Chiang Mai wants to be the next destination after Phuket and Samui that can receive tourists again. Chiang Mai's tourism industry was worth more than 100 billion baht a year in revenue before the pandemic.
A successful reopening will require effective planning, the collective will of authorities and residents to comply with strict measures, as well as the ability to learn from the current sandbox programs in Phuket and Samui. The province is therefore one of the seven major destinations to copy the sandbox project.
A plan has been devised for this called 'Charming Chiang Mai'. The Chiang Mai Sandbox thus responds to what the province is best known for: traditions, culture and nature, according to governor Charoenrit Sa-nguanrat.
The reopening of Chiang Mai was tentatively scheduled for October 15, but now that the number of new infections is under control, the province wants to open on October 1. A requirement for reopening is that at least 70 percent of the local population must be vaccinated. The four districts, Muang, Mae Rim, Mae Taeng and Doi Tao, will implement the local sandbox model.
These districts are already close to meeting the 70 percent vaccination target, putting them at the forefront of the province. All tourism businesses participating in the sandbox program must be certified by the Safety and Health Administration (SHA).
What all sandbox destinations have in common is the requirement that foreign visitors be fully vaccinated. They cannot immediately go on a voyage of discovery, but must first undergo a quarantine period during which they are tested a number of times. A negative result will allow them to participate in sightseeing trips with predetermined routes.
Source: Bangkok Post
Do they not want to understand or is it just pretending to welcome tourists? Is there anyone who notices that if the quarantine obligation remains, you will really attract very few tourists. It seems as if they are in a tunnel and can only look in one direction. Just keep waiting until they don't make any weird demands and then I'd like to visit again.
Well,
I am very curious how they get "tourists"?
There is not a single plane with a foreign destination in Chiang Mai.
Because that is the first requirement of the “SandBox” program.
Or it should be the 2nd week, first a week Phuket, then Chiang Mai.
And then another mandatory tour. Would those Thai be that stupid or………..
No one uses this anyway.
Every tourist is waiting to see what will happen on October 1, many hope for a lifting of the CoE and the mandatory insurance, only then will the tourists come again.
There are normally direct flights from Hong Kong and China or are they not foreign destinations?
Well Ruud,
Normally yes, also to Doha and Singapore, but not now.
As a real tourist, who wants to be in mandatory quarantine and only go outside with a (group) tour that can be booked in advance. The tours mainly go to Mae Taeng and Mae Rim. You are not allowed to walk freely in the city under any circumstances. Contact with the local population is absolutely avoided. If someone in your group tests positive, you will then also be detained for another 14 days. No Way!!
As much as I finally want to go on vacation again
to Thailand, I also see this sandbox initiative
like a complete no no for me.
Holidays mean freedom, happiness and security to me
no strings attached, and I really echo a previous speaker's statement
that tourism will not really warm to this, I will put Thailand for now
but off my mind the rest of the year, I wait law
until the holiday I want is actually possible again.
And if you only stay in Thailand for 4 weeks, it is not an option. Does the government not see that this is not working? I would Oct 7 go to BKK, after 3 days travel to Phuket and visit our friendly hotel owner there who was not in the sandbox hotel list. We are happy that EVA is canceling its flights for Oct. canceled because then we would have lost 14 days in BKK and we could not spend the night with friends. Then reschedule to 2022.
Dear Caroline,
That has not been allowed for a year and a half!
But since the sandbox regulation you are allowed to fly on HKT.
You spend the night there and can still visit your friendly hotel owner during the day.
And that may take 6 weeks, but you can also leave the island after 2 weeks, if you have tested negative.
I thought I would be one of the first to come back, but what good does it do to be vaccinated if you still have to go into quarantine and stay in a hotel and follow the beaten track. It won't be for me. Next week I will get a third injection in Belgium. I am now two years older and I hope to get to Thailand before I die, after that there is no point anymore. Have people learned nothing from Phuket?
Daniel.
Because a few years ago Thailand was still surrounded by countries where tourists were not welcome (Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Vietnam and Islamic Malaysia), in my opinion, the Thai idea has arisen that Thailand is the number 1 of the tourist destinations. stay, and there would be no alternatives. They could make the demands they wanted. The tourists would come anyway, since other alternatives were lacking. However, times have changed. Their idea of Thailand's indispensable attractiveness as a foreign tourist attraction has never been adjusted. And that will affect them.
I am fully vaccinated with 2 x Pfizer. And I have a condo in Chiang Mai. But first a CoE, insurance, a few times a rod up to my brain stem through my nose and then being allowed to walk outside with a face mask on, while there is nothing else to do, because tourists do not come with all that hassle, is not my idea of a spend nice time.
Is that so bad then just get a monster out of your nose, and walk with a face mask.
The big advantage is that there are few or no tourists, so the city is yours, unless you like large crowds at airports in the city and beyond.
And the many Chinese tourists who normally walk around, which can annoy you immensely, are not here either.
Visiting Chiangmai today seems like a relief to me.
And if the price of CoE insurance is too expensive, it is better to go on holiday to Nunspeet on the Veluwe.
Jan Beute.
Dear Jan,
I think you don't know what you're talking about. There is nothing to do in Chiang Mai at the moment!
It's a dead city. I don't see what a relief it is to walk around in a city where there is absolutely nothing to do.
The various markets, the famous night bazaar, it's all closed. Cosiness is created by people and if they are not there there is no cosiness.
We wish you a lot of fun in CM Jan.
Greetings from Geert from CM,
It's not that bad. I also live in CM and do not experience it as a “dead city” at all. Indeed, many purely tourist-oriented businesses are closed, especially in the old town, but not all. Life goes on beyond that. The hysterical Chinese mass tourism of yesteryear was not everything either. Something in between would be nice.
I come to Chiangmai once every two to three weeks and last time last Sunday and judging by the traffic, it is certainly not a dead city.
But not everyone comes to CM for the night bazaar or the fun.
Some come for the beautiful surroundings and culture, all without being knocked over by hordes of Chinese.
Jan Beute.
Dear Jan,
In the city center, almost all shutters are closed.
Only local shops for local people are open, such as your parts shop, in Kaoenawarat Road.
Nightbazar and also Loi Kroh Road, almost all shutters closed.
How lucky I am to live in the neighboring province of Lamphun.
Today, Sunday, September 12, I went to CM to order a part for my HD motorbike, and then did some shopping in HangDong at Kad Farang.
No sign of any corona control whatsoever.
Maybe because I always go for the longsome road.
Jan Beute.
That's not right John.
There is a check on the road from Chiang Mai – Lamphun.
Every day I use this road and the control is still in effect to this day.
If you go by motorbike, you can pass right by.
Goodbye,
Geert.
What do you mean is not right, go along the road that runs parallel to the railway line, no control or anything to see on both sides of the rails.
I was not on the motorbike, but with the old Mitsch.
Maybe on the superhighway, but as I wrote I go for the longsome road, and that was also busy last Sunday.
And back via Hang Dong via the large four-lane road the same story.
But yes it was the weekend and also on Sunday then the gendarmerists have a day off.
Jan Beute.
In fact, it becomes a state-regulated visit to Thailand. I immediately think of an orchestrated state visit to North Korea. That with still quarantine, but shorter and at a different location. I kindly thank you for this.
Watched TV this weekend with some surprise.
In the USA, in the country that was confronted with Covid much later than Thailand (almost 650.000 deaths to date), the stadium for the final of the US open (tennis) is packed to the brim. No mask to be seen.
Also in England football stadiums. And in Thailand, which was one of the first countries after China to be confronted with Covid in January 2020? Empty stadiums, empty streets, no traffic jams, curfew…….
What's going wrong?