Once-Bustling with Foreign Tourists Bangkok Now a Ghost Town

Hotels are shuttered in the dark, bars are closed and empty food carts are seen around Bangkok’s once-bustling with foreign tourists. The silence shrouds the city’s party land despite the easing COVID-19 lockdown measures.

“Bangkok at night is deserted as never before. I can’t believe it is a tourist haven where I’ve been living all my life. It’s almost a ghost town,” said local resident Anan who lives near Sukhumvit 24. An area home to starred hotels, large shopping malls, high-end and popular restaurants in central Bangkok.

Thailand has recorded no local transmission of COVID-19 for 35 consecutive days with all of the recorded infections being Thais returning from abroad.

Although the curfew imposed since April to contain coronavirus has been lifted and most businesses are allowed to open, most of them kept their doors closed.

“I sat around here the whole day. You’re the second visitor to the shop. Foreigners are major visitors here, but now we could hardly see them,” Apple, a masseuse in downtown Bangkok, told Xinhua.

“I got only 30 percent of my normal earnings, which could barely afford meals, but better than nothing,” said the 45-year-old with two children under 10.

Absence of foreign tourists in Bangkok

Apple left her hometown in southern Thailand and went back to Bangkok on June 1 when the country allowed massage parlors to reopen. “I can’t wait any more,” she said.

“The absence of foreign tourists means business is still very slow. We recalled only five workers from 15 of them,” said Rada, owner of the massage parlor.

Inbound international tourists remains banned. Thailand’s Civil Aviation Authority said commercial international flights will not resume in the months to come.

“We are operating at a loss, but we have to reopen to survive till foreign tourists return,” said Rada with a bitter smile who offered a free coupon for every visitor at her parlor.

Rada is not the only one who tries all her ways to woo the customers back. Grand sales are seen in every shopping mall in the city, offering the best deal of the year with discounts up to 90 percent.

With no foreign tourists, tourism hotspots like Pattaya and Phuket have been hit even harder than Bangkok.

Bangkok Businesses face collapse

Tourism contributes to 18 percent of the country’s GDP, of which 12 percent or 2 trillion baht (about 66 billion U.S. dollars) comes from international tourists.

Most tourist businesses are set up for foreign visitors. Without international tourists, most hotels, shops and restaurants have to shut their doors and many face business collapse.

In the first five months this year, Thailand takes in about 17 billion dollars, a 57-percent drop from last year. The state planning agency estimates the country’s economy will shrink 5 percent to 6 percent this year. Its worst performance since the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis.

“The tourism sector of Thailand is in the plight of oversupply due to the absence of foreign tourists. To make it survive and fill the void of the foreign market, the cabinet has approved stimulus packages worth about 740 million dollars,” Yuthasak Supaporn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), told Xinhua.

He said the government will offer coupons on accommodation, transport, food and tourist attractions to stimulate 2 million domestic trips from July to October.

“All the measures are aimed to reinvigorate tourism by encouraging domestic spending and converting Thailand’s 12 million local outbound travelers into domestic tourists,” said Yuthatsak.

To regain tourist confidence, the TAT has set up Safety and Health Administration (SHA) certification for tourism business on hygiene, health and cleanliness. The TAT expects 70 percent of the tourism supply chain will join the new safety standards in two years.

Thailand mulling reopening to foreign tourists
The government also floated an idea to help hard-hit hotels by encouraging them to offer “alternative quarantine” to a limited group of foreign travelers to the country.

Foreign business people who registered for a self-funded covid-19 isolation package at luxury hotels, known as “alternative state quarantine,” are permitted to fly into the country. Hotels can sell them with upgraded accommodation and private doctor consultations.

As foreign tourism remains a vital part of the Thai economy, the kingdom is mulling to reopen its door to foreign tourists.

The current phase of border reopening is strictly limited to business trips. Skilled workers, expats with Thai families, students, and teachers are expected to be covered in the next phase, which may take place on July 1.

Meanwhile, ways in which the country can safely allow the return of tourists are being reviewed. Among them is the idea of “travel bubbles.” The bubbles would involve reciprocal travel arrangements with other countries. Only countries that have shown they can effectively contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to spokesman for the government’s Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration Taweesin Wisanuyothin, short-term business travellers from China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore might be allowed back without having to spend 14 days in quarantine.

The relax of immigration rules

He said the Covid-19 “travel bubbles” idea has not been finalized but it was clear that it would not allow hundreds of thousands of foreign tourists to visit Thailand per year. Adding that the plan will not be rolled out before August.

“The plan needs more talks, the fear of further outbreak still haunts tourism demand. The relax of immigration rules will be step by step. Probably starting from limited destinations like Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket,” said the TAT governor.

“Tourism sector will be reset in the pandemic. We are turning away from mass tourism. Targeting wealthy groups, balancing the domestic and international markets will be the trend,” he said.

“It will not return to the past when the influx of international travellers created euphoric sentiment for the country,” said Annan. He just ended his second trip with his family around the country within two weeks.

School closure continues. Hotels and meals are in exaggerate discount. It’s golden time to travel with your kids everywhere in Thailand without being disturbed by noisy tour crowds, he said.

“Gone is humanity, the crowds, the diners, the drunks. What a time of hard-won quietness! Yet I miss the roar of tuk-tuk cars at midnight, the noisy street full of bewildered foreign tourists. Also touting vendors-the messy charm of the city,” said Annan.

“We are expecting Bangkok to return to what it was before. However, the empty streets remind me that the fun and charm of Bangkok will depart for a long time,” said Annan. Enditem

Source - Chiang Rai Times

#Thailand - 'Keep foreign tourists out': Poll

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A majority of (elite) people do not want foreign tourists to return soon while the Covid-19 situation in the country is improving, saying foreigners could spread the disease and Thai people should be able to enjoy the country first, according to the results of an opinion survey by the Suan Dusit Rajabhat University, or Suan Dusit Poll.

The poll was conducted online between June 9-12 on 1,116 people throughout the country to gauge their opinions after the government announced the easing of the Covid-19 lockdown and invited the Thai people to visit places around the country to help stimulate the economy.

Each respondent was allowed to give more than one answer.

Asked when they thought Thailand's tourism would return to normal after the Covid-19 situation is resolved, 41.40% said in one year; 25.90% in six months; 20.52% in two years; and 12.18% in more than two years.

Asked whether they wanted foreign tourists to return to visit Thailand soon, 75.72% said "no", with 54.39% saying that they would like the Thai people to tour their own country first before going elsewhere and 21.33% saying that they were afraid the foreigners would spark a second wave of the virus.

The rest, 24.28%, said they wanted foreign tourists to come soon so that they could help spur the economy and generate income for the country.

Asked which provinces they would like to visit the most, the top five were: Chiang Mai (31.00%), Prachuap Khiri Khan (28.14%), Bangkok (19.35%), Chon Buri (18.55%) and Kanchanaburi (11.92%).

Source - The Bangkok Post

#Thailand - Nearly 100 Koh Samui Hotels Up for Sale Due to Lockdown

Nearly 100 hotels on the tourism island of Koh Samui are for sale due to the negative impacts of the Covid-19 corona-virus lockdown. Tourism on Koh Samui died after the government ordered hotels shuttered on April 7th to control the disease.

Worasit Pongkampan, president of the Tourism Association of Koh Samui, said owners of nearly 100 local hotels announced plans put their hotels for sale. Above all because they lacked cash flow and banks won’t lend to them.

According to Worasit, their financial problems started late last year and picked up in January. The COVID-19 crisis struck them in February. Some hotel owner have been unable to collect overdue payments from big tour agencies for months.

Furthermore, during the temporary closure of their hotels, owners had no revenue but have to pay salaries and other costs.

Due to the circumstance its difficult for them to seek soft loans from banks to maintain their liquidity. Mr. Worasit said he would like the government to immediately help the hotel owners with soft loans. Above all before it is too late because hoteliers are in deep financial troubles.
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The impacts happen not only on Koh Samui but also nationwide,” Mr Worasit said.
Government of Thailand Promises Transparency in $58B Stimulus Package

After administration officials promised transparency, the Thai Government unanimously passed a U.S. $58 billion (1.8 trillion baht) stimulus package. The stimulus package is designed to resuscitate an economy expected to contract for the first time since 2009. Above all because of ripple effects from the corona-virus pandemic.

Except for a few abstentions, the 250-seat chamber voted in favor of the government’s counter-COVID-19 decree. It will be presented to the Constitutional Court before being passed on to the king for his approval. The action followed the Central Bank’s earlier prediction that the economy of Thailand could shrink by 5.3 percent this year.

After the lower house approved the packages the Senate spent two days debating. Furthermore seeking confirmation from Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha’s administration that there would be transparency in the spending process.

Source - Chiang Rai Times

#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

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 offers cut-price paradise to lure local travelers post coronavirus

In Phu Quoc, a Vietnamese island off the coast of Cambodia, posters warning tourists of the dangers of COVID-19 have long since faded in the powerful sunshine, along with the throngs of international travelers that used to dot its beaches.

Vietnam recorded a 98 percent fall in visitors this April compared to 2019 because of the coronavirus pandemic, but its success in fighting the virus, posting only 324 cases and no deaths, now sees it set to breathe life back into its tourism industry.

Vietnam will be one of the first Southeast Asian nations to start to revive its economy, but with a ban still in place on foreign visitors, and many of their major tourist markets under lockdown, hotels and resorts are discounting paradise to make it more attractive to local travelers.

At the Mango Bay resort in Phu Quoc, staff in surgical masks served icy cocktails and chilled glasses of white wine to small groups of guests, many of them young urban tourists, from Hanoi or from Ho Chi Minh City.

General manager Ronan Le Bihan said the resort now needed to adapt to local tastes.

"Tourist businesses targeting foreign tourists will be in trouble for a long time," said Bihan. "We can now focus on the Vietnamese market. But that is a very large term. And not all Vietnamese are interested in what we offer."

A tourism promotion campaign "Vietnamese People Travel in Vietnam" debuted last week and aims to "introduce quality tourism products and service packages at reasonable prices".

The move puts Vietnam ahead of its regional tourism competitors such as Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, where travel restrictions are only just starting to lift.

Tourism raised 726 trillion dong ($31 billion) last year, nearly 12 percent of Vietnam's 2019 GDP, but while barely 17% of the 103 million travelers were foreigners, they spent slightly more than domestic counterparts.

Warning of the risk of reopening to foreigners too quickly, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has called for the promotion of domestic tourism.

To lure local travelers, hotels and airlines have cut prices by as much as half, Vu The Binh, chairman of Vietnam Society of Travel Agents, and vice chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, told Reuters.

"The recovery of domestic tourism should boost international tourism," he said. "After this program ends in mid-July, we will embark on another program to promote international tourism, depending on the virus situation."

'Travel bubble'

Domestic tourism is on the post-lockdown agenda elsewhere in Southeast Asia, but tight travel restrictions mean its uncertain when it will resume. Indonesia's holiday island of Bali has said it could reopen to foreign tourists in October, and hotels in Thailand are gearing up for an eventual reopening.

One option being considered in Vietnam is to join a "travel bubble" with other countries that have successfully fought back the coronavirus.

Ken Atkinson, vice chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board, said the first countries to target could be Australia and New Zealand, which are considering their own free-movement zone.

"However, as China and Korea are our two biggest inbound source markets it is important to have plans in place to reopen travel from those markets as soon as it is safe," he told Reuters.

Asian markets were likely to be the first to recover, said William Haandrikman, general manager of the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, an iconic, colonial-era hotel whose crowds of wealthy Western tourists are long gone.

"We have had to re-invent ourselves to focus directly on the local domestic market as well as regional Asian markets," he said. That includes room deals with $100 credits for food.

Domestic tourism is now on the rise, with most Vietnamese airlines reporting their limited domestic flights are fast reaching capacity.

Lured by low prices, Le Thi Mai Phuong, a 38-year-old businesswoman from Hanoi, spent last weekend in the central city of Danang.

"I'm afraid that if we wait until the virus is over, the cost will go up and the beaches will become too crowded," she said. "We don't know if the virus will return to Vietnam and cause another lockdown".

"I'd have to stay at home and dream about travelling again." 

Source - TheJakartaPost

Laos to Resume Domestic Flights, Schools, Other Restrictions Eased

Laos has announced it will resume domestic flights, begin to reopen schools, and ease other lockdown restrictions starting 18 May.

The National Taskforce for Covid-19 Prevention and Control announced at a press conference held today nine measures that will be eased, and four restrictions that will remain in place, effective from 18 May.

Measures eased:

Government and private sector offices may now open and resume operations as usual, but prevention measures and guidelines issued by the taskforce must be strictly implemented.

Interprovincial travel is now permitted for all people throughout the country but prevention measures and guidelines issued by the taskforce must be strictly followed.

Interprovincial transportation via land, water, or air is now permitted but prevention measures and guidelines issued by the taskforce must be followed

Meetings, seminars, and training sessions may be held within the country, however, parties or social events remain prohibited, and all gatherings must implement social distancing and other guidelines issued by the taskforce.

The Ministry of Education and Sports, the Ministry of Defence, and the Ministry of Public Security have been authorized to reopen schools on 18 May, but only grade levels primary 5, secondary 4, and secondary 7. All other levels including kindergarten, colleges, universities, and other educational institutions are authorized to reopen on 2 June. Social distancing and other measures must be strictly adhered to.

Certain indoor and outdoor sports or physical exercise activities are now permitted but prevention measures and guidelines issued by the taskforce must be followed.

Restaurants, cafes, supermarkets, massage parlors and spas, fresh markets, beauty salons, barbershops, shopping centers and malls, and tourism sites, are permitted to open but prevention measures and guidelines issued by the taskforce must be strictly implemented.

Construction projects, plants, and factories may resume operations but must follow the guidelines issued by the taskforce.

Lao nationals who are employed outside of Laos may now return to their place of work abroad, provided that the host country permits it, while foreign nationals who are employed in Laos may return to their home country.

Restrictions that remain in place:

Night markets, beer shops, nightclubs, online game shops, karaoke venues, cinemas, casinos, team sports tournaments are not yet authorized to reopen.

Unofficial or informal gatherings or other large events remain prohibited, while cultural festivals and weddings with more than 50 attendees are also prohibited. Gatherings must follow social distancing and other virus prevention measures.

Local, traditional, and international border checkpoints remain closed. People are forbidden from entering and exiting the country, except for drivers of cargo vehicles or those with prior authorization.

Entry visas will not be issued to visitors who come from or pass through countries that have experienced a Covid-19 outbreak, except for special cases whereby prior authorization has been issued.

The easing of restrictions remains temporary. If an infected case is confirmed in a particular province, then stricter measures will be enacted in that province. The provincial taskforce will announce all confirmed cases and measures. If a cluster of cases is found in two or more provinces, then the country may revert to stricter lockdown measures stipulated under Prime Ministerial Order No. 6/PM.

Source - Laotian Times