THAILAND will resume its quarantine-free scheme for inbound travellers from next Tuesday after the programme was suspended due to the rise of Omicron.
Fully vaccinated travellers can arrive in Thailand under a “test and go” scheme but must take another Covid test five days after isolating at a hotel and downloading a tracking app to ensure they comply with restrictions.
The scheme was suspended in December as the Omicron variant of the pandemic rose, but with hospital cases and deaths not spiking, health authorities have decided the inbound travel scheme could resume.
Thailand’s travel and business events industries have been hit hard by the global pandemic but Phuket has established a “Sandbox” scheme for inbound travel aimed at a safe recovery of the island’s tourism sector.
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Tourism ministry officials say about five million foreign visitors will arrive in Thailand this year, down from nearly 40 million in 2019, reporters were told.
“In case there are more infections or the situation changes, there will be a re-assessment for inbound travellers and adjust toward the sandbox scheme,” Taweesin Visanuyothin, a spokesman for Thailand’s Covid-19 taskforce told a media conference.
Restaurants will be allowed to serve alcohol until 11pm under the easing of restrictions – two hours later than the current cut-off time.
Dave says:
This is a big step in the right direction. Once they abandon the five day hotel quarantine, Thailand will be back in business. I wonder when the the rest of Asia will wake up to the fact that Covid cannot be stopped.