Thailand’s Minister of Health, Anuntin Charnvirakul, suddenly cancelled on Monday the measure to request the covid-19 vaccination certificate to all travelers entering the country, which remained in force for a few hours and was prompted by the reopening of China.
At a press conference at a Bangkok airport, the minister, who came to the venue to receive the first travelers from China after the reopening of his country, announced the cancellation of the restriction, which had begun to apply since this morning.
In a press release issued afterwards, the Ministry of Health said it recognizes that Thailand has relaxed measures against covid some time ago and foreign tourists are not the cause of the increase in the number of infections in the country.
However, the ministry added that it will maintain the rule requiring visitors whose countries require PCR tests to return to their territory, such as China and India, to have special covid-19 insurance – at least $10,000 in coverage – in case they test positive before taking their return flights.
Thailand Scraps Vaccine Proof Requirement for Foreign Visitors in U-Turn . https://t.co/J1gz8PcFgy
— 向井 柳雲(Mukai Ryuun) (@Y_Mukai) January 9, 2023
The reversal of the covid policy, which was announced on Saturday and was to last until January 31, comes after criticism from tour operators who criticized the authorities for the lack of information and improvisation of the measure.
Although Thai authorities insisted that the measure was not intended to discriminate against travelers from China, the requirements were prompted by expectations of a significant increase in Chinese tourists following Sunday’s end of the travel restrictions in the largest economy in Asia.
Thailand, which welcomed 11 million Chinese tourists in 2019, expects up to 5 million travelers from China to arrive this year due to the relaxation there of restrictions.
-Thailand News (TN)
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