Bored and hoping to travel out of Singapore in real life? Wished that you can once again visit the national landmarks of Thailand just like you did before COVID-19 was a thing?
Well, I have good news for you: Thailand is allowing visitors into specific regions without quarantine from 1 Nov 2021.
Tourist Popular Areas
According to Reuters, Thailand is planning to remove the mandatory quarantine period for Bangkok and nine other regions from 1 Nov 2021.
Now, these areas aren’t places where you’ve never heard of before; they include areas that are popular with tourists:
- Chiang Mai
- Krabi
- Phangnga
- Hua Hin
- Pattaya
- Cha-am
Easing of Restrictions
Besides easing border control measures, the Thailand government is reportedly easing measures within the nation as well.
From Friday, restrictions will be eased in 29 “dark red” provinces under maximum control, including Bangkok.
Here are the changes, according to Bloomberg:
- Cinemas, museums and indoor sports venues are allowed to reopen
- Curfew shortened by an hour (10pm to 4am)
- The national state of emergency extended to end November
- Malls and businesses allowed to operate until 9pm
Ahead of the removal of the quarantine period for vaccinated travellers from 1 Nov, there are also changes to the mandatory quarantine period for Oct 2021:
- Quarantine for unvaccinated travellers cut from 14 to 10 days
- Quarantine for vaccinated travellers halved to 7 days
The changes will take effect on Friday, 1 Oct 2021.
Thailand’s Vaccination Status
Previously, it was reported that Bangkok will reopen to travellers from 15 Oct 2021Â as long as 70% of the city’s residents are fully vaccinated.
According to a spokesperson, Thailand is looking to purchase 2.79 million Pfizer-BioNTech doses of vaccines and 565,000 AstraZeneca shots from Spain and Hungary.
Less than 1/3 of Thailand’s population has been vaccinated so far.
According to Bangkok Post, the reopening scheme for Thailand has been set back time and again by vaccination rates.
While Thailand’s prime minister is eager for the country to open up to tourists, several other parties, including Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) subcommittee and Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), is insisting on a 70% full vaccination rate before reopening.
BMA had insisted that the city should only be opened to inbound tourists two weeks after 70% of the residents within receives the second dose, which was why the deadline of 15 Oct 2021 couldn’t be reached.
No VTL With Thailand
According to the SafeTravel website, Singapore does not have a Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) arrangement with Thailand.
This means that, should you travel to Thailand for holiday, you’ll have to face the following measures when you’re back:
- Take a pre-departure COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test within 48 hours of departure
- PCR test to be taken upon arrival in Singapore
- a 14-day stay at an SHN-Dedicated Facility (SDF) where you’ll take antigen tests on day 3,7 and 11; a PCR test will be administered at the end of your SHN period
Of course, other than the troublesome process, you’ll also need to consider the costs as well, since a $300 air ticket pre-COVID-19 can balloon to thousands of dollars now.
Read Also:
- Over 20% of Small Businesses in Johor Expected to Wind Up Due to Lack of S’pore Dollars
- Students on Quarantine Orders Can Still Take National Exams Like PSLE or O-Level This Year
Feature Image: Craig Schuler/shutterstock.com
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