Travelling to Thailand during Covid-19: four visitors – fully vaccinated – describe their experiences in Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai

Tourism-dependent Thailand reopened to fully vaccinated travellers from designated countries on November 1. The Post asks four visitors about their trips

The paperwork for entry can be a pain and tours cost more, they report, but destinations are quieter, the food as good as ever and Thais all wear face masks

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Shiori Kumagai from Japan at Wat Arun in Bangkok. Compared to her first visit nine years ago, attractions were empty - good for photo taking, she says. Kumagai is in Thailand to work remotely. Photo: Thomas Bird

Thomas Bird

Published: 9:15am, 12 Dec 2021Updated: 12:10pm, 13 Dec 2021

Corrected [12:07pm, 13 Dec, 2021]

[12:07pm, 13 Dec, 2021]
Lukas Zimmermann's family name was misspelled as Zimmerman and has been corrected.

Few countries have been affected by the shutdown of global travel to fight coronavirus more than Thailand. Bangkok was the most visited city in the world in 2019, ahead of Paris, France, and that year the country received 39.8 million visitors. The number plummeted to 6.7 million in 2020.

But the country is emerging from isolation. Beginning with the Phuket Sandbox scheme in July, Thailand has been reviving its battered tourist industry. As of November 1, fully vaccinated travellers from eligible countries – China (including Hong Kong), Malaysia and the United States among them – have been able to enter via the Test and Go programme (also known as the Quarantine Exemption Scheme). After a night in an accredited hotel, visitors with a negative PCR test result are free to roam.

The numbers look promising. As domestic Covid-19 cases have fallen, Thailand has seen the highest growth in internet searches among all destinations: a 75 per cent jump between October 10 and November 19, according to Travel Insights with Google. On December 1 and 2 alone, 16,210 travellers entered Thailand, including 13,203 under the Test and Go programme.

But the trickle of visitors has yet to become the flood Thailand needs to rehydrate its parched tourist industry. Bangkok hubs for travellers are lined by closed shopfronts displaying “For Sale” and “For Rent” signs. The country’s tuk-tuks sit idle, drivers snoozing or fondling their phones.

A quiet street in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. Photo: Thomas Bird

In the northern resort city of Chiang Mai, the mere sight of a visitor triggers excitement among tour operators looking for whatever business they can get. For Israeli Benjamin Cohen, 41, Thailand was the “perfect option” after two years stuck at home.

“I’m type one diabetic and my parents have preconditions so I had to quit my job as a biology teacher,” explains Cohen, who feared catching Covid-19 from one of his students.