The president of a business operators association on Bangkok’s famous Khao San Road says tourists are making a comeback there. This news comes following Thailand Pass‘s eased entry requirements for foreign arrivals, making travelling to Thailand slightly less tedious. The president told the Bangkok Post that the number of tourists still doesn’t exceed 20% of the numbers from pre-Covid times, though.
Last month when Thai authorities kept an iron grip on would-be Songkran celebrators by keeping tough Covid-19 restrictions, the president said many businesses on Khaosan Road had canceled their parties. Nevertheless, Sa-nga Ruangwatthanakul, president of the Khao San Road Business Operators Association, says more tourists came to Khao San Road during that time. He says the number of tourists has continued to increase after Thailand eased its entry requirements on May 1.
Sa-nga said that due to the eased restrictions, business owners can earn about 5 million baht a day on week days, and up to 10 million baht a day on weekends. Now, Sa-nga is calling on Thailand’s government to do completely do away with the Thailand Pass registration requirement for foreign visitors, and organise campaigns to bring tourists back to Khao San. He added that the government’s plan to declare Covid-19 an endemic will help with the tourism situation.
Covid-19 has been a damper on Thai authorities’ plans for Khao San Road. In 2019, the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority announced it was investing $1.6 million to transform Khao San Road into a regulated “international walking street”. Khao San was eventually renovated in 2020, although due to Covid-19 the renovation was less climactic than expected, with much fewer foreigners. However, the streets were still packed with young Thais on weekends.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post