Thailand to reopen more regions to tourists by October, analysts say it is risky but necessary

[webfact]

Authorities are keen on reopening popular tourist spots like Hua Hin, Chiang Mai and Bangkok on Oct 1.PHOTO: AFP

 

Tan Tam Mei

Thailand Correspondent

 

BANGKOK - Thailand is pushing ahead with efforts to open up more regions to visitors by the end of the year in an attempt to revive its battered tourism sector.

 

But there is scepticism about the move, as the Covid-19 vaccination rate nationwide remains dismal.

 

The authorities are keen on reopening popular tourist spots like Hua Hin, Chiang Mai and Bangkok in October following the limited success of a pilot programme to reopen Phuket in July. The so-called Sandbox scheme generated some 1.6 billion baht (S$65.3 million) on the resort island.

 

Full story: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/thailand-to-reopen-more-regions-to-tourists-by-oct-1-analysts-say-it-is-risky-but

 

-- © Copyright THE STRAITS TIMES 2021-09-17

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[realfunster]

They mean risky for the tourists through being exposed to a highly unvaccinated population and the chance of being dragged away by men in white coats to a 14 day quarantine if testing positive  ? 

Surely dropping limited numbers of fully vaccinated people into Thailand, with all the existing restrictions in place cannot seriously be considered as making the COVID situation ‘worse’ for Thais- right ?

 

In fact, all these vaccinated tourists help us move closer to herd immunity !

 

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

BANGKOK - Thailand is pushing ahead with efforts to open up more regions to visitors by the end of the year in an attempt to revive its battered tourism sector.

They firmly believe opening borders is going to be the salvation of the nation... thousands if not millions will be stampeding the road to paradise.

They need a re-think.

[Paul Henry]

If Thailand has a false start and open to early and we see a big rise in Covid cases of both locals and tourists they can expect a big drop off in tourist numbers following a debacle. It will then take a lot longer to recover the tourists trust and dollars. The Thai tourist industry and associated businesses cannot stand a prolonged delay in the arrival of future tourists. "Act in haste repent at leisure"

[TooMuchTime]

If this still has 100 requirements to enter it won't be risky because no one will come.

[nobodysfriend]

Opening the borders does not mean that more thais will become infected by the vaccinated tourists .

It means that some thais who are struggling to survive will have the chance to make a few baht .

They need this .

Btw ... more than 200 new infections per day in Phuket ...

Who infects who ? Is it the few tourists who are responsible for the 200 daily infections ? 

 

[Scrotobike]

"following the limited success of a pilot programe to reopen Phuket in July"

Is this the same program that failed all its metrics for ending it, and the program that vaccinated 18yos instead of the old and sick (who are still not vaccinated and are still dying)

 

It was not a success at all

[Pesche]

"pushing ahead with efforts" is a very convincing way to say it. LOL

[zzaa09]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

They firmly believe opening borders is going to be the salvation of the nation... thousands if not millions will be stampeding the road to paradise.

They need a re-think.

They may open partially or fully quite soon, but I'm most certain that tourists/travelers won't be coming in hordes - not yet, anyway.

[gk10012001]

It is a bit irrational to worry that opening up to a million Vaccinated and negative testing tourists is a concern, when there are still 50 million unvaccinated Thais running around.  Maybe a few million more tourists will come in, if quarantines really are not necessary, but I don't think it will that high because so many things and businesses are still closed and may tourists still will have issues returning to their home countries.  And at the moment the flight choices are poor compared to the normal things like from the USA just getting to LAX and picking so man airlines, EVA connecting through Taiwain, Cathay connecting through Hong Kong, several Chinese airlines connecting through China such as Pudong, JAL through Japan, etc.  

[gk10012001]

And is there anything official on what vaccines are allowed for the maybe official October 1 or October 15 openings?  Before for the sand boxes I saw lists, Pfizer, Moderna, JJ, etc.  but not sure what source to look at now for these other openiings

[Geoffggi]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The so-called Sandbox scheme generated some 1.6 billion baht (S$65.3 million) on the resort island.

Yes but how much did it cost the country to set up and run ............??

[seajae]

Thailand, where money and profits come before the health/lives of their citizens, covid is still running rampant but it goes to the back of the queue to making money from farang tourists, maybe if the govt had pulled its finger out and had  vaccinations from the western world ordered/imported  at the start instead of pandering to their chinese masters  we wouldnt have all the problems we are having now. Opening up when the country is still spreading covid all over the place is not the way to go when it should be vaccinating everyone with western vaccines, it was their push to get everyone travelling again for money/profits that started the second wave yet here they are wanting to do it all again, shows how pathetic they really are, money, money, money is their only catch cry

[relax33]

3 hours ago, realfunster said:

They mean risky for the tourists through being exposed to a highly unvaccinated population and the chance of being dragged away by men in white coats to a 14 day quarantine if testing positive  ? 

Surely dropping limited numbers of fully vaccinated people into Thailand, with all the existing restrictions in place cannot seriously be considered as making the COVID situation ‘worse’ for Thais- right ?

 

In fact, all these vaccinated tourists help us move closer to herd immunity !

 

Spot on  !! 
TL should provide free covid insurance for visitors who risk their health to visit instead of doing the reverse by asking them to pay for it ..
Looks like TAT has really succeeded in pulling wool over everyone's faces to come out with such a con trick , it must be some act of hallucination  ..
Took me ages to figure out as my brain is relatively new (seldom used) n break out from the spell
Hopefully western media can join forces to uncover this deceptive act n shame them into changing course ...

[Guderian]

43 minutes ago, gk10012001 said:

what vaccines are allowed for the maybe official October 1 or October 15 openings?

What official openings? This is Thailand, the magic place where plans either change every 30 minutes, or else they never existed in the first place, lol.

 

 

[placeholder]

I don't know if anybody read the whole article but the most horrifying bit of information was that the elderly actually have a much lower rate of vaccination than other age groups. Ages 60 and olderwere only 6.7% fully vaccinated while it was 15% for ages 18 to 59. If vaccinations had prioritized the elderly, the mortality figures would be a lot, lot lower. Instead the powers that be prioritized geography over age and made the situation in Thailand look a lot scarier. Not a great way to appeal to tourists.

[newnative]

2 hours ago, TooMuchTime said:

If this still has 100 requirements to enter it won't be risky because no one will come.

    I was just going to say the same thing.  Where's the risk if few will coming anyway?  Just open up already with no quarantine for fully-vaccinated visitors.  There likely won't be many the first few months even with no quarantine--which gives Thailand time to get more of the population vaccinated and more businesses opened.  If they finally come up now with a firm opening policy that doesn't change every hour it will be helpful for people who are planning for December, January and February winter getaways. 

[Cake Monster]

1 hour ago, Geoffggi said:

Yes but how much did it cost the country to set up and run ............??

The Phuket Sandbox, and now the reopening on 1 st October for some areas will have cost a whole load of Money to instigate.

If all the Promotional crud, the pay offs , the Hiring of Celebs Etc is taken into consideration, I am guessing that more has been spent, than Income generated.

The situation will be exactly the same for the Business,s that will open on October 1 st .

It will cost more in overheads such as Electric, Staff Etc Etc to open any Business on 1 st October, than the receipts of Money from Customers.

Commercial Suicide by many.

 

 

 

[Kadilo]

2 hours ago, Scrotobike said:

"following the limited success of a pilot programe to reopen Phuket in July"

Is this the same program that failed all its metrics for ending it, and the program that vaccinated 18yos instead of the old and sick (who are still not vaccinated and are still dying)

 

It was not a success at all

29,000. Visitors, 1.6 billion generated and only 88 covid cases as of Sept. 

 

Which are the metrics that it failed?

[James105]

57 minutes ago, placeholder said:

I don't know if anybody read the whole article but the most horrifying bit of information was that the elderly actually have a much lower rate of vaccination than other age groups. Ages 60 and olderwere only 6.7% fully vaccinated while it was 15% for ages 18 to 59. If vaccinations had prioritized the elderly, the mortality figures would be a lot, lot lower. Instead the powers that be prioritized geography over age and made the situation in Thailand look a lot scarier. Not a great way to appeal to tourists.

They are going to start giving kids the Pfizer vaccine here next month, presumably at the expense of (or at least delaying) giving it to the older folks.   Kids have as much chance of dying from a lightning strike as covid.    Since the propaganda machine has made everyone equally scared of covid and see it as a death sentence (even for groups who at almost zero risk),  no-one has really batted an eyelid about yet another insane covid policy that will cost more lives than it saves.  

[kiwikeith]

4 hours ago, hotchilli said:

They firmly believe opening borders is going to be the salvation of the nation... thousands if not millions will be stampeding the road to paradise.

They need a re-think.

It won't work if you can not get back into your home country without paying huge air fares and MIQ fees.

The rest of the world is going to open as soon as they hit the 70/80 % vaccination goal.

The we will see what vaccines are made of.

[Kadilo]

The “health vs economy” argument has now swung firmly round in favour of opening up with an acceptable risk once the vaccination numbers reach their intended target in the coming weeks. 

[Mr Meeseeks]

5 hours ago, Paul Henry said:

If Thailand has a false start and open to early and we see a big rise in Covid cases of both locals and tourists they can expect a big drop off in tourist numbers following a debacle. It will then take a lot longer to recover the tourists trust and dollars. The Thai tourist industry and associated businesses cannot stand a prolonged delay in the arrival of future tourists. "Act in haste repent at leisure"

This. 

[Bkk Brian]

2 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

This. 

It seems Anutin has washed his hands of it now..................new thread here

 

Thailand's deputy prime minister and health minister Anutin Charnvirakul denied there was any specific dates for opening up the country or Bangkok.

In fact he passed the buck on everything when pressed for answers by the Thai media as reported by Thai Rath yesterday.

What about the tourism minister and the Bangkok governor delaying reopening to October 15th?

No one told me about that, he said.

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1231867-anutin-no-one-said-wed-open-the-country-and-bangkok-on-october-1st/

 

[Mr Meeseeks]

4 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

The “health vs economy” argument has now swung firmly round in favour of opening up with an acceptable risk once the vaccination numbers reach their intended target in the coming weeks. 

It will take several months more to reach 70% of Thais fully vaccinated unfortunately.

 

Reason for this of course was the botched vaccine procurement, refusal to join COVAX and only ordering Sinovax from their pals up North. 

 

Now they are endangering further loss of life by opening up again too soon.

 

Backed themselves into this though, and left with no choice. 

 

Mismanagement on a monumental scale, but will anyone be found responsible for this debacle?

 

Of course not.

[Mr Meeseeks]

2 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

It seems Anutin has washed his hands of it now..................new thread here

 

Thailand's deputy prime minister and health minister Anutin Charnvirakul denied there was any specific dates for opening up the country or Bangkok.

In fact he passed the buck on everything when pressed for answers by the Thai media as reported by Thai Rath yesterday.

What about the tourism minister and the Bangkok governor delaying reopening to October 15th?

No one told me about that, he said.

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1231867-anutin-no-one-said-wed-open-the-country-and-bangkok-on-october-1st/

 

He knows. I've met him and he's a clever man. He'll certainly be well aware of the implications of another spike in cases due to a relaxing of the rules too soon. 

[Kadilo]

8 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

It will take several months more to reach 70% of Thais fully vaccinated unfortunately.

 

Reason for this of course was the botched vaccine procurement, refusal to join COVAX and only ordering Sinovax from their pals up North. 

 

Now they are endangering further loss of life by opening up again too soon.

 

Backed themselves into this though, and left with no choice. 

 

Mismanagement on a monumental scale, but will anyone be found responsible for this debacle?

 

Of course not.

They will reach 70% fully vaccinated by year end comfortably at the current rates and those areas that they wish to open sooner will, I assume, be targeted sooner. 
 

The main tourism target was always Xmas/New Year particularly in places like Pattaya. Anything before then is a bonus.  
 

It won’t be the restrictions out here that will put people off, it will be the restrictions and costs when they return home and in the case of the UK if it’s not lifted out the red zone today, which seems unlikely, I’m pretty sure it will be once the 70% is reached. 

Edited September 17, 2021 by Kadilo

[Mr Meeseeks]

1 minute ago, Kadilo said:

They will reach 70% fully vaccinated by year end comfortably at the current rates and those areas that they wish to open sooner will, I assume, be targeted sooner. 
 

The main tourism target was always Xmas/New Year particularly in places like Pattaya. Anything before then is a bonus.  
 

It won’t be the restrictions out here that will put people off, it will be the restrictions and costs when they return home and in the case of the UK if it’s not lifted out the red zone today, which seems unlikely, I’m pretty sure it will be once the 70% is reached. 

Silly restrictions can be listed at any time when the penny drops.

 

There's another issue they can't control and that's the state of the global economy. I'm fairly certain that we are heading into a global depression and China's Evergrande is the first sign that they are in soapy bubble up there. China may even have to devalue the Yuan to bail them out, it's that big!

[a3tsw]

21 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

He knows. I've met him and he's a clever man. He'll certainly be well aware of the implications of another spike in cases due to a relaxing of the rules too soon. 

Did you get a selfie with him?

 

AFAF.

[HashBrownHarry]

6 hours ago, hotchilli said:

They firmly believe opening borders is going to be the salvation of the nation... thousands if not millions will be stampeding the road to paradise.

They need a re-think.

Opening the borders can only help the current situation.

 

Or are you suggesting it'll be of no benifit at all?