Will Cautious Thailand Lose Out in Southeast Asia's Tourism Recovery Race?

An emotional moment unfolded at Malaysia's Johor Bahru as many waited patiently for the clock to strike 12 on Thursday night.

Often described as the one of the world’s busiest land crossings, the Johor Causeway — connecting Singapore and Malaysia — fully reopened to welcome vaccinated Malaysians back into the country for the first time in two years.

April 1 marked an important day in the recovery of tourism in Southeast Asia. Moving away from the vaccinated travel lanes, Singapore on Friday also transitioned to a new Vaccinated Travel Framework to help facilitate a seamless travel experience for arrivals into Changi.

After two years of disruption, the Southeast Asian tourism economy is finally limping back towards recovery. However, a destination conspicuously missing in this reopening story is the biggest tourism hub of the region — Thailand.

Even though Thailand has been open to foreign tourists with special tourist visas since October 2020, the number of foreign tourist arrivals has been disappointing. The government also launched two tourism recovery pilot programs in July 2021 — the Phuk