Tourism-reliant Thailand shelves 'travel bubble' plan as Asia virus cases rise

By Chayut Setboonsarng

 

FILE PHOTO: Boards with information about canceled flights are seen at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International airport amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Thailand, June 3, 2020. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/File photo

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand has delayed plans for a "travel bubble" agreement with select countries as new daily coronavirus cases rise in parts of Asia, putting pressure on its vital tourism industry and complicating efforts to revive its battered economy.

 

Thailand first proposed the idea in June to allow movement between select countries that have low infection numbers, without the need for travellers to undergo quarantine.

 

But that has been shelved, officials said, amid second and third waves in East Asian countries that previously had their outbreaks under control.

"We are delaying discussion of travel bubble arrangements for now given the outbreak situation in other countries," Thailand's coronavirus taskforce spokesman, Taweesin Wisanuyothin, told Reuters.

 

Despite more than two months without confirmed local transmission and recording only 3,300 cases, Southeast Asia's second-largest economy is facing its worst crisis in several decades.

 

Foreign arrivals plunged 66% in the first six months of the year, to 6.69 million. The industry has warned that 1.6 trillion baht ($51.50 billion) of revenue could be wiped out this year.

 

By comparison, Thailand had a record 39.8 million tourists in all of 2019, spending 1.93 trillion baht.

 

"Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea were among those considered (for a travel bubble) because those areas had a low number of cases, but now they were in double-digits so discussions were put on hold," Taweesin said, referring to new daily infections.

 

Reviving talks would depend on the situation in each country, which the taskforce was assessing daily, he said, adding that was a widely accepted industry view.

 

The island of Phuket has instead proposed receiving direct flights from those countries, with tourists and business executives doing two-week quarantines in their hotels before going out.

 

"We are asking for travel, charter flights, into Phuket," Phuket Tourist Association President Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, told Reuters.

 

Although demand for long stays would be lower, it would be a start, with occupancy of 40% to 50% sufficient for hotels to survive and avert job losses, Bhummikitti added.

 

($1 = 31.0700 baht)

 

(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Martin Petty)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-08-06

 

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It was dead in the water from day one.

 

Expect December, at least, before they wake up and smell the coffee.

 

 

These people speak everyday like uncontrollable mouth diarrhea but hen have to backtrack by putting in a bi maxi pad. Expats to the rescue and give us PR status. they do that and i would guarantee them to spend 500,000 baht in the next 2 weeks. 

What happened to "we have to let the Chinese in, NOW"?

Media have done there best to scare Thai's of the dirty farang. 

 

Thailand will keep the ban on international arrivals until a vaccine is approved. 

It's not about the 'dirty farang', it's about the Chinese and what's now happening in Vietnam.

 

Vietnam remains closed, no cases for more than 90 days yet it still got in and it's not the same strain as before. I hear things from Vietnam that suggest it got in from Chinese nationals crossing the border illegally.

 

Now this is quite important because the strain that's going around Vietnam now is the newer strain more common in Europe and the US yet it's believed it entered the country from China.

 

This is the important point, the Chinese did everything they could to keep out this mutated strain which apparently has an R0 of between 5 and 6 as opposed to the original which was much, much lower at around 2 to 2.5. The Chinese have failed and even the illegal border crossers have the European strain.

 

Keep it closed and keep it out.

 

If they plan on opening it in say December then they might as well just open it all up now - the result will be the same. They will know this, it's a matter of waiting it out or opening up.

 

 

12 minutes ago, ukrules said:

It's not about the 'dirty farang', it's about the Chinese and what's now happening in Vietnam.

 

Vietnam remains closed, no cases for more than 90 days yet it still got in and it's not the same strain as before. I hear things from Vietnam that suggest it got in from Chinese nationals crossing the border illegally.

 

Now this is quite important because the strain that's going around Vietnam now is the newer strain more common in Europe and the US yet it's believed it entered the country from China.

 

This is the important point, the Chinese did everything they could to keep out this mutated strain which apparently has an R0 of between 5 and 6 as opposed to the original which was much, much lower at around 2 to 2.5. The Chinese have failed and even the illegal border crossers have the European strain.

 

Keep it closed and keep it out.

 

If they plan on opening it in say December then they might as well just open it all up now - the result will be the same. They will know this, it's a matter of waiting it out or opening up.

 

 

The Travel bubble was terminated a couple of weeks ago, e.g before the current new cases in Vietnam. As I said Thailand will not be open to tourism until a viable vaccine is available.  

The problem is not only the number of cases in these countries; the virus is for example still very well contained in new Zealand.

 

But New Zealand, like pretty much every country that has succeeded in containing the virus, imposes a quarantine on any of its citizens who travel abroad and return.

 

No one is going to want to take a tourist trip only to face 2 week quarantine when they come home.

 

The "travel bubble" would have to be agreed to by both Thailand and the other country(s) with each agreeing not to impose quarantine.

47 minutes ago, Patts said:

The Travel bubble was terminated a couple of weeks ago, e.g before the current new cases in Vietnam. As I said Thailand will not be open to tourism until a viable vaccine is available.  

When a reliable vaccine is available to all it's still going to take a long time to manufacture enough doses to make a dent. This time will be measured in years, not months.

Nobody was ever truly serious about this travel bubble.

You do realize that the government is dealing with a situation where millions of its citizens have been out of work, and quite suddenly.  They dealt with it with these news stories and silly press releases because they had to appear to do something.  Maybe explore a possibility during a pandemic to keep people from freaking out.  

Yes, there will be no travel to Thailand this year, full stop.  

1 hour ago, ukrules said:

When a reliable vaccine is available to all it's still going to take a long time to manufacture enough doses to make a dent. This time will be measured in years, not months.

They say minimum 2-3 years.  

Get cozy.  

2 hours ago, ukrules said:

It's not about the 'dirty farang', it's about the Chinese and what's now happening in Vietnam.

 

Vietnam remains closed, no cases for more than 90 days yet it still got in and it's not the same strain as before. I hear things from Vietnam that suggest it got in from Chinese nationals crossing the border illegally.

 

Now this is quite important because the strain that's going around Vietnam now is the newer strain more common in Europe and the US yet it's believed it entered the country from China.

 

This is the important point, the Chinese did everything they could to keep out this mutated strain which apparently has an R0 of between 5 and 6 as opposed to the original which was much, much lower at around 2 to 2.5. The Chinese have failed and even the illegal border crossers have the European strain.

 

Keep it closed and keep it out.

 

If they plan on opening it in say December then they might as well just open it all up now - the result will be the same. They will know this, it's a matter of waiting it out or opening up.

 

 

Waiting for what exactly? There are no guarantees that there will be an efficient vaccine available anytime soon. Or indeed ever. 

It will find it's way in eventually if you keep the boarders shut or not and I have no doubt Thailand can deal with it.

If they're waiting for the Vaccine I reckon it's going to be couple of years can they wait that long?
Immunity is the way to go but that people need to be exposed to the Virus.
Flatten the curve not eliminate it.

 

 

 

27 minutes ago, androokery said:

Waiting for what exactly? There are no guarantees that there will be an efficient vaccine available anytime soon. Or indeed ever. 

Are you still waiting for SARS to end and why not?

 

There was no vaccine or proper treatment for that either yet look at what happened there.

 

 

5 hours ago, ukrules said:

When a reliable vaccine is available to all it's still going to take a long time to manufacture enough doses to make a dent. This time will be measured in years, not months.

Manufacturing is the easy bit! There are reports all over (check Google) of companies already geared up to manufacture it...when it's been tested and approved by the scientists and authorities.  THAT'S the tricky bit, plus, how brave do you feel about an unproven medication?

 

The development cycles for vaccines usually take several years - this one's being crammed into a few months. Think about it..... and no, that's NOT a conspiracy theory just fairly obvious common sense.

27 minutes ago, VBF said:

THAT'S the tricky bit, plus, how brave do you feel about an unproven medication?

Yeah, I'll definitely wait a bit before getting a shot, maybe a few years.

 

8 hours ago, holy cow cm said:

Expats to the rescue and give us PR status. they do that and i would guarantee them to spend 500,000 baht in the next 2 weeks. 

I'm not sure I'd even go for PR anymore even if they were desperate enogh to give it. Had enough of the Thai bureaucracy and I'm too far gone from thinking Thailand would be a permanent place to stay in anymore. Thailand missed that chance, too late now. It was something I would have liked to do a decade ago.

2 hours ago, VBF said:

 

Manufacturing is the easy bit! There are reports all over (check Google) of companies already geared up to manufacture it...when it's been tested and approved by the scientists and authorities.  THAT'S the tricky bit, plus, how brave do you feel about an unproven medication?

 

The development cycles for vaccines usually take several years - this one's being crammed into a few months. Think about it..... and no, that's NOT a conspiracy theory just fairly obvious common sense.

Yes totally agree and I'd like to add that it's not at all certain yet if a vaccine will protect a patient for long. First test results from Germany showed that recovered covid-19 patients saw their amount of antibodies drop quickly in a few months which suggests people don't naturally get immune from infection. Which is no surprise because we already knew this from many other corona viruses. The common cold is good example. If you get infected with the same corona strain the next year you get just as sick as the year before.

 

Perhaps with an actual vaccine, that is to say a serum that raises the correct type of sars-cov-2 antibodies to high levels in your blood stream, we can make people immune somewhat longer than after natural infection. Now I am no virologist or scientist in general but from what I deducted from the few scientific papers I read and researchers I spoke with we have to get prepared for a scenario where we won't get a vaccine in the next 20-30 years, if ever. Politicians and journalists don't say it out loud but this thing can be here for good. I think looking for proper treatment is paramount so this covid-19 beast isn't so dangerous anymore. The moment it can be cured with a simple pill or a shot it doesn't really matter anymore and we can include it in the list with other common corona related illnesses such as the common cold.

Winter is coming in near future..

Thailand should concentrate those who want to spend 3-6 months extended holidays..

Those may be o..k to stay 2 weeks quarantine in order to spend winter in safe country..

1 hour ago, AgentSmith said:

patients saw their amount of antibodies drop quickly in a few months which suggests people don't naturally get immune from infection.

If only our immune systems were multi faceted and had some type of 'memory system' and a way of making more antibodies pretty quickly when exposed to a virus again along with some other type of immunity which would neutralise it on reinfection when it enters a cell....

 

Hint: We already know that there's plenty of people who have a good measure of immunity against this disease because they don't get ill. What's the difference between those and the people who do get ill? Therein lies the answers....

13 hours ago, The Barmbeker said:

What happened to "we have to let the Chinese in, NOW"?

I believe that was the view of one of the tourist industry or hotel organizations leaders, whose job it is to promote tourism; what is being expressed here is the view of the official government Covid response team, whose job is to manage the government's Covid response.

Thailand needs tourism and many tourist are long stay condo owners. They will love to come back. And quaraintine won't be a problem to them. So please start with European long stay condo owners. Most of them were in Thailand when Covid started.

4 hours ago, DrTuner said:

I'm not sure I'd even go for PR anymore even if they were desperate enogh to give it. Had enough of the Thai bureaucracy and I'm too far gone from thinking Thailand would be a permanent place to stay in anymore. Thailand missed that chance, too late now. It was something I would have liked to do a decade ago.

Curious to know more...are you retired or working and/or raising a family or just doing business. For me, a retired person, my interaction with the Thai state bureaucracy is deminimus and consists of two trips to immigration per year for a total of 30 minutes to renew my a "retirement" visa and prove my bank funds after 90 days (90 day reports are done online) and a trip to the Land Transportation Office every 5 years to renew my drivers license. The annual car registrations are done by a service just down from my house for 100 baht. I don't think living as an expatriate gets much easier than this.

What’s next probably Thailand giving big discounts to as dirty foreigners to help their economy TIT

Thailand has been one of the countries' who have not put trust in the tests, as the tests are not reliable!

They need help from the rest of the world as do all countries this should be a united effort to help each other.

Vaccines is not for me natural immunity is what I believe in, personally I dont believe the nonsense that we are being feed and have no fear of this so called virus. I ride a motorcycle in Thailand and have done for many years, FAR MORE DANGEROUS THAN ANY VIRUS.

If people believe what government's tell them in any way I deeply feel sorry  for them, the government's are the virus!

so what are you saying exactly?tourism is dead?thats about it. it appears,dodo land.businesses and millions of jobs can kiss it all goodbye,forever.a vaccine ...maybe and a big one at that.the real estate biz is dead too another victim of covid so the economy gets another death blow.buildings still going up everywhere and no buyers local or overseas in any nos.still the head in the sand and short term rip offs mentality to the fore.get a plan going.bring back people with properties and retirement visas,this will at least get the rental mkt going in bkk pattaya puket cm etc.let them in with a covid neg test and 14 days quarantine at home.their wives and families too,it will kick up the economy to some degree,cleaners ,nannies, repair work, more money being spent etc this do nothing inability to decide anything is a killer and guess what millions are effected,tourist jobs  and firms gone forever building work too etc etc its a huge chunk of the economy and add manufacturing.that wont come back the same as before ,big comps dont like the local attitude any longer,better places to plant seeds.time to do something.get on with it or yes even the apathetic locals will start to scream in pain soon,no more freebies ur 5000 mnth is gone too.now the trouble will start.the push will start from within ...eventually when they dont have what they want in enough nos.theyre apathetic obedient and scared of authority and uniforms but eventually somethings gotta give.the talk in the shadows is there some months now,unspeakable things,the things that can never be spoken of.... are so...... guys with big guns,no honour[see tonglor etc] and little brains...the clocks ticking.

Don't get me wrong I understand both sides Medicine/Economy this Virus you can't see nor does it draw a line in the sand not to cross.

 

This relates to everything in life, trying to pick and choice that is the real problem same as trying to pick the type of tourist you want to visit and how much they might spend in Thailand before the virus.

 

It is just impossible to contain the problem unless they continue the process in place now I understand why expats living and stuck here want to keep it shut down because majority in general are of the age that could easily catch it once the country starts to open.

 

Even with a vaccine in place there will still be cases and my guess those numbers will rival what they have now before the numbers start to drop the question to me do you spend billions and trillions promoting tourist to visit or do you get all the medically steps ready to control it.

 

Personally, if I needed to get into Thailand I don't need a 500,000 baht quarantine package just put up some tents at the airport, provide me with some clean water and noodles?????

 

 

12 hours ago, DirtyHarry55 said:

Immunity is the way to go but that people need to be exposed to the Virus.
Flatten the curve not eliminate it.

And what percentage of the population do you think should be sacrificed?

It's an unproven theory, don't they have flu vaccines every year?

Immune people can still spread the disease and what immunity they have can deteriorate if they become seriously ill, or old. There is a good reason why third world countries have a younger population.

A better plan would be the way to go.

15 hours ago, ukrules said:

It's not about the 'dirty farang', it's about the Chinese and what's now happening in Vietnam.

 

Vietnam remains closed, no cases for more than 90 days yet it still got in and it's not the same strain as before. I hear things from Vietnam that suggest it got in from Chinese nationals crossing the border illegally.

 

Now this is quite important because the strain that's going around Vietnam now is the newer strain more common in Europe and the US yet it's believed it entered the country from China.

 

This is the important point, the Chinese did everything they could to keep out this mutated strain which apparently has an R0 of between 5 and 6 as opposed to the original which was much, much lower at around 2 to 2.5. The Chinese have failed and even the illegal border crossers have the European strain.

 

Keep it closed and keep it out.

 

If they plan on opening it in say December then they might as well just open it all up now - the result will be the same. They will know this, it's a matter of waiting it out or opening up.

 

 

UK has a very high rate of CV cases and deaths.If you follow Nigel Farang's highlights of  illegal immigrants crossing into the UK by boat and the Government doing nothing about it you can see why. Thailand's a safe heaven.

2 hours ago, Mops59 said:

Thailand needs tourism and many tourist are long stay condo owners. They will love to come back. And quaraintine wTotally on't be a problem to them. So please start with European long stay condo owners. Most of them were in Thailand when Covid started.

     Totally agree with you and Thaitero.  Thailand needs to get all the annual long-stays back this winter and encourage even more to come and spend the winter months here.  They can make a big difference with many businesses.  Make getting a visa as easy as possible, eliminate the 90 day reporting, and do a 5-year moratorium on the income, age, and insurance requirements for a 1-year annual visa.  Pattaya gets fairly busy on the weekends--even non-holiday weekends--but it needs more expats during the week supporting the local businesses.