"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
This article found today at the CNN website. Its a rather long piece so I have bolded parts that might be of more interest mainly tourists rather than expats. It is quite recent. Most of the items here are also the same as in Pattaya, southern Thailand.
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https://edition.cnn.com/travel/artic...vid/index.html
Hua Hin, Thailand: People sit on the beach on May 24, 2020 in Hua Hin, Thailand's oldest beach resort. Provincial officials there signed orders to re-open hotels last week. The resort town is about a 2.5-hour drive from
Bangkok (CNN) — With news that many countries in Europe are reopening to tourism in time for summer, travelers with their sights set on Asia are anxiously awaiting word on when they'll be given the green light to visit their favorite destination.
As of now, those with Thailand in mind will need to wait at least a few more months before packing their bags.
"It is still dependent on the outbreak situation, but I think at the earliest, we may see the return of tourists could be the fourth quarter of this year," Yutasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT),
And even then, he says, there will likely be restrictions on who can visit and where they can go.
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"We are not going to open all at once," he adds. "We are still on high alert, we just can't let our guards down yet. We have to look at the country of origin [of the travelers] to see if their situation has truly improved. And lastly, we have to see whether our own business operators are ready to receive tourists under the 'new normal'."
Similar versions of this strategy are already being looked at in the region -- referred to as "tourism bubbles." Basically, a country will open borders reciprocally with destinations that also have their coronavirus situation under control.
Once Thailand does open to international tourists, they'll likely only be able to visit certain spots, says Yutasak.
"We have studied a possibility of offering special long-stay packages in isolated and closed areas where health monitoring can be easily controlled -- for example, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Samui. This will be beneficial for both tourists and local residents, (like this one from ToT)since this is almost a kind of quarantine."
Bangkok's famous street food vendors have reopened, but diners must follow strict social distance rules.
Yutasak says they're finishing up a framework to restart tourism, but much of the decision-making lies in the hands of the CCSA -- the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration -- which will decide when is the best time to open the border.
Phuket-based Bill Barnett, managing director of Asia-focused consulting firm C9 Hotelworks, says "baby steps are needed" to reignite international tourism.
"The next step is bilateral agreements between countries," he says. "Thailand's good standing in the face of the crisis with China, along with strong pent-up demand, make it a logical short-term solution for overseas tourism to return to the Kingdom."
For now, Thailand isn't taking any chances and the country's borders are firmly shut.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has issued a temporary ban on all international commercial flights into the country until June 30, excluding repatriation flights. The Thais who do return on these flights are put into quarantine facilities for 14 days.
Meanwhile, on May 26, the Thai Cabinet agreed to extend the nationwide state of emergency until June 30.
Thailand has seemingly managed to avoid the ravages of the virus experienced by many other nations around the world.
When this story was published, the country had recorded 3,042 Covid-19 cases and 57 deaths. It's reporting only a handful of new Covid-19 cases each day -- occasionally even zero. Instances of local transmissions are low, with most recent Covid-19 infections discovered in quarantined returnees.
Thailand is now focused on reopening to domestic tourism in June, says Yutasak. Resorts and hotels in some tourism destinations throughout the country have already been given the green light to reopen, including in Hua Hin, a popular beach resort about 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of Bangkok.
Nationwide lockdown measures put in place in late March have been easing in stages throughout May.
Malls, markets, museums and some tourist attractions have already reopened and more are slated to follow. Bangkok's Grand Palace, for instance, will reopen June 4.
National parks, theme parks, stadiums, spas, massage shops and cinemas remain closed, but local media reports some will likely be given the go-ahead reopen in June.
Restaurants -- limited to offering only delivery and take-out services in late March -- can now allow customers to dine in but are banned from serving alcohol and must adhere to strict social distancing measures. Pubs and night clubs remain closed, and a curfew is in place from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m.
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Local transport networks are increasing services, including rail and bus lines, while airlines are upping the number of domestic flights.
Phuket International Airport, however, remains closed until further notice.
Thailand's most popular tourism island emerged as a coronavirus hotspot in March, facing the highest infection rate per capita out of all of Thailand's 77 provinces.
As a result, Phuket officials imposed strict lockdown measures and embarked on an intensive drive to test residents.
But with cases slowing to a trickle in recent days, embattled travel industry players question the continued closure of the island's airport when the rest of the country is opening to domestic flights.
"The Phuket tourism sector at the moment is sad, stunned, annoyed and dismayed at the lack of a defined plan to reopen the airport," says Barnett.
"The recent 24-hour notice by CAAT of a sustained closure was a hard pill to swallow for a damaged industry. There is no point to open hotels, while the airport is the trigger for reopening. The vague notice and lack of a clarity on when the airport [will reopen] makes it impossible for businesses to plan forward actions."
Local businesses struggle
Even with domestic tourism starting to kick off in some provinces, it's only a drop in the bucket.
In 2019, nearly 40 million tourists visited Thailand, according to government data. The TAT estimates only 14 to 16 million will visit this year.
Financially stressed hotels in need of cash flow have already started aggressively selling hotel rooms and vouchers, says Barnett, while also looking to the local market to provide some relief.
"Staycations and road trips are being touted but in a country where tourism represents 12 to 14 percent of the GDP, these small bites are not going to bridge the road to recovery," he says. "Broader ASEAN bilateral agreements and getting airports open and airlines back in the air is what's needed."https://edition.cnn.com/travel/artic...vid/index.html
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I was sitting on Hua Hin beach just the other day and this looks very much the same as then. The beach is beautiful, but the sitters not so much. The Umbrella Boys sell food and beer though the latter is still against the law but the cops are non-existent. I hide my bottle under a wind breaker (meant just for that!)
http___cdn.cnn.com_cnnnext_dam_assets_200526174603-hua-hin-thailand-may-24.jpg
Just another reason why I love living in Thailand
Brad the Impala (May 27th, 2020), christianpfc (May 27th, 2020), GerBear1958 (June 2nd, 2020), Surfcrest (December 10th, 2020)
"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
GerBear1958 (May 29th, 2020)
Yea, we've broken the back of this beastie. And just like all the other 'things will never be the same again' beasties before, things will be pretty much exactly the same because that's how we liked them.
Some thoughts on lifting the lockdown:
Will tourists feel safe sitting for hours on long haul flights? Outside bars will likely open with some form of social distancing, Gogo bars likely to be among the last to open and how safe will customers feel in a confined space?
"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
So true! Sadly, any lessons learnt from this tragedy will probably soon be forgotten. Hand-washing will be a thing of the past, sanitizer will no longer be used.....Originally Posted by arsenal
At least until the next virus appears.
It will be sometime till things are “exactly the same” as the government has effectively stopped the spread by clamping down on many things and I doubt they will readily open the door to a return of the virus.
"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
On that note I really hope that someone somewhere is paying attention and looking into why ( it appears at least) that cases and deaths in Thailand ( and a few other Countries) were SO much lower than the likes of the UK to see can "whatever" helped with that be replicated here in Europe.
Im sure the Thai Government would love to clam that say it was their speedy locking of their borders or their wonderful tracing or the Thai peoples excellent social distancing resolve etc etc - all of which would be fairly untrue perhaps ( or maybe it was just poor / false reporting of their actual numbers who knows) - but WHATEVER it is / was SOMEONE should be looking into that just in CASE it's something the rest of the world ARE missing perhaps.
No hand shaking and the frequent wearing of masks springs to mind as 2 obvious reasons why it hit Thailand so little
However, judging on the average Thai washroom, washing hands with soap and drying with paper towels is definitely NOT a contributing factor!
Buffalo me die! Send Money!
BenCH (May 29th, 2020)
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