Thailand tourism situation

[PeteC]

Indeed. Come and pay us your 100,000 Baht, but we tell you what you can do and where you can go. Why the hell bother, this place certainly isn't that great.

[Dannie Boy]

Seems as though there clutching at straws - desperate to get some tourist $ but at the same time restrict freedom of movement and all at a heavy price - as Pete says, why bother to come here when there are alternatives available elsewhere

[handdrummer]

The low (90%) IQ people are running the country.

[buksida]

Tourist arrivals tumble 71% year-on-year in Jan-July amid outbreak
Tourist arrivals and spending saw a year-on-year slide of about 70% in the first seven months, data showed on Monday, as a fourth month of border closures aimed at keeping out Covid-19 took a bite out of its struggling economy.

In the January-July period, foreign tourist numbers were 6.69 million, down 71% year on year, with spending down 70.4% from a year earlier to 332 billion baht.

Thailand, which had a record 39.8 million tourist arrivals last year, has recorded zero foreign visitors since April when it imposed a travel ban. In July 2019 alone, there were 3.33 million tourists who spent around 167 billion baht.

The tourism-reliant economy shrank at its deepest annual pace in the second quarter since the 1998 Asian crisis as the outbreak battered global travel and activity.

It has extended a state of emergency until the end of September, despite having among Asia's lowest coronavirus case numbers and no domestic transmission for three months.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/19 ... d-outbreak

I would imagine that figure to be closer to 95% ... but it is TAT we're talking about.

[buksida]

There is no date for the reopening of general tourism in Thailand, except Phuket
Deputy government spokesperson Traisulee Traisoranakul says Thailand will not be “fully reopened to foreign tourists” along the lines of Phuket’s “safe and sealed” model, because the government and CCSA has to consider too many details. Thailand’s largest island, Phuket, is going to be a pilot program for the partial re-opening to any tourist that wants to visit – but with plenty of conditions and restrictions.

The spokesperson added that the government must consider many factors “…including guidelines, screening processes and measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19”.

“Phuket residents and Thai tourists can rest assured that no steps to reopen the country have been taken and that utmost precaution will be taken when borders are reopened”, she said in Nation Thailand.

For the Phuket pilot program, tourists (assuming they can find a flight to the island) will arrive at the Phuket International Airport, and then travel to their accommodation (a hotel that has been registered and approved by the Thai government) for 14 day quarantine. They will be restricted to a 1 kilometre radius of the hotel, according to the early announcements about the program. After the 2 weeks in their 1-kilometre-radius quarantine, the guests will be free to roam around Phuket, and then beyond if they choose after another 7 days. The early conditions also stipulated a minimum stay of 30 days and that entry will also only be limited to tourists from risk-free countries (whatever that means).

The program was meant to start on October 1 although there has been no firm announcement made where the full details have been laid out. As recent history has shown, early proposals sometimes don’t pan out into fully detailed announcements.

There had been speculation in foreign media this week that the “Phuket Model” was a blueprint for the re-introduction fo tourism across all of Thailand. That information was incorrect.

https://thethaiger.com/news/national/th ... ept-phuket

[Dannie Boy]

At least having a one-kilometre “exclusion zone” doesn’t make it quite as daunting as being in complete isolation, albeit, it will no doubt still put quite a few people off from coming

[europtimiste]

There is no date for the reopening of general tourism in Thailand, except Phuket
Deputy government spokesperson Traisulee Traisoranakul says Thailand will not be “fully reopened to foreign tourists” along the lines of Phuket’s “safe and sealed” model, because the government and CCSA has to consider too many details. Thailand’s largest island, Phuket, is going to be a pilot program for the partial re-opening to any tourist that wants to visit – but with plenty of conditions and restrictions.

The spokesperson added that the government must consider many factors “…including guidelines, screening processes and measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19”.

“Phuket residents and Thai tourists can rest assured that no steps to reopen the country have been taken and that utmost precaution will be taken when borders are reopened”, she said in Nation Thailand.

For the Phuket pilot program, tourists (assuming they can find a flight to the island) will arrive at the Phuket International Airport, and then travel to their accommodation (a hotel that has been registered and approved by the Thai government) for 14 day quarantine. They will be restricted to a 1 kilometre radius of the hotel, according to the early announcements about the program. After the 2 weeks in their 1-kilometre-radius quarantine, the guests will be free to roam around Phuket, and then beyond if they choose after another 7 days. The early conditions also stipulated a minimum stay of 30 days and that entry will also only be limited to tourists from risk-free countries (whatever that means).

The program was meant to start on October 1 although there has been no firm announcement made where the full details have been laid out. As recent history has shown, early proposals sometimes don’t pan out into fully detailed announcements.

There had been speculation in foreign media this week that the “Phuket Model” was a blueprint for the re-introduction fo tourism across all of Thailand. That information was incorrect.

https://thethaiger.com/news/national/th ... ept-phuket

Restriction to 1 km. radius ??? If the beach is within this 1 km. it's not bad, at least they can enjoy some kind of holiday.

[caller]

Restriction to 1 km. radius ??? If the beach is within this 1 km. it's not bad, at least they can enjoy some kind of holiday.

I don't really understand what this entails? Will there be some sort of controlled zone which stops them wandering into no man's land? Will restaurants be open in the zone? Can they mingle with other captives? Will there be people flogging crap on the beach? Will it be a sort of pastiche of life in Phuket - perhaps 'Westworld meets Patong' with bargirls replacing Yul Brynner as the androids???

[HHTel]

I remember the Tesco trolleys in the UK. If you wheeled them over the line denoting the perimeter, the wheels locked.
Maybe something similar. Wander outside the control zone and you get an electric shock!!

[oakdale160]

No problem, each tourist could be fitted with an electronic device so that they can be located at all times. This could be backed up by a series of drones that can administer pepper spray. Have a nice day!

[buksida]

Little backing for govt's plan to reopen
The government is mobilising efforts to reopen Phuket as the first model for Thailand to welcome back foreign tourists in October in a bid to bring back jobs associated with tourism and generate more income.

However, the efforts of the government are creating doubts about the health system's readiness to curb a potential second domestic wave of Covid-19.

The Bangkok Post spoke to business people and the authorities involved in preparations to reopen the tourist island.

As the government has gradually eased Covid-19 restrictions, the tourism sector has high hopes for a good recovery. Phuket and Samui of Surat Thani -- two of the most famous resort islands in the country -- are eager to reopen to foreign tourists to help stimulate local economies hard hit by the pandemic. The "Phuket Model" has been proposed to reopen the province in a "new normal" manner.

Tourism and Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said Phuket would be a pilot area where foreign tourists are allowed to travel.
The plan suggests that foreign tourists be allowed to stay in a designated area of a 1km radius on the island for 14 days before they can travel in other areas in the province if they test negative for the virus.

If they want to visit other provinces, they will have to stay in quarantine there for another seven days.

It is expected that foreign tourists will be allowed to visit Thailand from Oct 1 onwards and about 100,000 of them will likely come back.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... -to-reopen

Where do they pull these ridiculous numbers from? Thin air apparently

[PeteC]

14 days in the slammer in Phuket, then go to another province and yet another 7 days in the lock up.

They truly have no idea what they are doing.

I am anxious to see the numbers they give for those accepting these terms. However as we know, they will make up whatever numbers they want to make themselves look good.

[Chazz14]

People will soon realise that anyone selling anything inside the 1 km isolation zone can charge what they like - as they have a captive audience...

[buksida]

Plan on the table to allow Europe’s ‘snowbirds’ into Thailand for up to 9 months
Another day, another ‘plan’ flown up the pole to see if it will catch some wind. This time a prominent health provider claims the government is developing a new ‘visa’ for sunseekers. If adopted it could allow foreigners to stay in Thailand on a long-stay visa for up to 9 months. Nothing has been finalised as yet but Boon Vanasin, the chairman of Thonburi Healthcare Group, says the special visa would help reboot the country’s devastated tourism industry.

Although Thailand has allowed domestic travel and provided stimulus packages to encourage Thais to travel, there is currently no plan in place to allow foreign tourists back into the country.

In this development of the original “Phuket Plan”, long-term visitors would start their ‘holiday’ with the mandatory 14 day quarantine, plus testing, in Phuket. Then they’d be clear to roam around the island for their third week. After 3 weeks on the island the visitors would be free to travel to other parts of Thailand. Dr Boon says he has “direct knowledge of the government’s plan”. He said members of the government were keen to start the program before the northern winter kicks in.

Dr. Boon has good reason to hope the government plan is approved – around 90% of the Thonburi Healthcare Group’s customers before the Covid-19 border closures were international.

The ‘longer’ short-term visa would offer a partial lease of life to the country’s tourism and hospitality industries – both almost obliterated after 5 months without any foreign visitors. Thailand, which last year attracted nearly 40 million foreign visits, has attracted zero tourists since the borders were closed in early April. Tourist magnets like Phuket, Pattaya and Koh Samui have watched their economies almost vanish despite the government’s best efforts to promote domestic tourism.

https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/tourism ... o-9-months

[handdrummer]

You would need some serious money to travel around Thailand for 9 months. I guess those are the people they're hoping to attract.