Thailand’s disease control committee has proposed a halving of a two-week hotel isolation requirement for vaccinated arrivals, amid delays in plans to waive quarantine and reopen Bangkok and tourist destinations from next month.
Thailand is keen to welcome back foreign visitors, after nearly 18 months of strict entry policies caused a collapse in tourism, a key sector that drew 40 million visitors in 2019.
The reduction in quarantine from the current 14 days will help boost Thailand’s economy and tourism, according to Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the Department of Disease Control. If a shorter isolation period is approved by the nation’s Covid-19 task force, it could be effective from October 1, he said.
Under the proposed rules, international travelers with vaccine certificates will still need to be tested for Covid-19 upon arrival and before leaving the quarantine, according to Opas. Visitors without jab certificates arriving by air will be subjected to a 10-day quarantine, while those arriving by land will have to complete a 14-day quarantine.
Meanwhile the country is still fighting its most severe wave of infections, which has accounted for about 99 percent of its 1.5 million cases and 15,884 deaths.
Thailand is keen to welcome back foreign visitors, after nearly 18 months of strict entry policies caused a collapse in tourism, a key sector that drew 40 million visitors in 2019.
The reduction in quarantine from the current 14 days will help boost Thailand’s economy and tourism, according to Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the Department of Disease Control. If a shorter isolation period is approved by the nation’s Covid-19 task force, it could be effective from October 1, he said.
Under the proposed rules, international travelers with vaccine certificates will still need to be tested for Covid-19 upon arrival and before leaving the quarantine, according to Opas. Visitors without jab certificates arriving by air will be subjected to a 10-day quarantine, while those arriving by land will have to complete a 14-day quarantine.
Meanwhile the country is still fighting its most severe wave of infections, which has accounted for about 99 percent of its 1.5 million cases and 15,884 deaths.
