tourists
- Covid-19 News
Phuket reports 1 new Covid-19 case (Friday)
Health officials in Phuket today reported 1 new Covid-19 case, up from yesterday’s zero cases. But still a first since the initial 5 cases were reported on March 20 after weeks of denials. This continues an encouraging downward trend: 3 cases were reported Wednesday, down from Tuesday’s 10 which was the first time new cases reached double digits since April…
- Covid-19 News
Travel and tourism in the Land of Smiles – 12 predictions
OPINION by Andrew Wood Casting our eyes into the crystal ball has never been so difficult with so many varied issues clouding the post-coronavirus future. For Thailand, the future of world and domestic travel has never been so critical as tourism drives much of the Thai economy. Will the tourists come back? Will they be allowed back? When? And under what…
- Covid-19 News
Currency will be a key driver in Phuket’s (eventual) tourism recovery?
OPINION by Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com In the lead-up to the Covid-19 crisis one constant complaint by Thailand’s hotel sector has been the strength of the Thai Baht. Zeroing in specifically on the Mainland Chinese market, the rapid demise to the island was in part triggered by the tragic boat accident in mid-2018, along with a number of other country-wide negative…
- Covid-19 News
Visa amnesty for foreigners – but conditions apply
“All foreign nationals are advised to closely monitor the Immigration Bureau’s website for updates, though the measures announced on Wednesday are valid until April 30 unless otherwise updated.” The visa amnesty has been announced, hopefully relieving some of the stress on stranded tourists and other foreigners that have ended up without flights or ways to get home. Many flights have…
- Covid-19 News
Broke and stranded, Russian tourists take shelter in Phuket temple
When their flight was eventually cancelled, they had no money left and decided to walk from the airport. They didn’t know where to go. When they came across Wat Mai Khao they asked to take refuge there. Tourism authorities in Phuket are now trying to help the 3 stranded Russian tourists who have taken shelter at the local temple. Their…
- Covid-19 News
Onerous new document requirements for stranded foreigners announced
Thailand’s Immigration Bureau announced yesterday that 9 separate documents are now required for foreigners stranded here to extend their stay for up to 30 days. New requirements include land deeds, rental contracts, even selfies of foreigners at their accommodations, even as scenes of chaos and massive queues at immigration continue unabated. A Thai Immigration spokesman defended the inconvenience on the…
- Covid-19 News
Thai Immigration proposes extending tourist visas until June 30
The Thai Immigration Bureau has asked the Cabinet to approve a measure extending tourist visas until June 30 for foreigners stranded in Thailand following the disruption of international flights due to the Covid-19 coronavirus. According to a report in Thaivisa, the Immigration Bureau wants foreigners who have had their travel plans disrupted by the virus, be given a visa extension…
- Covid-19 News
Thai PM says tourists will get automatic visa extensions
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is concerned that foreigners seeking visa extensions have been gathering in their hundreds at Thailand’s immigration offices each day, at a time when social distancing is needed due to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. This from a spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Ministry today. Deputy ministry spokesman Natapanu Nopakun announced that the cabinet has responded with a…
- Covid-19 News
Thai tourism minister plans help for tourists stranded and worried about overstaying visas
There are a growing number of tourists who are becoming stranded in Thailand as their home countries raise the drawbridge and lockdown their borders. Many European countries have started sealing their borders to deal with the Covid-19 coronavirus and other countries, closer to home, are starting to act as well. Last weekend Malaysia virtually locked down its borders. Thailand is…
- Covid-19 News
Worst case scenario – Thailand loses 10 million tourists this year
Thailand’s tourist industry could be decimated in the wake of the world coronavirus outbreak. Tourism accounts for an estimated 16% of Thailand’s total GDP. The Tourism Authority of Thailand governor, Yutthasak Supasorn, says that, in a worst case scenario, Thailand could bleed 10 million of it’s projected 40 million tourist arrivals this year. He says his estimates were based on…
- Covid-19 News
Panic, precautions and contradictions over Thailand’s first coronavirus death
Mild panic, and a new raft of precautions pervades the Coronavirus narrative in Thailand as we head into another week. Over the weekend the Health Ministry announced a new range of precautionary measures whilst most of Thailand’s tourist spots remain quiet – a lot quieter than usual. There was also the announcement of the first coronavirus-related death in Thailand over…
- Phuket News
UPDATE: Phuket speedboats crash: 2 children dead, 22 injured – VIDEO
“…both boat drivers have been charged with reckless driving causing death and injury.” Two Russian children have died and some 22 people were injured following a high-speed speedboat collision off Phuket’s east coast just before 8am this morning. The incident occurred in the channel linking Phuket’s two main east coast marinas with the Phang Nga Bay on the east side of…
- Covid-19 News
Coronavirus UPDATE – over 100,000 Chinese are still in Thailand
This morning there remain 25 confirmed coronavirus cases in Thailand. The death toll has now reached 724 with a total of 34,878 confirmed cases in the past six weeks. Over 2,000 have now fully recovered. Meanwhile, around Thailand, many Chinese tourists and expats continue to circulate after being in the Kingdom for more than 2-3 weeks. Around 100,000 Chinese tourists…
- Covid-19 News
Coronavirus UPDATE – 28,276 confirmed cases, many people continue to recover
The month-long outbreak of the novel coronavirus shows no sign of letting up with the death toll rising, along with the list of new cases and an increasingly long list of full recoveries. Chinese health officials have raised the death toll to 565, with a total of 28,276 cases identified around the world. The number of full recoveries now exceeds…
- Opinion
The knock-on effect. Coronavirus hits Phuket hotels.
The Thaiger’s occasional Phuket hotel management contributor is back with some inside knowledge of the current situation for hoteliers on the holiday island. That the coronavirus situation is affecting hotel bookings, is an understatement, he says. Here’s some of the current thinking as Phuket hoteliers stand around the water-cooler and mull the situation. Our writer has asked to remain anonymous……
- Phuket News
Phuket, Bangkok and Chiang Mai hard hit over ‘palpable’ tourism drop
The 2019-nCoV coronavirus, the official name for the Wuhan or Novel Corononavirus, is resulting in dozens of high-season flights to Thai southern beach resorts being cancelled. The virus is already deemed an international public health emergency by the World Health Organisation. “While Patong survived and thrived after SARS, the tsunami and a few army coups, this virus is stripping our…
- Tourism News
Thai tourism to take hit over Coronavirus
by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com A travel ban is now in effect in Mainland China for tour groups who were booked for holidays overseas. Over the past few days hoteliers in Phuket, Bangkok and throughout the country are reporting significant cancellations, not only of groups but also independent travellers (FITs). Last year Mainland Chinese travellers to Thailand nearly eclipsed 11 million,…
- Phuket News
Latest Khao Lak hotel report
by Bill Barnett, c9hotelworks.com Increasing hotel supply in Khao Lak with stable tourism growth reflects a destination market entering a new cycle. Khao Lak is a beachside destination an hour and a half drive north from Phuket Airport in Phang Nga province. The upcoming second Greater Phuket airport (in Phang Nga) is expected to push the destination to diversify offerings…
- Environment News
32 year old British patient recovering in Phuket, suspected Coronavirus victim
UPDATE HERE. A British tourist is reported to be fighting for his life in a Phuket hospital. He could be the first Western victim of the coronavirus strain sweeping through China, according to Doctors at the hospital, but is yet to be confirmed. This latest coronavirus, related to the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome)…
- Transport News
Dramatic video shows high speed impact, eight British tourists injured on their way to Pattaya – VIDEO
Dramatic highway CCTV has now been released of the crash of the passenger van, injuring eight British tourists travelling from Suvarnabhumi Airport to Pattaya. Three were seriously injured in the high speed crash which scattered contents of the van over the road and grassed verge between the two sides of the motorway. Eight British tourists are in hospital after their…
- Bangkok News
Chinese and Indian nationals arrested for fake visas, entry stamps
PHOTO: Immigration.go.th Two Chinese nationals and an Indian couple have been detained by Thai Immigration police in two separate arrests at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. Thai Residents reports that the Chinese nationals were attempting to check in for a Cathay Pacific flight from Bangkok to Canada using fake Canadian visas. When airline staff got suspicious over the visas’ appearance and contacted Immigration…
- Tourism News
Thailand looks to Indian arrivals for new wave of tourism
PHOTO: Chiang Rai Times With two million Indian tourists expected for this year, reports in both Thai and English language media claim visitors from India are ‘set to transform’ Thailand’s tourism landscape. TNN reports, via Thai Visa, that tourist numbers to Thailand from India are expected to increase to 14 million a year by the end of the next decade.…
- Northern Thailand News
First chamber of Chiang Rai’s Tham Luang Cave now open to visitors
The first chamber of the cave where twelve Thai footballers and their coach became trapped for seventeen days last year, is now open to visitors in Chiang Rai. The Chiang Rai Times reports that, along with the entrance to the Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai being open, the first chamber and the Nang Non spirit house are also accessible…
- Northern Thailand News
Tham Luang Cave reopens to visitors in November
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation says it is reopening the Tham Luang Cave in Chiang Rai on November 1. The cave had a test opening on October 27 and everything went as planned. It will be the first time visitors have been allowed into the caves since the famous Tham Luang Cave Rescue nearly 18 months…
- Phuket News
Phuket hotels slashing the price of rooms
by Sophie Deviller Hotels on Thailand’s most popular holiday island are being forced to slash prices, with rooms left vacant and beaches sparse as Thailand’s tourism chiefs struggle with a plunge in Chinese visitors caused by the US trade war and a stronger baht. Phuket was the most visited destination in the country last year, after Bangkok, and a good gauge of…
- Events
Indian tourist numbers to Thailand steadily climbing
The number of Indian tourists coming to Thailand has doubled over the past half a decade and continues to grow by an average of 15% each year. The figures are from a survey conducted by researchers Nutchanart Kuprasert and Jidapha Chuayphan on behalf of the Bank of Thailand. Contributing factors include an overall increase in Indians travelling overseas as evidenced…
- Tourism News
Phuket Town – In CNN Travel’s “Asia’s most picturesque towns”
“Though most famous for its beaches, the Thai island of Phuket offers ample opportunities for cultural immersion as well.” Phuket’s Old Town was listed as one of Asia’s 13 most picturesque towns by CNN Travel. The article mentioned, that whilst the island is renowned for its world-class beaches and leisure, offshore and adventure tourism activities, Phuket Town delivers on romance, history…
- Phuket News
Phuket motorcycle crash leaves one tourist dead, another injured
PHOTO: Kamala Police The Phuket News reports that an Indian woman has been killed, and her male companion injured, following a motorcycle accident in Patong. The accident happened last night on the Patong to Kamala road. When police arrived on the scene shortly after 8.00pm, they found the tourists trapped under an SUV, with the 23 year old driver, Worachat…
- Tourism News
Thomas Cook demise will affect British tourism to Thailand for the rest of 2019
“British tourists have contribute between 900,000 – 1,000,000 tourists to Thailand annually for the past seven years.” The failure of the British Thomas Cook travel business will cut the numbers of arrivals from Britain to Thailand for the remainder of this year. Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand says they are also assessing a drop in northern-European…
- Crime News
Bangkok airport police arrest Canadian woman for theft
PHOTO: Pinterest.com Police at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport have arrested a 27 year old Canadian woman as she was about to board a flight with her husband. Heather Leslie Berg had been under surveillance following a number of thefts from baggage claim counters in the airport’s Arrivals area on August 27. After a check on CCTV cameras showed her taking luggage…
