It is a very small milestone, since we are only talking about 120 people, it is just a little strange that this first group of tourists are coming from China. You need to understand that Thai people already kind of have a love/hate relationship with Chinese tourists anyway and this is for a variety of reasons that I don't care to get into because a lot of it is the very strange racism towards just anyone who isn't Thai (and even a lot of people that are Thai.)
However, if it all goes off without a hitch, this could be a good step towards perhaps expanding this sort of thing.
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The above picture is of the Governor of Phuket province who met with the press alongside the local head of what is the Thai equivalent of the Center for Disease Control. They came to make an announcement to put the locals at ease who are still concerned about the dangers of Covid-19.
The tourists who are arriving are all from the same province in China called Guangzhou, which hasn't had any new cases of Covid for months. They also had to have had a negative test at least 72 hours before departing China and will be tested again upon arrival in Thailand. Then they are going to be staying in resorts that they are not permitted to leave for 14 days.
Although it was not specifically stated, it is rumored that these arrivals will be the first participants in the Thai revamping of the tourist visa, which has been extended to 90 days instead of the usual 30 days on arrival. It can also be extended 2 additional times in the country for a grand total of 270 days.
Obviously this sort of tourism is not going to have much of a widespread appeal because it simply isn't possible for most people to get 9 months off of work but I am hopeful that it can eventually result in some much needed income for Thailand, even if it is just initially in Phuket.
Phuket is one of those areas that is all but completely dependent on tourism for its economy. Even the places that don't appear directly tied to international travel are still impacted by it since most of the industry on the island and one way or another is connected to providing for this industry.
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All you have to do is take one look at some of the beaches that Phuket contains to understand why so many people from around the world flock to this island every year. I would argue that too many people were allowed in before covid and the natural beauty was a bit spoiled by the huge amount of people one the beaches every single day. This is just the way the world works though.
There are some grumblings in the local community that this first wave is only going to benefit the already super rich that own the "approved resorts" involved in the program and while I have no doubt that this is true, they have to start somewhere. Not to mention the fact that these resorts employ hundreds of people who otherwise might not have jobs.
I'm just really hopeful that there is no spike in cases that can even remotely be traced to this weekend's first tourism arrivals because if there are, then it will be back to closed borders and I don't think that anyone who can see the bigger economic picture is really interested in that.
Best of luck boys and girls!
That is so wonderful to know, but I hope that borders are temporarily closed for Malaysia especially coming in from North Peninsular at least until 27 October after the 2 weeks quarantine from the 3rd wave outbreak.
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ENGAGEtokens.I don't know for certain but i have heard that this entire thing was called off.
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ENGAGEtokens.I think that eventually countries like Thailand are going to have little choice but to open things back up. I had noticed that they are offering some really long tourist visas but they come with a lot of restrictions including the need to secure 100,000 dollars of insurance before entering... but a lot of people have that already. I don't know how much it will benefit the little guys because it seems like the only people that would qualify for this are people that have more money than your average backpacker. I know a few people that own businesses geared towards the backpacking industry and they are hanging on by a thread. I would be willing to bet that they can't last through another dead high season.
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ENGAGEtokens.That seems to be the prevailing opinion even of the people I know that run businesses that are NOT geared towards backpackers but just travelers in general. The expat population is keeping them afloat, but it has to improve or even well-established places are going to go under.
I have heard rumblings that something similar is about to begin over here in Vietnam although I don't think that it is meant for such a long-term audience. I believe they are being very selective about what countries are allowed and what I have heard thus far is Japan and S. Korea. I'm sure the businesses in my area would really appreciate it!
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Yep, still waiting for the world to change. Our hopes are in Nepal, supposedly opening borders for visa on arrival the 17th of this month. We work online and have taken major losses in salary because of the pandemic, and the Suriname economy collapsed and is suffering massive inflation. We have to escape to a cheaper cost-of-living country just to be able to pay the bills.
It is a strange new world we are living in.
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oh damn. My situation isn't that dire yet, but it's coming... not just for Thailand but eventually everywhere in the world. I really hope you can get into Nepal!
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