Thailand Allows Vaccinated Tourists from S’pore to Visit Without Quarantine

By
Shawn Ambrose
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Since March 2020, nearly every article about international travel has been bleak.

Borders closed to tourists. Travel bubble cancelled once again. Leisure travel unlikely to return till 3062. 

But in the past month or so, something has changed.

With more and more governments around the world getting their residents vaccinated, many countries are starting to reopen their doors to international tourists.

And in a recent development, a popular holiday destination for Singaporeans could soon welcome us again.

Thailand Allows Vaccinated Tourists from S’pore to Visit Without Quarantine

It’s not often that Singaporeans pay special attention to announcements made by Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

But a certain announcement he made in a televised address to Thailand yesterday has sent all the cats working at Goody Feed into a tizzy.

Here’s what he said: “From Nov 1 onwards, Thailand will start reopening without quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated persons who travel to the country by air from what we classify as low-risk countries.”

PM Prayut said there are at least 10 countries on this list, including China, the UK, the US, Germany, and yes, Singapore.

It’s happening; it’s finally happening!

Similar to our VTL scheme, all travellers have to do under Thailand’s travel arrangement for low-risk countries are:

  • present a negative COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test prior to departure
  • take another COVID-19 PCR test upon arrival in Thailand

“Afterwards, they will be able to travel to different areas freely like what ordinary Thais can do,” PM Prayut said.

Yes, there will be no need for quarantine or isolation, which will still be in place for travelers from other countries. But of course, currently, it’s one-way: when you come back to Singapore, you’d still need to serve your SHN (unless there are some changes in the near future).

At the moment, alcohol consumption in high-risk areas such as Bangkok is prohibited, but the authorities are considering lifting this ban by 1 Dec.

Enticing Year-end Holiday Travellers 

In his address, PM Prayut explained that the country is opening in a bid to revive its tourism sector.

By enticing some of the year-end and new year holiday season travelers during the next few months, he said, they can support the “many millions of people who earn a living from our tourism, travel, and entertainment sectors as well as the many other related sectors”.

In the first eight months of 2021, tourist arrivals plunged to just over 73,000, from almost 40 million visitors in 2019.

Opening its borders is part of the government’s plans to live with COVID-19, a strategy many countries are adopting now.

The prime minister added that the government will closely monitor the situation and introduce measures if infections surge, or a new “very harmful” variant emerges.

10,817 new COVID-19 cases were reported across Thailand on Sunday (10 Oct), a minuscule portion of its 70-million population.

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Featured Image: Craig Schuler/shutterstock.com

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Shawn Ambrose
Email: [email protected]