BANGKOK, April 29 (Reuters) - When 23-year-old Norwegian Anastasia Johansen and her boyfriend were planning their first vacation in two years, they considered going to Thailand but chose nearby Vietnam instead, for its simpler entry rules on the coronavirus. "The regulations to enter Thailand ... were complicated to me and we had to pay for the hefty PCR test," Johansen said.

Thailand, one of the world's tourism destinations before the pandemic, was among the first nations in Asia to reopen its borders to vaccinated visitors last year with limited quarantine norms, hailed at the time as a model for re-opening. But as regional peers have eased entry requirements, Thailand has clung to a cumbersome process.

"Whichever (country) offers easy, smooth, less complicated procedures wins my heart," said Johansen. Tourism professionals say Thailand's complicated entry rules are now holding back recovery in an industry that contributed 12% of GDP before the pandemic.

Forward bookings for 2022 show Thailand reaching 25% of pre-pandemic levels, behind levels of 72% and 65% each for Singapore and the Philippines. Many blame the Thailand Pass pre-entry approval system, which can take up to seven days, although the government recently vowed to streamline it.

"The red tape is killing us," said Bill Barnett, the managing director of hospitality consultancy C9 Hotelworks.

"If you're in Singapore and want to come to Thailand for the weekend, it's not easy. Those short-term trips matter."

American Kiran Stallone, who is visiting family in Thailand, said getting the Thailand Pass required proof of vaccination, insurance coverage of at least $20,000 and reservations at a qualified hotel, all submitted on a Thai government website.

"The government website was hard to navigate, and I had to seek outside help," Stallone added. Stallone said she was told to avoid some steps known to cause submission glitches that would delay her application.

The website does not allow users to save progress or return to previous pages and rejects PDF files. A Facebook group on the Thailand Pass has ballooned to 90,000 members, with would-be travellers asking anxious questions about changing flights, new entry rules and some venting frustration over rejected applications. Similar forums have also emerged on sites such as TripAdvisor.

 

YOU SHALL NOT PASS

Thailand received 39.9 million visitors in 2019 when Bangkok, the capital, was named the world's most visited city. That year, Singapore and the Philippines recorded 19.1 million and 8.26 million arrivals respectively. Thailand aims to attract 5 million to 10 million visitors this year, but critics call its Thailand Pass system an unnecessary obstacle.

"It’s uncompetitive for Thailand and complicated for travellers ... who lose all flexibility," hotel tycoon William Heinecke, chairman of Minor International Pcl (MINT.BK), told Reuters.

An approved Thailand Pass can only be used one week before or after the date indicated. The tourism council also said the system's requirement of individually filed documentation made it tougher for tour operators to bring in groups. Thailand’s coronavirus taskforce spokesperson, Taweesin Visanuyothin, said tourist arrivals have been increasing as measures were relaxed and recognised that domestic infections outnumbered those from abroad. However, Thailand's staggered approach to relaxing the rules has also caused confusion.

Entry for vaccinated tourists with limited quarantine resumed in February after a brief suspension over the Omicron variant. At the time, travellers had to take at least three COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests; one each before departure, on arrival and on the fifth day of their stay. In March, that final test was replaced with a rapid antigen test and insurance coverage was dropped to $20,000 from $50,000. In April, the pre-departure PCR test was scrapped.

From next month, insurance of $10,000 is required but tests for vaccinated travellers and advance hotel bookings have been dropped.

 

Course : Reuters

Singapore, April 07, 2022 — Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) has today affirmed the Government of Thailand’s Baa1 issuer and local currency senior unsecured ratings and maintained the outlook at stable. Moody’s has also affirmed Thailand’s foreign currency commercial paper rating at P-2.

The affirmation of the Baa1 ratings reflects Moody’s expectations that Thailand will continue to display economic resiliency to future shocks, underpinned by its large and diverse economy and strong macroeconomic policy effectiveness.

The rating also takes into account material downward pressure on the economy’s growth potential from rapid population ageing and likely long-term economic scarring from the pandemic.

 

Thailand’s fiscal metrics to remain stronger than most Baa-rated peers

While Moody’s expects Thailand’s government debt to increase and remain markedly higher than pre-pandemic norms, leaving the government with weakened fiscal strength for some time, Thailand’s fiscal metrics will still be stronger than most Baa-rated peers. Further, Moody’s assesses it likely that the government will quicken its pace of fiscal consolidation in the next two to three years once the economic recovery takes hold.

 

Balanced risks to Thailand’s credit profile

The stable outlook indicates balanced risks to Thailand’s credit profile. Thailand’s economic strength may benefit from productivity gains, including through the ramp-up of the Eastern Economic Corridor to a greater extent than Moody’s currently expects.

By contrast, the economic and social costs of ageing and Thailand’s capacity to absorb them have yet to be tested. Meanwhile, the authorities’ track record of effective macroeconomic policies, including prudent fiscal policies, despite noise in the political landscape, contributes to the stable outlook.

Thailand’s local and foreign currency country ceilings remain unchanged at Aa3 and A1, respectively. The four-notch gap between the local currency ceiling and sovereign rating reflects a balance between the country’s strong external balances and effective institutions, against the government’s relatively large footprint in the economy and moderate political risks.

The one notch gap between the foreign currency ceiling and the local currency ceiling takes into account Thailand’s history of imposing capital controls, although its low external indebtedness and high policy effectiveness reduce the risks of potential transfer and convertibility restrictions in very low-probability scenarios of the government seeing a need to impose them.

 

Sourse : Thailand Business News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US President Joe Biden said on Friday a first summit in Washington with leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) marked the launch of a “new era” in the relationship between the United States and the 10-nation bloc.

In a joint 28-point “vision statement” after a two-day meeting, the two sides took what analysts called a symbolic step of committing to raise their relationship from a strategic partnership to a “comprehensive strategic partnership” in November.

Both China and Australia hold a similar strategic partnership with ASEAN.

Biden told the ASEAN leaders that “a great deal of history of our world in the next 50 years is going to be written in the ASEAN countries, and our relationship with you is the future, in the coming years and decades.” 

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – The government has announced a slew of new protocols for air travel, doing away with the Travel Green List and the need for quarantine upon arrival in Brunei. In a press conference Friday, the Minister of Home Affairs YB Pehin Dato Hj Awg Abu Bakar Hj Apong said there will be no longer be different health protocols based on a traveler’s departure country, only vaccination status. 

Brunei Darussalam’s economy is projected to grow 5.8 per cent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest Regional Economic Outlook report. 

IMF said economic growth in Asia and the Pacific is poised to slow more than previously estimated this year amid headwinds from the conflict in Ukraine, a resurgent pandemic, and tightening global financial conditions.

Regional gross domestic product will expand by 4.9 per cent, 0.5 per centage points less than we forecast in January and slower than last year’s 6.5 per cent growth rate, according to their latest projections. 

They also estimate that inflation will rise faster in many countries, though from relatively low levels.

Slower growth and rising prices, coupled with the challenges of war, infection and tightening financial conditions, will exacerbate the difficult policy trade-off between supporting recovery and containing inflation and debt.

The invasion of Ukraine will pose the biggest challenge for economic growth, with the region’s advanced economies hurt most by reduced demand from Europe and emerging markets feeling the effects of higher global commodity prices, according to the latest projections.

IMF latest World Economic Outlook also lowered the 2022 global growth estimate by 0.8 per centage point to 3.6 per cent. It reflects a 1.1 percentage point cut for the euro area, now seen expanding 2.8 per cent.

Read the full article here.

Businesses in the United States (US) can play an important role in channelling the critical investments, required expertise and technology transfer to ASEAN member states, in terms of promoting green transition.

This was said by Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah during the meeting between ASEAN leaders and US business leaders at The Willard InterContinental, Washington DC, US on Thursday.

The minister said there is an opportunity to mobilise private capital to finance the initiative with ASEAN actively promoting a conducive ecosystem to attract sustainable investments and financing.

On energy, Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew highlighted that ASEAN and US have embarked on initiatives such as the ASEAN-US Energy Cooperation Work Plan 2021-2025 and the ASEAN-US Climate Future Initiative.

He also said the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework (ACRF), adopted in 2020 at the 37th ASEAN Summit, emphasised on the importance of sustainable energy and the promotion of green growth to boost the region’s economy. The minister shared that ASEAN has introduced few initiatives to align the region’s capital markets with the sustainability agenda, such as the adoption of the ASEAN Green Bonds Standards and ASEAN Sustainability Bonds Standards and the endorsement of the regional taxonomy for sustainable finance.

The meeting discussed issues related to ASEAN-US post pandemic economic futures on energy, climate and digitalisation, and served as a platform to enhance cooperation between US business leaders and ASEAN public and private sectors.

 

Read the full article here.

Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam are exploring direct shipping between the two nations, which allows Indonesian products to be sold and delivered to the Sultanate cheaper and faster, said Ambassador of Indonesia to Brunei Darussalam Dr Sujatmiko on Saturday.

“It will facilitate the transport of products from Indonesia to Brunei Darussalam and vice versa. We have tried several times to begin shipping between our two countries without going through a third country,“ he said on the sidelines of a Hari Raya gathering, adding that Brunei Darussalam and Indonesia have close economic and trade ties while Indonesian products are commonly found in the Sultanate.

Meanwhile, the ambassador said Royal Brunei Airlines and Garuda Airlines have begun operations, which can give a boost to the tourism sector.

“Bruneians can now travel to cities like Bali, Batam and Jakarta,” he said.

 

Read the full article here.

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine economy grew 8.3 percent in the first quarter of 2022, surpassing the pre-pandemic gross domestic product level, the country’s economic managers said Thursday.