Thailand announces quarantine-free travel for international
travellers starting 1 February. This latest update on 20 January comes
as Covid-19 infection cases drop in the nation in recent weeks.
Vaccinated visitors will undergo Thailand’s Test & Go quarantine
waiver programme, which was suspended last December — just seven weeks
in — due to rising Covid-19 cases caused by the omicron variant.
Under
the Test & Go programme, visitors are required to undergo Covid-19
tests upon arrival and again five days later. The policy requires
visitor movements to be tracked as well.
Igniting economic recovery is key for Thailand, as emphasised by
Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith in a Bloomberg report. He
said Thailand can no longer close their borders as the economic costs
will be too high, citing the need for reopening and managing the
outbreak to go hand in hand.
Which may explain why amid measures to contain the coronavirus
outbreak in end 2021, Thailand chose to allow Phuket to remain open
under a separate Sandbox programme — where the list was recently
expanded on 11 January to include Krabi, Phang-Nga, and Surat Thani.
This
latest 20 January announcement also includes further expanding the
Sandbox list again, adding beach destinations Pattaya and Koh Chang.
International arrivals to Thailand currently stand at about 0.5% of
the pre-pandemic figure, which achieved a record of nearly 40 million in
2019.
Efforts to boost travel interest have been ongoing, with players
working on travel themes ranging from health and wellness to sports to
food.
For instance, Thailand recently renewed its Michelin Guide
partnership to attract gourmets, while Phuket has been stirring interest
in medical tourism as well as in sports tourism with international
competitions.