travel
- Covid-19 News
Phuket officially reopens Monday, but with restrictions
Phuket is scheduled to reopen to outsiders on Monday, to coincide with the start of Phase 3 of the easing of Emergency Decree restrictions enacted to fight the spread of Covid-19. It will also be a pleasant respite for the islanders who have been cooped up on the island since the last week of March. Phuket’s outgoing governor says his…
- Covid-19 News
Security chief says country to reopen July 1
The chief of Thailand’s National Security Council announced today that Thailand has set July 1 for the end of all “business and activity lockdowns” ordered to cope with the Covid-19 crisis, include provincial and international travel. The announcement also included the end of the Emergency Decree and curfews, Bangkok Post reports. NSC Secretary-General Somsak Rungsita says the lift of restrictions…
- Covid-19 News
July 1 will end all lockdowns in Thailand, including international travel
The Thai government says it will lift all remaining business and activity lockdowns on July 1, according to the National Security Council chief. “This includes interprovincial and international travel, as well as the end of emergency decree and curfew.” The lift of all restrictions, imposed under the country’s emergency decree, would be a “complete reopening of the country”. Officials and…
- Covid-19 News
Government looks to domestic travel in phase 3 of easing Covid restrictions
A committee has been convened to agree which restrictions can be lifted as Thailand enters the third phase of its exit from lock-down. Addressing a press conference on behalf of the committee, General Somsak Roongsita says re-starting domestic tourism is one of the main priorities of the committee, which comprises public health officials, doctors and business leaders. While interprovincial buses…
- Tourism News
Thailand depending on Chinese travellers for tourist reboot
Thailand is looking to China to rebuild its battered travel industry. As the Covid-19 pandemic subsides in Asia, countries are discussing the idea of “travel bubbles,” in which reciprocal nations establish guidelines that enable their citizens to move freely across their borders. The wider tourism industry accounts for 18-20% of Thailand’s GDP and provides jobs for almost a tenth of…
- Covid-19 News
Misery as arrival ban keeps families apart
Thailand’s ban on foreign arrivals is causing misery among families across the nation as foreigners married to Thai nationals plead with the government to let them return to be with their families. James Jacobs, a Briton stranded in France, told Nation Thailand he wants to return to his 29 year old wife Sopa, who lives in Chiang Mai. Speaking by…
- Covid-19 News
Ban on international travel into Thailand extended until June 30
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand has today announced an extension of their current ban on international travel another month, until at least the end of June, 2020. The current ban on scheduled international flights was extended last month to cover May, up to May 31. But now the CAAT have announced the extension for at least another month. There…
- World News
Fewer Chinese tour groups, more independent travellers to reboot SE Asia travel
Hoping that Chinese tourism is going to ride magically back into Thailand on the back of a gleaming red dragon and save the tattered tourism sector may be precipitous. Of course there are so, so many unknowns even the regular travel writers and consultants are scrambling to forecast a way forward. For Thailand, the ban on international flights hasn’t even…
- World News
Regional travel bubbles, the short-term tourism solution
As nations slowly get their heads around the first outbreaks of Covid-19, the attention is now pivoting to re-opening businesses. And re-opening borders for tourism. But, at least for the short term, the future of tourism will probably be regional travel bubbles – loose agreements between neighbouring nations to allow (reasonably) free travel between two or three countries. Staying isolated…
- Covid-19 News
Major slump in tourists expected this year
It’s not looking to good for Thailand’s tourism industry. This year will have the lowest numbers the country has seen in over a decade, and that’s assuming there’s some reopenings for international travel sometime later in the year. With the coronavirus pandemic freezing up international travel, the number of foreign tourists are expected to fall by 65% this year, according…
- Covid-19 News
Thai Health Minister says China, South Korea no longer virus hotspots
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has provisionally approved a suggestion from Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul that China and South Korea be removed from the list of Covid-19 “hotspots”. Nation Thailand reports that the number of confirmed cases in each country has now dropped into single digits and attempts are being made to re-establish economic and social ties between Thailand and the two…
- Covid-19 News
Airbnb slashes 1,900 staff to ride out the travel downturn
Accommodation-sharing online disruptor, Airbnb, says it’s slashing a quarter of its workforce, nearly 2,000 workers, as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to shred the international travel industry. The company said that it plans to soften the blow for former employees with benefits, including providing 12 months of health insurance. Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky says the cuts are needed until…
- Covid-19 News
6 million unemployed in tourism alone – a stark outlook for Thailand’s tourist industry
More accurate predictions are starting to emerge as the full impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak in Thailand start to become clearer, and we still don’t have the shops open yet. Reports from the UN’s International Labour Organisation, in collaboration with the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, have already made stark predictions about the problems that lay ahead for…
- Covid-19 News
Thailand turns to China to revive post-Covid tourist economy
The Covid-19 pandemic has crushed Thailand’s tourism sector, long considered a lifeline for the nation’s already battered economy, as numbers of foreign visitors have dropped below even the worst predictions plunging 76.4% in March from last year after a 42.8% drop in February. For an economy that derives 12-14% of its gross domestic product from tourism, receipts, the impact of…
- Covid-19 News
Tourism minister, TAT hope for a return of limited domestic travel
For weeks, interprovincial travel has been heavily restricted if not outright banned due to the Emergency Decree announced on March 24 to combat the spread of Covid-19. And although the National Security Council is expected to present a proposal on Monday to extend the Decree, Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakan expects the government to ease some measures and allow…
- Covid-19 News
Buriram and Chon Buri get ready for easing of restrictions starting May 1
“Anyone leaving the province will have the stickers removed and, upon their return to the province, will have to enter quarantine..” – Buriram Governor Two of Thailand’s provinces have already declared they will begin relaxing provincial ‘lockdowns’ from May 1. Buri Ram, in the north east, and Chon Buri, south east of Bangkok, have separately announced a progressive relaxing of lockdown…
- Covid-19 News
14 Thai provinces apply travel restrictions for residents
14 provincial governors around the country have declared ‘travel restrictions’ in and out of their provinces. Under the emergency decree PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has given full authority to provincial governors to increase prevention measures. The ‘lockdowns’ are done to help contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus. In some provinces, inter district and inter sub-district travel is also being restricted.…
- Covid-19 News
Phuket adds Kathu and Chalong sub-districts to ‘lockdown’ list
Chalong and Kathu districts are now being added to Phuket’s “lock down” list by the Phuket Governor. The notices, like the others for Rawai, Karon and Patong, say all non-essential vehicles are banned entry or exit into these two areas, including public transport. “People are asked to say in their homes, and public health teams will be deployed to check…
- Covid-19 News
All new arrivals to Thailand banned, effective immediately
Effective today, and until at least April 15, Thailand will bar all arrivals due to the increasing number of Covid-19 coronavirus cases. Thaveesilp Wissanuyothin, spokesman of the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration, says that PM Prayut Chan-ocha has ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to issue a new directive prohibiting any new arrivals. “The spread of Covid-19 must be stopped.…
- Covid-19 News
Department of Disease Control says social distancing is a must to slow spread of virus
A leading expert on communicable diseases at the Ministry of Public Health is warning of a massive increase in Covid-19 coronavirus infections unless social distancing guidelines are followed, saying cases could skyrocket to 25,000 by mid-April. Anupong Sujariyakul of the ministry’s Department of Control says that social distancing is crucial to reducing the contagion. Anupol calculates that, if 80% cent…
- Covid-19 News
Chinese tourist packing their bags to come back to Thailand
Some groups of Chinese say they’re ready to pack their bags and start travelling again. And, astonishingly, Thai tourism officials say they they’re preparing for a return of Chinese tourists! Chinese tourists groups say they expect to resume their travels in April as the novel coronavirus (Covid19) infections start to subside in China. Thai tourism officials say they are aiming…
- Covid-19 News
240 Thais return home after ‘naval quarantine’
240 “phee noi” (little ghosts), Thais who have thus far returned from South Korea, have been allowed to return to their homes after they tested negative for the Covid-19 coronavirus. A spokesman for the Royal Thai Navy made the announcement yesterday. “We prepared 16 buses to take them to their homes and we have coordinated with Public Health offices in…
- Covid-19 News
Thai Airways passengers, flying from ‘at risk’ destinations, now require health certificates
Thai Airways is now demanding passengers, departing on their planes from China, Italy and South Korea, to Thailand, provide the national airline with health certificates before they can receive their boarding passes. The announcement was the airlines’ latest reaction to the growing coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. Here’s The Thaiger’s daily Coronavirus update HERE. The new compliance relates to Thai flights out…
- 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…
- Tourism News
Thai tourism ministry proposes 5 billion baht in tourist stimulus packages
Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn says he will propose new domestic travel stimulus packages valued at 5 billion baht this Friday. The Minister says the aim is to cushion the impact of the coronavirus for the tourism service sector across the country. The Minister says that domestic tourism is “the priority during this difficult time. The government should implement…
- Tourism News
World’s largest travel fair, ITB, cancelled in Berlin
Organisers of the world’s biggest travel expo, the ITB travel trade fair in Berlin, have cancelled the event over coronavirus fears. 160,000 visitors were expected to attend this year’s event. “We take our responsibility for the security and the health of our guests, exhibitors and employees very seriously. It is with a heavy heart that we have to look at the…
- Covid-19 News
World travel suffers as coronavirus outbreak drags on
The Public Health Ministry is asking Thais planning trips to Japan and Singapore to reschedule their visits, saying that travellers need to be aware of the rising number of people infected by the coronavirus (Covid-19) in those two countries. Dr Sukhum Kanchanapima, the permanent secretary at the Thai Public Health Ministry, says the coronavirus outbreak had reached the third stage…
- Covid-19 News
Coronavirus UPDATE: President Xi addresses “grave situation of the rapid spreading epidemic”
The Novel Coronavirus that infects the respiratory tract and gives patients flu-like symptoms, is now responsible for at least 42 deaths in central China (40 in Hubei), with 15 new fatalities reported yesterday, and more than 1,409 cases in total. At this stage the spread of the virus outside China has been extremely isolated with overseas authorities quarantining any confirmed…
- Tourism News
Thailand’s beaches now more expensive than European resorts – report
PHOTO: Ministry of Villas The cost of a holiday in popular Thai beach resorts is now on par with, or even higher than those in Greece, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and Egypt – all closer to home for Europeans with lower flight costs and less travel time. Diethelm Travel Group report that the cost of a five-star resort in Koh Samui,…
- Transport News
Thai Airways offers One Pass One Price Value Card
In a first of what will surely be a prolonged period of promotions, Thai Airways is offering a One Pass One Price Value Card Package which will cover four economy class fares from Bangkok to some destinations in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar. Tickets start at 8,060 baht and are valid for trips from Bangkok to Phnom Penh, Siem Reap,…
