￼Thailand to allow quarantine-free travel from 46 countries

Thailand will allow visitors from 46 countries vaccinated against COVID-19 to forgo quarantine from next month, up from 10 previously announced, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Thursday.

The Southeast Asian country is poised to introduce the new quarantine-free travel arrangements on Nov. 1 as it seeks to revive its vital tourism industry.

FILE PHOTO: Boats that are used to transport tourists around the Chao Phraya river are seen idle due to travel bans and border closures from the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in downtown Bangkok, Thailand. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Last week, Prayuth said that at least 10 countries, including Britain, Singapore, Germany, China and the United States, would be exempt from quarantine.

He did not name the extra countries in a Facebook post on Thursday but said the visitors could skip mandatory quarantine providing they arrive via air, have been fully vaccinated and have a document to show they are virus-free.

Meanwhile, Thai government officials on Wednesday inspected the readiness of the country’s airports to welcome quarantine-free travellers, due to return next month after almost two years of strict COVID-19 rules that halted vital tourism.

From Nov. 1, the country will allow vaccinated arrivals from low risk countries to return to its popular destinations like Pattaya, Chiang Mai and Bangkok.

***FILE PHOTO: A view of Bangkok’s port along Chao Phraya River is photographed during sunset in Bangkok, Thailand, June 2, 2021. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha***

Tourism before the pandemic was a leading driver of the economy, accounting for 12% of GDP. But the tourism authority has forecast foreign arrivals will drop to just 100,000 this year, down from 40 million in 2019 before the pandemic struck.

“November 1 is the first step,” Transport Minister Saksiam Chidchob said during a visit to Bangkok’s Don Muang airport on Wednesday.

“Foreign tourists and investors from at least 10 countries which are in health-safe zones, as well as doing great financially, can come to visit and spend in the country.”

Thailand piloted reopening earlier this year in its resort island of Phuket, allowing fully-vaccinated tourists to skip Thailand’s mandatory two-week quarantine provided they remained on the island.

FILE PHOTO: The first foreign tourists arrive at the airport as Phuket reopens to overseas tourists, allowing foreigners fully vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to visit the resort island without quarantine, in Phuket, Thailand July 1, 2021. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

But Saksiam said the wider reopening would be even simpler for travellers, as testing on arrival could be done at hotels and other accommodations rather than at the airport.

“The entire time a visitor will spend from getting through the terminal gates to leaving the airport would take no more than 25 minutes,” Saksiam told reporters.

Thailand has recorded nearly 1.8 million cases and 18,486 fatalities since the outbreak began, the overwhelming majority of which have been in the past seven months. (Reuters)