Thai travel industry seeing glimmers of hope after two years

Saturday, March 12, 2022

Chiang Mai’s waterfalls, night markets and hostels are once again getting to witness backpackers after hard times of the pandemic.

Thailand was once a refuge for budget travelers; however, Covid-19 devastated the Thai tourism industry, which is now taking cautious steps towards reopening.

People who know Chiang Mai at its tourism peak will still find the city comparatively quiet; however, those in the travel industry are seeing glimmers of hope after two years. “We can see the number slowly increase,” said PalakornViriya, the owner of Deejai Backpackers hostel. He described the previous two years as a tough “struggle”.

Palakorn said that before the pandemic, he noticed around 40-60 guests every night, but now he gets about 10 each night. Still, this is a marked improvement from 2020 and 2021.

“The last customer left the hostel in July 2020 and then there was nothing until November 2021,” when Thailand relaxed entry restrictions for vaccinated visitors, Palakornsaid.

He said thatis lucky because he owns the property entirely, but as many as 80% of his competitors had no other option but to close down, since they didn’thave enough moneyfor paying rent with zero customers.

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