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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Sponsored Why 8 Atelier Residence is poised for growth: Phuket’s investment hotspot in the making
Phuket’s residential real estate market is no longer defined only by beachfront villas and short-stay resort condominiums. The island is now seeing sustained interest from international investors targeting long-term yields, capital stability, and access to full-scale lifestyle infrastructure. Looking at...
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Top 10 busiest airports: Atlanta bumped as China dominates list
After 22 consecutive years as the busiest airport in the world, Atlanta slips to number 2 while China and the United States dominated the entire top 10 list of the 2020 world’s busiest airports. With the covid-19 pandemic stifling travel around the world all the airports on the list saw massive drops in passengers and rankings climbed and fell and…
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Lumbini Airport aim to bring Buddhist Thais to Nepal
Nepal is hoping to attract Buddhist pilgrims from Thailand to the birthplace of Lord Buddha with the opening of the Lumbini Airport scheduled later this year. The area is an important Buddhist site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Nepalese officials hope to attract Buddhist Thai travellers on sacred pilgrimage trips. The Nepal Tourism Board recently met with the Royal…
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Tourism officials revise revenue forecast, insist Phuket will re-open on schedule
The governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand admits it may need to revise its 2021 revenue forecast, but insists the Phuket “sandbox” project is still going ahead – and on time too. Yuthasak Supasorn says tourism officials will set a new revenue target, for both domestic and international tourists, as Thailand battles with a third wave of Covid-19. In…
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Jet fuel tax reduction extended again to aid airlines, tourism
A tax reduction, for jet fuel that has been in place to help the airline industry during the Covid-19 pandemic, has been extended until the end of 2020. With international travel decimated, this tax cut is aimed to help airlines stay afloat and get more customers with lower prices while travel figures are massively down. The extension was scheduled to…
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‘Entry Thailand’ website launched to facilitate process for international travellers
To facilitate the process for travellers entering Thailand, tourism officials have launched a website as a one-stop-shop to make arrangements to travel to Thailand including booking an alternative state quarantine hotel. As to who these travellers would be at this time, that hasn’t been made clear. The “Entry Thailand” website set up by the Tourism Authority of Thailand outlines 6…
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Thai hotels consider temporary shutdown amid low tourist demand
The president of the Thai Hotels Association says many properties are considering shutting down for the low season as a result of the Covid-19 resurgence. Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi says smaller hotels that don’t necessarily have the resources of the large chain properties are struggling with cash flow and crippled by low tourist demand. Many are considering shutting up shop between…
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World’s most travel-friendly passport list – 2021
The Henley Passport Index, which rates which passports are the most travel-friendly, has just released the list for 2021, with Japan once again at the top of the list. But the Index noted that this year’s international travel freedom comparison is mostly theoretical as the current Covid-19 situation continues to limit most international travel. With a Japanese passport, travellers can…
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Thai airlines facing another setback
With more trouble on the horizon for Thailand’s airlines, they’re now pressuring the Government to step up the vaccination push. Adding to their recent woes, guidelines were released by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand, where all domestic flights scheduled between 11 pm and 4 am are now suspended, in-flight services have been cancelled for now and, well, passenger bookings…
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Australia and New Zealand welcome the first passengers in the southern travel bubble
Whilst travel bubbles remain a bureaucratic nightmare for most SE Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand have opened their first green lanes since April last year, nearly 400 days. For the two countries it allows family and friends to re-unite. For New Zealand it opens the gates for its largest chunk of tourists. In 2019 some 1.5 million tourists visited New Zealand…
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Thai Hotel Association pushes “hospitels” – hotels as hospitals
With the third wave of Covid-19 ripping through Thailand, hospitals are rapidly filling up and the Thai Hotels Association has proposed “hospitels” as a creative solution. The portmanteau of “hospital” and “hotel” is the THA’s brainchild for creating more space for the growing number of Covid-19 infections that require treatment or at least observation as Thailand hits record daily case…
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Phuket’s July Sandbox no-quarantine model “needs a major revamp”
Thailand’s Sports and Tourism minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn is acknowledging that Phuket’s ‘Sandbox’ model for a no-quarantine re-opening in July will need “a major revamp”. As the Songkran travel bubble bursts and the monsoon season waves start to roll onto the island’s west coast beaches, Phuket’s scheduled July re-boot suddenly seems a long way off. Minister Phiphat says he plans to meet…
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Pattaya tourism remains open without quarantine, for now anyway
As province after province closes down more sectors, imposing stricter regulations, administers mandatory Covid-19 testing, and enacts quarantines for domestic travellers (in some cases), Pattaya is taking a different approach: heartily welcoming tourists to their city. Colourful Pattaya Mayor Sonthaya Kunplome spoke yesterday saying that everyone from everywhere is welcome in Pattaya, and will not be required to quarantine or…
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Tourism officials slash Songkran travel expectations by half
The TAT, ever the optimists regarding anything tourism related, even domestic tourism, predict that the Bangkok clusters that have emerged in the week before the Songkran break could reduce traffic and spending by up to half. Today the CCSA is reporting 789 new infections and one additional death. 522 were local infections, mostly walk-ins to Bangkok hospitals, 259 were discovered through…
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Transport Ministry: refunds to cancel travel for Covid-19
The Transport Ministry is launching plans to deal with forced cancellations of travel plans due to the most recent Covid-19 outbreak. With recent restrictions on entertainment venues, Songkran festivities, and some areas implementing quarantines for domestic travel, many holiday travellers will likely have no choice but to cancel their plans. The Transport Ministry has declared that all passengers by bus…
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Airlines and hotels try to cope with cancellations for Songkran
Press Release Airlines and hotels are reporting cancellations from many of their customers as travellers react to the news of the new clusters and infections being detected in the provinces. Bars and entertainment venues close for 2 weeks in 44 provinces from midnight tonight, according to an order from the Thai PM. Entertainment venues in the other 35 provinces will…
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Thai tourism operators slam government’s inefficient vaccine rollout
Representatives from Thailand’s tourism sector have blasted what they see as an ineffective and disorganised national vaccine rollout. Operators say the scheme will not allow the Kingdom to achieve herd immunity, with tourism possibly affected by a third outbreak. Domestic tourism was starting to recover after taking a hit during the second outbreak late last year, with Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi…
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Thailand tourism leaders come together to discuss the industry’s future
The following story was submitted by Bill Barnett, the managing director for C9 Hotelworks. The Covid-19 pandemic is the biggest global crisis tourism has ever faced. Against this unprecedented upheaval, many of Thailand’s leading hotel operators and other key players came together under the #ThaiTourismUnited banner at an event in Bangkok, creating a single unified voice to drive the Kingdom’s…
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Australia sets travel bubble with New Zealand, Asian countries by August
Travel bubbles for those travelling from Australia to destinations in Asia and the Pacific region could be imposed by August. The country has already agreed on the Trans-Tasman travel bubble with New Zealand, set to start in a few weeks. Singapore is in the cards to be set up next while Australian authorities are looking into other potential bilateral agreements…
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Unemployed elephants walk 500 kilometres from Pattaya to Surin
A group of 5 elephants and their owners began the long walk today from Pattaya to Surin after giving up on the return of tourism anytime soon. The 500 kilometre journey has to be done on foot as they couldn’t afford to hire trucks large enough to carry each elephant. After waiting a year for the Chinese tourists that make…
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Thailand eyes travel bubbles again with low-risk countries
Thailand is eyeing travel bubbles once again with low-risk countries like Singapore, Laos and Vietnam. Sports and Tourism minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, says officials from Thailand and Singapore are discussing forming travel bubbles, as Singapore already has experience forming green routes with other asian countries. “We have acknowledged that Singapore has previously run the travel bubble with Australia and New Zealand.…
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Thailand to discuss travel bubble with Singapore
Thailand is looking into setting up a travel bubble with Singapore. Thailand’s Tourism and Sports Ministry will discuss the idea this week with officials from the Singapore Embassy. Tourism officials are also looking at potential travel bubbles with other neighbouring countries with a low number of active Covid-19 cases, such as Vietnam and Laos, according to sports and tourism minister…
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Phuket hammering out Covid vaccines, beating out rest of Thailand | VIDEO
The tourism-heavy island of Phuket is ramping up its local vaccine roll out, beating out the rest of Thailand in an attempt to achieve a herd immunity before it is able to reopen to tourists. The island is holding vaccination drives, with 9 centres in place to handle the estimated amount of 460,000 residents who are scheduled to get jabs…
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Phuket’s pilot program to reopen Thailand – Interview Bill Barnett | VIDEO
There’s a lot more of Thailand besides Phuket, but the southern Thai island has received a lot of attention in the past few weeks because of the intention to remove quarantine for vaccinated international arrivals from July this year. There’s a lot at stake as the rest of Thailand will be watching the pilot program, eager to see it work…
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Travellers around the world eager to return to Phuket
Travellers of 28 nationalities have indicated that they would like to come to Phuket after mandatory quarantine is done away with for those that have received their Covid-19 vaccination. This according to the Phuket Tourist Association. The popular destination for foreigners will be the first location in Thailand to remove quarantine restrictions in the government’s long-term plan to reopen the…
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Busy in BKK – dust off the planes, Thais are travelling again! VIDEO
BKK is busy, well, compared to the last 10 months in Thailand. Bangkok’s two airports were closed as part of the 2020 ‘lockdown’ and only reopened at the end of May after about 8 weeks, and only to domestic traffic (with some limited international repatriation, cargo, and a few passenger flights). Over the past 10 months Tim has been flying…
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Phuket Airport welcomes first 7 day quarantine travellers
In the early hours of Saturday, a flight arrived at Phuket International Airport welcoming the first travellers to benefit from the reduced mandatory quarantine launched on April 1. The reduction of the isolation period is part of the 4 stages of fully reopening Thailand to international tourism, planned to roll out over the next 8 months (and probably into early…
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Travelling to Thailand right now (April edition)
Finding information about traveling to Thailand at this time can be a bit confusing. Suddenly there’s a lot more paperwork and the Thai government keep updating the situation. But the good news is that the Thai government have at least put out a 4-part plan to totally re-open the country by the end of 2021/start of 2022. You also need…
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Taiwan and Palau launch the first travel bubble in Asia
The island nations of Taiwan and Palau have created Asia’s first travel bubble yesterday, allowing citizens of the two countries to fly back and forth without quarantine. After a year of Covid-19 blocking the majority of global travel, this bubble is a promising first step in the new normal of international tourism. Palau, the tiny Micronesian archipelago of 500 islands…
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Vaccinated against Covid-19? Quarantine is cut down to 7 days
Travellers who are vaccinated against Covid-19 can now undergo a reduced quarantine period of 7 days upon entering Thailand. The new, shorter quarantine period goes in effect today in Phuket, Krabi, Phang-nga, Chiang Mai, and Pattaya. Those who are not vaccinated must quarantine for 10 days, which ends up being 11 nights, while those from countries with mutated strains of…
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Thailand’s aviation authority requests 40,000 vaccine doses to cover airline workers
Airline operators in Thailand are calling for 40,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to cover staff and crew members before July, in time for the reopening plans in Phuket and Koh Samui. The 40,000 doses would cover 20,000 people in the airline industry who will come in close contact with foreign tourists when they start arriving in July, or whenever…
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