#Thailand may hold a July Songkran event if Covid-19 situation remains stable

Thai citizens are being dangled a carrot – the chance to celebrate Songkran in July. Usually the annual water festival, traditionally the end of the dry season and the start of the wet season, is held on April 13. The event has become a big tourist magnet over the past decade as it’s morphed from traditional Buddhist festival into organised water fights in the streets of Bangkok and tourist towns.

This year it was cancelled as the country was busy being not busy; locked down in their homes instead of outside splashing water everywhere. But the government says they may still hold a Songkran festival in July instead IF the third phase of the easing of lockdown restrictions goes smoothly this month.

'Phase 3’ started rolling out yesterday and opens up just about everything excepting bars and pubs, and some other entertainment venues. 16 business types and leisure activities resumed yesterday. The curfew has also been reduced to 11pm to 3am daily.

Phuket seems to be trailing behind the rest of the country with a ban on its beaches and airport still in place.

CCSA spokesman Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin says the Government might declare special public holidays in July to celebrate Songkran. The festival, apart from all the water splashing, is the biggest family get-together of the year when people head back ‘up country’ for large family celebrations. The festival is also the most dangerous time on Thailand’s roads each year.

Dr. Taweesin says the CCSA will assess the results of phase three relaxations this month, adding that…”if the Covid-19 situation improves satisfactorily and people strictly observe the basic guidelines of social distancing, regular hand washing and face mask wearing, it might ask the Government to declare special public holidays in July”.

We’re not sure what “improves satisfactorily” means given that there have no recorded local transmutations of Covid-19 for over a week. All the latest cases are from Thais repatriating on specially organised charter flights from overseas whereby all arrivals must spend 14 days in supervised quarantine.

There is still a state of emergency in effect until at least the end of the June which provides Thai PM Prayut and his appointed committee in the CCSA sweeping powers to address the Covid-19 situation in Thailand without consulting parliament.

Source - The Thaiger

Een klein #Bangkok-verhaal, voordat de rode lichten dimden

No Asian government will admit how much its economy depends on the sex industry, and perhaps ironically, it is the country that until recently had the most open sex trade in the region that has been one of the most guilty of obvious denialism.

As Asia Times has reported, the Covid-19 panic has closed the doors on bars, “karaoke” joints, massage parlors, brothels, and everything from the sleaziest watering holes to the swankiest nightclubs all over Asia.

As the disease itself, with the exception of a few small pockets, has infected relatively tiny numbers of people in this region, it is the fear-inspired response to the coronavirus that has caused the most damage, and as with all prohibition campaigns, “lockdowns” have hit all sources of entertainment, legitimate and otherwise, especially hard.

And that has been devastating for Thailand.

While it is true that Thailand has been successful in diversifying its tourism industry over the years, making the country more attractive to families and other “moral” travelers – and indeed, the manufacturing sector overtook tourism long ago as the main contributor to the economy – the sex trade has remained very important to national and regional GDPs.

In Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, Hua Hin, Chiang Mai and other centers the availability of women, men, and everything in between “on the game” is legendary.

Or it was. But over the past few months a combination of government measures, some sensible and others less so, have dimmed the red lights all over the country, and the tens of thousands of people, many from rural areas, who depended on the sex industry have left the former hotspots, now chilled into stagnation.

Well, isn’t that a good thing, you ask? Isn’t it better for the nation’s youth to find meaningful, rewarding, clean jobs instead of selling their bodies for a quick baht, risking disease, abuse, and worse?

Perhaps. But leaving aside the evidence that Thailand has for the most part brought the worst elements of the sex trade – human trafficking, child exploitation, the spread of STDs – under control, decent jobs are not easy to find, especially for the unskilled. And they are very likely to get even more scarce as manufacturers, especially in the automotive sector, scale back just as the labor pool scales up.

But apart from the boring numbers, GDP forecasts and jobless figure, the merits of the sex industry, or lack of them, are difficult to analyze objectively, because very few of us can distance ourselves from our personal prejudices, religious and/or moral values, and cultural norms. That is especially so when examining a mysterious, exotic, alien country, which for most Westerners Thailand is.

In that light, the following anecdote – based on a true story, told by someone who would prefer to remain anonymous – might, well, shed some light.

It was a bar much like hundreds, maybe thousands, of others in pre-pandemic Bangkok. Small and unremarkable, it was nonetheless popular with some older expats, as the bar girls didn’t pester the customers much for “bar fines” (the standard pimping fee, which ran from the equivalent of US$10 and up), and the DJ played old rock instead of techno-crap.

One day a young woman, apparently a denizen of the place (either a bar girl or waitress, not that there was much difference – in places like this, most were “available,” often including the cashier and sometimes the manager), entered with a little girl in tow. The child was apparently her daughter, and as it was not a school day, Mom was off work to care for her. They brought in with them a birthday cake, complete with seven candles.

The candles were lit, everyone gathered around, and the DJ put on a rock version of “Happy Birthday.”

To moral, law-abiding Westerners, it might seem inappropriate to bring a seven-year-old into such a Den of Ill Repute, but Bangkok, despite its latter-day status as a world city, is still firmly in the East. In this environment, it was just a mom giving her kid a birthday treat, and sharing it with friends in her place of business.

A place of business in a country that has one of the highest income disparities in Asia, and where the minimum wage is $10 a day.

A place of business, that is, where this young mother and thousands like her knew they could make more from a quick roll in the hay with a Westerner taking a respite from his moral, law-abiding, incorruptible homeland than she could make in a week cleaning rooms and making beds at his four-star hotel. And maybe use some of that money to give her kid opportunities that were never given to her in her youth.

Back then, before all we heard about was “social distancing” and “PPEs” and horror tales about mass graves, “the game” was so open and prevalent in Thailand that it was more difficult than in the moral West to ignore the question: Why is it that while we honor Wall Street tycoons, usurers, corporate-bought politicians and exploitative employers, we sneer at people, mostly women, who earn their living from giving people pleasure?

People, mostly women, who like the rest of us want nothing more than to care for their families, the very old and the very young especially, and who often do so at great personal risk because they are denied the police and legal protections we moral folk take for granted?

Regardless of whether or not the old raunchy side of Thailand returns to “normal,” those aren’t questions that can be answered, not yet. To attempt to do so would raise too many other questions about the nature of law, of morality, and – scariest of all – of sex.

The little girl of this anecdote will have many more birthdays before any society acquires the courage to take on that kind of self-examination.

Source - Pattaya One News

#Thailand - Officials in Pattaya launch campaign to mark city’s phased re-opening

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Pattaya launches the “Pattaya is brighter together” campaign, meant to signify the ongoing and gradual re-opening of the city

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The mayor of Pattaya has led officials in launching a campaign to mark the phased re-opening of the famous tourist hotspot. Well more of a celebration! Normally hosting millions of tourists every year, Pattaya has been through a tough time during the last few months, with businesses, beaches and all nightlife and hospitality venues shut down due to the impacts of the Covid-19 virus.

Now, through the “Pattaya is brighter together” campaign, Mayor Sonthaya Khunpluem and other city officials are hoping to bring hope to residents and encourage visitors to return as Pattaya gradually re-opens and the journey back to some sort of normality gets underway.

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The event kicked off last night when city officials and members of various tourism bodies, as well as local media, attended an opening ceremony on Pattaya Beach. At the event, officials took part in coconut painting, using coconuts bought from local farmers. Even Mayor Khunpluem painted a coconut, with all artwork then exhibited at Pattaya and Jomtien beaches to signify that brighter times are to come.

 To date, Pattaya has gone around six weeks without a case of community transmission of the Covid-19 virus. The latest re-opening comes as the country enters Phase 3 of a nationwide easing of restrictions in light of a nominal number of new virus cases nationally, most of which are being detected in repatriated Thai citizens in state quarantine.

Source - Pataya One News

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Lockdown Collapsed #Thailand’s lucrative sex-industry

The black leather party masks that performers May and Som wear for their fetish shows in Bangkok are definitely not the sort to stop the corona-virus.

Behind closed doors, they practise for the day when health restrictions are lifted and tourists return, but they have no idea when and worry that the city’s infamous Patpong red-light district could be very different by then.

“This kind of place will be the last to reopen,” said May 31. Like Som, she goes only by her Thai nickname.

“Even when it does reopen, customers will be worried about their safety,” she said at the BarBar club on Patpong’s Soi 2 street. BarBar and other clubs such as “Bada Bing” and “Fresh Boys” are shuttered and the nights are largely silent.

Thailand shut bars and clubs in mid-March as corona-virus cases surged. It halted international passenger flights, stopping the tourism that had made Bangkok the world’s most visited city for four years.

Patpong went dark.

But residents say the decline had already begun for a red-light district that flourished in the 1970s as a rest stop for U.S. forces in Indochina.

“This COVID-19 is an accelerant of change,” said Michael Ernst, an Austrian 25-year veteran of the district and former bar owner who opened the Patpong Museum weeks before the new corona-virus reached Thailand.

“The go-go bar and its very one-dimensional concept of a stage and ladies dancing on it with a number. I think that’s already over, they just don’t know that yet.”

SHIFT

The number of go-go bars in Patpong district has waned in recent years as business has moved to other parts of Bangkok or online and as sex tourism has become a smaller part of the overall tourism industry for Thailand.

For decades, tourism figures were skewed towards men. But the growing importance of Chinese visitors in particular changed that. In 2018, more than 53 percent of tourists were women.

Nonetheless, Patpong’s nightlife district employed thousands of people, mostly young women. Most are now among the 2 million Thais the state planning agency believes may be made unemployed this year because of the impact of the virus.

BarBar is still paying some workers. But the manager of at least one go-go bar on Soi 2 just abandoned the lease.

Patpong had never known it as bad, said 70-year-old Pratoomporn Somritsuk, who for 35 years has run the Old Other Office drinking den.

“A lot of ladies here working in nightlife are mostly from a poor family or upcountry,” she said. “They have no chance to go work in a company.”

The lockdown has meant the whole sex industry has collapsed. Online escort service Smooci said activity in Bangkok fell to 10 percent in April.

Thailand has now begun to lift some movement restrictions with infections at over 3,000 and deaths nearly 60, but neither rising rapidly. There is talk of tourism resuming.

But a health ministry spokesman said that nightlife venues would be among the last to reopen.

“In the new normal, Patpong will have to adapt a lot. It may end up looking different, but this change will be for the better,” Rungruang Kitpati said.

Social distancing and the sex industry are hard to make compatible, however.

“I can provide alcohol gel or temperature checks,” said 38-year-old Jittra Nawamawat, one of BarBar’s founders. “But staying one metre apart is impossible.” – Reuters

Source - Bangkok Jack

#Thailand to reopen to tourists in July but Brits may be banned

According to the Bangkok Post, Thailand’s National Security Council chief has told them that the country has set July 1 for the end of all ‘business and activity lockdowns’

Thailand will reopen to tourists on July 1 but Brits could be banned due to our poor coronavirus record.

People will be expected to wear face masks follow social distancing and wash their hands regularly once restrictions are lifted.

According to the Bangkok Post, Thailand’s National Security Council chief has told them that the country has set July 1 for the end of all ‘business and activity lockdowns’.

Gen Somsak Roongsita told the paper that the State of Emergency brought in on March 26 to deal with the coronavirus pandemic will end in June with a ban on international travel ending at the same time.

The Bangkok Post reports that Gen Roongsita has said that the lifting of restrictions would be a ‘complete reopening of the country’.

But there could be bad news for Brits.

Governor for the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Yuthasak Supasorn, has said that the country would look at restrictions on who could visit.

He told CNN that Thailand would look at tourists’ country of origin “to see if their situation has truly improved”.

This could mean that once again Brits are blacklisted due to the UK’s poor coronavirus record.

Greece and Cyprus have already banned the UK from visiting when they reopen their borders to foreign tourists.

Mr Supasorn said: “We are not going to open all at once.

“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’.”

Next month Thailand will enter the third phase of easing lockdown restrictions with officials preparing measures for July.

“Authorities will have serious discussions because after the emergency decree ends, other laws will be used instead,” Gen Roongsita said.

He added: “People’s cooperation is important. This concerns the use of face masks, social distancing, hand wash and limited activities.

“As long as the disease is spreading worldwide, we will have to fight against it for a while.”

Mr Supasorn told CNN there will be still be restrictions on where people can go.

He added: “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, since this is almost a kind of quarantine.”

In preparation for the reopening of the country Thailand will next week shorten curfew hours and ease restrictions on more businesses.

This is in response to its low numbers of locally transmitted cases of the coronavirus.

Starting from June 1, cinemas and theatres can reopen, but with no more than 200 people at a time and with strict social distancing measures.

A curfew will be shortened by one hour to last from 11pm to 3am and shopping malls, which reopened earlier this month, will also be allowed to extend their operating hours, he added.

“The reopening will help stimulate the economy and ease some financial burdens,” Somsak said.

Zoos, beauty clinics, spas, and traditional Thai massages will be allowed to operate, with social distancing in place, as will soccer fields and volleyball and basketball courts, but only for training purposes and with limits on spectators.

Fitness clubs can also reopen but with limited users at each time.

Thailand’s planning agency on Thursday said the impacts of the coronavirus could cause the loss of up to 2 million jobs this year, particularly in the tourist industry. It predicts the economy will shrink 5%-6% this year.

Thailand confirmed 11 new coronavirus cases on Friday, an no new deaths. All those cases were arrivals from Kuwait and were in state quarantine.

All but one of the cases reported this week were detected in quarantine.

The coronavirus has infected 3,076 in Thailand since January and killed 57.

Source - Pattaya One / Bangkok Post

#Vietnam considers opening up select islands for foreign tourists

The National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control says they are considering a pilot plan to bring international tourists to some islands.

The country could consider welcoming foreign visitors from countries and territories where there have been no new cases for at least 30 days and launch a pilot plan to bring them to some islands with strict safety measures to ensure health of both locals and foreigners, the committee said Thursday.

Vietnam has suspended international flights since March 25 and banned entry of foreign nationals since March 22 except for special cases.

Earlier, authorities in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang proposed welcoming foreign visitors to Vietnam’s largest island, Phu Quoc.

The committee, headed by Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam, has asked the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism to work with Kien Giang authorities to prepare a specific schedule and road map to welcome foreign tourists and report to the committee for consideration.

Phu Quoc, also known as the "pearl island", has become a top tourist destination in Vietnam after it opened an international airport in 2012 and began implementing a 30-day visa-free policy for foreigners since 2014. The island welcomed over five million visitors last year, up 30 percent from 2018. Of these, 541,600 were foreigners.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) late last week said it is hoping to kickstart tourism again with select openings for foreign visitors. It said that it was preparing plans to welcome visitors from countries and territories in anticipation of recovery and disease control in key markets like Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia.

WeSwap, the U.K.’s largest travel money provider, this week listed Vietnam among the first economies likely to restart international tourism following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Politico, a U.S.-based political news organization, recently said that Vietnam has responded best to the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of health and economic impacts.

The country has gone 43 days without community transmission of Covid-19. It has reported 327 infections without any deaths. The number of active cases is 49.

With an international flight ban in place, Vietnam saw a 38 percent year-on-year drop in the January-April number of foreign visitors to 3.7 million, accompanied by corresponding 45 percent drop in tourism revenues to VND7.9 trillion ($337 million).

Trinh Thi Thuy, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said localities and travel businesses have responded warmly to the domestic tourism stimulus program, offering numerous discounts and new products. "Hotel occupancy rates have reached 80-90 percent and even 100 percent in some places, which are good signs for domestic tourism."

Source - VN Express

#Cambodia’s lifting of entry ban will have minimal impact on tourism or economy

Cambodia lifted a ban on entry of visitors from Iran, Italy, Germany, Spain, France and the United States that had been put in place to curb the spread of coronavirus, the health ministry a week ago and the immediate result of this is the detection of two COVID-19 positive patients.

The cross signals sent by the Ministry of Health is doing Cambodia no favours as on one hand, Cambodia announced very early on that it would provide free medical treatment for COVID-19 positive victims despite their nationalities.

Thus, the imposition of a $50,000 insurance policy, mandatory upon entry into Cambodia further complicates normalization of inbound passengers into Cambodia.

Despite the easing, foreign visitors would still need to have a certificate no more than 72 hours old confirming that they are not infected with the novel coronavirus and proof of $50,000 worth of health insurance while in Cambodia, the ministry said.

They also would be quarantined for 14 days after arrival at government designate place and tested for the coronavirus, a ministry statement said, but did not specify where.

Airline executives, welcoming the abolishment of minimum tax until July said the tax relief was welcome but too little, too short a period of time and too late as they have been hit severely since the outbreak started peaking in March and when most countries imposed lock downs and flight restrictions.

“The direct result of the extraneous conditions imposed by Cambodia in her attempt to curb the spread of imported cases of the virus is tourism dropping to almost zero and all Asean carriers suspending flights, partly because of the pandemic and partly because of their own severity with the pandemic.

“Cambodia should move to revive air travel and impose less restrictive measures and instead adopt measures to boost air travel. Local businesses, especially hospitality and services sectors are hit severely and since other countries in the region are opening up their economic activities, Cambodia should follow suit and not get left behind,” the executives, fearing reprisal said, declining to be identified.

Asean, they said, should come to a collective decision to open up the skies and air travel and adequate measures should be in place prior to this happening.

“If Asean cannot get its act together, how are they going to tackle the economic crisis looming? Thailand imposes $100,000 insurance requirements, extends emergency but relaxes conditions while Cambodia is sending mixed signals.

“Flights are necessary to stimulate growth one way or another and measures must be adopted to facilitate this, not inhibit as relaxing flight restrictions from the six countries is futile since they still have huge number of cases while Asean with lesser cases have got no ban but no flights as well,” they said.

UNWTO has forecasted a decline in international tourism receipts of between $910 to $1,170 billion in 2020, compared to the $1.5 trillion generated in 2019, with 96% of worldwide destinations having travel restrictions.

IATA has estimated that Cambodia faces a possible direct and indirect job loss of more than 700,000 while in Asia-Pacific as a whole 11.2 million jobs are at risk, including those that are dependent on the aviation industry, such as travel and tourism.

“Providing support for airlines has a broader economic implication. Jobs across many sectors will be impacted if airlines do not survive the COVID-19 crisis. Every airline job supports another 24 in the travel and tourism value chain,” says Conrad Clifford, IATA’s Regional Vice President, Asia-Pacific.

Source - Khmer Times