In a televised nationwide broadcast, Thailand’s Prime Minister announced, “Now it’s time for us to slowly prepare ourselves for restarting international tourism. Today I want to announce one small but important step,” PM Prayut Chan-o-cha said.
“Over the next one or two weeks, with tourists increasingly coming to visit Thailand, we will begin to gradually allow people to travel without difficult conditions. The UK, Singapore, and Australia are starting to relax their travel conditions abroad for their nationals. With this kind of progress, we still have to be careful, but we have to advance quickly. I have therefore instructed the Ministry of Public Health from 1 November onwards, that Thailand will start accepting non-guaranteed entry into Thailand for those who have completed their vaccinations and enter Thailand by air.
“They must be from what we define as low-risk countries. When entering Thailand, all persons must show that they are free from COVID-19, with proof of the results of a RT-PCR test, which is tested before leaving the country of origin and will be tested for COVID-19 again upon arrival in Thailand. Afterward, they can travel freely to different areas just like normal Thai people can.
“Initially, we will accept visitors from low-risk countries. To be able to travel to Thailand 10 countries will include UK, Singapore, Germany, China, and the United States.
“Our aim, will be to increase the number of countries even more by December 1, 2021, and after that, by January 1, 2022, we will widely increase the number of countries,” said the Prime Minister.
For visitors from countries that are not on the list of low-risk countries, they are still welcome but may face greater restrictions including quarantine.
The Prime Minister went on to say, “By December 1, 2021, we will consider allowing alcoholic beverages to be consumed in restaurants. Also, the government will consider allowing places of rest and entertainment to operate under appropriate public health measures to support and boost the tourism sector. This will include leisure and entertainment venues especially during the New Year celebrations.”
