Thailand closed to visitors until 2021?

[Tobias]

Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Administration (CCSA) said on Thursday that a final decision had not been made on shutting down the country from tourism until 2021, refuting earlier statements made by a TAT official.

According to the CCSA, numerous factors must be weighed before reaching such a decision and any decision should be made in increments rather than a blanket travel ban for the rest of the year.

A spokesman for the CCSA told Thai Enquirer that among the situations that must be assessed is the viability of a vaccine, the global pandemic situation and the situation at home. Any statement which claims that a decision has been made is “premature” according to the CCSA.

The new reports on Thursday refute a previous statement by a senior Tourist Authority of Thailand who told reporters during a webinar that Thailand would not welcome tourists until next year.

Source: Government said a decision has not been made on Thailand shutting down until 2021

[ray8472]

2021 is probably right. Ideally they would open up to tourists, have them tested on arrival and held, with results available quite quickly, and then released with some sort of track and trace method. But I'm not sure tests are available that fast, and also I think it would be totally impossible with thousands of arrivals per day !!

[sisaket]

One of the articles I read, indicated maybe not open up by Chinese New Year 2021, and that's in Feb.
It could have been from TAT (not 100% sure).

[Samsung]

Chinezeee state end off .,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,nothing they say or do is honest .Time for the young to grow and make movements ,otherwise its gone .King is corrupt and government for sure the people of Thailand hate him .
Trust me Vietnam is lovely.

[nickj1000]

I was thinking maybe Christmas but the emphasis on 0 virus in Thailand (which I understand) suggests to me February March at the earliest next year for European tourist at least but sooner for Asian maybe. European infections are going up because governments happy to take the human toll for the sake of the economies so it is going to be around for quite some time in a diminishing way. This approach is not acceptable in Thailand so we are where we are i guess. Who is right and who is wrong ??? I know many in Thailand want to get things moving because of the drastic affect on the economy and people's lives but on the other hand many in the UK are very worried about things opening European tourists hitting the bars and kicking it all off again. There is no clear winner here for sure....

[James HKT]

I have several corporate clients with hotels here in Phuket and they looking at opening November 2021.

This was a shock but realistically this high season will clearly be a write-off so apart from Songkran and the Chinese NY it wouldn't normally start to pick up again until the run up to the next high season which would be November next year.

Looking at the news from around the world it is comforting that life here is pretty much back to normal in terms of what we can and cannot do, but I really can't see how we will survive economically until the end of next year.

[DAS]

The government have given another two days holiday due to Songkran being missed. This is to boost Thai tourism but to be honest I cannot see where the Thai people in general would find the cash to holiday anywhere. Just the rich mostly from Bangkok, perhaps. There are pricing plans to encourage expats to holiday more, but for me with the low exchange rate and the hassle of TM 30's I won't be going anywhere until perhaps December school holidays (if they have some) or more likely April next year. If Thailand doesn't open borders in December I think we will see mass closures of hotels and restaurants in major tourist areas, then the question will be can they reopen again in December 2021 if that's when they open the borders. Personally I think that by Chinese New Year they will allow the Chinese back if they (the Chinese) don't have a second wave.

[toddmeister]

I was reading an article the other day saying there is a meeting between tourism ministries later this month to discuss potentially opening up certain areas to tourists from 1st October. Starting with Phuket then Chiang Mai & Chiang Rai to test the plan. It talked about "longterm" tourists initially so don't know what they consider to be longterm.

[Samsung]

Hang on one final push project fear then vaccine new year will do ...............................................................................................
case in samsung circle =0
deaths in samsung circle =0
info samsung news .

[James HKT]

Phuket is open to 30 day plus foreign tourists from 1st October. They have to spend 14 days in quarantine at a beach front hotel with access and use of a section of the beach. A week after they leave quarantine they will be free to travel to any part of Thailand.

I’m very interested to see how this works out.

[N Barton]

Phuket is open to 30 day plus foreign tourists from 1st October. They have to spend 14 days in quarantine at a beach front hotel with access and use of a section of the beach. A week after they leave quarantine they will be free to travel to any part of Thailand.

I’m very interested to see how this works out.

Certainly more tempting than 2 weeks in a Bangkok hotel room

[DAS]

Some sensible thinking has gone into this. It's a start and I can't really think of a better one.

[caller]

Worth mentioning that delivery to Phuket will be via charter flights arranged by Thai's. I wonder which Country they plan to import from first and what the cost will be?

[N Barton]

Worth mentioning that delivery to Phuket will be via charter flights arranged by Thai's. I wonder which Country they plan to import from first and what the cost will be?

From Newcastle I would have done Emirates on the Newcastle/Dubai/Phuket route , I take it that International flights will not be going into Phuket as part of this soft re-opening.
I have a bit of a dilemma going on at the minute. I save up my full years holiday allowance to enable me to have a month in Thailand over Christmas and New year. The missus and I were talking just last week and decided to use a weeks holiday up (next week) as the odds of getting to Thailand were slim. Do I cancel this and hope that the re-opening spreads

[James HKT]

Some sensible thinking has gone into this. It's a start and I can't really think of a better one.

That's exactly what I thought, at least they are trying to come up with something.

- - - - - - - u p d a t e d - - - - - - -

Worth mentioning that delivery to Phuket will be via charter flights arranged by Thai's. I wonder which Country they plan to import from first and what the cost will be?

We used to have direct flights from most European, Asian, S. Asian, and SE Asian counties including the Mid East