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TRAVELERS from 45 low-risk countries who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will be able to visit Thailand without quarantine requirements from November 1 if they enter the country by air and test negative for the coronavirus.
The announcement made Thursday (October 21) by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on his Facebook page saying we need to move faster and do it now because by waiting for everything to be perfect, we could be late.
“In addition, tourists may decide to travel to other countries instead. Initially, Thailand only planned to allow travelers from about 10 “low risk” countries, including Singapore, China and the United States to enter by air without quarantine requirements if they were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and tested negative for the virus before and after their flight,” said Prayut.
According to the foreign ministry, travelers must have lived in an eligible country and region for at least 21 consecutive days and need to take an RT-PCR test within 72 hours of traveling to Thailand.
Upon arrival in Thailand, they will also need to take an RT-PCR test and wait for the results at an approved hotel for one night or until they receive a negative test result. Health insurance with a minimum coverage of US$50,000 is also mandatory.
Prime Minister Prayut said the plan was changed after several countries announced that they would also start reopening borders and relaxing measures to welcome back international travelers. We have to speed up our preparations. I have asked the Ministry of Health to speed up vaccination.
“Knowing the decision comes with the risk of increasing infections but saying it’s a risk we have to accept. I think Thailand and other countries in the world are able to handle the risks of COVID-19 better and we need to learn to coexist with COVID-19,” he added.
According to Prayut’s earlier announcement earlier this month, quarantine requirements would still be applied to those traveling from countries not on the list and alcohol consumption in restaurants would remain banned in high-risk areas such as Bangkok.
The government will consider lifting the alcohol ban on December 1 and entertainment venues could also be allowed to resume operations to boost the tourism sector.
Here are tourists from these 45 countries who can visit Thailand without quarantine from November 1st: (1). United States, (2). Australia, (3). Austria, (4). Bahrain, (5). Belgium, (6). Bhutan, (7). Brunei Darussalam, (8). Bulgaria, (9). Cambodia, (10). Canada, (11). Chile, (12). China, (13). Cyprus, (14). Czech Republic, (15). Denmark, (16). Estonia, (17). Finland, (18). France, (19). Germany, (20). Greece, (21). Hungary, (22). United Kingdom, (23). Iceland, (24). Ireland, (25). Israel, (26). Italy, (27). Japan, (28). Latvia, (29). Lithuania, (30). Malaysia, (31). Malta, (32). Netherlands, (33). New Zealand, (34). Norway, (35). Poland, (36). Portugal, (37). Qatar, (38). Saudi Arabia, (39). Singapore, (40). Slovenia, (41). South Korea, (42). Spain, (43). Sweden, (44). Switzerland, (45). United Arab Emirates. [sources/photo special]
