Some 50% of Thais agree with a plan to reopen the country for specific groups of tourists, says the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT).

The TCT survey polled 1,362 Thais during Aug 15-30, including residents in Phuket, Chiang Mai, Koh Samui, Krabi and Pattaya.

Some 46% of respondents still disagreed with the idea of reopening, said TCT president Chairat Trirattanajarasporn.

Also, 58% opposed a scheme to bring in long-stay tourists.



Those who live in provinces heavily reliant on the international market mostly agreed to receive long-stay tourists. In Phuket, 51% agreed with the plan and 39% disagreed. In Koh Samui, 38% would like to welcome long-term visitors, while those against and remaining neutral were 31% each.

Some 52% of Thais said no to the travel bubble idea, but respondents from Phuket and Koh Samui were mostly in favour.

While the TCT and other tourism associations are urging the government to prepare a shorter quarantine plan for international arrivals, a majority (57%) said they still wanted tourists to quarantine for 14 days before travelling elsewhere under strict disease control measures.

Just 10% agreed with removing the 14-day quarantine and bringing tourists to limited areas instead, such as Phuket, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Chang.

Some 33% said that if the government scraps the compulsory quarantine, tourists must come under the escort of tour operators only.

If Thailand welcomes international tourists this year, the plan will not affect domestic tourism, said Thanapol Cheewarattanaporn, president of the Association of Domestic Travel. But to encourage more Thais to travel, he said the stimulus campaign called We Travel Together must include tour operators as well.


Mr Thanapol said tour products will not only serve demand from the elderly who can fill up weekday slots, but also create more jobs for tour guides and tour bus operators.

The elderly accounted for about 11 million of Thailand's population of 66 million last year.