All Vaxxed Up & Nowhere to Go? When Can We Travel to South-East Asia Again?
Didn't they say once we are vaccinated we would be able to live normal lives again? Didn't they say we would be able to travel again? With most countries racing to vaccinate as many people as possible, where are we with this promise? So far, the entry and quarantine regulations for most countries are often murky, expensive and for most travellers simply not realistic. South-East Asia is economically highly dependent on tourism. With 18 months of nearly no income, most countries in the region need to reopen their international borders as soon as possible. The question is now, what is the roadmap to open countries as quickly yet as safely as possible? This week, we have a look at four key players in the region and their plans to reopen to international visitors. Where are we at? Does it make sense to travel to South-East Asia in 2021 and is there light at the end of the tunnel?
One step forward, two steps back! This seems to be the motto of the world since COVID started! Every milestone we reach in overcoming the global COVID crisis seems to be followed by a plethora of new issues no one saw coming. And half of the problems and issues we encounter seem to be brought on by ourselves.
First, there is no vaccine, so there is panic. Then we develop a vaccine, but we don’t trust it. Once the vaccine is declared safe, there isn’t enough of it, but everyone wants it. Once there is finally enough of it, people get reluctant and don’t want it anymore. So, nature throws in a curveball and comes up with a couple of COVID variants to speed things up! Finally, we seem to get on track with vaccinating as many people as possible to hopefully set an end to this whole kerfuffle. I mean, Sweet Lord, the human race is a funny one, isn’t it?!
Ok…Rant Over!
South-East Asia - What's the Plan?
After getting you all excited about travelling to Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia over the past few weeks, I think it is time for an update on what’s happening on the ground. What are the plans to reopen these countries?
It is difficult to write about anything COVID related because every piece of information is likely to be outdated by the time the ink dries. Additionally, there is always a good portion of speculation involved when we talk about the future of travel. However, plans are forming in South-East Asia and it’s time to have a look, what we might be able to expect.
If you remember, we looked at the Launch of Thailand’s Sandbox at the beginning of July, so let’s see how that model developed over the past few months. We will also look at the plans of other countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Meanwhile, Singapore is tiny compared to the other countries, it’s an important travel hub, an economic model and a power to be reckoned with. As one of the few countries worldwide having already over 80% of its population fully vaccinated, we might be able to learn a thing or two from Singapore!
What about the recent Delta variant? The Asia-Pacific region had gone through the worst of COVID relatively unscathed. While case numbers, COVID deaths and lockdowns went rampant through Europe, the Americas and Southern Africa, the Asia-Pacific region had relatively few cases and COVID deaths. It’s not without some smugness many countries in Asia were planning to reopen by July. But then the Delta variant hit and levelled the playing field. Many countries that had been hit hard early on were now able to deal with the Delta variant more easily. There, many people had COVID already and the vaccination process had started earlier and more aggressively. The Asia-Pacific region was in some ways a year behind in their COVID experience and had to ramp up its vaccination efforts quickly. Once again – it’s been one step forward, two steps back!
Thailand
Phuket Sandbox, Samui Plus and Bangkok Quarantine
In a nutshell, the Phuket Sandbox and the Samui Plus programs allow fully vaccinated international travellers to enter Phuket and Samui without having to quarantine. While this sounds great, it comes with a set of rules that makes it questionable if you would want to go through this for a two week holiday. First of all, you have to come from one of the 63 eligible countries, Thailand has deemed safe enough. To enter, you have to apply with the Thai Government, produce a negative PCR test and have proof of travel insurance covering COVID hospital treatment. Once approved, you can then enter Phuket and enjoy your stay in the famous holiday destination for 14 days. After the first 7 days, you may even travel to other designated safe areas such as Koh Samui, Khao Lak, Koh Phi Phi, Koh Yao Yai, Koh Yao Noi and Railay Beach.
Since the start of COVID, international travel insurers have adjusted their services according to new needs that arose out of the pandemic. Only a few months ago, it was impossible to get any travel insurance covering COVID related costs. Now, most insurance companies offer policies that cover COVID emergency treatments as well as non-refundable cancellations. If you are looking for more information on the most suitable travel insurance policy for you, have a look at Money.com. It’s a quick and easy overview comparing the inclusions of travel insurance policies of five major insurance companies.
The Cons!
During the first 14 days of your holiday, you will have to go through three PCR tests. The tests cost a total of 8000 THB (205 EUR or 240 USD). This is a lot of money, especially if you travel as a family. Additionally, should you test positive, you will have to spend 14 days in mandatory hospital care, even if you are asymptomatic. This also applies if you have been in close contact with an infected person, e.g. someone on your flight tested positive. The outlook of possibly having to spend 14 days in a Thai hospital, more or less against your will, is quite daunting.
Another downside of the current regulations in Thailand is that alcohol is prohibited in public. This means that bars are closed and restaurants are not allowed to sell alcohol. Obviously, drinking is not the most important part of travelling, but for many travellers, glass of wine with dinner or a cocktail by the pool is the pinnacle of relaxation. Currently, you are only allowed to enjoy a drink in the privacy of your hotel room. It does feel a little sad, sitting in your room drinking a sneaky little beer instead of enjoying sundowners by the beach.
Bangkok Quarantine
The Bangkok quarantine is currently geared towards travellers who are not fully vaccinated. If you fly into Bangkok, you will have to quarantine in a hotel room for 14 days before you are allowed to travel anywhere in Thailand.
The hotel quarantine is expensive even though there are several options for different budgets available. You are not allowed to order food from outside the hotel and you aren’t allowed to drink alcohol. And of course, you have to do the three expensive PCR tests while you are in quarantine. Should you test positive, you will be transferred to a hospital where you will have to stay for 14 days. This option is really only attractive for travellers who need to get into Thailand, come hell or high water.
How has the Uptake been so far?
I guess it doesn’t come as a complete surprise that not many actual tourists have entered Phuket or Samui on the offered schemes. Most fully vaccinated travellers who have entered the country under the Sandbox scheme so far either have family in Thailand or return to live in Thailand full time. Only very few actual tourists have tackled the rules, costs and risk of being detained in hospital. Samui has seen even less influx under the scheme since it’s harder and more expensive to get there.
What's the Outlook for Thailand?
Meanwhile, these rules are not suitable to attract tourism on a bigger scale, it is a start! And of course, it is understandable that the government needs to protect its citizens first. At least it offers an option for families to reunite and is a starting point for international travel to resume. After all, Thailand is one of the few countries in the region allowing fully vaccinated travellers to enter without quarantine. Many other countries, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, are looking into similar models based on the Phuket Sandbox. Thailand’s next stage of reopening to fully vaccinated international travellers is set for 1 October 2021 with Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin and Pattaya. From mid-October, even more areas in Thailand are planned to open as well.
If you are looking into more detailed, first-hand information on Thailand’s reopening efforts, have a look at the Tuk Tuk Club website. Their latest blog post offers some great in-depths insights!
Indonesia
No International Visitors Allowed Just Yet!
Bali has suffered tremendously from the closure of international travel to the island. Usually, Bali sees about 6 million foreign visitors a year, which has been decimated to zero! The past 18 months have been extremely difficult on the island as most locals work directly or indirectly in the tourism industry.
The rise of the Delta variant has been tragic for the island, setting the planned reopening in July back indefinitely. Instead of working towards the planned return to normal, COVID cases and deaths reached a new high.
High Hopes for November 2021
It took Indonesia a while to get its vaccination program off the ground. Initially, it had been hampered by logistical problems but also by vaccine hesitancy! After some intense couple of months with over 4 million COVID infections and 136,000 deaths, the situation in Indonesia has calmed down and vaccination rates are finally up.
As officials announced, the target is to vaccinate 70% of the population with the first dose before the country will open its borders to international travel. According to their calculations, the 70% target should be reached by November 2021. Most tourism frontline workers have already received their vaccinations to be able to start working again.
The Phuket Sandbox model has been flagged as the most likely approach for Bali’s reopening. It would allow a limited number of fully vaccinated foreign tourists from low-risk countries to enter without having to quarantine. This plan comes still with a lot of ifs and buts, depending on how the next few months will develop. There has also been talk about so-called green zones, which means certain areas in Bali might open before others, similar to Thailand’s gradual opening.
No more Filthy Backpackers
This one is for humour value only! You just gotta love South-East Asia for their sometimes outrageous ideas!
Last week, Maritime and Investment Coordinator Minister, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has stated “…that Bali will not allow backpackers to visit the island once the international travel corridor reopens in the future. “We’ll aim for quality tourism in Bali, so we won’t allow backpackers to enter once the reopening plan for international travellers is officially put in place in the near future.” Read the full article here!
I mean… How does this even work? Do you tick a box on arrival that you travel as a backpacker? I also doubt that backpackers pose a problem for Bali’s travel infrastructure or reputation. I think, it’s the mass tourism that gives the island a bad name and causes environmental and socio-economical issues. There is nothing wrong with repositioning yourself as a tourist destination, but forbidding certain travellers to enter is just outrageous! Anyway, good luck picking and choosing who you would like as tourists!
The good thing about mildly crazy statements like this is that they usually don’t amount to anything. In a few weeks time, no one will remember these words have ever been spoken. It will all be water under the bridge.
Malaysia Set to Open by December 2021
Just like Indonesia, Malaysia is currently not open to international travellers. The country has also been hit hard over the past few months, with daily COVID cases still over 20,000. The government is eager to vaccinate the population as quickly as possible, to open domestic borders by October and international borders by December 2021
For borders to open internationally again, the aim is to have 80% of the Malaysian population vaccinated by the end of the year. With herd immunity reached, the hope is that life will be able to resume with COVID in our midst. The realisation seemed to have set in that COVID is here to stay, we will just have to get on with it.
Hopes for Langkawi
The popular holiday island Langkawi is currently trailing the opening to domestic travellers. Since 16 September 2021, the archipelago consisting of 99 islands, has opened its doors to vaccinated domestic travellers. There are, of course, still strict rules in place for the visitors, similar to the Phuket Sandbox model. However, if the opening of Langkawi proves successful, Malaysia will expand this model to other destinations. Areas planned to open next are Kuching in Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo) as well as other island destinations such as Redang, Perhentian, Pangkor and Tioman.
Trails and Tribulations
Similar to Indonesia, the start of the vaccination process at the beginning of 2021 was overshadowed by a shortage of available vaccine doses and distribution issues. The efforts to get as many people as possible vaccinated in the shortest possible time seemed slightly chaotic. But hey, which country didn’t have its fair share of teething problems! Some vaccination centres had too many people come in combined with long waiting times, which unfortunately turned into a superspreader event instead. Now, the process is much smoother with more vaccination doses available and jabs also being administered at private clinics and doctors.
With vaccines readily available, Malaysia is now entering the more tedious phase of the vaccination process. Like in most other countries, the vaccination rate seems to plateau somewhere around 50%. From here, you seem to hit the vaccine-reluctant part of the community. The Malaysian government is hoping to turn the non-vaccinated part of the population by imposing restrictions on their movements. This is a trend and issue, countries the world over seem to grapple with.
Hopefully, the desired 80% vaccination rate will be achieved by the end of the year to enable the country’s opening to international travellers. If the Langkawi trail model works, the chance of Malaysia opening internationally by the end of 2021 looks promising.
Singapore
80% fully vaccinated and travel bubbling!
Singapore is, in a way, the Goody Two-Shoes of Asia! It’s like the nerd in class who constantly brings home straight A’s! Even though small in size, Singapore is an economic powerhouse and an important aviation hub in the region. It’s therefore not surprising that Singapore reached its set target in no time, having more than 80% of the population fully vaccinated. To be fair, 5.7 million people isn’t that much and Singaporeans are used to the government heavily regulating their lives. Nevertheless, it’s a great achievement!
With its vital position in the business world, the opening of Singapore is being highly anticipated by many! Since 8 September 2021, Singapore has opened the so-called Vaccination Travel Lane (VTL) with Germany and Brunei. It’s a trail run to see how it works and the first travel bubble between Asia and Europe since the beginning of the pandemic.
How Does the Travel Bubble Work?
Currently, travellers from Germany and Brunei may enter Singapore without having to quarantine if they are fully vaccinated. In preparation to enter, travellers must have been residing in the green light country for at least 21 days before arriving in Singapore.
They will also have to undergo a total of four mandatory PCR tests during their stay, with the first one to be done 48 hours before the flight and the second one on arrival at Changi airport. The other two tests have to be done on days three and seven after arrival at a designated clinic in Singapore. Visitors from the eligible countries are only allowed to arrive in Singapore on VTL (Vaccination Travel Lane) approved flights and they do need to apply for a Vaccinated Travel Pass (VTP) between 7 and 30 days before departure. Similar to the Phuket Sandbox, travellers also need to purchase travel insurance covering at least USD 30,000 for Covid-19-related medical treatment and hospitalisation costs in Singapore. You can find all the detailed information on the Singapore Airlines website!
What's Next for Singapore?
Furthers plans to extend the travel bubble are still rather cautious. Currently, there are seven flights per week planned from Frankfurt and Munich to Singapore, a good start to get back into the swing of things.
So far, about 1000 foreign visitors have entered Singapore under the travel corridor model and only one has tested positive so far. It proves that the corridor is working as planned. However, COVID cases have generally been rising in Singapore over the last months. The government, however, is taking the stance that we will have to live with COVID in the future and higher case numbers will be part of it. Therefore, no restrictions or tighter rules have been implemented. As long as the medical facilities are able to cope with the demand, there is no reason to put restrictions into place.
The next phase of the travel corridor is set to open on 22 September to travellers from Hong Kong, Macao and mainland China. This group will then be followed by Australia amongst others in the next phase later in the year! As Qantas announced recently, the Australian carrier is set to start international travel again by mid-December to a few selected countries. Singapore is one of the lucky ones. These plans are highly debated in Australia since there isn’t even a plan in place for when to open state borders within Australia. It might be possible to fly from Sydney to Singapore before you can fly from Sydney to Perth!
But I guess Singapore is in a similar situation. So far, there are no plans yet to open Singapore’s only land border to Malaysia. Hopefully, with Malaysia’s reopening in December, travel between these two countries will become possible again.
IATA Travel Pass
The passport to the future of travel?
The most promising initiative for post-pandemic travel is the IATA Travel Pass. The IATA is the International Air Transport Association, which all reputable airlines are part of.
The idea of the IATA Travel Pass is to consolidate all personal COVID related information in one app. It serves as a digital passport which allows you to share your test and vaccination certificates with authorities and manage your travel documents digitally.
Once you book a flight with one of the participating airlines, your flight details will be loaded in your travel pass. You can see exactly what tests and certificates you need to enter the destination you booked your flight to. The app will show you the closest accredited testing centre for your PCR tests, while the results will be loaded straight into the app. With all your vaccination and PCR test information saved on the app, you have all the needed information to easily navigate all departure and arrival formalities. Have a look at the IATA website to find out more about the travel pass!
The travel pass is currently still in the trail phase but many reputable airlines like Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Qatar, British Airways and Turkish Airlines – to name just a few – are on board. This would revolutionise post-COVID travel and would bring the world back together!
Is there Light at the End of the Tunnel?
I am positive that 2022 is the year for travel to resume. Even though the current situation is still unclear and the rules are confusing at times, I do believe that we are on the way out of this mess. While I can’t see the world making big leaps in 2021 anymore, I am confident that international travel will resume in the first quarter of 2022. Many things might still be up to speculation today, but the world will most likely be a different place by the end of 2021.
We have now all the tools to protect ourselves from getting too sick or sliding into a rampant mortality rate. Now, it is up to us to learn to live with COVID on a day to day basis. I think it has sunk in by now that there will be no such thing as zero cases.
What has been missing, in my opinion, during the entire pandemic is a consolidated effort to find a solution. Every country, every region has been fiddling around with their own ideas without putting effort into finding solutions suitable across borders. No man is an island, as they say!
International travel won’t be possible if cooperation between countries, regions and continents doesn’t improve. We have to stop acting like everything about this pandemic has been out of our control. If you think about it, at least half of the big-ticket item issues have been man-made! Time to move on and onto greener pastures. Time to open up again and start travelling. I am confident that 2022 will be the return to international travel. Maybe cautious for now, but we will be back!
Thanks for your attention and I hope you enjoyed our excursion into the magical world of COVID travel rules. Please always keep in mind that rules and plans change on a daily basis and whatever I have written today, might be obsolete tomorrow!
I hope you will join us next week again. If you enjoyed this post, please give it a Like and Subscribe.
Have a fabulous week ahead and until next time!
