BANGKOK: Thailand unveiled a roadmap to revive its tourism-reliant economy by gradually scrapping a mandatory quarantine for vaccinated visitors, joining a growing list of nations in making cross-border travel easier ahead of the year-end holiday season.
Visitors from 10 low-risk countries including the U.S., China, Singapore, Germany and the U.K. will not be required to undergo isolation on arrival from November 1, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha said in an address to the nation on Monday.
The list of travelers eligible for quarantine waiver will be further expanded from December, he said, and by January 1 the nation “would move to a very extensive list.”
With countries such as Singapore, Australia and the U.K. moving to ease travel curbs on international travelers in recent weeks, Thailand could no longer delay its reopening, Prayuth said.
“With these developments, we must act quickly but still cautiously, and not miss the opportunity to entice some of the year-end and new year holiday season travelers during the next few months to support the many millions of people who earn a living from our tourism, travel and entertainment sectors as well as the many other related sectors,” Prayuth said.
Prayuth’s government is pushing ahead with a “living with Covid-19” strategy like many of the tourism- and trade-reliant nations around the world after the pandemic ravaged their economies.
Thailand saw foreign tourist arrivals plunge to 73,932 in the first eight months of this year, from almost 40 million visitors who generated more than $60 billion in revenue in 2019.
“All that visitors will need do is to show that they are Covid-free at their time of travel with an RT-PCR test undertaken before they leave their home country, and do a test in Thailand, after which they will be free to move around Thailand in the same way that any Thai citizen can do,” Prayuth said.
The move to ease barriers for tourists may not change the forecasts for arrivals this year but will help lift investor sentiments, according to Nattaporn Triratanasirikul, an economist at Kasikornbank’s research unit. She expects 150,000 foreign tourist arrivals this year.
“We don’t expect to see an influx of tourists after reopening as most tourists plan trips in advance,” Nattaporn said. “But this should help boost the sentiment and confidence.”
