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All over the internet, people are complaining about the visa policies of Thailand. They are saying how hard it is to get in. And that Thailand only wants people with money.

So all those complaints all over the internet are actually true. I bet you never thought I would say that, right?

Let’s take a look at some of the places around South East Asia that we like to visit and see what they are doing right now.

Vietnam.
Vietnam did a really great job of handling covid for more than a year. But now they are battling a spike in cases recently. They were planning to reopen to some countries, but now that’s off again and no one knows when that will change.

Currently Vietnam is reopening things like restaurants, bars and other kinds of businesses closed by the most recent lockdown.

We hope that Vietnam will open again soon as we miss our friends in Vietnam.

But right now, forget it. Unless you have a business or family visa, going to Vietnam is just not going to happen.

You cannot enter on a tourist visa. Period.

Bali
Outside of Thailand, Bali was one of our favorite places to go to. But Indonesia was hit pretty bad with Covid and they have taken the decision to lock down Indonesia and Bali pretty hard.

Bali is planning to reopen for international Tourists in July. But that proposal is still just a proposal at this point.

Our friends in Bali have reported that they have been suffering a lot since the island was closed early last year.

So we really hope they can get enough people vaccinated to make that happen.

Like Thailand and other countries, the plan is to only admit persons who got the vaccine in the early stages.

You absolutely cannot enter Bali on a tourist visa.

Philippines
The news from the Philippines is not any better.

The official word is that re-opening is “difficult to predict” because of the “volatility” of repeated spikes of Covid all over the country.

From what we have heard, it is even difficult to travel between the cities and islands in this country.

And like other countries, the Philippines is depending on a reasonable amount of the population to be vaccinated before they will consider re-opening.

Currently you definitely cannot enter on any kind of tourist visa.

Cambodia.
Cambodia is actually doing a pretty good job getting the population vaccinated.

And there has been some talk of reopening Siem Reap in July or August.

Like all the other countries, Cambodia depends a lot on tourism and especially the Siem Reap area.

We hope this happens for them, and soon too. Right now they are waiting to see how the Phuket Sandbox works out in July for Thailand.

But right now - you cannot enter Cambodia with a tourist visa.

Malaysia
Currently Malaysia is going through an extended lockdown.

They were hit pretty hard as well. And even their Parliament is closed. Many businesses were closed during the recent lockdown and there are a lot of calls for these to be reopened again now.

They’re waiting for at least 10% of the population to be vaccinated and they reach below 4,000 new cases per day -- before they even allow businesses to reopen.

It’s pretty bad there guys.

We hope they resolve this problem soon, since Malaysia is next door to Thailand and quite a lot of people want to travel between there and here.

Of course, no tourist visa to Malaysia.

And we did not talk about a few other countries like Singapore, Laos, Myanmar, East Timor` and Brunei -- because we would be repeating the same thing.

They are closed.

Finally Thailand.
So here we are in Thailand.

Thailand has been accepting tourists since near the end of last year.

Yes, you have to do a quarantine.

Yes, you have to do a Covid test before coming.

Yes, you have to do a Certificate of Entry -- which is a purely online process.

But let’s get real --- you can actually wake up tomorrow morning, buy a plane ticket and make a plan to come to Thailand.

Even without a Visa.
(applause track).

You will get stamped in for 45 days instead of the usual 30 days.

And of course 14 of those days have to be spent in Quarantine.

But when it's over, you are free to travel anywhere in Thailand, and even extend your visa for another month.

So, Thailand is the only country in SouthEast Asia that is open to a normal tourist just like you.

Summary
So yes. It’s not so easy to do everything needed to come to Thailand.

But it’s the only place in the region where you can come with just a Tourist visa.

We are the only game in town, baby.
(laugh track)

If you have questions about coming to Thailand, please contact us here:.
http://baansmile.com/ask