Thailand to scrap quarantine for select overseas visitors

Asian man smiling behind the black mask while travelling to Ayutthaya, Thailand. Wearing a protective mask to prevent from coronavirus Covid-19

Thailand will lift quarantine requirements for overseas visitors from a handful of low-risk countries from 1 November.

The popular destination will allow travellers from 10 countries to skip its mandatory seven-day quarantine in Phuket –including Australia, the US, the UK, China, Germany and Singapore – so long as they are fully vaccinated, provide a negative test result and are tested again on arrival.

Thailand’s Prime Minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, made the announcement last week, according to BBC News, and admitted the decision comes with some risk but it was needed to revive the country’s tourism industry.

Thailand has been clocking more than 10,000 new cases of COVID-19 each day since June, and has only vaccinated 33 per cent of its population, which is just shy of 70 million people.

Prayuth said Thailand would reopen entertainment venues and lift its alcohol ban on 1 December.

Pre-pandemic, the kingdom attracted almost 40 million visitors each year, with tourism making up around 20 per cent of its income, The Guardian reported.

It is estimated that Thailand lost $50 billion in tourism dollars last year.

The reopening date coincides with the NSW’s international border reopening, which was brought forward on Friday.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said the state will also scrap quarantine requirements altogether for fully-vaccinated travellers from November.

The rest of Australia is expected to reopen to international travel as each state reaches the 80 per cent vaccinated population target; however, some quarantine restrictions are expected to remain.


Featured image source: iStock/Complexio

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