This article has last been updated on 19 June 2020 (6.00 pm). For a reminder of what the lockdown was like in Cha-am and in Thailand at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic (March-April 2020), please see this article.
The curfew has been lifted and restaurants can now sell alcohol. Shopping malls are open, as well as markets and shops… Beauty clinics, fitness centers and swimming pools can open under strict conditions. Travel restrictions are lifted but progressively, so it is still recommended not to travel if not necessary. Since 20 May 2020 most of the hotels can reopen, but guesthouses can rent only 4 rooms and must refuse clients from these 10 provinces: Bangkok, Yala, Hat Yai, Phuket, Nakon Ratchasima, Chaiyaphum, Suphan Buri, Pracchinburi, Chonburi and Chiang Rai. Cha-am beach is open again normally.
On the negative side, bars and entertainment venues are still closed. Travel between provinces can still be difficult in some cases. The ban on incoming international flights has been extended to 30 June 2020, so foreigners whether they are tourists or married to a Thai national, can’t come to Thailand until at least July. Only the work permit holders are allowed back in Thailand on a case by case basis.
As for the rest, what they call the “new normal” will be imposed on us and we will have to bear with wearing a mask in public, temperature checks, social distancing and even tracking applications.
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