lockdown could be final straw for tourism in Thailand
The President of the Phuket Hotels Association has described another potential lockdown as a nail in the coffin for tourism in the province. Speaking to the Bangkok Post, Anthony Lark says a nationwide lockdown, or restrictions on domestic travel, would finish off many tourism-related businesses. “Everyone’s losing money and just trying to break even. If the government can’t control the…
-
Thailand tourism is changed forever
OPINION by Andrew J Wood Last week the Thai government Minister’s speech shows me that tourism will never be allowed to recover to previous levels. The writing is definitely on the wall, windows and front door, that there has been a major policy shift in government thinking by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha’s cabinet. In a deeply worrying development for Thailand’s massive…
-
Phase 2 of travel stimulus may be cancelled due to fraud, as PM said to be “furious”
Officials are considering cancelling the next phase of the government’s domestic tourism stimulus campaign, after multiple cases of fraud emerged. To date, over 200 people have been prosecuted for corruption in the domestic travel campaign, as well as in other government stimulus schemes. The Tourism Authority of Thailand says that, in conjunction with the Tourism and Sports Ministry, it has…
-
New Year bookings slow amid delay in tourism subsidy
The Tourism Authority of Thailand says the delay in extending the domestic travel stimulus scheme is hurting bookings over the western New Year period. The addition of 1 million room nights has been postponed while officials look into multiple claims of fraud. TAT and the Tourism and Sports Ministry have filed a police report against more than 500 hotels and…
-
Hundreds of tourism operators face fraud charges for allegedly cheating subsidy scheme
Hundreds of tourism operators face fraud charges for allegedly cheating the government’s “We Travel Together” subsidy scheme which was intended to help tourism businesses financially hit by the coronavirus pandemic and stimulate travel. Instead of lowering prices to draw in more travellers, some hoteliers and restaurateurs allegedly raised their prices to get more subsidies. The scheme paid 40% of room…
Don't forget to check out some other things to do in Thailand - get help starting a business or finding a job in Thailand, buy Thailand property, rent a yacht or book a medical procedure worldwide.