KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Malaysia's coronavirus recovery council on Tuesday said it has recommended a full reopening of borders as early as March 1 without mandatory quarantine for travellers, as part of plans to accelerate economic recovery.

The Southeast Asian nation has shut its borders since March 2020 and froze the entry of foreign workers to try to contain novel coronavirus outbreaks.

The recommendation comes as neighbours waive quarantine requirements to attract vaccinated tourists, including Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore.

Thailand on Monday said it was eyeing travel bubbles with Malaysia and China.

Muhyiddin Yassin, a former premier and chairperson of the National Recovery Council (NRC), a government advisory body, said travellers would have to undergo COVID-19 screening before departure and on arrival.

"This means tourists can visit, investors can enter... It means AirAsia (AIRA.KL) can fly again, as an example," he told a news conference, referring to the Malaysia-based budget carrier.

At present, Malaysia allows quarantine-free entry to people from Singapore as part of a bilateral arrangement.

Daily coronavirus infections in Malaysia have surged in recent weeks to their highest in four months, driven by the Omicron variant.

edit was supposed to have this heading

Malaysia COVID-19 panel recommends full border reopening in March

Apparently, there are concerns that Malaysia may lure tourists away from Thailand if they can offer a more convenient entry policy.

That would of course be another nail in the coffin that is the Thai tourism industry.

sigmoid wrote: ↑Fri Feb 11, 2022 8:21 pm Apparently, there are concerns that Malaysia may lure tourists away from Thailand if they can offer a more convenient entry policy.

That would of course be another nail in the coffin that is the Thai tourism industry.

Perhaps the Thais see that everyone is eating "their" cake and come around as well.

sigmoid wrote: ↑Fri Feb 11, 2022 8:21 pm Apparently, there are concerns that Malaysia may lure tourists away from Thailand if they can offer a more convenient entry policy.

That would of course be another nail in the coffin that is the Thai tourism industry.

Does Thailand have anything to offer the more affluent, “high quality” types of tourists they are trying to attract, that Malaysia doesn’t?

Unless the sole purpose of your vacation is to get drunk and laid for as cheap as possible, there are many other countries that outcompete Thailand. Come to think of it, if I want to get drunk and laid as cheaply as possible, I’d go to to Cambodia or the Philippines. Thailand still wins if you demand more advanced infrastructure, like gogos and open-air beer bars.

For the majority of tourists (quality ones, anyway), who just want to take their family somewhere warm to lay on a beach, Americans/Canadians can go to Mexico, and Europeans can go to Spain. Chinese can go to Sihanoukville and enjoy a more familiar environment, which they seem to prefer.

The more Thailand clamps down on their seedy nightlife, the more every other country in the region starts to look just as good, if not better.

Ryan754326 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 11, 2022 9:13 pm

The more Thailand clamps down on their seedy nightlife, the more every other country in the region starts to look just as good, if not better.

...If the Philippines would offer decent food they would attract more tourists too. The first SEA country who will fully legalize pot will win the race for the tourist buck IMHO.

truffledog wrote: ↑Sat Feb 12, 2022 5:37 am

Ryan754326 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 11, 2022 9:13 pm

The more Thailand clamps down on their seedy nightlife, the more every other country in the region starts to look just as good, if not better.

...If the Philippines would offer decent food they would attract more tourists too. The first SEA country who will fully legalize pot will win the race for the tourist buck IMHO.

Agree with you on both points.

I’m surprised Cambodia hasn’t legalized weed yet, considering that you can already smoke it in certain establishments or eat it on a pizza there. Makes me think someone is protecting their monopoly.

I think the weed laws in SEA will fall like dominos in the same way that the covid rules probably will soon. Once the first country in the region does it, all of the other countries nearby will be tripping over each other to be the next. I think the main barrier right now is public perception, and some hangover policies from the drug wars that were pushed on them by western countries, but I’m totally uneducated on the subject, and just speculating on that.

Looks like there's the usual confusion and contradiction between the right and left hands:

Malaysia's Cabinet yet to discuss National Recovery Council proposal to reopen borders
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/co ... rs-2493501

Malaysia's Cabinet has yet to discuss the National Recovery Council (MPN)’s proposal to reopen the country's borders by Mar 1, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said on Friday (Feb 11).

Mr Ismail Sabri added that Malaysia's health ministry had yet to provide feedback on the proposal to the Cabinet for evaluation.

On Tuesday, MPN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin said that the council had agreed to a full opening of Malaysia's borders from as early as Mar 1 without the need for mandatory quarantine.

“We must find a balance between wanting to protect the tourism industry and the people’s health, so the health ministry will look into it in detail and propose to the Cabinet on the next step," said Mr Ismail Sabri, who is also UMNO vice-president.

“As of today, our borders are still closed … there’s no discussion yet to reopen,” he told reporters at an event.

He added that the government is aware of the woes faced by the tourism industry - which has been badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic - but does not want the entry of foreign tourists to cause a spike in cases in the country.

The government has said no to opening on 1 March. Not sure it is related but the guy who suggested it now has covid