Thailand expects to face a long drought period in the international tourism market from now until the first half of next year, according to the Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn. Tourism may restart after international flights return to normal, which could occur in April, driven by the Songkran water festival, he said. The targets of tourism in 2021, which may be adjusted after the second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak in the country, will be 120 million domestic trips, up from 95 million trips in 2020, and 10 million visitors. During this period, foreign visitors who come to the Kingdom will be those who have special purposes other than tourism. This year, the total number of international arrivals may reach 7 million, plunging more than 80% from 39.8 million in 2019. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the minister expected the country to welcome almost 42 million visitors. The statistics of the Tourism Department showed that during the first 10 months of this year, Thailand welcomed 6.9 million international arrivals.

The total earnings of tourism may reach 1.2 trillion baht next year. In preparation for the international checkpoint, the Thai government upgraded the border facilities including the road connecting to Laos in 2018 while the facility in Xayaboury’s Pang Mon was also upgraded by using the 1.4 billion baht loan from the Bangkok-based Neighbouring Countries Economic Development Cooperation Agency. The Pang Mon Checkpoint in Laos. However, the service was closed down on March 26 when the Thai government issued an emergency decree banning the entry of foreigners, prohibiting public gatherings and urging people to stay at home. The facility has been opened for only locals of both countries to cross within limited areas since 1993. The main purpose is to facilitate logistics. The border checkpoint in Phayao in Thailand and Xayaboury (also spelt Sainyabuli) in Laos became an international checkpoint allowing tourists to cross between the two countries to boost trade and tourism. The border crossing is located in Ban Huak in Phu Sang district of Phayao in the Northern part of Thailand and Pang Mon in Khop district of Xayaboury in Laos.

The international border will allow tourists to cross from Phayao to other places in Laos including Muang Ngeun, Hong Sa or even to Luang Phrabang. After the firefighters put down the blaze, they found the damage of some 3,400 rai of pine forest and grasslands. Fortunately, no animal carcasses were found. The park chief Sombat Pimprasit insisted that the fire destroyed only the outer rim of the national park while the inner core of the compound where wildlife live and wild plants are concentrated was not disturbed. The sunrise at Pha Nok Aen in Phu Kradueng National Park. The chief believed that the blaze was caused by some locals who set fire to collect wild animals and plants. The worst wildfire in Phu Kradueng National Park occurred on Feb 16 and raged for 18 hours. An initial investigation found that the fire began at the foot of a hill and rapidly spread up the mountain, vacations in Pong Nam Ron fuelled by latex in the pine sap and strong wind.

The park was closed to the public two months early starting from April, instead of June, until September to give the park more time to recover. Later, seven Thai airlines including Thai AirAsia and Thai AirAsia X, Bangkok Airways, Nok Air, Thai Smile Airways, Thai Lion Air and Thai Vietjet Air asked the government for a 24 billion baht bailout. On May 1, low-cost airlines started to resume domestic flights with new hygiene measures. Thai Lion Air was the first low-cost carrier to halt the service on March 21, four days before the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) approved the service suspension for all airlines. The incident was the worst forest fire in Phu Kradueng in 17 years. The forest has recovered after the rainy season. The Covid-19 pandemic led to the service cancellation of all Thai airlines by the end of the month. NokScoot announced its dissolution in June.

• Visit a World Heritage UNESCO Site
• Similan Islands
• Pha Lom Sak
• Koh PhaNgan
• Phon Phop Waterfall
• Tham Yai Waterfall
• Taste ‘New Latitude’ Wines

But on June 26, NokScoot became the first airline in Thailand to raise the white flag. The Department of Health asked people to avoid returning home or to visit their parents and elderly family members, aiming to protect the highly vulnerable senior population from Covid-19. According to the Department of Highways, traffic on major roads was down 45-70% from the same period of last year. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the pandemic badly hit the aviation industry globally. The business may see the improvement in the second half of next year but IATA believes that the passenger volumes will not return to 2019 levels until 2024 at the earliest, with domestic markets recovering faster than international services. They encouraged people to greet older family members online instead. The company will be liquidated while its 425 employees were retrenched with full benefits in compliance with Thai labour laws. Although the long holiday was pushed off, people still travelled, but in numbers less than half of previous years.

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