The race is on for Pattaya to not only conquer its coronavirus epidemic, but do so before neighboring countries.
Pattaya on Sunday reported another 155 Covid-19 cases, 25 of which were found in Banglamung District, which includes Pattaya. That followed 320 cases reported province-wide June 26 of which 113 were found in Banglamung.
Chonburi Gov. Pakarathorn Thienchai said the Pattaya-area cases stemmed from construction worker camps operated by Reuanchan Construction Co and Porncharoen Construction Co. Together they accounted for 85 of the 113 cases.
The Sattahip Morning Market accounted for another 52 cases while a worker camp in Sriracha contributed 27 cases Saturday.
Pattaya Business & Tourism Association President Boonanan Pattanasin earlier this month said it’s hoped that Pattaya will reopen to foreign tourists in August, either as a “sandbox” for vaccinated travelers or a part of a “sealed route” from Phuket.
But to do that, 450,000 people or 70 percent of the registered population must be vaccinated against Covid-19. Only about 10 percent of the city’s public currently has received at least one vaccine dose.
Pakarathorn said previously that the province must wait for the central government to allocate enough of its scarce quantity of vaccine doses. The overwhelming majority are being dispensed in metropolitan Bangkok, which currently accounts for about 2,000 of Thailand’s 4,000 daily cases.
But even if Pattaya can overcome the long odds and open this fall, it faces new competition from Vietnam and other countries that have spent the past 18 months upgrading their infrastructure, often with foreign financial support, to draw tourists once the coronavirus pandemic ends.
Vietnam, while currently closed to tourists, has been building domestic rail and transit networks at breakneck speed. The country is cheaper than Thailand with a similar climate and presents a direct threat to Thai tourism.
Whoever reopens fully without restrictions first stands to win the race for the return of foreign tourists.
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