Phuket
- Phuket News
Phuket gets ready for foreign yachts, high-spending tourists hoped to revive economy
With hopes that high spending tourists will help revive the crippled economy, Phuket is jumping on the new scheme allowing those travelling on super-yachts and cruise ships to dock in Thailand and enter on the Special Tourist Visa. Phuket officials have come up with guidelines for the province’s reopening to foreign tourists and will submit it to the Centre for…
- Hot News
Qatar Airways set to return to Phuket
Qatar Airways is set to return to Phuket by offering limited flights after the coronavirus pandemic halted services to the resort island. in March this year The middle eastern airline says it is planning a weekly flight between Doha and Phuket from December 4 and is seeking permission from Thai authorities to increase the number of flights between the 2…
- Phuket News
Expat awaits trial for drug charges, mother in England worries and works to pay the bills
While 27 year old expat Louis Bentley awaits trial in Thailand for drug charges, his mother back in England is working 12 hour shifts to pay her son’s bills. For his mother, Michaela, the anticipation of waiting for the her son’s February court date, in a country so far from her with laws she’s unfamiliar with, has been “horrendous.” Louis…
- Phuket News
Qatar Airways to offer biweekly flights from Phuket to Doha
Things are starting to take off at the Phuket International Airport. Qatar Airways will resume bi-weekly flights from Phuket to Doha starting on December 4. The move is a major step forward after a halt of international travel to the island due to Covid-19 lockdown measures. Last week, an empty Emirates Airlines flight landed in Phuket. Although it wasn’t carrying…
- Tourism News
Secrets in the covid era – the future of Thailand hospitality | VIDEO
Banyan Tree founder KP Ho speaks to Bill Barnett. With a sudden lack of tourists and customers, many Thai hotels had to quickly review their business models and come up with new ways to pay their bills and retain staff. Some succeeded, many didn’t. In fact some hotels have thrived in the face of a seismic change to the hospitality…
- Covid-19 News
Chiang Mai health officials: 39 contacts of local Covid-19 case test negative
Health officials investigating an apparent local Covid-19 transmission say so far there are no infections linked to the recent case. The 37 year old Indian man, who resides in Koh Phi Phi, tested positive on November 4 in Krabi after travelling Phuket, Chiang Mai and Sukothai. The man then tested negative on November 6. Health officials suspect the positive result…
- Phuket News
Phuket’s tourism high season hopes shattered in policy flip-flop
“The time has come that Thailand must gain confidence from international benchmarks.” Thailand’s leading resort island Phuket has come face-to-face with the reality that it’s tourism high-season will not see a marked reopening to overseas travellers. In the wake of the dismantling of the ‘Phuket Model’ and refocus by the government on using Bangkok as a single international gateway, there…
- Tourism News
Government pledges help for Phuket tourism industry
As Phuket’s tourism industry continues to fight for survival amid ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, the PM is ordering an advisory team to finish work on recovery proposals received from the private sector and submit them to the government’s Covid-19 task force for approval. Danucha Pichayanan, from the National Economic and Social Development Council, says this is expected to happen shortly, as…
- Covid-19 News
Officials tracing 290 contacts of Krabi Covid case – 79 considered “high-risk”
Efforts are underway to trace 290 people who had contact with a Covid-19 patient in Krabi, with officials declaring 79 of them, “high-risk”. The 37 year old man, an Indian national who lives on Koh Phi Phi, tested positive for the virus while undergoing medical tests as part of a work permit application. The Bangkok Post reports that while most…
- Covid-19 News
CCSA update: 1 local Covid case detected in Krabi, another case in ASQ in Phuket
A 38 year old Dutch man has tested positive for Covid-19 in Phuket. The man was staying at an Alternative State Quarantine venue in Phuket. And an Indian restaurant worker in Krabi has also tested positive, this time a case of apparent local transmission. 10 other positive cases were detected today, including 8 people in quarantine and 2 Burmese truck…
- Tourism News
Phuket & Koh Samui face financial ruin in the short to medium term – VIDEO
Phuket and Samui are both islands, fed mostly by arrivals at their international airports. Of course, both remain closed and the islands are trying to survive on a dribble of domestic tourists. And there’s no sign of hope any time soon for the future. Bill Barnett is ‘Mr Hotel & Hospitality’ for Thailand and the region. What does he see…
- Transport News
The Phuket ‘light rail’ may end up being an electric bus instead
The Phuket mass rapid transport system, aka. Phuket Light Rail and Phuket Tram, is receiving more attention as the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand mull more changes to the design. The initial route, which would run from the Phuket Airport, follow the main north/south artery, Thepkasattri Road, then through Phuket Town and on to Chalong circle, has a projected…
- Phuket News
Phuket police investigate alleged teacher abuse
Police are investigating a teacher at a central Phuket school after a complaint was filed accusing the teacher of kicking a pre-school student in the face. The Pavena Foundation for Children and Women reported the incident to the Wichit Police. The 5 year old student’s grandmother initially reported the alleged abuse to the foundation. In an interview with police, the grandmother…
- Phuket News
What is the future of Phuket and Samui? VIDEO
Let’s review the last 2 days when the Thai PM and the cabinet cavalcade headed to the southern islands of Phuket and Samui. Did their visit come up with any solutions that could help the islands and their economic crisis? Please watch the video and subscribe to our YouTube Thaiger channel. Thailand’s PM, Prayut Chan-o-cha has just spent the last…
- Phuket News
PM calls for long-term plans to revitalise Phuket and Koh Samui
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is calling for long-term plans to rehabilitate Thailand’s tourist destinations following his visit to Koh Samui and Phuket where he saw first hand how the Covid-19 pandemic affected both islands. Prayut says conditions at Phuket are much more drastic as the province heavily relies on international travel. The prime minister says Phuket generates the second-highest income from…
- Phuket News
Empty Emirates plane lands in Phuket, first international flight since lockdown
An empty Emirates Airlines plane landed at the Phuket International Airport, the first international arrival at the airport since the Covid-19 lockdown was put in place 7 months ago. While no passengers were onboard the aircraft, flight EK376 was welcomed by a “water cannon salute” and landed while PM Prayut Chan-o-cha was visiting the airport, according to a Facebook post…
- South Thailand News
Government to consider rescue packages for tourism businesses in South
The government will hold a mobile Cabinet meeting in Phuket today to consider potential rescue packages for tourism-related businesses that have been ravaged by the closure of international borders. The proposals, which include soft loans for airlines and other businesses, come after PM Prayut Chan-o-cha met with Phuket business representatives and local officials yesterday. The Bangkok Post reports that the…
- Thailand News
Thailand News Today | HM comments, PM visits Phuket & Samui, Thai floods | November 2
Back for another week of daily news updates, the most widely watched Thai news program, in English. What’s on the program today? “We love them all the same” – His Majesty comments about the Thai protesters In a rare moment, and certainly the first time commenting about the current political unrest, His Majesty King Vajiralongkorn has described Thailand as “the…
- Phuket News
Phuket is “100% ready” for Special Tourist Visa flights – Transport Minister
The Phuket International Airport is ready for international tourists. The airport has been preparing for weeks and initially expected a group foreigners on the new Special Tourist Visa to arrive last month. Covid-19 mobile testing vehicles were even sent to the airport in early October, prepared to test all the tourists upon arrival, but the travel plans were cancelled last…
- Tourism News
Minister declares Phuket Airport ready to welcome STV arrivals
The Thai Transport Minister has declared Phuket International Airport ready to welcome tourists arriving under the recently-launched Special Tourist Visa scheme. A similar announcement was also made in the days before the much-discussed October 8 STV tourists who never arrived. Now we wait again… Peppering all these apparent preparations is a visit from the PM and cabinet officials to Phuket.…
- Tourism News
PM in 2 day visit to economically-ravaged islands of Phuket, Samui
The PM and his Cabinet are visiting Phuket and Samui today and tomorrow, in order to meet with business leaders and provincial government, to discuss ways to help the decimated local economies. Since the closure of borders in late March, as the Covid-19 pandemic began its worldwide rampage, former tourist hotspots like the southern islands have borne the brunt of…
- Tourism News
Answering the question, who will fight for Phuket’?
OPINION by Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com Thailand’s tourism industry is sadly at the short end of the stick as policies gyrate over the reopening of the country to international travellers, yet no single province has more to lose than the resort island of Phuket. Phuket’s economic engine is leveraged on tourism. It’s a place where on a combined basis, one…
- Tourism News
When hoteliers emerge from 2020, the business will be hard
OPINION Is it time re-imagine the guest relationship? Globally, more than a hundred million travel and hospitality jobs will be lost in 2020 due to Covid-19. Here in Phuket, where I moved in 1988 as the opening general manager at Amanpuri, we have seen as many as 60,000 job losses in the hotel sector alone, which accounts for 86,000 registered rooms,…
- Thai Life
Happy Loy Krathong Phuket. Where to launch your krathong tonight
Happy Loy Krathong Phuket. But this year authorities are saying ‘only floating Krathongs thanks’. No polystyrene, no steel pins – keep it natural and plant-based please. This year Loy Krathong in Thailand co-incides with the annual Halloween celebrations on October 31. Authorities are also urging people to choose, or make, their krathongs using natural materials only. The latest craze for…
- Tourism News
From tourist heroes to zero – how the world’s former tourist magnets are coping
If over-tourism became the buzzword in the travel industry in 2019, the opposite applies in 2020 when most of the world’s most popular tourist magnets are now facing a genuine economic crisis, forced on them by government closures and a risk-averse travel public, most of whom are prevented from travel beyond their own borders. We visit Dubrovnik, Santorini, Ibiza, Barcelona,…
- Phuket News
Phuket tops travel destination list of cheapest hotel prices – Dertour 2020 Price Index
Phuket tops a list of the cheapest travel destinations with a 1 night stay at a hotel costing on average less than $30 USD, according to a study by the German travel company Dertour. Phuket is going through what some say is a “crisis”, certainly a current tourist vacuum. The island province largely relies on income from foreign tourists, but…
- Phuket News
Man arrested after allegedly slicing a man’s face with sickle
A man was arrested on charges of grievous bodily harm after he allegedly sliced his friend’s face with a sickle, causing a gash about 25 centimetres long. 3 men, identified as Saeng, Ta and Rop, had been drinking at a shanty in Phuket’s Rassada district where Rop lived. An argument broke out over money. A bank transfer was apparently made,…
- Phuket News
PM to visit Phuket on Monday as island’s economy lies in tatters
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is to arrive in Phuket on Monday, where he will meet with local business leaders and discuss proposals for reviving the southern island’s devastated tourism sector. It’s understood a representative of Phuket’s Old Town area is to put forward an idea for promoting the historic centre as a tourist destination. Since borders were closed in late March,…
- Phuket News
Phuket’s annual Vegetarian Festival lowers flags, spirits return to the heavens
WARNING! Content below contains photos of self-mutilation that some may find disturbing. The flags on Go Teng poles were lowered on Monday, ending Phuket’s annual Vegetarian Festival and symbolising that the spirits have returned the heavens. The flags are raised at the start of the festivities each year at participating shrines, calling on the spirits to descend from the heavens.…
- Phuket News
Phuket told to prepare “response plan” in case of second Covid-19 outbreak
As Phuket awaits foreign tourists, city officials are told to prepare a “response plan” in case of a second wave of Covid-19. An official from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports held a workshop in Phuket today to discuss the risk of another outbreak as the country opens up to those on the Special Tourist Visa. The ministry’s permanent secretary…
- Business News
Approval sought for multi-billion-baht Phuket medical hub
Industry officials are seeking the go-ahead for a project to transform over 140 rai of government land in Phuket into a world-leading medical hub. The project is budgeted at 3 – 4 billion baht, depending on which report you read. Kitkong Tantijaraswarodom, from the Federation of Thai Industries, believes the development of a medical and wellness hub in the sub-district…
- Thailand video news
Thailand News Today | State of Emergency lifted, Quarantine latest, Phuket Light Rail | October 22
Today’s latest news and information about Thailand. Like and subscribe to our YouTube channel too. Go on, right now 🙂 You can also LIKE our Facebook page https://facebook.com/thethaigernews to get even more information about Thailand. Government lifts Bangkok’s State of Emergency Bangkok’s State of Emergency has been lifted, according to a statement published in the Royal Gazette, making it official.…
- Covid-19 News
Complete Thailand Travel Guide (October 2020)
Latest update – October 21. If you are overseas and wish to come to Thailand your FIRST port of call must be the Royal Thai Embassy in your country before you make any bookings. Thailand Longstay is also a valuable resource of information at this time. First ‘tourists’ arrive in Thailand under the Special Tourist Visa In 2019, almost 40 million tourists…
- Tourism News
From 40 million visitors to 41: first STV tourists arrive
In 2019, almost 40 million tourists arrived in Thailand. Yesterday, it was 41. As the Thais say, cha cha… Thailand is slowly, slowly, re-opening its borders after the Covid-19 pandemic forced a total shutdown in March. Yesterday, the Kingdom welcomed its first tourists in 7 months, with the arrival of 41 Chinese tourists from Shanghai. The group landed at Bangkok’s…
- Phuket News
4 billion baht medical hub planned for Phuket
Phuket officials are setting aside around 4 billion baht to transform medical tourism in the southern province of Phuket, by developing a state-of-the-art treatment hub in the north of the island. The Bangkok Post reports that the Treasury department is planning to give the Public Health Ministry permission to use 141 rai of government land in the sub-district of Mai…
- Covid-19 News
“Open the borders, safely”, Bill Heinecke, Minor International interview – VIDEO
Bill Heinecke speaks to Bill Barnett. The two heavy-hitters of Thailand’s hotel and hospitality sector, mull over the current Covid situation and the reopening of Thailand’s borders to some form of tourism. Bill Heinecke is the Chairman and Founder of Minor International. Bill Barnett is the Managing Director of c9hotelworks.com Now the Thai government has approved the special long-term tourist…
- Visa Information
Now they’re coming… Special Tourist Visa flight set for Tuesday – Tourism and Sports Minister
After much confusion and a few apparent ‘misunderstandings’, Chinese tourists on the Special Tourist Visa will actually arrive on October 20 and 26. At least that’s what Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn says, according to the Bangkok Post. The first group is said to arrive 4 days from now in Bangkok (if they actually applied for the visa this…
