Domestic tourism urged to be promoted as backup plan to overseas arrivals

[webfact]

Calm before a storm?

 

The Thai Hotels Association is urging the government to come up with measures to promote domestic tourism, because it is unsure that the plan, earlier announced by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to reopen Thailand to foreign visitors by mid-October, will be achieved, as the country is battling its worst COVID-19 outbreak yet with new highs set each day.

 

The association’s president, Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, said that, although the government is determined to meet its target, it should have a Plan B to promote domestic tourism, such as state agencies holding conferences or seminars in hotels.

 

She claimed that up to 20% of hotels have already closed permanently, while about half of the remaining establishments have temporarily suspended operations due to poor cash flow and lack of revenue.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/domestic-tourism-urged-to-be-promoted-as-backup-plan-to-overseas-arrivals/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2021-08-13

 

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[internationalism]

I think it's a 4th wave and more lock down measures on cards.

The pick of this wave will be sometimes in October and end of it sometimes at the end of year (basing prediction on mathematical model and on the government preparations of covid medicines).

Do forget any organised, large scale tourism for a year, maybe two.

Let people to decide by themselves to take day's off work when they feel to take holidays.

Those long weekend holidays, as well as well as all state and religious holidays, are just for the pandemic to prolong.

 

 

[ThailandRyan]

They killed the domestic tourism goose with the mishandling of the pandemic, add in the closures of areas, semi lockdowns, and then the massive unemployment, who can really afford to travel anymore unless you are employed by the government or in the private sector, or are an expat who has the extra funds.  The country needs to be opened up again for those of us who live here if they expect domestic tourism.  

[hotandsticky]

Hard to see how domestic tourism can be promoted with current Covid numbers and an instruction to avoid unnecessary inter-provincial travel.

[finnsk]

I like to travel in Thailand, before Covid 3- 4 times a year, then we pack the car or take the domestic plane to somewhere in the country.

 

That was before, now we are trapped in a village long outside the ricefields, without covid vaccines, sitting on our ash and borring and try to get free of the delta variant.

 

I thinl many expats like me and my friends would like to make domestic travels if we where not covid trapped.

 

Give us for god sake the vax, then we can do some good to the country.

[Jimbo2014]

Has anyone done a cost benefits analysis of the cost of early procurement of vaccines vs the horrendous economic damage of not having rolled out vaccines earlier?

[Anythingleft?]

Mid October is a pipe dream, Thailand has a lot more to weather from this mess...... 

[Anythingleft?]

12 minutes ago, Jimbo2014 said:

Has anyone done a cost benefits analysis of the cost of early procurement of vaccines vs the horrendous economic damage of not having rolled out vaccines earlier?

14 minutes ago, finnsk said:

I like to travel in Thailand, before Covid 3- 4 times a year, then we pack the car or take the domestic plane to somewhere in the country.

 

That was before, now we are trapped in a village long outside the ricefields, without covid vaccines, sitting on our ash and borring and try to get free of the delta variant.

 

I thinl many expats like me and my friends would like to make domestic travels if we where not covid trapped.

 

Give us for god sake the vax, then we can do some good to the country.

 

12 minutes ago, Jimbo2014 said:

Has anyone done a cost benefits analysis of the cost of early procurement of vaccines vs the horrendous economic damage of not having rolled out vaccines earlier?

 

 

12 minutes ago, Jimbo2014 said:

 

I'm unclear on how the vaccinations will help on the travel front. If you are vaccinated and can still contract and transmit covid when and why would they remove the quarantine period and ease travel restrictions?

 

It's the travel restrictions that are stopping tourists and the quarantines that put people off, whats the difference between being vaccinated and carrying / transmitting covid or not being vaccinated and transmitting / carrying covid. 

Okay it eases the burden on the health facilities but each country at the moment seems to be trying to head towards eradication which looks pretty out of reach at this point in time.....

[HappyExpat57]

20 minutes ago, Jimbo2014 said:

Has anyone done a cost benefits analysis of the cost of early procurement of vaccines vs the horrendous economic damage of not having rolled out vaccines earlier?

That would require an honest assessment of the situation, and loss of face of those in charge wouldn't tolerate the outcome. The emperor's clothes look just fine, thank you very much.

[RotBenz8888]

They did promote domestic tourism last Songkran and that's one reason why there won't be much travel for a while... 

Edited August 13, 2021 by RotBenz8888

[finnsk]

4 minutes ago, Anythingleft? said:

 

I'm unclear on how the vaccinations will help on the travel front. If you are vaccinated and can still contract and transmit covid when and why would they remove the quarantine period and ease travel restrictions?

 

It's the travel restrictions that are stopping tourists and the quarantines that put people off, whats the difference between being vaccinated and carrying / transmitting covid or not being vaccinated and transmitting / carrying covid. 

Okay it eases the burden on the health facilities but each country at the moment seems to be trying to head towards eradication which looks pretty out of reach at this point in time.....

I am not talking about the chinese vaccines, I am talking about the good mrna vaccines which give you some protection against the covid - delta etc and if you get attached you will mainly only get a infection like a flu, that would be good enough for me to travel at, still you can go free around in the nothern provinces by car. 

 

All this crazy situation in the country, can only change to the better by vax with good vaccines to all people. What is going on now is only making the situation more and more bad, in the morning a thai doctor said he was affraid half of the population will be attached in 3 month, if nothing changes, understood that the only is vax.

 

Ok many thing is closed now, so you must look good around when you make your travel plans, but still there is many options, specially if you not are going for the biggest tourist things.

[sapson]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

The Thai Hotels Association is urging the government to come up with measures to promote domestic tourism, because it is unsure that the plan, earlier announced by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to reopen Thailand to foreign visitors by mid-October, will be achieved, as the country is battling its worst COVID-19 outbreak yet with new highs set each day.

Are the members of this association brain dead?? or being rich friends of the junta they are fully vaccinated with a decent vaccine and dont give a sh@t about anything over than money?

 

There is a pandemic tourism is irrelevant but saving lives isnt.

 

The plan that matters is getting the whole country fully vaccinated with a decent vaccine as a matter of extreme urgency.

 

When this objective is near completion then domestic and international tourism can be developed and jobs, incomes, lives rebuilt across all social classes.

Edited August 13, 2021 by sapson

[Jimbo2014]

32 minutes ago, Anythingleft? said:

 

I'm unclear on how the vaccinations will help on the travel front. If you are vaccinated and can still contract and transmit covid when and why would they remove the quarantine period and ease travel restrictions?

 

It's the travel restrictions that are stopping tourists and the quarantines that put people off, whats the difference between being vaccinated and carrying / transmitting covid or not being vaccinated and transmitting / carrying covid. 

Okay it eases the burden on the health facilities but each country at the moment seems to be trying to head towards eradication which looks pretty out of reach at this point in time.....

Singapore is about to ignore cases and just let anyone in.  It makes sense if a population is fully vaccinated to just start normality.  Otherwise when?

[ikke1959]

As I told many times.. Vaccinate the local people so they can start travel around and businesses can reopen instead of focus on a sandbox or international tourists...As long as there are ineffective vaccines being used and people don't feel safe they will not travel around. So start with Pfizer, Moderna, Astra instead of the Chinese garbage 

[Denim]

1 hour ago, Anythingleft? said:

Mid October is a pipe dream, Thailand has a lot more to weather from this mess...... 

He's just kicking the can down the road as usual.

[Scrotobike]

Unsure?

Bonkers the lot of them, what foreign tourists?

[Tony125]

Are these people for real?  We can't have international tourists because Thailand is closed down and unvaccinated. Do you think Thai who are unvaccinated want to travel to deep red zones or from them to other areas and either spread the infection or get infected. Government needs to get AZ, Pfizer, Moderna, J and J , Novavac  at any cost ASAP  if they want to start  any kind of tourism or alow the country to work and survive.

[Sydebolle]

OK, after having made crystal clear that the "dirty farang" are not welcome, now or in the future, the tourism authority is spinning new ideas. 

The Chinese will not come either and the racist attitude by Khon Thai towards anything darker than them (like South Asians) will see the later going elsewhere too.

The domestic segment is not spending half of the money and ......... does not have anything left as disposable income. Bangkokians visiting the lower-rated Isan? The completely dead night market of Chiang Mai (and what would Khon Thai do, if (s)he cannot shop?) is evident enough that all this is just hot air by some desk pr1cks in air conditioned governmental offices. 

Good luck to you, Thailand, you've been warned over and over and over again. Sorry for all those who honestly tried to work towards sustainable quality tourism though - you were in the minority as the others were busy overcharging, two-tiering pricing and having people just walk away after reading the visa regulations which were thicker than the telephone directory of New York! 

 

[ezzra]

Today i was on the very same beach pictured above at Patong and i had the beach pretty much for myself at mid day, i would have loved for some of my Thai friend to come join me but no flights, no buses and no entry to Thai people, i think they should allow a certain number of domestic tourism to enter the so called sandbox areas as most Phuket is pretty much deserted and void or tourists...

[tomazbodner]

How does domestic travel promotion work when you're not allowed from one province to another, and there's quasi lockdown in place?

 

Sending a VR headset to people so they can travel around Thailand in the comfort of their own homes?

 

Just imagine the opportunities. You'd get to be virtually ripped off by taxi or jetski mafia, you could enjoy virtual diarrhea from a virtual som tum stall. And what's even more amazing - this could be expanded to foreign tourists without much effort!

Edited August 13, 2021 by tomazbodner

[WISteve]

2 hours ago, finnsk said:

I like to travel in Thailand, before Covid 3- 4 times a year, then we pack the car or take the domestic plane to somewhere in the country.

 

That was before, now we are trapped in a village long outside the ricefields, without covid vaccines, sitting on our ash and borring and try to get free of the delta variant.

 

I thinl many expats like me and my friends would like to make domestic travels if we where not covid trapped.

 

Give us for god sake the vax, then we can do some good to the country.

YES!!

Give us the good vaccines instead of more of the usual empty promises and domestic travel and business can take up some of the slack.  But the days of old when Thailand would host 30 million plus travelers is gone for a long time at the present rate.

[statman78]

1 hour ago, Jimbo2014 said:

Singapore is about to ignore cases and just let anyone in.  It makes sense if a population is fully vaccinated to just start normality.  Otherwise when?

Singapore’s model is the way to go once everyone who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated with an effective vaccine.  According to some experts we will not get to “herd immunity” with this virus.  Vaccines will protect us from serious infection or hospitalization.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/12/herd-immunity-is-mythical-with-the-covid-delta-variant-experts-say.html?__source=iosappshare|com.apple.UIKit.activity.Mail

 

 

 

 

[Caldera]

That's an insane proposition. Either it will be safe and fun (no major Covid outbreak, no major restrictions) to travel in Thailand, or it won't, regardless if the traveler is domestic or foreign.

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The Thai Hotels Association is urging the government to come up with measures to promote domestic tourism, because it is unsure that the plan, earlier announced by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to reopen Thailand to foreign visitors by mid-October, will be achieved, as the country is battling its worst COVID-19 outbreak yet with new highs set each day.

Plan B is not even on the table... they're still trying to sort out Plan A fiasco.

[Anton9]

If by the end of the month there will not be a relaxation of the restrictions(at least opening of shops/restaurants and lifting of domestic travel restrictions)Thailand is doomed.

I am just waiting september to decide if it's time to leave this place for a while.

 

[Jimbo2014]

32 minutes ago, statman78 said:

Singapore’s model is the way to go once everyone who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated with an effective vaccine.  According to some experts we will not get to “herd immunity” with this virus.  Vaccines will protect us from serious infection or hospitalization.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/12/herd-immunity-is-mythical-with-the-covid-delta-variant-experts-say.html?__source=iosappshare|com.apple.UIKit.activity.Mail

 

 

 

 

Exactly - after that we will just have to live with it.

[Olivie]

11 hours ago, statman78 said:

Singapore’s model is the way to go once everyone who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated with an effective vaccine.  According to some experts we will not get to “herd immunity” with this virus.  Vaccines will protect us from serious infection or hospitalization.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/12/herd-immunity-is-mythical-with-the-covid-delta-variant-experts-say.html?__source=iosappshare|com.apple.UIKit.activity.Mail

 

 

 

 

That's what European countries are doing. Most Western Europe has more than 70% of adults that already got 1 jab. All is open.

The problem in Asia, they always followed the "0 case strategy'. But it does not work with the Delta variant.
Now Singapore is the first asian country to chose to "live with the virus". They seem smart, like European, and smarten than most of asian countries.

Edited August 13, 2021 by Olivie

[nkg]

14 hours ago, webfact said:

The Thai Hotels Association is urging the government to come up with measures to promote domestic tourism

 

Oh yeah, I'm sure some domestic tourism will make up for the 20% of GDP lost when the farangs stopped coming.

 

Maybe they'd like to drop the requirements for a compulsary 2 week hotel stay, 4 PCR tests and the lucrative Thai covid insurance?

Edited August 13, 2021 by nkg

[drenddy]

3 hours ago, Olivie said:

That's what European countries are doing. Most Western Europe has more than 70% of adults that already got 1 jab. All is open.

The problem in Asia, they always followed the "0 case strategy'. But it does not work with the Delta variant.
Now Singapore is the first asian country to chose to "live with the virus". They seem smart, like European, and smarten than most of asian countries.

 I have read about their plans...It seems travellers would need to be tested on arrival, book 1 -2 nights at hotel until results come?

 

 It seems pretty reasoanble, though EU countries are more flexible.

[ikke1959]

Announcement of the Dutch Embassy I got today not to go for holiday to Thailand.Only for necessary travels . If you come back from Thailand and don't have a vaccination, you have to stay in house quarantine in the Netherlands...so what is the use to talk about opening for tourists, but many other countries have the same rules..