travel
- Visa Information
45 day tourist visa exemption proposal to be presented to Cabinet
After the prime minister told officials to hurry up and relax restrictions for foreigners entering Thailand, the recent proposal to extend the on-arrival visa exemption for tourists from 30 to 45 days is quickly moving forward and will be presented to the Cabinet. The 15 days added on to the visa exemption is intended to make up for the 2…
- Tourism News
Around 3.11 million travellers expected to spend 12.6 billion baht during long weekend
Around 3.11 million Thai people are expected to travel during the 4-day weekend which starts tomorrow. The travellers are expected to spend 12.6 billion baht and boost the hotel occupancy rate up by 40%, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Yuthasak Supasorn. Although, less people are expected to travel to Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai, with many cancelling…
- Tourism News
4 years until tourism industry gets back to pre-pandemic levels – Finance Ministry
It could take 4 years for Thailand’s tourism industry to recover after being battered by the lack of travel due to the coronavirus pandemic, the government’s reaction and the economic fallout, according to the Finance Ministry. While local and international experts project Thailand’s economy will continue to recover over the next 2 years, the tourism industry, which directly contributes 12-15%…
- Thailand News
Thai Airways to resume flights from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and Phuket
After nearly 9 months on the ground due to the coronavirus pandemic, along with problems balancing their accounts, Thai Airways will resume flights between Bangkok and Chiang Mai as well as Bangkok and Phuket later this month. The flights will start back up on Christmas day. Flights from Bangkok to the 2 key tourist provinces have been grounded since April…
- Tourism News
An international Digital Travel Pass could be the magic bullet to restart global tourism
A new international Travel Pass, a sort of digital health certificate, may be the way forward for countries to re-open their borders and international airlines to get their planes back into the air. The International Air Transport Association says the ‘digital’ certificate will support the safe reopening of borders. As Covid-19 testing and the results becomes more reliable and nuanced,…
- Covid-19 News
No vaccine, no entry – the next Covid challenge
OPINION UPDATE: Australia’s national airline Qantas has already said it will impose “proof of vaccine” on all inbound and outbound international flights, a situation that IATA says they will follow. Read more HERE. ORIGINAL POST: The approval of a reliable Covid-19 vaccine will be a game-changer. Over the past 2 weeks there has been several announcements, and a few bumps,…
- Thailand News
Thailand News Today | Army deny Twitter spin, “Don’t Reopen”, English proficiency low | Nov 27
Last day of the week. Thought we’d go outside. Bad idea! Welcome to Friday’s Thailand News Today. Royal Thai Army denies claims about Twitter campaign to spread pro-government propaganda Following a shutdown of 926 Twitter accounts linked to the Royal Thai Army, documents were leaked of what appears to be a contract between the Army and a private company supposedly…
- Tourism News
International travel in 2021 is unpredictable – Tourism Authority of Thailand
The future of Thailand’s travel industry is “opaque”, according to Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Yuthasak Supasorn. For once the usually over-optimistic TAT has made a completely honest assessment of the current situation. “There are unpredictable factors that come into play when trying to determine how 2021 will pan out, like the availability of a Covid-19 vaccine, the number of…
- Tourism News
Rejoice Thailand. 681 tourists will arrive in November!
Rejoice, roll out the red carpet and sound the bells. Here they come! Thailand is about to be flooded with 681 tourists who have applied for, and received, the Special Tourist Visa. Ok, we’ll admit that’s the number is a bit down on last year’s monthly 3.3 million tourist arrivals (average). But, twisting the numbers like only the Tourist Authority…
- Covid-19 News
The Thai tourism new normal, learning to live with the pandemic
OPINION by Julian Spindler Thailand’s world-class tourism industry, one of the twin drivers of our economy, is in a deep, coronavirus-induced coma, close to death. No life support is currently available. Pandemic paranoia has gripped the nation, freezing our bio-security risk management in full containment mode, meaning zero tolerance for local Covid-19 transmission. The socio-economic, and some might add political, impacts…
- Tourism News
Long weekend, busy roads and price gouging
Airfare and accommodation costs have skyrocketed over this long weekend, an artificially added 2 days of holiday by the Thai government to stimulate the local travel economy. Airfares, if you didn’t get the earlier ‘cheapies’, have risen to 2 – 3 times their ‘normal’ discount prices. And accommodation costs have followed suit (although the OTAs are still advertising plenty of…
- Tourism News
Latest traveller trends and top recovering destinations – TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor and Phocuswright have jointly released the findings of a comprehensive research paper into the shifting trends in global travel demand and traveller behaviour, as they chart the industry’s road to a recovery, of sorts, in the wake of the ongoing global pandemic. The report, 2020 – A Year in Travel: Charting the Travel Industry’s Path to Recovery, analyses TripAdvisor’s first-party…
- Phuket News
Qatar Airways to offer biweekly flights from Phuket to Doha
Things are starting to take off at the Phuket International Airport. Qatar Airways will resume bi-weekly flights from Phuket to Doha starting on December 4. The move is a major step forward after a halt of international travel to the island due to Covid-19 lockdown measures. Last week, an empty Emirates Airlines flight landed in Phuket. Although it wasn’t carrying…
- Visa Information
Thailand “relaxes” visa criteria to draw in more tourists
In an effort to revive the tourism industry after a quiet 7 months without foreign tourists, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says they’ve “relaxed” the criteria for issuing tourist visas and are now allowing foreigners from countries considered a “medium risk” for spreading Covid-19 to apply for a tourist visa. Thailand will start allowing some foreigners to enter on a…
- Transport News
The Phuket ‘light rail’ may end up being an electric bus instead
The Phuket mass rapid transport system, aka. Phuket Light Rail and Phuket Tram, is receiving more attention as the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand mull more changes to the design. The initial route, which would run from the Phuket Airport, follow the main north/south artery, Thepkasattri Road, then through Phuket Town and on to Chalong circle, has a projected…
- Thailand News
First group of Special Tourist Visa travellers complete quarantine
The first group of foreign tourists to enter Thailand after a 7 month ban due to the pandemic have completed the mandatory 14 day quarantine and are ready to travel the country. Some of them will be visiting beaches, but Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Yutthasak Supasorn says their exact whereabouts are confidential. Thai PBS reports 33 tourists, who arrived…
- Phuket News
Empty Emirates plane lands in Phuket, first international flight since lockdown
An empty Emirates Airlines plane landed at the Phuket International Airport, the first international arrival at the airport since the Covid-19 lockdown was put in place 7 months ago. While no passengers were onboard the aircraft, flight EK376 was welcomed by a “water cannon salute” and landed while PM Prayut Chan-o-cha was visiting the airport, according to a Facebook post…
- Phuket News
Phuket is “100% ready” for Special Tourist Visa flights – Transport Minister
The Phuket International Airport is ready for international tourists. The airport has been preparing for weeks and initially expected a group foreigners on the new Special Tourist Visa to arrive last month. Covid-19 mobile testing vehicles were even sent to the airport in early October, prepared to test all the tourists upon arrival, but the travel plans were cancelled last…
- Transport News
Bangkok Airways offers unlimited flights through new membership program
Bangkok Airways is now offering unlimited domestic flights through a new membership program. The airline launched the new Elite Card for 100,000 baht, allowing unlimited travel throughout 2021. Those interested can apply for the card from now until November 30. Tickets for flights from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021 can be booked starting on December 16. Air Asia…
- Covid-19 News
Foreigners who test positive for C19 in Thailand won’t be able to use the public health system
The battle to reopen Thailand’s borders is shaping up as a 3-way PR fight between economic hawks who are eager to re-open to reboot the country’s tourism industry, a government and medical officials resting on their laurels after containing the virus, and a risk-averse population who, survey after survey, indicate they are keen to keep the borders closed. In another…
- Tourism News
From tourist heroes to zero – how the world’s former tourist magnets are coping
If over-tourism became the buzzword in the travel industry in 2019, the opposite applies in 2020 when most of the world’s most popular tourist magnets are now facing a genuine economic crisis, forced on them by government closures and a risk-averse travel public, most of whom are prevented from travel beyond their own borders. We visit Dubrovnik, Santorini, Ibiza, Barcelona,…
- Phuket News
Phuket tops travel destination list of cheapest hotel prices – Dertour 2020 Price Index
Phuket tops a list of the cheapest travel destinations with a 1 night stay at a hotel costing on average less than $30 USD, according to a study by the German travel company Dertour. Phuket is going through what some say is a “crisis”, certainly a current tourist vacuum. The island province largely relies on income from foreign tourists, but…
- Pattaya News
“Pattaya Model” to focus on Special Tourist Visa visitors from China and Russia
Pattaya wants to cash in on the new Special Tourist Visa scheme and local officials plan to introduce the “Pattaya Model” to help boost the local economy after it took at beating from the lack of international tourists due to the pandemic. They’ll focus on drawing in Chinese and Russian tourists on the new long stay visa, according to Pattaya…
- Thailand News
Cruise ships and yachts to dock in Thailand, visitors to enter on Special Tourist Visa
Cruise ships and yachts will be allowed to dock in Thailand and visitors will be allowed disembark under the Special Tourist Visa. The new measure hasn’t been made official yet, but it will go into effect 30 days after it’s published in the Royal Gazette. The Cabinet approved the new guidelines yesterday which allows captains, crew and passengers travelling from…
- Thailand News
Thailand tourism officials to tap into Chinese market as they attract more visitors
Thailand has so far welcomed 2 flights with Chinese visitors on the new Special Tourist Visa, a first step after a 7 month ban on international tourists. Now, tourism officials are proposing to bring in more whilst tapping into the vast Chinese market to draw in more visitors. Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Yuthasak Supasorn says they’re planning on 7.45…
- Visa Information
145 more on Special Tourist Visa arrive in Bangkok
145 people on the new Special Tourist Visa arrived in Bangkok yesterday from Guangzhou, China, the second group after Thailand’s 7 month ban on international tourists. 39 people on the new long stay visa arrived last week, a small, yet significant step forward for Thailand as it pries open the borders for tourists, albeit with a lot of paperwork, restrictions…
- Visa Information
TAT announces update to compulsory Covid-19 insurance for foreign visitors
The Tourism Authority of Thailand has announced today an update about compulsory Covid-19 insurance. They say it’s now “conveniently” available online in a one-stop-shop. Up to now the compulsory Covid-19 insurance, a pre-requisite before foreigners can come to Thailand, under any visa, was through selected insurance providers at their own websites. The Thailand Office of Insurance Commission has allowed the…
- Covid-19 News
Complete Thailand Travel Guide (October 2020)
Latest update – October 21. If you are overseas and wish to come to Thailand your FIRST port of call must be the Royal Thai Embassy in your country before you make any bookings. Thailand Longstay is also a valuable resource of information at this time. First ‘tourists’ arrive in Thailand under the Special Tourist Visa In 2019, almost 40 million tourists…
- Transport News
10 international airlines now offer flights to Thailand
With Covid-19 travel restrictions – slowly – easing up, 10 international airlines have started selling flights to Thailand, the Ministry of Transport announced. The airlines include: Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Swissair, Austrian Airlines, Eva Air and KLM. Don’t get too excited. It’s still not easy to get into Thailand. All international arrivals must go through a…
- World News
International travel slow to take off, Covid-19 restrictions evolving
While Thailand is working on safely, and slowly, reopening its borders to foreign tourists after a 7 month border closure, other countries are also adapting to new, pandemic-induced, travel measures and restrictions. Now some are slowly lifting restrictions and resuming flights, while some remain grounded. What’s happening in your part of the world? In all cases, check your local travel…
