Thai tourist hotspots to reopen to fully vaccinated visitors from November
Thailand plans to eliminate the mandatory quarantine requirement for fully vaccinated visitors from November in the capital Bangkok and other tourist hotspots in nine regions, amid efforts to revive the region hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. has announced.
After reopening Phuket and Samui islands in pilot plans from July, the Southeast Asian country has now decided to reopen Bangkok, Krabi, Hua Hin, Pattaya and Koh Phyam, according to the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA). is planned.
Nationwide, the CCSA plans to reduce the mandatory quarantine period to seven days from Friday and to 10 days for fully vaccinated visitors who have not completed their vaccinations, Xinhua news agency reported. has done.
The CCSA decided to further ease restrictions from Friday in 29 areas of maximum containment, including Bangkok, to allow more businesses and venues such as spas, cinemas, libraries and indoor sports venues to reopen with certain requirements and The night time curfew can be shortened. from one hour.
These measures came as the government attempted to revive the country’s pandemic-battered economy. The tourism sector, which accounted for about a fifth of the country’s GDP growth before the pandemic, has been badly hit after more than a year of border controls.
Foreign tourist arrivals rose to 6.7 million in 2020 from a peak of around 40 million in 2019. The country is accelerating the vaccine rollout for a wider reopening.
It has delivered approximately 53.7 million doses of vaccine, more than 28 percent of its approximately 70 million population who have been fully vaccinated. Bangkok and 10 other provinces have vaccinated more than 50 percent of their residents, according to data from the Department of Disease Control.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has vowed to reopen the city to fully vaccinated travelers after 70 percent of residents have been vaccinated.
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