Finally a light at the end of a super long tunnel?

[18past19]

As soon as I saw a message from a local friend about the news on lifting the quarantine requirements for the fully vaccinated visitors from "low risk" countries, I started looking up on the flights and hotels.  Surprisingly, the flights to BKK from my hometown are super expensive. So, I am holding on booking the flights at this time. But I went ahead and reserved a room at our well known Raya hotel (for a refundable room). If things turn out to be as being expected and planned, I am going to be in BKK from the end of Dec to the early Jan. I am hoping to meet forum members if anyone happens to be around at the same time. 

Keeping all my digits and appendages crossed!

[TMax]

I gave up looking at flights from Western Australia, when I did look we had gone from a direct 7hr well priced flight up to ultra ridiculous 2 stop 22hr plus flights and at exorbitant prices. I did notice on Singapore Air that they did have more expensive prices for April onwards with just the one short transit at Changi but they may be old fares that haven't been adjusted in a long time. Hopefully by June or July things will have settled down a bit and I can book for a Bangkok return with no quarantine, 2 weeks of throwing myself at the mercy of the guys there. 

[Mateo_37]

I still got my ticket for November, but I am wondering if I should postpone it till December or maybe better Feb 2022? Any advices?

[Londoner]

 Frustrating though it is, I'm waiting until  the middle of January. I want the place to liven-up, with hotels, restaurants and bars fully open. Reopening will not happen over-night. Remember that most hotels, even those which have kept up maintenance,  will need to re-staff.

There will also be more flights available and at better prices. At the moment (though this may change) EVA are only offering two LHR/BKK flights a month. Restructuring timetables, perhaps bringing back into use mothballed planes, will also take time.

Sorry to be the  harbinger of unwelcome advice, Mateo, but my advice is to wait. if you want a taste of what you would be seeing if you went too soon, check out recent You Tube videos of boarded-up shops, empty sois and queues for food hand-outs. 

[Patanawet]

Let's see on Thursday after the CCSA meeting.

[gerefan]

12 hours ago, Londoner said:

 

There will also be more flights available and at better prices. At the moment (though this may change) EVA are only offering two LHR/BKK flights a month. Restructuring timetables, perhaps bringing back into use mothballed planes, will also take time.

If you are prepared take a flight with an intermediate stop there are plenty of good flights on offer. You do not have to go via the Middle East either! Swiss is a very good example.

Daily Direct London to Bangkok flights, as before , will not be seen for some time! 

[18past19]

Using an airline membership perks, I found a quite attractive deal ("a vacation package") and I was so close to hit the button "Submit the purchase". The whole package will cost me way less than buying air ticket and a hotel room separately. The package I was about to choose included a room at Crowne Plaza Lumpini park. According to the hotel's site, their rooms dont seem to be as spacious as Raya's, but if I remember correctly from the forum posts here, it has no issue with joiner/visitor. (Please correct me if I am wrong.)

LOS could give me a dopamine rush even at its pre preparation stage. 

[vaughn]

1 hour ago, 18past19 said:

if I remember correctly from the forum posts here, it has no issue with joiner/visitor. (Please correct me if I am wrong.)

 

I haven't stayed at Crowne at Lumpini, but every other country i have stayed Crowne there is no issues with joiners. Western chains, particularly any 4 stars or above will not hassle you over guests or joiner fees. 

[VancBCMan]

6 hours ago, 18past19 said:

According to the hotel's site, their rooms dont seem to be as spacious as Raya's, but if I remember correctly from the forum posts here, it has no issue with joiner/visitor

You're right, rooms at Crowne Plaza Lumpini Park are not as big as at The Raya.

When I last stayed there (at Crowne), I had no problems bringing a guest to my room

[reader]

From Reuters / BP

Asia's airlines ramp up flights, offers

SYDNEY/SINGAPORE: Asia-Pacific airlines have lost billions of dollars this year, with jets grounded in Covid-19 transportation freezes. Now, as some of the world's strictest pandemic-related travel rules begin to ease, they're ramping up flights and ticket offers.

Asian travel agencies and carriers told Reuters they're seeing a surge in bookings and travel enquiries as countries like Malaysia and Vietnam allow domestic flights to resume from this week after months of strict lockdowns.

India is lifting a domestic capacity cap, while Singapore, Thailand and Fiji are opening without quarantine to vaccinated international travellers from select countries.

While airline industry group IATA does not expect a significant improvement in Asia-Pacific international travel until "later in 2022", predicting cumulative losses of $11.2 billion this year, narrowing to $2.4 billion next year,carriers from AirAsia Group to VietJet Aviation , Singapore Airlines, Fiji Airways and Qantas are already increasing capacity.

"The most important thing is practically all governments in the Asia-Pacific region with maybe one or two exceptions are abandoning their Covid-zero strategies and moving to a sort of Covid-normal framework," said Association of Asia Pacific Airlines director-general Subhas Menon.

"Vaccination rates are also beginning to ramp up."

While curbs are easing, a full return to normal operations is a long way off. IATA estimates global aviation industry losses from the pandemic will be a towering $200 billion for 2020-22, and losses in Asia alone were close to $50 billion in 2020. International travel in the Asia-Pacific region was at around 4% of 2019 levels in August.

And though the relaxation of restrictions will open the way for some tourism, initially it will mean a comparative trickle: Thailand expects only around 100,000 foreign visitors this year, down from nearly 40 million in 2019.

Still, there's pent-up demand from those who have longed to be able to take a break overseas.

Dickson Ng, a 24-year-old consultant based in Singapore, said he plans to travel to Europe in January.

"We don't know if these VTLs (vaccinated travel lanes) could be rescinded, right now there's opportunity and there's Covid-19, so I think getting out of the country will be a good thing," he said.

Meanwhile, Fiji Airways has had thousands of bookings since the country on Sunday announced it would open borders to vaccinated travellers from some destinations on Dec 1, the vast majority from Australians, an airline spokesperson said.

Some carriers are already promoting bargain fares.

Vietnamese low-cost carrier VietJet is offering some free domestic one-way tickets, excluding taxes and fees, while Malaysia's AirAsia has fares as low as 12 ringgit ($2.88) as it ramps up flights.

AirAsia said traffic to its mobile app had surged by more than 140% since the government relaxed domestic travel rules.

But Singapore has capped the number of arrivals under its VTL programme at 3,000 a day in total, a tiny fraction of pre-pandemic traffic, a move that has kept ticket prices higher.

Singapore tour agency Chan Brothers Travel said enquiries had increased 50-fold in the last week since VTLs were added to more countries including South Korea, the United States and Britain.

Return economy-class fares from Singapore to South Korea have nearly doubled to around S$1500 ($1,107.50) from S$800 previously, a spokesperson at Singapore's Dynasty Travel said.

"Some travellers may wait for the initial price surge for flights to pass, but we can expect quite a number of travellers taking to the skies by the first half of 2022," she said.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2197207/asias-airlines-ramp-up-flights-offers

[fedssocr]

My guess is that airlines will be a bit cautious to see if Thailand really does open this time. The government keeps push the dates and even though the PM announced this, it hasn't been approved health officials yet. Fully vaccinated rates are still under 35%. Until more seats are added prices will be high. There's also a lot of pent up demand.

I've stayed at the Crowne Plaza several times. It's a nice hotel in a good location. The only drawback for me is the need to take 2 elevators whenever you come or go. One from the street to the lobby and then another from the lobby to your room and vice versa.

[faranglaw]

Has anyone heard what the ten countries are?  is Canada on the Angel List?

 

[TMax]

12 hours ago, faranglaw said:

Has anyone heard what the ten countries are?  is Canada on the Angel List?

 

The CCSA were meeting today and it was expected that they would announce more of the ten countries but they didn't, so we have to sit back and await their decisions.  

[newscene]

On 10/12/2021 at 3:46 PM, TMax said:

I gave up looking at flights from Western Australia, when I did look we had gone from a direct 7hr well priced flight up to ultra ridiculous 2 stop 22hr plus flights and at exorbitant prices. I did notice on Singapore Air that they did have more expensive prices for April onwards with just the one short transit at Changi but they may be old fares that haven't been adjusted in a long time. Hopefully by June or July things will have settled down a bit and I can book for a Bangkok return with no quarantine, 2 weeks of throwing myself at the mercy of the guys there. 

Try now, I just booked tickets with Singapore Airline as they seems to have shortest and cheapest price that you can find at this stage.

[18past19]

On 10/13/2021 at 3:33 AM, VancBCMan said:

You're right, rooms at Crowne Plaza Lumpini Park are not as big as at The Raya.

even though their breakfast was limited and facilities were very basic, their Grand Deluxe room was quite spacious with a separate living room and a bedroom.

[18past19]

On 10/13/2021 at 7:26 AM, reader said:

Asia's airlines ramp up flights, offers

Keeping my eyes constantly on the tickets to BKK, I can endorse that the news mentioned above reflects the reality. I have been seeing rapid changes in terms of the number of available options with better prices by different airlines day by day. 

[18past19]

It is very likely that you have already known this, but I just found out this facebook page and i thought i'd share with you all here.

www dot facebook dot com/thailandprd/

[TMax]

12 hours ago, newscene said:

Try now, I just booked tickets with Singapore Airline as they seems to have shortest and cheapest price that you can find at this stage.

Thanks for that, I think our flights from here to Bangkok would be Singapore Airlines for a while at least. 

[18past19]

 

[reader]

Although this seems like a stretch at the moment, at least he's giving it lip service.

From The Thaiger / Pattaya Mail

Tourism Minister proposes reopening entertainment venues November 1

PM Prayut Chan-o-cha may be opening up Thailand to international travellers, but Minister of Tourism and Sports Pipat Ratchakitprakan is aiming to open up entertainment venues to those international travellers. The Tourism Minister plans on officially proposing that entertainment venues, bars, nightclubs, karaoke lounges, pubs and other nightlife venues be reopening in the Blue Zones, the new term for the expanded Sandbox destinations.

n a TV interview today, the minister said he planned to introduce the measure in a CCSA general meeting next week, requesting that in key areas entertainment venues reopen on November 1. The proposal would focus on areas where nightlife and entertainment venues were an essential part of the economy for tourism.

He singled out locations like Chiang Mai, Koh Samui, Krabi, Pattaya, Phang Nga, and Phuket that tourists traditionally flocked to not just for their beaches, but for their nightlife, bars, and party scene.

The minister stopped short of including Bangkok on his list, citing concerns that entertainment venues in the city would be too hard to safely regulate and that the nightlife isn’t only a draw to international tourists, but also attracts Thai customers, so it could be higher-risk and lower benefit than other destinations.

Pipat says that the focus is on drawing in foreign tourists, and including Bangkok may sway CCSA with their fears of Thai clubs that were the source of the third wave of the Covid-19 outbreak in the first place.

“The reopening might be initially only for foreign tourists to attract them to visit the country. Much of the concern from the CCSA about entertainment venues has nothing to do with tourism-related establishments but rather large Thai discos and places. But we still have to discuss if it would work or not.”

The Tourism Minister says there’s wiggle room to try to create a way to reopen some nightlife. He hopes some can safely open with similar hours to what they held before Covid-19, opening until 1 or 2 am. But he believes that putting Bangkok on the table will fuel the CCSA’s worries of controlling Covid-19 in entertainment venues.

https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/tourism/tourism-minister-proposes-reopening-entertainment-venues-november-1

[Vessey]

Sadly it wouldn't be the first time that he has been over-ruled, but you never know?

 

[vaughn]

I'll take it as a good sign that at least the tourism minister is raising the proposal. He obviously sees the need for entertainment venues if they want larger numbers of tourists to return.

[18past19]

as per a mamasan, moonlight is reopening on 12/1. 

[Boy69]

4 hours ago, vaughn said:

I'll take it as a good sign that at least the tourism minister is raising the proposal. He obviously sees the need for entertainment venues if they want larger numbers of tourists to return.

What do the Thai government expect to bring tourists to Thailand and ask them to watch TV at the hotel since all Entertainment venues are closed ?

If the Thai government won't make clear decision of full opening for vaccinated tourists the upcoming high season will be very sad .

[vaughn]

1 hour ago, Boy69 said:

What do the Thai government expect to bring tourists to Thailand and ask them to watch TV at the hotel since all Entertainment venues are closed ?

If the Thai government won't make clear decision of full opening for vaccinated tourists the upcoming high season will be very sad .

I guess that the reason the tourism minister is even raising the entertainment venues issue is because he has heard the message loud and clear, the two groups of tourists who are likely to jump on a plane this high season are couples without kids or single guys, both of which *usually* enjoy nightlife and drinking.

I'd give them a week or two, I'm sure they will announce something positive around nightlife reopening for December in provinces with high vaccination rates