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Published on : Monday, August 17, 2020
To international tourists, Thailand is not likely to reopen its borders before the end of 2020 – this forecast has been made from a deputy governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
While speaking at yet another webinar, arranged by Mekong Tourism and TravelMole, Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya, the deputy governor for international marketing at TAT, observed that there has been “no talk of a timeline issued for reopening the country to inbound or outbound leisure travel during weekly Covid-19 national meetings”.
He mentioned that the Thai government’s “very, very cautious” approach in reviving tourism and said he doesn’t hope that Thailand will welcome tourists not before 2021.
“I see no signal from the government that the country will open this year. That’s putting lot of pressure on the tourism industry. The Christmas period, usually the high season, is in jeopardy and I’m looking horribly even to Chinese New Year in February, which is an iffy proposition at best now. Unfortunately, this is not a rosy picture.”
Talks about the setting up of travel bubbles have been stalled as well.
“Last month, there was talk about forming travel bubbles. That talk has not continued so far because of outbreaks in many of the countries we were hoping to get tourists from, including Vietnam.”
In the meantime, the list of groups allowed into Thailand, are under stringent health measures. It has been expanded from diplomats and UN officials, to business professionals, investors who have an agreement with the government, film crews, migrant workers, exhibition personnel and the holders of Thailand Elite visas.
However, on these categories of people, there are also conditions set including their country of departure. Everyone have to undergo 14 days in state sanctioned quarantine.
Also, Thailand is opening up to select countries for medical tourism.
At the same time, the TAT deputy governor has added that is being planned that safe bubble that can be formed for leisure travel, with a proposed requirement that all visitors spend a minimum of 30 days in Thailand. This would be in designated areas – probably islands, such as Koh Samui or Phuket.
“Currently, this is not moving forward as the government is taking a wait-and-see attitude. They want to see how the current groups of foreigners, such as film crews and diplomats, do first. There is still a lot of nervousness.”
Tags: Thailand