What is the real cost for tourists when planning a trip to Thailand in the Covid-19 era?
Apart from sufficient budget for a quarantine facility, which for the most luxurious trip can be as high as 300,000 baht per person, tourists must agree to a 14-day quarantine -- which means only people who don't have time and money limits will visit the country.
According to data from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the upscale market or those earning over US$60,000 a year made up less than 20% in the past five years as officials struggled to attract high-end travellers.
Last year, when foreign tourist arrival numbers nearly hit 40 million, major revenue came from Asian tourists.
Since the strict lockdown was eased in the second quarter, the Association of Thai Travel Agents (Atta) has repeatedly called for a shorter quarantine period or, ideally, no quarantine to attract travellers who don't want to spend two weeks in confinement for their four- or five-day trip.
The association pointed to China and Taiwan, that are considered low-risk countries.
If applied, the scheme would draw 100,000 travellers a month and help tourism with at least 5 billion baht in revenue, Atta said.
Tour operators pledged to be responsible for those tour groups to calm public concerns.
Hong Kong and Singapore recently reached agreement on a travel bubble policy, which will soon let people from those two countries travel back and forth without being quarantined.
Vichit Prakobgosol, Atta's president, said the decision is unavoidable for any tourism-led country.
Mr Vichit said local communities should accept that special international groups allowed in earlier and those applying for a special tourist visa (STV) are not enough, as the expected number is just 1,000 per month, far from the monthly figure of 3 million last year.
Last week the Public Health Ministry floated the idea to shorten the quarantine period from 14 to 10 days for visitors from low-risk countries, including China, Taiwan, New Zealand and Australia.
Tony Fernandes, chief executive of AirAsia Group, said keeping borders closed is not a solution, as Thailand and most countries in Asean depend on tourism.
Testing on arrival without a 14-day quarantine is the preferred solution for post-outbreak travels.
A strong contact tracing app is also important to detect people who have been in close contact with Covid-19 patients, in case the number of cases start to flare up.
"At some point, countries have to take a little bit of risk to reopen, as we cannot live in a cave for the rest of our lives," Mr Fernandes said.
"We have to live with this virus as we have with others before like the common cold or dengue," Mr Fernandes said.
