All the travel updates in Singapore

A well-loved travel destination for many, Bali – and Indonesia in general – has rules that are ever-changing. 

On October 14, Indonesian authorities announced that the holiday island of Bali is welcoming visitors from 19 countries, marking the first since Indonesia closed its borders to foreign travellers 18 months ago. 

However, since then, the country has increased its mandatory quarantine from seven to 10 days to curb the spread of the Omicron variant. It is also banning foreigners that have been in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Eswatini, Malawi, Angola, Zambia and Hong Kong. 

Singapore and South Korea previously announced vaccinated travel lanes (VTLs) starting from November 15, according to an announcement by the Ministry of Transport (MOT).

We know for a fact that the love is strong between Singapore and South Korea. Before COVID-19, both countries were among each other's top travel destinations, with a total of 64 weekly passenger services connecting the two countries and carrying 1.6 million passengers annually.

However, recent updates have seen South Korea imposing a new rule: short-term visitors to South Korea will have to serve the 10-day quarantine at a temporary facility designated by the government for two weeks from December 3. Do take note, however, that Singaporean travellers coming in via the VTL are exempted from these rules – so you can still travel into South Korea without a quarantine. 

Get some inspiration from our 24-hour guide to Seoul. 

In the latest announcement, Singapore has extended the VTL scheme to six more countries, starting with Thailand on December 14. 

Previously, Thailand announced that it will drop quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated visitors from ten low-risk countries from November 1. These countries are the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, China, Singapore and Malaysia. Now with the VTL, two-way travel between Singapore and Thailand has become a reality. 

In an announcement on November 1, Australia has also reopened borders to fully vaccinated Singaporean travellers from November 21. However, they can only travel to two states – New South Wales and Victoria. And while Queensland has just announced that it's opening its borders to interstate travellers, there's no indication that foreign travellers are able to travel into the state yet.