Travel to Southeast Asia at a standstill

Thursday, July 30, 2020

In spite of South East Asia’s courageous efforts in curbing the virus, and in stark contrast to the people of Europe zipping across the continent, travel in the region is fully at a standstill.

Due to an unmanageable second wave, countries across Asia have opted for keeping their borders firmly closed towards mass tourism. Plans for tourism corridors, even within Asia, are moving slow and it is unlikely that Brits will not be able to visit South East Asia before autumn at the earliest.
Thailand’s borders have been closed since March 25 and the nationwide Emergency has just been extended till the end of August.

Thailand’s Minister of Tourism has thought about introducing small travel bubbles that would allow visitors from ‘safe’ cities and provinces to travel to select areas of Thailand, mostly islands like Phuket and Koh Samui, where tourists could be restrained and separated from general public. Indonesia, the country of 17,000 islands went into lockdown in April, much later than its neighbors, and started relaxing social distancing restrictions in June, although the virus spread to all 35 provinces of Indonesia during that time.

In the last two weeks, Widodo’s government stated plans to reopen Bali to international tourism from September 11, although its number of cases surpassed 100,000, the highest rate in South East Asia. The FCO has advised against all but essential travel to Indonesia.

After an unbelievable run of 99 days without any local cases, Vietnam has locked down Danang and is vacating 80,000 tourists from the area after four residents tested positive. In Vietnam, domestic tourism is back in full flow and locals are taking advantage of highly discounted flights and hotel packages.

Vietnam has proven itself a world leader in its fight against the virus, having recorded zero deaths until now. Vietnam is unlikely to allow travelers from COVID-affected countries like the United Kingdom, before the end of this year.

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