Tourism

Thailand Cannabis: From Drug War To Weed Curries

Thailand legalised cultivating and consuming cannabis this month, reversing a hard-line approach of long prison sentences or even the death penalty for drug offences. 21 years ago, I had one of the more searing experiences of my journalistic career.

22 June 2022
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Thailand Legalises Cannabis Trade

People in Thailand can now grow cannabis plants at home and sell the crop after the nation removed marijuana from its banned narcotics list.The nation is the first to advance such a move in Southeast Asia, a region known for its stringent drug laws.But recreational use is still banned, even though advocates say the easing effectively decriminalises marijuana.The government is hoping that developing a local cannabis trade will boost agriculture and tourism.It's even giving away one millio

9 June 2022
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Thailand’s Battered Tourism Struggles To Rebuild

At Railay Beach, an Instagrammers’ favourite known for its wide, warm sands bookended by limestone cliffs, 23-year-old Londoner Becca sips coffee and savours the return of Thai backpacking following a recent easing of entry requirements.“We saved our money, quit work and travelled here,” she said of her months-long trip with friends, which was impossible during the last two years lost to the pandemic.

16 May 2022
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Thailand Drops COVID Tests For Vaccinated Visitors

Thailand on Friday announced the end of compulsory COVID-19 tests for vaccinated travellers, as the country steps up efforts to revive its pandemic-thumped tourism industry.Tight border restrictions helped the kingdom limit infections and deaths in 2020 but brought the tourism sector – which had accounted for about a fifth of the country's economy – to its knees.Thailand's COVID-19 taskforce said that from 1 May, fully vaccinated visitors would no longer have to take a test on arriv

23 April 2022
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'Fortress Australia' Re-Opens After Two-Years

Australia opens its international borders to all vaccinated tourists today, nearly two years after the island nation first imposed some of the world's strictest COVID-19 travel restrictions."The wait is over," Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said during a press conference on Sunday ahead of the re-opening."Pack your bags," he told potential visitors, adding, "Don't forget to bring your money with you, because you'll find plenty of places to spe

21 February 2022
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COVID Ends China’s Hopes Of Olympic Economy Boost

China’s Winter Olympics may be more of a drag on Beijing’s regional economy than a boost, as virus flare-ups and pollution curbs weigh on consumer and industrial activity.A ban on public spectators means there won’t be the usual bump up in tourism and consumption that a city hopes to gain from hosting the international games. Tighter controls to contain the outbreaks of two virus variants are keeping holidaymakers away.

6 February 2022
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Omicron Pauses The Return To Economic Normality

The science may still be uncertain but the Omicron variant has definitively intruded upon recent stock market euphoria.The designation as a variant of concern last week, and then further comments from vaccine makers that existing vaccines will not be as effective, has caused widespread and significant falls in share prices.So what will the economic effect be?

1 December 2021
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Lao Hopes For Economic Boost With New Railway

A new US$6 billion Chinese-built railway line opens in Lao this week, bringing hopes of an economic boost to the reclusive nation, but experts are questioning the benefits of a project that has seen thousands of farmers evicted from their land.The 414-kilometre route, due to open on 3 December, took five years to construct under China's trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which funds infrastructure projects aimed at increasing Beijing's clout globally.Struggling strawber

28 November 2021
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Cambodia Re-Opens To Fully Vaccinated Travellers

Cambodia has announced that fully vaccinated foreign travellers can visit the kingdom without quarantine from Monday, giving a boost to the COVID-hobbled tourism industry.Travel restrictions imposed to tackle the pandemic put the brakes on Cambodia's burgeoning tourism industry – revenue plummeted to US$1 billion last year, down from nearly US$5 billion in 2019, when the country attracted 6.6 million visitors.Prime Minister Hun Sen made an unexpected announcement on Sunday night that all

16 November 2021
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Asia Tourism Reopens With The Chinese Stuck At Home

Asia's gradual easing of international travel curbs is proving a welcome relief for the region's hard-hit tourism operators slowly opening up to visitors from around the world - with one giant exception.China, previously the world's largest outbound tourism market, is keeping international air capacity at just 2 percent of pre-pandemic levels and has yet to relax tight travel restrictions as it sticks to zero tolerance for COVID-19.That has left a US$255 billion annual spending

4 November 2021
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Tourists Pour In For Thailand Re-Opening

Overseas tourists poured into Bangkok and the holiday island of Phuket on Monday as Thailand kickstarted its tourism industry after 18 months of COVID curbs.The coronavirus pandemic hammered the kingdom's tourism-reliant economy, which last year saw its worst performance since the 1997 Asian financial crisis as arrivals dwindled more than 80 percent.Thai authorities have given the green light to vaccinated tourists from over 60 "low-risk" countries to skip hotel quarantine – pr

2 November 2021
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Thailand To Welcome Back Tourists After Shutdown

Hotels, street food carts and tuk-tuks are gearing up for the return of tourists to Bangkok as Thailand prepares to re-open on 1 November to fully vaccinated visitors after 18 months of COVID travel curbs.But the steamy metropolis, the world's most-visited city before the pandemic, will take some time to get back to its pulsating, intoxicating old self, industry experts say.The coronavirus pandemic sent visitor numbers plummeting from 40 million in 2019 to just 73,000 in the first eight

27 October 2021
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