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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    5 ways retirees in Thailand lose money (and how to stop it)

    Retiring in Thailand can be affordable and enjoyable, but many retirees lose money due to common mistakes. High living costs, scams, and unexpected expenses can quickly drain savings. There are five ways that retirees in Thailand can lose money and...

  • 23 Koh Samui hotels seek alternative state quarantine certification

    23 Koh Samui hotels seek alternative state quarantine certification

    Nearly 2 dozen hotels and resorts in the Thai Gulf island resort of Koh Samui are seeking certification to be alternative state quarantine facilities. Talk of a potential travel bubble scheme to the island is also set for today, the Nation Thailand reports. 8 of the 23 hotels have already gone through a government check and the rest will be…

  • Phuket prepares to welcome first Chinese tourists in over 6 months

    Phuket prepares to welcome first Chinese tourists in over 6 months

    The first group of tourists to arrive under Thailand’s new Special Tourist Visa scheme are expected to land in Phuket on October 8. The Bangkok Post reports that a flight from Guangzhou in southern China will carry 120 tourists, who will spend their first 14 days in alternative state quarantine. They are reported to be travelling under the government’s new…

  • More categories of foreigners to be granted entry to Thailand

    More categories of foreigners to be granted entry to Thailand

    “…business people on a non-immigrant visa but without a work permit can enter, provided they can show savings of at least 500,000 baht over the previous 6 months.” The Thai government is expanding the groups of foreigners who can enter Thailand, after a meeting of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration chaired by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday. CCSA spokesman Taweesin…

  • Domestic tourism stimulus campaign set to be extended

    Domestic tourism stimulus campaign set to be extended

    Officials are discussing an extension to the domestic tourism stimulus package, following the approval of additional public holidays between now and the end of the year. The extra holidays will take place between November 19 and 22, and again from December 10 to 13, as the government continues its efforts to boost domestic tourism. Thailand’s tourism industry has been left…

  • Phuket airport ready for tourists after finishing Covid screening labs

    Phuket airport ready for tourists after finishing Covid screening labs

    Phuket Airport is officially ready for tourists as authorities say they have finished installing Covid screening labs in an effort to welcome international travellers. The 5T Model for Covid-19 is being used at the airport with the goal of screening large groups of people in a quick and efficient manner. The Phuket health chief says the 5T’s stand for Target,…

  • Koh Chang resort sues American over bad review

    Koh Chang resort sues American over bad review

    A Koh Chang resort is fighting back and, reportedly, suing an American citizen after posting a nasty online review on TripAdvisor. After recently visiting the Sea View Resort on Trat province island in the Gulf of Thailand, American Wesley Barnes wrote an unflattering, almost bitchy, account of his stay prompting the owner to file an official complaint over the ‘unfair’…

  • Thai Air Asia returns to Suvarnabhumi in addition to its Don Mueang hub

    Thai Air Asia returns to Suvarnabhumi in addition to its Don Mueang hub

    Thai AirAsia is spreading its Bangkok wings and opening up a secondary hub at the main Suvarnabhumi airport (BKK), to help broaden its attraction and bolster its bottomline. Thai Air Asia was the first airline to head back to the moth-balled Don Mueang in 2012 to re-establish the older airport after all the airlines moved across to the new Suvarnabhumi…

  • Flights to nowhere. The latest ‘cunning plan’ by Thai Airways

    Flights to nowhere. The latest ‘cunning plan’ by Thai Airways

    Sort of counter-intuitive, but you get on a plane, take off, and land at the same airport. Not usually the way it’s meant to work, but that’s the latest brain child of the Thai Airways management, via their budget Thai Smile brand, who are already back in the air. The idea is to offer people who have missed the experience…

  • Quarantine could be reduced to 7 days from November, if border re-opening succeeds

    Quarantine could be reduced to 7 days from November, if border re-opening succeeds

    Thailand’s Tourism and Sports Minister says the mandatory quarantine period for those arriving from overseas could be reduced to 7 days if there is no spike in Covid-19 infections after the border re-opens to limited arrivals from October. For the minister’s part, the 7 day quarantine is merely speculation at this stage. Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn says more details on the…

  • 70% of Phuket’s tourism businesses are closed, many for good

    70% of Phuket’s tourism businesses are closed, many for good

    Most tourism businesses in Phuket have closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and they probably won’t be up and running again until foreign tourists are let back in Thailand. Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew says around 70% of tourism businesses have closed, most of them just temporarily, but some have shut down permanently. But the statistics are not quite that simple,…

  • Thai cabinet adds 2 more 4-day long weekends

    Thai cabinet adds 2 more 4-day long weekends

    A holiday-led economic recovery. That appears to be a part of the government’s agenda following yesterday’s meeting of the Thai cabinet. 2 new holiday weekends have been created, one in November, one in December, in efforts to further stimulate the economy. In both cases the extended weekends will be 4 days each, adding the Thursdays and Fridays before the weekend.…

  • Thai hotels concerned extra holidays may not benefit all

    Thai hotels concerned extra holidays may not benefit all

    As the Cabinet confirms two additional long weekends in November and December, the country’s hotels are concerned that not all operators will benefit. The extra holidays, running from November 19 to 22, and from December 10-13, are being introduced to further boost domestic tourism. Although they have been given a cautious welcome by hotel operators, the Thai Hotels Association points…

  • Phuket’s governor calls for help in restoring island’s economy

    Phuket’s governor calls for help in restoring island’s economy

    The governor of Phuket has likened the southern province to a “patient in a coma”, as he pleads for help to restore its devastated economy. According to a report in the Bangkok Post, Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew was addressing a Public Health Association forum, where he highlighted the economic crisis caused by the ongoing ban on international tourists. The island’s…

  • Thailand details new visa strategy to welcome rich tourists

    Thailand details new visa strategy to welcome rich tourists

    The Thai government has revealed their detailed strategy to bring back “rich” tourists while keeping Covid numbers low. The plan, to be rolled out next month, has been touted by officials as a way to help recover Thailand’s hard hit tourist economy, but some say the government needs a reality check. The Tourism and Sports Authority Minister claims the plan…

  • Travellers from Thailand can enter United Kingdom without quarantine

    Travellers from Thailand can enter United Kingdom without quarantine

    No more quarantine for those travelling from Thailand and entering the United Kingdom. Thailand and Singapore will be added to the UK’s so called “travel corridor” list starting tomorrow. The Thailand Foreign Ministry deputy spokesperson Natapanu Nopakun says this is “good news, adding that Thailand’s Covid-19 prevention methods have been recognised by other nations. He says several countries have removed…

  • Covid-19 mysteries still unsolved, health officials brush off risk of reopening borders

    Covid-19 mysteries still unsolved, health officials brush off risk of reopening borders

    What’s the risk of spreading Covid-19 if borders are reopened? None apparently, just as long as tourists go through a 14 day quarantine when they enter the country, according to the Department of Disease Control. Long stay tourist visas were just approved by the Cabinet and the DDC deputy director general Tanarak Plipat says the move will not raise the…

  • Ready for another holiday? Cabinet considers a long weekend to boost the economy

    Ready for another holiday? Cabinet considers a long weekend to boost the economy

    There might be another long weekend coming up soon. So much revenue was brought in from the recent 4 day holiday weekend earlier this month that some government officials think another couple days off could help give the slumped economy another shot in the arm. The 4 day weekend earlier this month (a Songkran replacement) circulated some 8.8 billion baht…

  • World Tourism Organisation reports on destinations re-opening to tourists

    World Tourism Organisation reports on destinations re-opening to tourists

    53% of the world’s tourist destinations have now started easing travel restrictions government’s imposed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic – the claim from the UN World Tourism Organisation in its latest update on the state of the world’s re-openings in the Covid-era. The UNWTO acknowledges that many destinations “remain cautious” and some are even re-closing borders and tightening up restrictions…

  • Global economics report expects Bangkok to have the highest tourist drop

    Global economics report expects Bangkok to have the highest tourist drop

    International travel restrictions have crippled Thailand’s tourism industry so much that Bangkok might end up with the highest loss of tourists out of all the major cities in the world. A report from the global forecasting company Oxford Economics predicts Bangkok will lose about 14.5 million incoming foreign tourists by the end of the year. Cities across the world are…

  • Tourists flock to Sichon temple, worship a spirit known for granting wishes

    Tourists flock to Sichon temple, worship a spirit known for granting wishes

    Thai tourists destinations have gone quiet due to the pandemic, but one southern Thailand temple is thriving. Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Wat Chedi is known for granting wishes, and apparently many come true (although people don’t tend to talk about the ones that don’t come true). It is packed with visitors not just on the weekends, but every day. Visitors worship Ai Khai, the…

  • Lights are out on Ibiza – the world’s party islands go dark

    Lights are out on Ibiza – the world’s party islands go dark

    “The party scene, by its nature, is all about getting together, dancing, celebrating ‘closeness’ and being social – the antithesis of social distancing and staying away from other people in the Covid-era.” Some of the world’s tourist islands are suffering badly from the lack of travel, it’s not just Bali and Phuket. The Spanish party island of Ibiza is also…

  • Tourism chief appeals for patience, but admits things will “never be the same”

    Tourism chief appeals for patience, but admits things will “never be the same”

    “The primary source markets would be Northeast Asia and the ASEAN countries, with a customer target of people in good health and high-purchasing power.” Patience is not only a virtue, but a necessity, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand Governor Yuthasak Supasorn. The TAT chief is appealing to the Thai tourism industry to be “patient, united, and confident in…

  • 3 to 4 years for tourism revenue to recover, research centre says

    3 to 4 years for tourism revenue to recover, research centre says

    It’s going to take years for Thailand’s tourism revenue to recover. A lack of international tourists caused income to drastically drop and it’s going to be at least 3 to 4 years until revenue is back to normal, according to the Krungthai COMPASS Research Centre. Many tourism companies are also changing their marketing approach to stay in business, focusing on a…

  • “Phuket Model” to be re-named, expanded to all of Thailand

    “Phuket Model” to be re-named, expanded to all of Thailand

    A much-talked-about plan to reopen Phuket to international tourists is set for a rebrand and expansion. The plan, formerly known as the “Phuket Model”, is proposed to be re-named “Special Tourist Visa”, and will now cover all of Thailand. But, in its latest incarnation, the model will only allow tourists from “approved countries” to be involved. Apparently, the Phuket plan…

  • Thailand is the fourth most searched-for destination for your next holiday

    Thailand is the fourth most searched-for destination for your next holiday

    Since early 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has stopped us from taking our holidays, or doing much travelling at all. But as travel restrictions ease, which destinations are coming out on top for our post-lockdown holidays? Official-esta.com has dusted off the calculator and checked the Google Search Volume data for the search terms “Flights to X” and “Holidays in X” to…

  • Not so fast! Phuket’s plans to reopen slow down

    Not so fast! Phuket’s plans to reopen slow down

    “We have to rely on domestic tourism demand for now because we can’t reopen our borders yet. Some people in the area still haven’t accepted the idea… It doesn’t mean that we’re pulling the plug on the plan though.” Phuket is not going to be back up and running as soon as expected. Plans to let international tourists back in…

  • A new flaw detected on Boeing’s 787 as company’s problems mount

    A new flaw detected on Boeing’s 787 as company’s problems mount

    The problems at Boeing are starting to stack up, at a time when few airlines are ordering new planes and going through their current orders to see which order they can cancel. Boeing has now disclosed another problem with the construction of its 787 Dreamliner aircraft that could cause further delays on aircraft deliveries, and provide another headache for the…

  • Phuket airport sees increase in domestic arrivals over long weekend

    Phuket airport sees increase in domestic arrivals over long weekend

    The general manager of Phuket airport, Thanee Chuangchoo, says domestic arrivals were on the up over the course of the recent 4 day holiday. The long weekend, from September 4 to 7, was brought in to replace the annual Songkran holiday in April, cancelled this year due to the Covid-19 lockdown. The jump in domestic arrivals will have provided some…

  • Holiday weekend boosts tourism, brings in 8.8 billion baht

    Holiday weekend boosts tourism, brings in 8.8 billion baht

    The extended 4 day holiday weekend circulated 8.8 billion baht in revenue after months of limited travel due to the coronavirus pandemic… the upbeat report from the Tourism Authority of Thailand. The drop in international tourism has crippled local economies dependent on the industry. The holiday weekend was a major boost. The Friday and Monday public holidays were announced as…

  • Minister eases local concerns over Phuket tourism plan

    Minister eases local concerns over Phuket tourism plan

    The Minister of Tourism and Sports has rushed to reassure Phuket locals who have voiced concern over a tentative plan (now postponed) to re-open the province to foreign visitors. Minister Pipat Ratchakitprakarn says there may have been some miscommunication, as he reassured Phuket residents that they would not be forced to accept any tourism plan. The minister, along with a…