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 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...
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Arrival projections for Thai tourism downgraded for 2019
Thailand’s Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn has downgraded the forecast for foreign arrivals this year to a range of 39-39.8 million. This is down from the upbeat projections at the start of the year that 40.2 million tourists would arrive in the Land of Smiles. Thai tourism for the first half of 2019 grew only 1.4%, less than expected, prompting…
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Bars and clubs in Thailand open until 4.00am? Not everyone is in favour
PHOTO: Hotels.com Some academics oppose the Tourism and Sports Minister’s idea to allow entertainment venues to remain open until 4.00am. Udomsak Saengow of the Centre for Alcohol Studies is one of those suggesting that more research is needed before such a move. “Civic groups have worked hard to limit access to alcohol and they succeeded in lobbying for shortening the…
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Central opens first luxury outlet at Suvarnabhumi on August 31
Central Village, “Thailand’s first international luxury outlet”, located near Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, will officially open on August 31. The Nation reports that the design of the 5 billion baht facility, owned by the Central Pattana group, will “highlight Thai architecture and cultural identities” and shoppers will find at least 130 well known international luxury and lifestyle brands. “More than half…
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Proposal to offer 15 day visa-free travel to Chinese and Indian visitors steam-rolled
The new Thai Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn’s proposal to provide 15 day visa-free travel to Chinese and Indian tourists, was steam-rolled yesterday by Cabinet. The cabinet resolved instead to extend the fee waiver on visas for visitors from China, India and other countries in the program. The program will now be extended beyond October 31 this year to…
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Greater Pattaya hosts hotel and tourism forum
On Thursday, September 5 a hotel and tourism market update event covering Greater Pattaya will be held at the Holiday Inn Pattaya. Jointly organised by industry leaders STR, Horwath HTL, C9 Hotelworks and the AMCHAM Thailand, the event will feature key hospitality operating and performance metrics. A special panel on the emerging trend of hotel residences will include senior executives from…
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Thai Tourism Minister pushes ahead with visa-free entry for Indian, Chinese visitors
PHOTO: ThaiVisa Despite criticism from both the Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai and Deputy Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, the Tourism and Sports Minister says he will push on with plans for visa-free entry for Chinese and Indian tourists. Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn plans to put the proposal to Cabinet on August 20, despite the national security concerns of both ministers. “I…
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Thailand’s Koh Chang by numbers, another island on the rise
by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com Despite being one of the country’s biggest islands in the Gulf of Thailand, Koh Chang has remained somewhat off the mass tourism development footprint. C9 Hotelworks has taken a look into what makes the island tick in their newly released Koh Chang Tourism Market Review. Koh Chang is off the coast of Trat in far…
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‘One Night In Bangkok’. The song, 35 years later
PHOTO: Doi Kuro, Bangkok 1980 When ‘One Night In Bangkok’ was released in 1984 it was an unlikely hit- the opening song from a (at the time) little-known stage pop-opera called ‘Chess’. The song made Number 1 in South Africa, West Germany, Switzerland and Australia, and Number 3 in Canada and the United States. It has remained a staple of…
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Koh Samui looks to promotions to bolster dwindling foreign tourist numbers
The president of the Tourism Association of Koh Samui says that foreigner numbers visiting the Gulf island have crashed in the first half of 2019. He says they’re trying to swing their focus to Thai travellers and other promotions to make up the difference. Foreign visitors to Koh Samui in the past have been mostly from Germany, China, Eastern Europe,…
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Chinese and Indians to be offered visa free arrival for 15 days in Thailand
The Tourism and Sports Minister says he’ll seek cabinet approval to offer visa exemptions to visitors from China and India for one year. Already Chinese tourists have a visa-on-arrival fees exemption. The current promotion is set to end on October 31 this year. If the new visa exemption is approved by cabinet it will start on November 1 and run…
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Which flight route makes the most money in the world?
The world of aviation now has its first billion dollar route. That’s a flight route that makes more money for an airline than any other. And for the first time that route has breached the one billion dollar ceiling – British Airways’ service between London Heathrow and New York’s JFK. OAG has come up with a list of the routes…
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Thai tourism will be badly hit if Hong Kong airport mayhem continues
The mayhem at the Hong Kong airport could cost Thailand tourism 1.4 billion baht in lost income according to the Kasikorn Research Centre. The centre estimates the Thai tourism industry would be adversely hit if flights from Hong Kong are disrupted for more than seven days and notes that the number of flights cancelled, heading to Thailand, have already cost…
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Radisson brand add another Phuket hotel to its portfolio
The Radisson Hotel Group has signed a deal for a 222 key mixed-use hotel on Phuket’s north west coast at Mai Khao. Set to open in early 2023, the hotel has sales and leaseback units under a hotel residences program. Radisson Phuket Mai Khao Beach is being developed by Thai-Chinese Property Holdings. Phuket’s ongoing development surge continues to attract Chinese…
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Air Asia welcomes new-age long-haul A330 neo to its fleet
AirAsia has taken delivery of its first Airbus A330neo aircraft, to be operated by its long-haul affiliate, AirAsia X Thailand. The new aircraft, leased from Avolon, will be joined by a second of the type later this year, Airbus says. Air Asia says the A330neo brings a step-change in fuel efficiency for AirAsia’s long haul operations. The new generation A330neo (New…
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Thai Airways faces more bad news with bigger losses in Q2
Thai Airways’ problems appear to be compounding with a perfect storm of an ageing fleet, a plateauing of tourist intake and increased competition from newer, more nimble budget airlines. The country’s national pride and joy had a poor Q2 this year, compounding years of declining profit results. The second quarter loss more than doubled losses for the same quarter last…
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Thailand’s Ang Thong National Marine Park, the ‘new’ Maya Bay
With Thailand’s Maya Bay in Koh Phi Phi Ley remains closed indefinitely to allow the tourist-magnet some much-needed time to recover, it’s time to look for another natural wonder. One of Thailand’s astonishing natural wonders, not as well known as Maya Bay, is the Ang Thong National Marine Park, located about 40 kilometres north west of the coast of Koh…
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170 billion baht stimulus to focus on tourism as economy plateaus
Inbound tourism to Thailand is about to get a boost with a proposed 170 billion baht government stimulus package . The Finance Ministry will submit the full plan to Cabinet on August 19. Lavaron Sangsnit, the director general for the fiscal policy office, says the package aims to boost inbound tourism, and promote travel within the country by Thai and…
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Cabinet to consider visa-free travel for Chinese and Indian tourists
The Minister of Tourism and Sports, Pipat Ratchakitprakarn, says he intends to introduce visa-free travel for Chinese and Indian tourists later this year. He wants to put the proposal to Cabinet as soon as possible. Chins and India are targets for Thailand’s latest tourism promotions, so visa-free-travel is back on the table for urgent consideration. Currently, citizens of both countries have…
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Thai Airways announces extra flight to Europe and Australia
Thai Airways International is adding fights to Paris, Vienna and Melbourne effective starting October 27 through to at least the end of March next year. Flights to Paris will increase from daily to 10 a week, but it will also involve a downsizing of aircraft from the mega A380 to a mix of the Boeing 777-300 and the smaller A350-900…
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New Airbus A220 drops into Bangkok during Asia Pacific tour
Perfectly timed with Boeing’s woes and uncertainty over its 737 Max aircraft, Airbus is touring the Asia Pacific displaying its new A220-300 jet on a two-week demonstration tour. The new 143 seat aircraft flew executives from leading Thai airlines over Bangkok yesterday to secure some sales, especially Thai Airways who are in the market to freshen up their garage of…
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TAT’s #WeDareYouThailand online video campaign wraps up today
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) WeDareYouThailand online video sharing campaign that ‘dared’ foreign tourists and expats in Thailand to accept four challenges by creating videos to post on social media, finishes today. The campaign has been running since June 3. Each of the four activities allowed participants to discover more about Thai culture through four different types of challenges…
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TAT governor predicts Thailand tourism will bounce back in second half of 2019
Yuthasak Suphasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand says all is good for tourist arrivals in Thailand. He predicted that 9.7 million foreigners were expected to visit in Q3 (July to September), up 7% year-on-year. He reported that trends show that domestic and foreign tourists will be spending 820 billion baht. That would be 9% up on the same…
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13 Bangkok passengers refused entry into Thailand by immigration police
PHOTO: Naew Na Region 2 immigration police at Suvarnabhumi airport report that they denied entry to 13 foreigners who weren’t able to provide proof of funds to support their travelling whilst visiting Thailand. Immigration officials claim the ‘tourists’ were not visiting Thailand for tourism. Apart from not being able to provide evidence of sufficient funds, the arriving passengers didn’t have…
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Lights, camera, blog. TAT reaches out to online millennials.
PHOTO: Where in the World is Nina? With pressure on tourism authorities to come up with new ways to lure tourists to the Land Of Smiles and rebrand the tired ‘Amazing Thailand’ promotion, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) have come up with the ‘Thailand Village Academy’. Stepping firmly into the world of online bloggers and social media, the TAT…
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Thai visitors leaking to Vietnam – a personal view
by Guest Writer (who asked to be anonymous) In response to an article ‘Pattaya tourist slump – visitors leaking to Vietnam‘, a responder on The Thaiger Facebook page has provided a balanced response we thought we would share with you. Is nostalgia making us think that Pattaya and Thailand were really that great in the past or are the golden…
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“Worst in ten years” – Chiang Mai hotels
Hoteliers and business in Thailand’s main tourist areas continue to be at odds with the official narrative trotted out by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. This time hoteliers in Chiang Mai are reporting tourism in Thailand’s north is the worst in ten years at the moment. A report in ThaiVisa says that bookings are 40% down when compared to the…
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Thailand’s taxi and tuk tuk scams and annoyances
“Where are you going?”, they shout from across the road. A Tuk Tuk driver wants to help you get to your next destination but the willing smile and lure of a ride in a local jalopy may have switched off your trusty scam-detector. Tuk Tuks and taxis, and the motorbike taxis too, are a convenient, safe and reasonably cheap way…
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Pattaya tourist slump – visitors leaking to Vietnam
The new Minister of tourism and sports says tourism in Thailand is up nearly 1% (0.89% to be precise) in June year compared to last year. But as ministers bicker over the numbers – up or down – other business leaders says that tourism on the ground in Pattaya is much worse than the figures suggest. According to ThaiVisa, the “outlook…
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Tweet forces Suvarnabhumi immigration to explain long lines
PHOTO: Travel Daily Media “Suvarnabhumi hell for tourists. Look at queues today. Never seen this long.” In response to English-language teacher Andrew Biggs complaining about the long queues at Suvarnabhumi Airport, the Immigration Bureau says it had already mobilised more personnel to facilitate immigration clearance. Biggs, the owner of Andrew Biggs Academy and co-director of andrewbiggs.com, an English language-learning website…
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Thailand’s tourism copes with surging baht headache
PHOTO: Thailand’s new tourism & sports minister, Piphat Ratchakitprakarn, hoping the finance ministry will listen to his pleas about the high baht Thailand’s new tourism & sports minister, Piphat Ratchakitprakarn, is blaming the surge of the baht for sucking the life out of tourist arrivals into Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy. Piphat yesterday said he’ll discuss with the Bank of Thailand…
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