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THAILAND will abolish quarantine obligations in Bangkok and nine other regions from November 1 for travelers who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, local authorities said on Monday (9/27).
Thailand is trying to revive a slumping tourism sector by removing quarantine requirements, including in the popular tourist areas of Chiang Mai, Phangnga, Krabi, Hua Hin, Pattaya and Cha-am.
The decision was taken after Thailand successfully reopened the islands of Phuket and Samui in July to vaccinated visitors.
Thailand is keen to welcome back foreign tourists after nearly 18 months of strict entry policies that led to a collapse in tourism, a key sector that attracted 40 million visitors in 2019.
Authorities will also reduce quarantine time nationwide to seven days for visitors who have been vaccinated and arriving from October 1.
Meanwhile, visitors who have not been vaccinated are still required to undergo a 10-day quarantine. Starting Friday (1/10), Thailand will also ease restrictions in 29 provinces with “dark red” status, including Bangkok.
The easing allowed more businesses to reopen, such as spas, libraries, cinemas, indoor sports venues and nail salons.
The easing of restrictions comes as Thailand seeks to ramp up vaccinations after an initial supply shortage. Less than a third of Thailand’s population has been vaccinated so far. The local COVID-19 task force also approved the government’s plan to procure 3.35 million combined doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The vaccine procurement consists of 2.79 million doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, 165,000 AstraZeneca injections from Spain, and 400,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from Hungary, a spokesman said.
There is no timeframe for the millions of vaccines yet and the plan is still awaiting approval from the cabinet. [antaranews]
