The Friday Rewind 2: Summer Turns Sour in Vietnam, While Thai Tourism Plays in the Premier League

About This Episode

31 Jul 2020 • 15m11s

In episode 2 of The Friday Rewind, Gary and Hannah deliver an express, 15-minute recap of 5 red-hot talking points in South East Asian travel from the past 7 days.

Today’s discussion points are:

1) Lockdown Meltdown in Vietnam

Fears grow nationwide after domestic tourists test positive in Danang, and then head home.

2) Malaysia Airlines gets USD300 million… Then Doesn’t!

Airline CEO forcefully denies a reported new government bailout for the troubled flag carrier.

3) Cambodia Forbids Flights from Malaysia & Indonesia

Diplomatic ructions as returnee flights to Cambodia via the two countries bring home COVID-positive passengers.

4) Taiwan Stands Tough on Tourism

As Taiwan confronts domestic overtourism in its outlying islands, could it write off 2020 for inbound and outbound travel?

5) Thai Tourism Plays in the Premier League

The Tourism Authority of Thailand teams up with King Power and Leicester City to promote the Land of Smiles to football fans.

Resources

https://vietnamnews.vn/life-style/770149/hard-days-ahead-for-da-nang-tourism.html

https://www.thejakartapost.com/seasia/2020/07/27/vietnam-to-evacuate-80000-people-from-danang-after-virus-outbreak.html

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3094940/coronavirus-latest-vietnam-suspends-flights-and-da-nang?

https://e.vnexpress.net/news/life/trend/vietnamese-brace-for-second-covid-19-wave-4137429.html

https://www.nst.com.my/business/2020/07/612272/malaysia-airlines-chief-labels-report-us300mil-grant-crap

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/newsbreak-mas-said-get-lift-us300m-funding

https://english.cambodiadaily.com/business/cambodia-to-ban-flights-from-malaysia-and-indonesia-167186/

https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202007230014

https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2020/07/25/2003740506

https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2020/07/25/2003740526

https://www.lcfc.com/news/1736789/thailand-smiles-with-you-leicester-city–king-power-team-up-to-support-thai-tourism

http://www.insideworldfootball.com/2020/07/27/leicester-builds-thai-commitments-one-year-tourist-board-deal/

View All Episodes

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Play
13 Jun 2025 • 33m14s

Ep 257: Chinese Backpackers, Mountains Clad with Solar Panels, a Giant Lenin Statue & Delightful Almaty: An Epic Overland Journey from Bali to Britain, with Stuart McDonald

“I wish I had 640 days to do this trip, not 64.” Bali-based Stuart McDonald, founder of Travelfish, is 34 days into an ambitious two-month overland trip across 18 countries from his Bali home to Leeds in the UK. So, why is he doing it? What has he experienced en route? And what have been the finest discoveries of the journey so far? This week, Gary catches up with Stuart in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, to track back across his train and-bus route so far, which has taken him from Bali to Jakarta, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
Play
6 Jun 2025 • 40m55s

Ep 256: A 'Resort Airline', An OTA Law Suit, Time for Timor Leste & Blackpink Back in the Area: May 2025 in Review

May was another hectic month of BIG travel, tourism and geopolitical talking points in South East Asia. This month’s roundup takes Gary and Hannah around ASEAN, from our home city of Kuala Lumpur to Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Timor Leste and Vietnam – plus China, India (sort of), Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan. En route, we discuss China’s new ASEAN visa, Indonesia clings to its high-speed rail ambitions, and ASEAN accumulates an 11th member, and perhaps as a 12th in future.