reopening

  • Thailand News

    Bangkok’s iconic river sees revamped Tha Tien Pier reopened

    Tha Tien pier, nestled in Bangkok’s Phra Nakhon district, is poised for a grand reopening following extensive renovations, announced Marine Department Director-General Kritpetch Chaichuay. Teaming up with the Crown Property Bureau, the department has meticulously upgraded the pier and its environs to seamlessly blend with the area’s rich historical architecture. Endorsed by the preservation committee overseeing Rattanakosin and old cities,…

  • Phuket News

    Phra Mettha Road in Phuket reopens after four-month closure

    Phuket’s Phra Mettha Road, which had been sealed off for approximately four months, once again welcomed the hustle and bustle of traffic on November 1. The artery of Patong, this road spans 1 kilometre behind the Jungceylon shopping mall, stretching from Soi Banzaan to Soi Nanai Ruamjai. The closure, which began on June 20, was necessary for the construction of…

  • Tourism News

    Today is the day! Full post-pandemic Thailand reopening

    After nearly three years, today is THE DAY. In July of 2021, officials cheered the reopening of Thailand with the Phuket Sandbox. Then we had other sandboxes, Test & Go, the Thailand Pass, and numerous other stepping stones. Then in July of this year, we ditched so many regulations and declared a reopening. But today, October 1, Thailand officially declares full and…

  • Thailand video news

    Pollution haze across Thailand | GMT

    Unsafe levels of PM2.5 ‘particulate’ cloud Bangkok and surrounding areas today. The kingdom is expected to record about 100,000 new Covid-19 cases per day following the Songkran holiday. April will see THAI Cargo operate 58 flights to Guangzhou, 12 to Chengdu, eight to Kunming, and another nine from Kunming to New Delhi. With traditional Songkran water fights banned in Thailand…

  • World News

    Australia reopens its borders to international travellers

    Australia has reopened its border to foreign tourists for the very first time in over two years, after closing due to the Covid-19 outbreak in March 2020. More than 50 different flights are scheduled to arrive today. Fully vaccinated travellers can enter all states without undergoing a quarantine period except Western Australia, which is sealed till March 3 and will…

  • Tourism News

    Thailand Pass hotlines, emails for assistance with registration process

    Thailand Pass hotlines were launched to assist travellers with registering for the various programs to enter the country at the moment. We know aspects of it are a pain in the arse, but for people wanting, or needing, to get back into Thailand at the moment, the Thailand Pass is not that difficult to navigate. And The Thaiger has some…

  • World News

    Malaysia considers full reopening in March to vaccinated travellers

    Following moves from other Southeast Asian countries, like Thailand, to gradually reopen borders, Malaysia is considering a full reopening of borders starting March 1, allowing vaccinated travellers to enter without mandatory quarantine requirements. The plan is to speed up the country’s economic recovery, according to its coronavirus recovery council today. The Southeast Asian country that shut down its borders in March…

  • World News

    Philippines reopens Feb 10 for the vaccinated from most countries

    After nearly 2 years of closed borders due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Philippines plans on reopening to some fully vaccinated tourists on February 10. Officials made the announcement today that travellers from most countries will finally be allowed to enter, after plans to reopen on December 1 were scrapped due to the spread of the Omicron variant. The announcement…

  • Tourism News

    Thailand tourism industry hopeful with the return of Test & Go

    With the reintroduction of the Test & Go program, that allows fully vaccinated people to enter Thailand with a Day1 and Day 5 PCR test, businesses in the tourism industry are hopeful for a more sustained growth in international travellers from February and beyond. The program was reinstated, albeit with some revisions that were not met with a particularly welcoming…

  • Tourism News

    Rejuvenated Maya Bay open for business

    Maya Bay, the tropical island cove of Hollywood acclaim in Krabi province, finally reopened for tourism on January 1, after 3-and-a-half years of closure in a bid to restore its damaged white-sand beach and decimated marine ecosystem. Officials temporarily closed the bay in June 2018 to clean the beach and restore the area’s coral reefs. Originally planned as a 4…

  • Tourism News

    Maya Bay reopens | VIDEOS

    Thailand’s Maya Bay is now open to tourists and visitors after being officially relaunched on new year’s day. Visitors to Koh Phi Phi Leh will have to apply in advance and numbers will be capped at 4,125 visits per day and tourist numbers cannot exceed 375 people at one time. But visits will be limited to 1 hour and no…

  • Thailand News

    Covid control zoning revised: No more “red” zones, Chon Buri now “blue” reopening area

    With Covid-19 infection rates on a downward trend and active cases at the lowest it’s been since late-June, the CCSA revised it’s colour-coded zoning scale for managing the outbreak and now no provinces are classified as “red” zones under maximum control. Under the revised zoning, there are now 39 provinces classified as “orange” controlled zones and 30 provinces classified as…

  • Tourism News

    International flights into Thailand up 24% from last month

    While the tourism industry is still a long way from recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, the high season is getting underway, and international flights to Thailand have increased more than 20%. Airports of Thailand reported the increase last night. AoT reported 9,483 of the flights scheduled in landing slots into Thailand were originating from international cities this month, which is…

  • Tourism News

    Maya Bay reopening likely to be postponed | VIDEO

    Maya Bay, on Koh Phi Phi Leh, in between Krabi and Phuket, was slated for a reopening on January 1. But now there’s a building swell of local support to keep the famous Bay closed, for a while anyway. A Line group used by the Marine National Park, along with tour operators and other stakeholders, has revealed a groundswell of…

  • World News

    Fiji tourism reopening after nearly 2 years of Covid-19 closure

    Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama announced the island nation has reopened its borders for international tourism for the first time since many of the world’s borders closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic nearly 2 years ago. Fiji’s population of just 1 million people have struggled without the tourism that makes up a lion’s share of the economy after borders closed…

  • Tourism News

    TAT predicts 500,000 travellers before 2022, 133,000 arrived so far

    After 1 month of Thailand’s reopening, the Kingdom saw over 133,000 arrivals total from countries around the world, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand is confident that the goal of 500,000 international travellers will be met, despite the new Omicron variant of Covid-19 that has seen countries scrambling to limit or block travel from at-risk countries. In the month of…

  • South Thailand News

    Songkhla prepares for tourism across the Southern land border

    Despite having the second most daily Covid-19 infections in the country today with 441 and becoming the 6th most infected province overall, the Deep South border province of Songkhla is preparing to reopen in December and bracing for a surge of overland international visitors. Local tourism operators are saying they expect around 10,000 tourists from Malaysia and Singapore per week…

  • World News

    Philippines prepares for reopening as quarantine lifted for 44 countries

    Following the headline on Tuesday that the Philippines is waiving quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated visitors from 44 “green list” countries, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) is reportedly gearing up for the eventual reopening of Philippine borders to international tourists, despite a steady decline in Covid-19 cases in the country. According to the Manila Times, the Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente…

  • Economy News

    Economist: government’s lag on migrant labour hurting economy

    The reopening of Thailand has finally kickstarted the economy and put people back to work, but many businesses are struggling with a shortage of migrant labour. While the government has been cracking down on immigrants crossing the border illegally looking for work, many sectors are complaining that the government was unprepared for the country’s reopening and didn’t make efforts to…

  • Tourism News

    Tourism seeing signs of recovery after Covid-19 pandemic

    Thailand’s reopening hasn’t quite caused an avalanche of tourists pouring into the country, but the tourism industry is seeing some recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic with a steadily increasing stream of arrivals gaining momentum. The CCSA reports that nearly 60,000 international travellers have entered Thailand in the first 16 days of the reopening program. With the increasing daily arrivals, November…

  • Tourism News

    TAT: 400,000 tourist in 2021, 18 million in 2022 worth 1 trillion

    The November 1 reopening of Thailand has received mixed results, with Pattaya reportedly seeing the vast majority of arrivals being expats coming home, and Hua Hin welcoming less than 100 of the 100,000 predicted tourists. But, as always, the Tourism Authority of Thailand has nothing but rosy predictions for the boom that will start any minute, with TAT Governor Yuthasak…

  • Tourism News

    Pattaya tourism quiet until entry and booze rules are eased

    According to the acting president of the Chon Buri Tourism Council, Pattaya is still quiet, and 95% of tourists there are Thai since the reopening to international tourists on November 1. Of the 200 to 300 people per day who do come, the majority are not tourists but businesspeople and expats. And many of the tourists who do come end…

  • Covid-19 News

    Thailand aims for 65 million Covid-19 vaccines for next year

    Eying long-term Covid-19 strategies, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has announced that Thailand is targeting obtaining 65 million vaccines for next year. The vaccines are planned to include the newest versions of each brand imported, though the exact allotment of brands and vaccines were not announced. The prime minister did confirm, however, that contracts have already been signed with suppliers to source…

  • Hua Hin News

    Of 100,000 predicted for 2021, Hua Hin has seen 56 tourists

    The math doesn’t look good as tourism associates estimated that the last quarter of 2021 would bring 100,000 international tourists to Hua Hin, but so far only 56 have arrived. The Thai Hotel Association explains the disparity is due to the entry process being complicated, the quarantine and testing fees being expensive, and the ban on booze and entertainment venues…

  • World News

    Military eyes reopening Myanmar to tourists, shadow government says “stay away”

    The State Administrative Council under the Myanmar military junta on Tuesday said it will reopen the country by next month, starting with border crossings with China and Thailand, ahead of a scheduled resumption of welcoming international tourists in the second quarter of 2022. It comes amid continued internal clashes between civilian and military troops in the aftermath of the military…

  • World News

    Vietnam gives green light to foreign tourists, limited destinations

    As the Southeast Asian country steadily reopens its tourism sector amid the pandemic, Vietnam is receiving foreign tourists starting from November for the first time since Spring 2020. The daily newspaper Nguoi Lao Dong says two flights carrying foreign visitors from Japan and South Korea arrived in Khanh Hoa Province on the south-central coast on Thursday. About 430 travellers from…

  • Thailand News

    Thailand’s southernmost town Betong to reopen to tourism

    Neighboring Malaysia, Betong in southern Thailand will reopen for sightseeing tourists from December 1. The Yala provincial governor says that over 70 percent of residents are fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Several renowned tourist attractions in the region, including the Anyorweng skywalk, hot springs, historical Malayan communist tunnel, and flower fields, have been prepared to welcome guests adhering to anti-Covid measures,…

  • Tourism News

    Thailand’s Maya Bay set to reopen in January

    Maya Bay. Remember that breathtakingly pretty beach on Koh Phi Phi Leh off Krabi? Now, the beach that featured in “The Beach” is now poised to reopen. The iconic natural cove of limestone karsts, turquoise waters and THAT beach was one of Thailand’s most popular attractions for a decade with up to 6,000 visitors everyday. But in the end even…

  • World News

    Malaysia’s Langkawi will reopen next week as part of a travel bubble plan

    Malaysia’s first international tourism bubble begins today as the country plans to reopen its borders next year in a bid to revive its tourism industry. Travellers from overseas who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 are now able to travel to the island of Langkawi without undergoing quarantine. Langkawi, the tourist hotspot in northwestern Malaysia, was the first holiday spot to…

  • Tourism News

    Only 8 foreign tourists visit Hua Hin since November 1 reopening

    Despite Thailand’s reopening, the beach destination of Hua Hin is still extremely quiet. The country officially reopened its borders on November 1, and has seen almost 45,000 international visitors arrive in the last two weeks. But in that time, the town of Hua Hin has seen only 8 foreigners arrive. Hua Hin has historically been a popular beach town in…

  • Tourism News

    Chiang Mai tourism almost exclusively domestic for now

    With Chiang Mai currently experiencing the fourth-highest daily infections in the country – 357 people in today’s figures – it’s not surprising that international tourism has hardly bounced back since the reopening of Thailand 2 weeks ago. The effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the province has been estimated to have lost tourism revenue as high as 70 billion baht…

  • Tourism News

    Phuket post-Sandbox arrivals double, surge in domestic tourism

    Thailand has only been reopened for 2 weeks, but the Phuket Sandbox was the tourism experiment that started it all. And though Phuket has been welcoming international travellers since way back in July, the November 1 reopening saw a noticeable boost in arriving visitors, both foreign and domestic. The Sandbox scheme that required a soft quarantine where travellers could roam…

  • Tourism News

    First 10 days: 30,000 arrivals; 147,000 Thailand Pass applicants

    The Tourism Authority of Thailand totalled up some data for the first 10 days of Thailand’s reopening, with over 30,000 arrivals so far and nearly 150,000 applications submitted for the Thailand Pass to gain entry to the country. The TAT’s report states that the combined total of international travellers arriving at all of Thailand’s international airports – both Bangkok airports,…

  • Tourism News

    Thailand Pass problems? Support beefed up with 24-hour hotlines

    The Thai government has been touting the success of the Thailand Pass programme while quietly acknowledging a cornucopia of shortcomings and problems users have encountered and publicly complained about. But, due to the high volume of complaints about problems in attempting to register on the Thailand Pass website, the Department of Consular Affairs has beefed up their helplines with a…

  • Thailand News

    Things to know about the Thailand Pass. And some rumours.

    Ah, the Thailand Pass. Like it or hate it, it is what it is, and you’ll need to wade through it if you want to come to Thailand in the foreseeable future, both foreigners and Thais. For a start, here’s the link to the application page for the Thailand Pass. There’s a list of the 63 countries that are currently…

  • Things To Do

    National Park featuring Thailand’s highest peak reopens

    Chiang Mai’s famous Doi Inthanon National Park is scheduled to reopen today after being closed for months due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Doi Inthanon is Thailand’s highest peak. Visitors arrived at the park gates as early as 5am, where they had to undergo a Covid screening before being allowed in. The national park is the home of the Doi Inthanon…

  • Phuket News

    Phuket seafood festival and promotional event aimed at drawing in tourists

    In another attempt to draw tourists back to Phuket, a seafood festival with live music is being held at the end of the month, which local tourism officials say will make the island’s attractions and activities more “colourful.” The Phuket tourism office is also holding a promotional event early next month focused on boosting tourist confidence with information on health…