IT spending in Thailand is expected to surge by 4.9% this year, buoyed by a jump in outlays on enterprise software and devices to support remote work, according to global research firm Gartner.
Of the total IT spend, enterprise software is forecast to see the strongest growth of 13.2%, followed by devices with growth of 11.3% as "remote work support is expanded and improved", Gartner said in a statement.
Overall IT spending is forecast to reach 680 billion baht in 2021, up from 648 billion in 2020. The outlay is predicted to surge 5.7% to 718 billion baht in 2022.
In 2021, communications services are expected to see the biggest IT spend at 364 billion baht, up 1.6% from a year before. The outlay in this segment is projected to remain substantial in 2022 with 379 billion baht forecast to be spent.
At the global level, IT spend is projected to surge 8.4% year-on-year to US$4 trillion in 2021 and expected to jump 5.5% to $4.2 trillion in 2022.
"IT no longer just supports corporate operations as it traditionally did but it is fully involved in business value delivery," said John-David Lovelock, distinguished research vice-president at Gartner.
"Not only does this shift IT from a back-office role to the front of a business but it also changes the source of funding from an overhead expense that is maintained, monitored and sometimes cut, to the thing that drives revenue."
In 2021, the biggest growth in global IT spending is expected to come from devices with an increase of 14% to $755 billion, followed by enterprise software with a jump of 10.8% to $516 billion.
This comes as organisations shift their focus to provide a more comfortable, innovative and productive environment to their employees, he said.
Throughout the rest of this year, the focus for chief information officers (CIOs) will be completing digital business plans geared towards enhancing and transforming the company's value proposition, he said.
"Last year, IT spending took the form of a 'knee-jerk' reaction to enable a remote workforce in a matter of weeks. However, as hybrid work takes hold, CIOs will focus on spending that enables innovation and not just task completion," said Mr Lovelock.
Inoculation rules laid out for visitors to Phuket
Anyone flying into Phuket must have received at least one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine or both or full doses of other brands, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) said yesterday.
Entry by air is also allowed for those who have documentary proof of their recovery from Covid-19 within 90 days prior to their arrival.
Healthy travellers also need to produce a document confirming they have had a Covid-negative test result issued within the previous seven days.
Airlines will not allow those unable or unwilling to show any of those documents to board the plane. Children five years or older are exempt from the new restriction, which went into effect on Monday.
Meanwhile, public opinion is being gauged from local business operators over the province's readiness to reopen to tourism.
The findings will be conveyed to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration on Friday before the cabinet rules on whether the reopening of the province to vaccinated tourists on July 1 can go ahead under the so-called "Phuket Sandbox" model.
Wikrom Chaktee, deputy Phuket governor, said the meeting was held to hear from several tourism-related sectors such as hotels, restaurants and transportation operators.
Flights from London, Dubai and Doha as well as key cities in Europe and Asia which will see direct flights to Phuket from July 1st as the island resort is already back on the travel agent's open lists for bookings. It comes as there is already tighter security and screening of visitors entering the tourist resort from the mainland to protect its status as a virus haven.
The international travel and tourism industry is beginning to sit up and take notice of the July 1st reopening of Phuket to international tourism as there is extremely positive news from the airline industry with major airlines including Thailand's own Thai Airways adding Phuket International Airport as a key holiday destination on the world's reawakening international flight network.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand Chief for Europe, the Middle East and the Americas, Siripakorn Cheawsamoot, is still cautioning that the initial demand from July 1st may be soft as the reopening of Phuket is taken up by the international flight network with airlines scheduling daily and weekly flights to the kingdom from Europe and key transit hubs such as London, Doha, Dubai and Tokyo.
International airlines are ready to fly into Phuket from July 1st although a spokesman for the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Siripakorn Cheawsamoot who is responsible for Europe, the Middle East and the Americas, has indicated that despite this, initial demand in July may not be strong due to restrictions which are still in place both in Thailand and in the country of origin.
However, what is clear is that tourist arrivals from foreign countries expected to be at the outset from Europe and the United Kingdom, will not be subject to the 14-day quarantine requirement.
This was confirmed by TAT boss Yuthasak Supasorn in a letter in recent days.
Travellers are still required to obtain a Certificate of Entry from a Thai embassy or consulate and fully comply with its conditions but no quarantine
However, those travelling will still be required to obtain a Certificate of Entry from the relevant Thai embassies or consulates in their country to travel to Thailand.
They will also be required to comply with other requirements such as showing a negative test for Covid-19 within 72 hours of arrival on the resort island as well as insurance cover of $100,000.
These are laid down in information available at the network of Royal Thai embassies worldwide in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok.
Adult foreign tourists must be vaccinated
All visitors, availing of the exemption from the 14-day quarantine rule, will be required to show proof of vaccination using the 5 vaccines currently approved in Thailand which are AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer BioNtech and the Sinapharm vaccine.
Officials have indicated this list of vaccines will be added to in short order to include other vaccines such as the Moderna jab which has been used extensively in the US, UK and Europe.
There are exceptions for children under 12 accompanying vaccinated parents who do not require proof of vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test while dependents between 13 and 18 years old will only require a negative Covid-19 test.
Currently, Thailand is prohibiting flights from India as well as Nepal and Bangladesh as a precaution against the Indian variant of the virus B1617 which is reported to be 100% more infectious than the UK variant B117 which has become dominant in Thailand and caused the severe third wave outbreak.
Airlines mobilising to support holidaymaker demand as they head for Phuket in the virus aftermath
News of the flights is coming from a variety of sources including Thai Airways which is mobilising flight services on European routes and Asia directly to Phuket to take advantage of the emerging opportunity which could kickstart Thailand's currently dormant foreign tourism industry.
From July 1st, Thai Airlines which is still before the Central Bankruptcy Court despite approval by creditors of its rehabilitation plan, because of some creditor objections, is planning direct flights to Phuket International Airport from London, Paris, Frankfurt and Copenhagen.
The airline is also planning to operate regular flights from Seoul, Singapore and Tokyo into Phuket.
It will be joined by Qatar Airways which will fly weekly flights from Stockholm, Oslo, Paris, Warsaw and Vienna, all from July 1st. These flights will be run in cooperation with British Airways which has operated a bilateral partnership with the Middle East based airline since 2018.
Even more significantly, Qatar and British Airways will also fly direct to Phuket three times a day from Doha with connecting feeder flights from London.
Return of Phuket and Thailand as a world-class tourist destination offering security from the virus
Emirates will also fly a daily flight into Phuket International Airport from Dubai which, like London, is a key transit point for travellers coming from all over the world while the Israeli airline El Al will also fly in a weekly flight from Tel Aviv to the holiday island off Thailand's coast in the Andaman Sea.
Phuket will now offer foreign tourists significant security from the deadly virus as well as all the other attractions which saw it become one of the most popular destinations for tourists anywhere in the world when it notched up 9.89 million visitors in 2019 and ranked number fourteen on a prestigious Mastercard list which saw Bangkok at Number One surpassing both Paris and London, making the Thai capital the single most visited place on earth.
Singapore Airlines is already flying into Phuket several times each week, at this time.
Travel agencies putting Phuket on the open list including European countries such as Switzerland
The Phuket reopening is making news throughout the travel industry worldwide with many European and American tourists still searching for an opportunity to holiday in Thailand.
This week, it also emerged that a Swiss-based travel agency, Thailand Reisen Reber, is promoting a Saturday afternoon flight to Phuket from Zurich.
The flight will be operated by Thai Airways using a Boeing 787 Dreamliner with a capacity to fly 256 passengers, 22 of them in the Thai Airlines' Royal Silk class with the rest in economy.
Prices being quoted by the agency are under ฿28,000 or CHF 790.
The reopening of Phuket to direct flights comes as the government is now determined to also reopen nine other areas by October 1st to less restrictive international tourism including Bangkok and Pattaya.
The tourist authority is also highlighting that both Krabi and the Khao Lak area of Phang Nga Province will also be reopening to international tourism a month later on August 1st.
Although visitors will not be subject to quarantine, they must satisfy the Certificate of Entry requirements. Travellers will also be subject to public health safety measures after they arrive in Phuket.
Phuket already sees tighter security and screening of visitors entering the island from the mainland
Firstly, they will be restricted to travel within the island which has already seen a tightening of security and screening of travellers coming in from the Thai mainland to protect the area's hard-earned herd immunity status which it is expected to have confirmed by July 1st.
However, after 7 days, the foreign tourists may travel throughout Thailand.
After 5 days, they will be required to take a new Covid-19 test at their own expense which, if negative, will also see them being allowed to visit Phi Phi Island, Koh Yao Island and other areas in Phang Nga for day trips.
Visitors must use the Thai travel smartphone app
There are also restrictions on the hotels that can be booked and tourism services on the island which are available to tourists must be approved by the Thailand Safety & Health Administration.
The excitedly anticipated foreign arrivals on Phuket will also be required to install the 'Thailand Plus' app on their smartphones so that they can be tracked by officials determined to preserve the island as a haven from the virus at this time.
The first 14 batches of AstraZeneca vaccine, produced by Thai pharmaceutical company Siam Bioscience, have passed the quality tests of the Thai Department of Medical Sciences.
The department director-general, Dr. Supakit Sirilak, said that samples of the first five lots of AstraZeneca vaccine and the next nine lots, sent to the department by Siam Bioscience, have met the department's quality standard, following tests.
He said, however, that the department is waiting for a summary production protocol from the drug company before it can issue the release document for use.
The vaccine will be administered to people over 60 and people afflicted with any of seven non-communicable underlying diseases, scheduled for June 7th, when mass vaccinations start.
About six million doses of the vaccine are expected to be delivered this month.
At the same time, Public Health Permanent Secretary Dr. Kiatiphum Wongrachit reassured that the mass vaccinations will proceed as scheduled with sufficient vaccines, both AstraZeneca and Chinese-made Sinovac, to meet the goal of inoculating 70% of the Thai population within September.
Brits are desperate to holiday abroad but don't want to be house-bound on their return.
According to a Good Morning Britain poll, about 35 percent of Brits say they won't strictly follow their government's insistence that total isolation at home is necessary after returning from some holiday spots.
The UK has adopted a traffic lights system in which all countries are graded green, amber or red. The vast majority of countries are graded amber – including European favourites such as Greece and Spain as well as Thailand – and returnees have to promise self-quarantine in their home for up to 10 days.
But the poll suggests that many won't keep their promise, mostly on the grounds that they have to have a virus health check before being allowed back in any case. The poll supports other research in the United States that voluntary quarantine is not reliable because people cheat. Thailand currently requires all arriving passengers to stay at their own expense in a quarantine hotel for 15 nights.
British authorities say that they will enforce the self-quarantine by sudden phone calls and visits by a privately-run enforcement brigade with support from the police as and when necessary. But many Brits are circumspect about the effectiveness of the scheme. "You can always say you didn't hear the phone ring or the door bell was out of order," confided one would-be miscreant who might be risking a hefty fine.
Thailand, which is desperate to save its international vacation market, has announced that fully vaccinated visitors will be able to visit some holiday hotspots, including Phuket and Pattaya, in a staged adoption program whose precise details are still under wraps.
The Chonburi Department of Public Health announced 47 new and confirmed cases of Covid-19 today, June 1st, mostly driven by clusters at factories and migrant worker camps.
This makes a total of 4,716 cases of Covid-19 in the current round of infections, with 989 people still under medical care and with a total of 28 recorded deaths in Chonburi since the start of this recent round of infections in early April.
Additionally, 3,699 people in total have now been released from medical care and fully recovered since this current wave began. 50 people were released yesterday.
The district-level new cases were as follows today:
Mueang Chonburi with 17, Si Racha 14, Banglamung (including Pattaya) 1, Pan Thong 6, Nong Yai, 2 and seven patients were transferred from another province to Chonburi for medical care.
The details on today's cases given were:
Contact from previous confirmed cases
In families, 7 cases
In workplaces, 6 cases
Infected in a factory in Pluak Dang, Rayong transferred to Chonburi for medical care, 5 cases
Close contacts under investigation, 16 cases
Being investigated, 13 cases
In the last day, a total of 202 close contacts were tested from contact tracing, and 851 people were tested in proactive testing when medical staff goes out into the community. All are pending results.
Public health officials continue to urge people to not socialize outside of their direct household until the situation improves. Most cases have come from small social gatherings according to authorities.
Chonburi has significantly stepped up testing at industrial estates and their worker dormitories as well as workplaces in the province.
The announcement from the CCSA has simply stated that all five measures, including parks that saw social media flooded earlier today with excited and pleased messages about the relief, are now reversed.
According to the CCSA announcement, all five measures will remain closed/off-limits until at least June 14th.
The reaction was swift on social media, with many Thai and English commenters furious, especially about parks. Businesses, like massage shops, who were looking forward to being able to get back to work and have received limited to no financial assistance after weeks of shutdowns as most are staffed by informal workers who are not eligible for social security benefits, were also expressing their anger online.
However, there were some online comments that supported the decision, stating that with the number of cases currently, most coming from Bangkok, it was too early to relax any restrictions.
Chonburi, home of Pattaya, has not relaxed any restrictions nor posted that they were planning to earlier today. As of now, all restrictions, which include closures of massage shops, gyms, cinemas, bars, and beaches for exercise only, remain in place "until further notice".
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha gave assurances on Monday that vaccine deliveries would arrive on time and Thailand would not experience any shortages.
The pledge was made during an address to the House of Representatives as it kicked off its debate on the budget bill for the 2022 fiscal year ahead of the mass vaccination programme due to start on June 7.
"The government continues to procure Covid-19 vaccines and has primary, secondary and emergency plans. I expect the delivery of the supplies to be made on schedule.
"The government has procured vaccines from Sinovac and AstraZeneca while an alternative vaccine [from Sinopharm] is being procured by Chulabhorn Royal Academy (CRA)," he said.
He defence came after the Mor Prom (Doctor's Ready) mobile appointment app was temporarily suspended.
Gen Prayut also said the government would speed up allocation of vaccine especially to areas with large clusters of infections.
Permanent secretary for public health Kiattiphum Wongrajit said on Monday the vaccine rollout will take place from June 7 as scheduled with AstraZeneca insisting the vaccine will be delivered as planned.
Dr Kiattiphum said that about 70% of the population will get their first shots by the end of September in line with the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration's (CCSA) plan.
Supakit Sirilak, director-general of the Department of Medical Sciences, said on Monday 19 samples of AstraZeneca's vaccine including five produced locally by Siam Bioscience had passed quality tests.
Meanwhile, the CCSA on Monday reported 5,485 new cases with 3,532 among the general population and 1,953 in prisons.
CCSA assistant spokeswoman Apisamai Srirangson said two new clusters had been found in Bangkok, one at a construction worker camp in Bang Na and the other in a community in Sathon.
Meanwhile, Udon Thani health authorities on Monday reported that four of the most recent cases diagnosed were found to be of the variant first detected in India.
Uthen Hakaew, deputy chief of the provincial public health office, said the three women and one man were being treated at four separate hospitals.
The type of virus variants present in each country will serve as criteria to determine low to medium-risk countries and dictate the minimum required length stay for tourists in Phuket as other sandbox areas gear up for new reopening dates, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).
The emergence of the Indian variant which saw Thailand re-impose the 14-day quarantine requirement will affect the minimum length of stay of tourists in Phuket, which formerly set a minimum length of seven nights before visitors are allowed to depart to other domestic destinations, said TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn.
However, there is no minimum stay in Phuket for short-stay tourists who want to visit only the island.
The Department of Disease Control will hold a committee meeting to evaluate risk countries by using virus variants as the criteria. This information will also be submitted to the Centre for Economic Situation Administration (CESA) on June 4 along with the city's reopening plan.
Mr Yuthasak said an official announcement of the Phuket sandbox model in the Royal Gazette will take place around mid-June after receiving approval from the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) and the cabinet.
The Phuket sandbox is expected to generate 11.49 billion baht in tourism receipts from 129,000 tourists in the first three months from 85,000 travellers in the long-haul market while short-haul countries, excluding China, will contribute 44,000 tourists.
"The agency is committed to its target of 3-4 million international arrivals this year, which is possible," Mr Yuthasak said in an online seminar held by the Association of Thai Travel Agents.
"The Phuket model will drive momentum into the high season in the last quarter and early next year as everyone is desperate to travel."
Starting from today, TAT's website has also launched "The Countdown to Reopen Phuket" campaign, aiming to bring foreign visitors such as travel agents and bloggers for trips.
The first group of tourists from the US, expected to arrive in early June, will see how Phuket has improved its supply-side while television crews from CNN have also made contact.
Moreover, other sandbox areas that want to change their reopening timeline will propose their plan to the CESA as well, said Siripakorn Cheawsamoot, TAT's deputy governor for Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas.
Krabi and Koh Samui will welcome tourists in July under sealed routes in which tourists can take part in tour programmes on the fourth day after arrival.
