Bangkok bounces back from Covid ahead of Apec summit
Tourists visiting Bangkok have said the Thai capital has pretty much returned to pre-Covid normality, but many local shopkeepers still feel the sting of the pandemic. After gradually reopening to international tourists in the past year, Thailand said it had welcomed more than seven million visitors from January to late October, 2022. The figure is a fraction of what it used to be before the pandemic, but still a 16-fold increase from 2021. Some travellers in the Thai capital told RTHK they feel the popular destination – which plays host to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit on Friday and Saturday – more or less resembles its pre-Covid self. Law, a Hongkonger who has been staying in Thailand for a few months, said visitors are again flocking to Chatuchak Market, a sightseeing hotspot in Bangkok. "I have been to Chatuchak Market three times in the last four months, and every time there were more people than the last. I last went there a few days ago, and I felt that it was just like before Covid. There were many people," he said. A traveller from Israel, Aliza, said the city is pretty much the same as when she last visited a decade ago, especially because people can choose whether or not to wear a mask in outdoor and public areas. “I think people here are wearing masks but they think it is the air pollution, not because of [Covid]. It’s only people who live here [who wear masks], they are not asking tourists to put masks on,” she said. While things are looking up for the Thai tourism industry, some business owners are still struggling. Vallapa, a souvenir shop owner on Khaosan Road, a famous backpacker district, said she is currently only making around 70 percent of the profits compared to pre-Covid times. The shop owner said business has been better since the vaccination and testing requirement – the last of Covid travel restrictions – was lifted last month. She added the area has changed in the last two years, with other souvenir shops and massage parlours forced to shut, and restaurants and bars taking their place. But even the catering business in the district said they were not making as much as they did before.  "Now we have to close earlier at 2 or 3 am. Before Covid, we were open [until] morning," said a bar staff called San. San said he hopes there will be more customers during a three-day special holiday starting on Wednesday, which is intended to clear the roads for the Apec meeting. Leaders attending Apec will include President Xi Jinping, US Vice-President Kamala Harris and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The Foreign Ministry on Wednesday announced Xi will meet Kishida at the Apec summit, their first official meeting.