​Thailand enters "festival season" with several large events even confirming international acts

For many months now, nightlife in Thailand has been largely back in business, just less a few tourists and international acts. The tourists it must live without for a while longer but the first international acts are now making their way to the kingdom.

Actually, three are already there. Dutch DJs Wiwek and Mike Cervello along with Ukrainian DJ Juicy M are currently in Thailand nearing the end of their 14-day quarantine, as documented on Instagram. They would be the first international DJs to enter the kingdom to play since the onset of the pandemic.

Where are the playing? There have been several small events happening around Thailand for a couple of months already and now it seems that festivals are ready to go ahead as well.

We’ve previously announced Mystic Valley Festival is to take place in Khao Yai in “November / December” but we expect this to be an all-local affair.

Now we’ve caught wind of another large event happening in Phuket called the Siam Phuket Takeover, which is hosted by Siam Songkran Music Festival, one of the big guys that usually unfolds over Songkran in April. The event takes place November 20 - 21 and will host the three international acts mentioned above along with another two performing via livestream. Several local acts are also confirmed. See the full bill below.

Finally, 808 Festival announced yesterday that it would be going forward with its 2020 edition in Pattaya on December 11 & 12. Although no acts have been confirmed, the festival did say to expect international acts on the line-up that will play after doing 14 days quarantine. The announcement also said that the festival will host stages from two big international brands.

Wonderfruit, however, decided to opt of their annual festival this year and are preparing to announce something a little different for their local audience. And we’re glad they went this route since so many of their guests come from abroad — we couldn’t imagine missing it.

Even still, it seems the quarantine-festival-holiday model is a proving to be a good gateway to live events with international headliners in Asia as music markets inside countries that have curbed the virus seem to be restarting all over Asia. Thailand has done a stellar job managing the outbreak and has seen just 3,743 cases and 59 deaths since the onset of the pandemic. While there have been scattered and isolated cases of local transmissions, including a French woman last week who is reported to have caught the novel coronavirus while in quarantine, they have been well contained. Unfortunately, borders remain shut to tourists with the exception of a long-stay visa that seems near impossible for the average person to get. So while some semblance of a festival season might actually be a reality in Thailand, it will only be for people inside the country. Lucky ducks.

Amazing Phuket Takeover will take place on November 20 & 21 at Patong Bay Hill. Find more information here. 808 Festival will take place on Dec 11 & 12 at Nong Nooch Tropical Garden in Pattaya, Thailand. Tickets are already on sale here.

[image via 808]