Tens of thousands of travellers are expected to arrive in Thailand today as the country reopens to tourists after 18 months of Covid restrictions.

Vaccinated tourists from more than 60 "low-risk" nations are allowed to enter the country and avoid hotel quarantine.

Tourist numbers are forecast to jump to as much as 15 million next year, bringing in more than $30bn (£22bn).

However, much of country still faces restrictions, with only around 42% of the population fully-vaccinated.

'Light at the end of the tunnel'

Thailand is still registering almost 10,000 Covid infections a day.

"It's like seeing a very dim light at the end of the tunnel - we haven't been able to work in two years," tour guide Chaiyagorn Boonyapak told the BBC. But he and his fellow tour guides haven't been contacted by customers and tour companies yet and it could take a month until tours are back up and running again.

"We don't know if [the government] can really open the country smoothly but I hope they can do it. We would very much love to get back to work again."

The coronavirus pandemic hammered Thailand's economy, which would previously attract 40m tourists a year. Last year, tourist arrivals were down more than 80%.

Airports serving Bangkok and Phuket are among those opening to countries including UK, China, Japan, the US and most of Europe.

The Thai government predicts revenues to rebound to their pre-pandemic levels by 2023, although many industry experts say China's ongoing border closures will hamper the sector's recovery.

Before the pandemic, Chinese tourists made up the biggest number of tourists, with some 12m visitors arriving from China in 2019.

Wiwan Siriwasaeree owns TALES Khaosan, a small hostel in the heart of Bangkok's famous tourist street Khaosan Road. She isn't optimistic about the prospect of tourism rebounding to pre-pandemic levels:

"I thought to myself what would I do if the situation in Khoasan doesn't get back to the way it used to be, I'm quite fearful about that.

"We fear that after we let the tourists in and the new Covid-19 cases spike again, will we go into another lockdown? I'm not so confident about the situation," she said.

Peeti Kulsirorat, who owns a restaurant in the area, is also fearful that visitors will lead to a spike in cases: "Then the tourism industry will be blamed as the villain again. It will be the scapegoat just like the way drinking alcohol is."

Mr Kulsirorat said ongoing restrictions - including the inability to sell alcohol in much of the country - will have a negative impact on people's holidays: "The complete tourism experience has to come in a package of both ambience and convenience.

"If they come here and many things are banned and closed, what's the point of coming here? It will eventually slow down and people will start to get bored with all the restrictions."

Dit, whose family owns a sun lounge and juice bar on the island's Kamala beach said they were making about $150 a day in 2019.

"We had to use our savings, grow vegetables and catch fish to survive," he said.

Now, after months of closure the juice bar has reopened and is generating about $30 each day: "We don't expect all the deck chairs to be filled straight away."

Reporting by Pasika Khernamnuoy and Katie Silver

Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia reported 921 new local infections of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing the national caseload to 361,505, the country's health ministry said on Monday.

Among the latest confirmed cases, 667 were detected in the capital city of Ulan Bator, which is hardest hit by the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the national death toll increased to 1,672 after 11 more people aged over 40 died from the virus in the past day.

Currently, 16,451 COVID-19 patients are being treated in hospitals across the country, according to the ministry.

The resurgence of the virus has continued due to the highly contagious Delta variant.

The country's health authorities have urged the public to avoid mass gatherings, wear masks in public and receive a booster shot.

President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh stated his intention to visit Russia with an official visit in December.

"I plan to visit the Russian Federation with an official visit in December," the Mongolian leader told TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman Thursday. "I am very happy that our interview precedes this trip and that Russian citizens will be able to watch it."

He noted that he is the first president of Mongolia, elected for a six-year term, after the Mongolian Constitution was amended in 2019.

"I assumed office 4 months ago. I’m only beginning my service, in other words," he said.

On June 9, Presidential elections took place in Mongolia, with a 69% turnout. Khurelsukh won with 67% of votes. Under the current Constitution, a president serves for six years without a re-election option.

Two-time world champion and Olympic champion Lukáš Krpálek, a Czech judoka visited Mongolia between October 18th and 26th, 2021. A joint training with prominent Mongolian judokas and young athletes from the Mongolian Judo Association in Ulaanbaatar, and also in Bulgan province was the main activity throughout his visit.

Lukáš Krpálek was welcomed by the Mayor of Ulaanbaatar and Governor of the capital city of Mongolia, a former wrestler, Mr. Sumiyabazar Dolgorsuren, and Deputy Foreign Minister Munkhjin Batsumber. During his stay he also met with the governors of three provinces (Orkhon, Bulgan, and Arkhangai).

In the city of Erdenet, Lukáš Krpálek took part in the opening of the next stage of apartment construction by the Czech developer Finep, the most significant investor in the Czech-Mongolian relations. Finep, in cooperation with a local partner in Erdenet, is implementing the construction of 1,650 European standard apartments and is significantly involved in the development of the city's infrastructure. Finep discussed future city development projects in Erdenet during the Investment Forum, also in Bulgan and Ulaanbaatar, and with representatives of major Mongolian companies in the field of logistics and construction. In Bulgan, a contract for the construction of 700 flats was concluded between the city of Bulgan and Finep. On this occasion, Lukáš Krpálek participated as a guest in a Mongolian National Wrestling tournament.

Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Mongolia Jiří Brodský said on the visit: “We had been preparing for this visit for a long time in the scope of cooperation with the Embassy of Mongolia in the Czech Republic and Finep. I am glad that we managed to realize it despite the COVID-19 restrictions. Mongolia is a country of martial arts, with a number of great wrestlers and judokas. Thus I respectfully appreciate Lukáš Krpálek coming to Mongolia to promote Czech sports and helping us open the door to new business opportunities between the two countries with the participation of Pavel Rejchrt, a Member of Board of Finep Holding, Honorary Consul of Mongolia in the Czech Republic, and a laureate of the Polar Star Order of Mongolia, in recognition of his invaluable contribution to Czech-Mongolian trade relations.

For the first time Mongolian carriers have transported freight by road to Czech Republic of the European Union, reports Ministry of Road and Transport Development through its website.

Specifically, four vehicles of ‘Montransauto’ LLC and ‘Khar Anar’ LLC carrying masks, medical gloves, equipment and other transit goods left Erlian, China on October 11, and the goods were delivered to the Czech Republic on the 23rd.

Road transport plays an important role in transportation of Mongolia, a country with a vast territory and where infrastructure is poorly developed, which means 98 percent of the passenger transport and 65 percent of freights are transported by road.

Since 1993, Mongolia has established intergovernmental agreements on international road transport with 12 countries, namely Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, DPRK, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania and Hungary and Slovenia. Slovenia became the 12th country when Mongolia and Slovenia signed the “Agreement between the Government of Mongolia and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia on the international transport of passengers and goods by road” in Ljubljana on 19th of August of this year.

A water treatment plant equipped with modern solutions and technology was put into operation on October 30. The plant is the first water treatment plant built in Mongolia for the purpose of treating surface water.

More specifically, the construction work carried out for the project, ‘Taishir-Altai Water Supply’, that kicked off in 2019 was fully completed and put into operation in the framework of the financial cooperation agreement established between the Governments of Mongolia and Austria on June 10, 2016.

With a 54-km water pipeline connecting Altai city of Gobi-Altai aimag with Zavkhan River as well as corresponding equipment, the newly built plant will supply the city’s residents with drinking water that meets health standards.

Once the ‘Taishir-Altai’ water treatment plant begins to be operated at full capacity, a certain amount of surface water will be put into circulation to resolve the water supply issue for the local population as well as industries and farmers, creating a safe, secure water supply for Altai city. With the use of fresh surface water that meets health standards, it is expected to significantly decrease the cases of infectious diseases and illnesses caused by water quality, and create the opportunity for urban development issues to be resolved.

Speaker of the State Great Khural G.Zandanshatar and corresponding officials worked in the aimag to become acquainted with the progress of the construction work being carried out in the region.

Mongolia logged 1,188 new COVID-19 infections and 12 more related deaths over the past 24 hours, bringing the respective national tallies to 359,396 and 1,661, the country's health ministry said on Sunday.

Among the new confirmed cases, four were imported from abroad.

Currently, there are a total of 67,567 active COVID-19 cases across the country, and most of them are receiving home-based care due to a shortage of hospital beds and medical staff, according to the ministry.

The Asian country has seen rising cases of the highly contagious Delta variant, although 65.8 percent of its population has received two COVID-19 vaccine doses.

President of Mongolia U.Khurelsukh has departed today to take part in the World Leaders Summit: 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) to be held in Glasgow, UK on November 1-2, 2021.

President U.Khurelsukh will deliver a statement on Mongolia’s position on combating global warming and climate change and hold bilateral meetings with Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Yannick Glemarec, Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund, Axel van Trotsenburg, World Bank's Vice President for East Asia and the Pacific Region, Masatsugu Asakawa, President of the Asian Development Bank, as well as heads of state and government of some countries.

A new data centre which meets the highest international standards on reliability is set to open in Mongolia in 2022. It will be the first in the country to be certified Tier III, making a positive contribution to Mongolia’s technical and economic development.

New certified Tier III data centre aims to be the best in Mongolia | Royal HaskoningDHV

The new facility is being opened by the ICT Group JSC, which plays a leading role in the information technology market in Mongolia – a sector that has been designated as strategically important for development by the Mongolian government. The Group has two existing data centres, which have secured a strong position in the provision of local hosting services.

Royal HaskoningDHV Data Centres team have been contracted to provide technical advice for the new data centre and are implementing the latest international standards. Flexibility and future-proofing are incorporated in the design, alongside the required infrastructure capacity, reliability, safety and logistics.

Meeting the highest standards at the global level

“Tier III means the data centre meets stringent standards on the availability of operation. To prove this, the facility will be certified by an internationally authorised body, all with the goal to get the best data centre in Mongolia,” said Martien Arts, Mission Critical Facilities Director at Royal HaskoningDHV. “It will clearly demonstrate to existing and future customers that the Mongolian data centre is meeting the highest standards at the global level.”

Cross-border payment hub Tranglo is bringing its services to Mongolia, with an eye on improving payments there, crowdfundraiser.com reported.

“The entry into Mongolia is in line with our plans this year,” Tranglo CEO Jacky Lee said. “Mongolia is a key market with huge potential. It received about $550 million in remittances last year against the backdrop of a global pandemic.”

Lee added that Tranglo wants to change the way people in Mongolia “receive remittances by bridging the payment gaps with our technology.”

Cash pickups and direct-to-bank are the payment channels used most of the time in Mongolia. Looking ahead, Tranglo said it is considering a blockchain integration with Ripple’s RippleNet.

Tranglo’s proprietary payments tool, Tranglo Connect, facilitates global payments for banks and businesses. It offers integrated payouts and partner services while “unifying the end-to-end payment process.”

Working across 20 countries, Tranglo Connect also has the Tranglo Business service, which enables people to send and receive payments through a multi-country virtual account service.

“The funds are stored in virtual accounts, where they can be disbursed to suppliers in six countries,” the company said in the release.

Tranglo recently teamed with Ripple, which holds a 40% stake in the firm, to introduce services in the Philippines.

Founded in 2008, Tranglo has offices in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Dubai and London, and a global network that includes 100 countries, 2,500 mobile operators, 1,300 banks or wallets and 130,000 cash pickup points.

Earlier this month, Ripple also partnered with Qatar National Bank, which unveiled its global cross-border payment strategy.