Rules for Pattaya Countdown event. Most won't surprise readers but if you want to go to the concerts a few highlights;
Masks are mandatory.
Id required, for foreigners this means likely passport or copy.
No drinks and food, alcoholic or not, inside the concert area.
No chairs or fan signs allowed.
Keep your body strong. That's the actual rule.
Happy New Year!
🎄🎆🎉Things that you should prepare before entering Pattaya Countdown 2023😉(Volume 2146/65 of 28 Dec. k. 65)
It's tomorrow.. With festival New Year's Eve Entertainment "PATTAYA COUNTDOWN 2023"🎉Meet the concert from many famous artists for 3 days 3 nights👉🏻29-30-31 December 2565 at Pattaya Cruise Pier (Cape Bali Hai) and Koh Lan on 31 December🏝️🎶🎉
📌In this case, don't forget to prepare completely before going to the event. According to this 👇🏻
1. Register before entering the event by scanning the QR Code to download the E29 application. Then you will find the REGISTER button for the safety and safety of the participants. It will provide convenience, speed to enter the event and win prizes within the event. (Recommended to register now. Feel free to be confused)
2. Carry your ID to register on site.
3. Sneeze. Personalized medicine.
4. Alcohol is sterilizing.
5. Getting my body right
6. Wear a face mask at all times in the work area.
7. Getting my phone battery ready
8. Cheer equipment for artists include light sticks, akabong, cheer cloth ⛔ All lights are not allowed inside the event.
9. Eat, drink water, take care of personal errands before entering the concert grounds so you don't miss any moment of fun.
10. 🙅🏻 ♂️All foldable chairs and ladders are not allowed inside the event.
🎄I wish everyone to travel to Pattaya Countdown 2023 happily🎄🎆🎉
🥳Let's join us to end the old year and welcome the new year together with Pattaya Countdown 2023🎉
FILE PHOTO: Chinese tourists are returning to Thailand, but could bring problems too.
While people in the tourism and entertainment sector are celebrating China's announcement to reopen and allow outgoing travel, others have raised fears about the potential problems that could come with an influx of Chinese tourists. Some fear an overwhelming surge of Chinese tourists flooding Thailand's hotspots. Others worry that the healthcare systems in Thailand could be overburdened by the influx of tourists, especially amidst the massive Covid-19 outbreak China is currently experiencing.
China announced on Monday it will reopen its borders and abandon its strict Covid quarantine for travellers and mainland citizens on January 8. The announcement signals great news for Thailand as the kingdom continues to prosper from the worldwide relaxation of Covid restrictions. Before the pandemic, China was the No.1 source of international tourists for Thailand and many other countries in the region.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand said that if the Chinese definitely return to their pre-pandemic travel habits, the TAT will raise their target estimates for 2023 from 20 million to over 25 million international travellers. They estimated up to 500,000 people will flock to Thailand for the Chinese New Year holiday. They further expect between three and five million Chinese travellers in the kingdom throughout the year.
The TAT is meeting with the private sector today in what they called a recalibration of preparation and policy. After three years with reduced tourism and no Chinese tourist, the industry may be a bit rusty.
One major concern is the huge surge of Covid infections currently occurring in China. The government stopped announcing the number of infections after it was reported that about one million people a day contract Covid. TAT governor Yuttasak Supasorn vowed to consult with the Ministry of Public Health to address that issue and make sure that the healthcare system in Thailand is ready.
"The most important factor is not how many Chinese will return to visit Thailand, but helping the country avoid another Covid wave and keeping Thais safe."
Aside from Covid, the mechanics of travel may not be prepared for a huge jump in Chinese tourist arrivals. Flight capacity needs to be ramped up quickly to accommodate the demand. Hotels in some markets have been nearing capacity, but the promise of the returning Chinese tourist market may help resolve that issue by allowing closed properties to finally have the stability to reopen and guarantee income to fuel operations and staffing.
But staffing itself may be another issue as the hotel industry is still experiencing a labour shortage. With tourism the first sector to be a casualty of the pandemic and the last to reopen, many workers simply shifted industries and got new jobs. The president of the Thai Hotels Association said that hoteliers should be prepared to pay higher salaries and operation costs to get back off the ground.
Data suggests that a surge of Chinese travellers is imminent. Online travel platform Qunar saw a seven-fold increase in flight searches within 15 minutes of the reopening announcement. And while Japan and South Korea were popular, the second and third most searched destinations, Thailand topped the list of travel locations that were searched. Customers in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou also overwhelmed Tongcheng Travel, which recorded an 850% increase in international travel searches.
The Thai government should look at imposing preventive measures to test or restrict travelers from China and countries where a lot of Chinese tourists have visited, the main opposition Pheu Thai Party said.
"Given the [Covid-19 outbreak] situation in China, Thailand should cautiously prepare for the influx of Chinese tourists," said former deputy prime minister Chaturon Chaisang who is a member of Pheu Thai's strategy committee.
"We should have some guards up…and tests should be administered to find out what kind of variants are coming in from China to find out if they are more severe than the variants that have been found in Thailand," he said.
His comment came after Beijing announced yesterday that inbound travelers will no longer be subject to quarantine from January 8 onward.
The country also announced today that it would allow its citizens to travel abroad and measures are being put in place to facilitate travel for Chinese outside their country.
The move was a good sign for the Thai tourism sector as Chinese tourists accounted for nearly a quarter of the 40 million visitors to Thailand in 2019, before the Covid-19 outbreak.
China had until recently imposed heavy restrictions under the "Zero-Covid" banner until rare protests erupted in the country in November this year, prompting Beijing to change its policy.
Outbreak In China
The latest Covid outbreak in China saw more than 20% of its 1.4 billion population infected with the virus. The World Health Organization warned that such an outbreak could possibly lead to new strains.
Meanwhile, Thailand's weekly Covid hospitalization cases were less than 3,000 between December 18 and 24.
China's move to lift quarantine for inbound travelers led to optimistic comments from the private sector.
The Chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, Sanan Angubolkul, said yesterday that he expects at least 5 million Chinese tourists next year compared to less than 300,000 in 2022.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand also changed its forecast for the tourist number in 2023 from 20 million to 25 million after Beijing's announcement.
However, many people have remained cautious because of the ongoing outbreak in China.
Countries such as Japan, India and the United States are thinking of imposing restrictions such as having a negative Covid-19 test before Chinese tourists could enter their country.
Pheu Thai's Chaturon pointed out that Japan already announced that arrivals from China will require a negative test result before entering the country. If tested positive at the airport, they will be isolated.
The US is contemplating similar steps to Japan and Malaysia already imposed new tracking and surveillance measures.
India has last week begun to administer random tests on 2% of passenger arrivals from other countries due to concerns over new variants.
Chaturon said the Thai government should cautiously impose similar measures and closely monitored the outbreak situation in China in order to inform the Thai public about the ongoing situation to avoid public panic.
He said imposing such measures would allow travelers from other countries to feel safer from Covid when traveling in Thailand.
He also recommended that the Thai government, especially the health ministry, should offer help to Chinese people as there are reports that there are shortages of medical equipment and medicines in some states on the mainland at the
China's Covid surge leads countries to adopt entry restrictions
Travellers stand by their luggage at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing on Tuesday. (Reuters photo)
Nations across the globe are implementing or considering measures to test or restrict travellers from China as the country of 1.4 billion abandons its Covid Zero policy and prepares to reopen borders in early January.
The United States is considering new coronavirus precautions for people travelling from China amid questions about the transparency of data China is reporting about the spread of the virus, according to American officials, who asked not to be identified discussing internal thinking. Japan moved quickly on Tuesday to announce steps requiring a negative Covid-19 test upon arrival soon after Beijing said it no longer subject inbound travelers to quarantine from Jan 8.
China is rapidly dismantling its stringent pandemic measures in the face of discontent with Covid Zero rules, triggering outbreaks across the country. Uncertainty over the true scale of infections without reliable official figures is fuelling concern that the rapid spread of the virus could lead to the emergence of new variants.
China is experiencing the world's largest Covid-19 outbreak, raising concerns among public-health officials worldwide. Almost 37 million people may have been infected with the virus on a single day last week, according to estimates from the government's top health authority.
Earlier this week, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said there are "great discrepancies" in information coming out of the country, fuelling growing concern. Japan will require negative Covid-19 test results upon arrival for visitors who have been in mainland China within a seven-day period, while those who test positive will have to quarantine for a week.
The US is weighing similar steps, the officials said, as a way to prevent further spread. Malaysia has also imposed new tracking and surveillance measures. India began random testing of about 2% of passengers arriving from other countries at all international airports a week ago to minimise the risk of any new variant entering the country.
Holiday bookings for outbound flights from mainland China jumped 254% Tuesday morning from the day before, according to Trip.com Group Ltd data, underscoring how the country's vast population is ready and hungry for travel. The top five destinations were Singapore, with a 600% increase in bookings, followed by about 400% for South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and Thailand.
China will start issuing new passports and Hong Kong travel permits to mainland residents, the National Immigration Administration said in an announcement on WeChat late on Monday. Express checkpoints on the borders with Hong Kong and Macau will resume, while applications by foreigners to extend or renew visas will also re-commence as part of the relaxation of measures on Jan 8.
Taiwan may also adjust Covid measures such as testing as it anticipates tens of thousands of people returning from the Chinese mainland for the Chinese New Year later in January, cabinet spokesperson Lo Ping-cheng said in a statement. While Taiwan currently does not allow mainland Chinese tourists to get it, many Taiwanese work and invest in the mainland.
Philippine Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista called for Covid measures on Wednesday, including testing on inbound travelers from China. "We should be very cautious because if they have a lot of Covid cases, we should be careful about Chinese visitors coming into the Philippines," he told reporters.
The new US travel precautions are based on consultations with public health experts and international partners, officials said. They said the talks have been prompted in part by concerns over the lack of genomic sequencing data that could help identify the emergence of a new variant.
Health experts have said they're worried that the virus's unabated spread could spawn a dangerous new variant for the first time since the omicron strain caused infections to surge more than a year ago.
GISAID, the global consortium that maintains a database for scientists around the world to share coronavirus sequences to monitor mutations, said on Tuesday that China has ramped up its surveillance amid the ongoing outbreak. All the sequences shared by the Chinese health authorities suggest the viruses fueling the massive nationwide outbreak closely resemble the circulating variants found in the rest of the world since July, they added.
Chinese tourists arrive at Suvarnabhumi airport, Bangkok, earlier this year.
The news that Chinese nationals will be able to travel abroad from January 8without experiencing compulsory quarantine and home isolation on return has been generally welcomed as boosting the Thai economy as it struggles to regain momentum in the post-covid world environment. There are still ambiguities, such as the surprising Beijing "rule" that Chinese nationals will need an expensive RT-PCR covid test 48 hours before departure from Thailand back to the home country. Such medical tests in Thailand are mostly organized by major hospitals, must be booked well in advance and cost the better part of US$100. Whether such a difficult "rule" is actually enforced by airport check-in staff and Chinese immigration officers remains to be seen.
Thailand has always been a popular destination for Chinese vacationers with 25 percent of all the 40 million foreign arrivals in 2019 touching down on flights from Chinese cities. Beijing has now withdrawn the limit on the daily number of allowable international flights which, in turn, will lead to pressure to allow more charter planes to land at Pattaya's much-expanded U-tapao airport. Russian tour operators, such as Pegas Touristik and Odessa Tours, are currently lobbying to increase their flight numbers, now joined by Chinese travel authorities which claim to have an available stockpile of planes at Chinese airports which have been in mothballs during the covid pandemic.
Thanet Supornsahasrangsri, president of the Tourism Council of Thailand, has already warned of staff shortages to work in hotels and other leisure-related industries. Many medium-sized hotels in south Pattaya are already urgently advertising for staff in preparation for the anticipated boom and are appealing to the foreign worker registration bureau, next to the Jomtien immigration office, to recruit more waiters and cleaning staff from Myanmar and Cambodia. The biggest problem the resort's business owners may experience in 2023 will be keeping up with the demand for more staff. The Tourist Authority of Thailand aims to have 20 million foreign tourists visiting the country in 2023, but many gurus think 30 million plus is a distinct possibility if the required number of flights can be accommodated.
Geoff Clarkson, spokesman for Faraway Tours, said, "It's not just a question of overall numbers arriving in Thailand because of pent-up demand after the covid pandemic, but the tourist crowds coming to Pattaya owing to the massive expansion of nearby U-tapao airport." The number of daily flights should be limited to reduce the risks of pollution, traffic jams and pressure on local services such as immigration and land transportation." He added that some of Pattaya's major roads were still under renovation and not in a position to accommodate hundreds of huge tour buses which are associated with charter vacations. "However, there is time to prepare because it will take weeks for the detailed flights arrangements to be made." Many Chinese vacationers are hoping to get away in late January which is Chinese New Year, a traditional foreign travel favorite.
Travellers walk with their luggage at Suvarnabhumi airport. Varuth Hirunyatheb
An overload of tourists and an overwhelmed Thai healthcare system are issues to monitor next year after China fully reopens, with up to 500,000 tourists projected to start travelling during Chinese New Year.
Even though the tourism sector applauded the announcement from Beijing that it is lifting most entry requirements from Jan 8, except for a pre-arrival Covid-19 test, tourism operators were concerned about an imbalance between supply and demand.
Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor Yuthasak Supasorn said China's reopening would lead TAT to revise its target for foreign arrivals from 20 million to more than 25 million in 2023.
An influx of Chinese tourists, who have been unable to travel overseas for three years, may flock to Thailand during the Chinese New Year holiday at the end of January, with the possibility of 500,000 tourists arriving during this period and 3-5 million Chinese for the whole year, he said.
Mr Yuthasak said positive signs were noticed immediately, as 15 minutes after the announcement Beijing-based online travel platform Qunar saw air ticket searches surge by seven times, with Thailand the most popular destination, followed by Japan and South Korea.
The travel platform under Tongcheng Travel also reported an 850% increase in searches for international routes, mainly driven by users in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Mr Yuthasak said the TAT and the private sector will meet today to discuss preparations and evaluate the situation as China's major shift in its border policy after three years requires a recalibration.
He said if the private sector has any concerns about the Thai healthcare system, the TAT will take these questions to the Public Health Ministry to ensure the healthcare system is ready.
"The most important factor is not how many Chinese will return to visit Thailand, but helping the country avoid another Covid wave and keeping Thais safe," said Mr Yuthasak.
Beijing stopped announcing Covid infection numbers this week after the country reportedly had more than a million daily cases, according to some media outlets.
He said the return of the Chinese tourism market may gradually help sort out the problem of overcapacity as investors or operators will be willing to fully invest in employment and business expansion once this segment rebounds.
Sisdivachr Cheewarattanaporn, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, said increasing flight capacity should be the first priority for Thailand.
Moreover, Thailand still has to monitor how Beijing helps facilitate passport renewals for its citizens, he said.
Mr Sisdivachr said China might also need to signal which market it would like to promote for outbound tourism, as there is no update on lifting the tour group suspension at the moment.
"The end of quarantine is good news from China, especially for small hotels in Thailand, but the pace of recovery will be gradual and depend on many factors," said Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, president of the Thai Hotels Association.
Mrs Marisa said limited flights connecting to China will be an obstacle during Chinese New Year on Jan 22, while a labour shortage for hoteliers remains, as many workers left the industry for other jobs.
She said hotel operators have to be more active in recruiting staff and be prepared to pay higher operational costs from both employment and electricity charges as a result of growing consumption.
Mrs Marisa said even though Chinese tourists could help generate income for various segments and destinations, such as those in the North, the tourism industry should learn not to be overly dependent on a single market as happened in the past, when the Chinese accounted for 25% of the overall inbound market.
AIRPORT CONGESTION
Tassapon Bijleveld, executive chairman of Asia Aviation (AAV), said congestion at Suvarnabhumi airport usually occurs during peak hours as most airlines cannot increase flights to cater to growing demand.
He said most international flights were fully packed with a load factor of more than 90%, higher than the average of 85% during normal periods, causing congestion at immigration and baggage claims when several flights land during the same hour.
Mr Tassapon said Airports of Thailand already tried to solve this problem by increasing manpower, but it needs a more serious approach if Chinese travellers come back in droves next year because insufficient capacity for ground handling services also results in flight delays.
Nuntaporn Komonsittivate, head of commercial operations at Thai Lion Air, said the airline could not commit to expanding flights to the mainland in time for Chinese New Year as flight operations require notice of at least a month.
Moreover, the airline would have to rotate aircraft from its existing fleet of 11 jets to fly to China at night, as the airline is awaiting new airplanes, said Ms Nuntaporn.
Santisuk Klongchaiya, chief executive of Thai AirAsia, said whenever the Civil Aviation Administration of China officially allows international airlines to resume normal operations, the airline will immediately expand services to the country, which could be in time for the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday.
No more mandatory quarantine. No more restrictions on flights. A negative testing result 48 hours before the trip is the only Covid requirement to travel to China as of January8th.
China published two notices on the night of Monday, Dec. 26, announcing major policy changes regarding Covid-19. Below are some of the major policy changes.
Effective immediately, China renames "novel coronavirus pneumonia" to "novel coronavirus infection," dropping the word "pneumonia" from its official name of Covid-19.
Covid-19 has been designated as a Category B infectious disease but has been managed as the top, most serious Category A infectious disease since 2020. Starting Jan 8, 2023, Covid-19 will be managed as a Category B infectious disease, paving the way for dropping restrictions.
[Everything below will be effective from Jan 8, 2023.]
As a result of Covid-19 being managed as a Category B infectious disease starting Jan 8, 2023, according to China's Infectious Disease Prevention and Control law, China will no longer implement quarantine measures for people infected with Covid-19; no longer determine close contacts; no longer designate high- and low-risk areas; adjust its testing of Covid-19 to voluntary testing-based; adjust the frequency and content of relevant information release;
According to China's Frontier Health and Quarantine Law, China will no longer impose relevant quarantine measures on inbound personnel and goods.
The nucleic acid/PCR testing will be conducted 48 hours before starting the trip to China. Those with negative results can come to China without applying for a health code from Chinese embassies/consulates abroad. If the testing result is positive, the person should travel to China after the result has turned negative.
China will eliminate nucleic acid/PCR testing and centralized quarantine upon entry. If the health declaration is normal and there is no abnormality in the routine quarantine at the customs port, the person will be released to enter China.
China will eliminate the so-called "Five One" policy, the occupancy requirement on flights, and other restrictions on the number of flights. Airlines are still required to take in-flight precautions, and passengers are still required to mask themselves. (The "Five One" policy allowed Chinese mainland carriers to fly just one flight a week on one route to any country and foreign airlines to operate just one flight a week to China. Most flights into China have been limited to filling 75% of their seats.)
China will further optimize the arrangements for foreigners coming to China for resumption of work and production, business, study, family visits, and reunion, and provide corresponding visa convenience.
China will gradually resume the entry and exit of passengers at waterways and land ports.
China will resume Chinese citizens' outbound travel in an orderly manner according to the international epidemic situation and the capacity of various services.
The official notice gave the following as the background of the policy change.
Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus infection, the Party Central Committee, with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, has attached great importance to the prevention and control of the epidemic, comprehensively strengthened the centralized and unified leadership of the prevention and control work, and clearly defined the institutional mechanism, strategic principles, objectives and tasks, and work requirements for the prevention and control of the epidemic, providing fundamental guidelines and scientific guidance for winning the People's War and the Overall War, the Interdiction War, and the normalization in the prevention and control of the epidemic.
The epidemic prevention and control in China have always adhered to "people first" and "life first," with all regions and departments working closely together, performing their duties, optimizing and adjusting prevention and control measures dynamically according to the situation, and constantly improving scientific and precise prevention and control.
1.4 billion people have fought the epidemic with one heart and with perseverance and dedication, effectively responding to the impact of five waves of global epidemics, successfully avoiding the widespread spread of the relatively strongly-pathogenic original strain and the Delta strain, and greatly reducing serious illnesses and deaths. The epidemics and deaths were greatly reduced, and valuable time was gained for the development and application of vaccines and drugs, as well as the preparation of medical resources.
China has maintained the lowest epidemic and death rates in the world, steadily improved people's health, and achieved the best results in the world in integrating economic development and epidemic prevention and control, strongly demonstrating the role of a responsible power and creating a miracle of prevention and control in the history of human struggle against diseases.
At present, with the virus mutation, changes in the epidemic, the popularity of vaccination, and the accumulation of experience in prevention and control, China's prevention and control of novel coronavirus infections face new situations and new tasks. The prevention and control work has entered a new stage.
From the situation of virus mutation, domestic and foreign experts generally believe that the general direction of virus mutation is: it will become less pathogenic, more upper respiratory tract infections, with a shorter incubation period, the novel coronavirus will exist in nature for a long time, its pathogenicity will be significantly reduced, and the resulting disease will gradually evolve into a common respiratory infectious disease.
Although the number of infections is high, the proportion of asymptomatic infections and mild cases is over 90%, and the rate of serious illness and death is extremely low. From the perspective of China's foundation in prevention and control, China has accumulated more than 3.4 billion doses of vaccination against the novel coronavirus, with a full vaccination rate of more than 90% for people over three years old; progress has been made in the research and development of specific antiviral drugs at home and abroad, and China has screened clinically effective prescriptions such as "three drugs and three prescriptions" (of traditional Chinese medicine). The medical and health personnel have accumulated rich experience in epidemic prevention & control and treatment, and the prevention and control capability has been significantly improved.
After a comprehensive assessment of the virus mutation, the epidemic situation, and China's foundation in prevention and control foundation, China has (met) the basic conditions to adjust the novel coronavirus infection from "designated as Category B but managed under Category A" to "designated as Category B and managed under Category B."
BANGKOK, Dec 27 (TNA) – The chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Trade of Thailand expects more than 5 million Chinese people to visit Thailand next year as the Chinese government announced to lift its COVID-19 control.
Sanan Angubolkul, chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Trade of Thailand, shared his view as China planned to lift its mandatory quarantine on its visitors on Jan 8, 2023.
He said that the decision of China would have positive impacts on Thailand and all sectors of the Thai economy. Chinese tourists would increasingly travel abroad and Thailand was their top destination and also was in its winter, Mr Sanan said.
However, the private sector was concerned about Thailand's readiness to welcome the visitors. Although the Thai economy was picking up in the late third quarter and the fourth quarter of this year, the Thai tourism sector including hotels had not been fully restored, he said.
"If tourists from countries are visiting Thailand but Thai people are not fully ready, there can be problems. The government must urgently work out solutions and create the readiness," Mr Sanan said. (TNA)
It seems that Pattaya authorities have changed their mind and will go ahead with the firework display at the New Year countdown celebration on December 31st.
According to a Facebook post from the Pattaya Mayor, the New Year celebration will include national-level fireworks displays but only on December 31st in Pattaya and Koh Larn. The fireworks will be prohibited only from December 29th to 30th as per the previous announcement.
Apart from this, the authorities said the countdown event in Pattaya will feature concerts and other activities such as shopping and eating as usual.
Reduce air tickets, introduce more flights to Phuket, say tourism operators
Phuket's tourism industry has called on the government and airlines to tackle the problem of rising ticket prices and too few flights to the resort city.
Phuket governor Narong Woonciew met tourism operators on Sunday to discuss the problems that could affect the tourism sector in the long term, especially during Chinese New Year and Songkran festivals.
He said the biggest problem was that there are too few flights to meet the surge in demand, especially during festivals and long weekends.
Members of the private sector, namely the Phuket Chamber of Commerce, Phuket Tourist Association, and Thai Hotels Association - Southern Chapter, agreed that airlines should boost flights to Phuket as well as seek supporting measures from the Tourism and Sports Ministry to make the move possible.
Without enough flights to Phuket during the high season, tourists may consider visiting other destinations like Vietnam, Singapore or Bali, a representative of the Phuket Tourist Association said.
Khaosan Road in Bangkok is mostly quiet nowadays. (Photo: Pichayada Promchertchoo)
The New Year's Eve countdown on Khao San Road will be cancelled in light of the current "fragile" mood, but entertainment venues in the popular tourist hangout will be open as usual, a local business leader says.
Sa-nga Ruangwatthanakul, president of the Khao San Road Business Operators Association, confirmed the decision on Saturday.
He said that many government agencies had issued announcements asking for cooperation to refrain from holding special events or celebration activities on New Year's Eve. Because the mood of Thai people was "fragile" at the moment, the association decided to cancel its planned countdown party on Dec 31.
He said he had already notified business operators on Khao San Road and nobody raised any objection. All shared the same view that it would be inappropriate to hold festive activities during this time.
While shops and entertainment venues in the popular backpacker district will be open as usual, there will no festive decorations like before, he added.
Mr Sa-nga did not specifically mention the condition of Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha, who has been in King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital since losing consciousness on the evening of Dec 15.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said on Friday that it backs New Year countdowns and celebrations going ahead as planned as long as the government does not order any cancellations.
Mr Sa-nga said a large balloon would be placed in the middle of Khao San Road for tourists to take photos, and video of countdowns in other countries would be projected for visitors to watch.
He believed the cancellation of an actual countdown would not cause a drop in the number of tourists as businesses would still be open to serve them. Bookings for accommodation in the area have been rising, he added. – Bangkok Post
