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Updated December 22nd, 2021 at 14:47 IST

Thailand: Quarantine-free travel pass revoked as Omicron concerns rise

Thailand announced on Tuesday that it will reintroduce obligatory quarantine for tourists and halt a "test-and-go" plan for fully vaccinated travellers.

Reported by: Rohit Ranjan
Thailand
Image: AP | Image:self
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As the new variant of the COVID-19, Omicron continues to spread mounting the fear of an increase in cases, Thailand announced on Tuesday that it will reintroduce obligatory quarantine for tourists and halt a "test-and-go" plan for fully vaccinated travellers, suspending quarantine-free travel passes. As per the reports of AP News, Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, who is a government spokesperson announced the suspension of sandbox programmes, that allowed fully vaccinated travellers to enter Thailand without quarantine.

He also stated that approximately 200,000 people who have registered for the Thailand Pass under the "test-and-go" scheme but have not yet visited Thailand will be permitted to do so. However, they will be subjected to a coronavirus test upon arrival, followed by a second test seven days later at the government's expense. No further applications for quarantine exemptions under the Thailand Pass system will be considered after midnight on December 22, according to CNN. The government claims that this is a temporary suspension rather than a permanent ban, but no date has been set for when the restriction will be lifted.

Thailand will not accept new applications for the "test-and-go" programme

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha announced that Thailand will not accept new applications for the "test-and-go" programme. He went on to say that from now on, they are going back to the previous system of quarantine upon entering. Thailand confirmed its first case of the Omicron variant last week when a returning resident tested negative on arrival but later tested positive, infecting members of his household.

Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries reduced entry limits for fully vaccinated travellers in November in a bid to resurrect tourism. 130,000 visitors came to Thailand in November, under a "test-and-go" policy. According to AP News, right now, with 2,476 new cases and 32 deaths recorded Tuesday, the number of illnesses has slowly declined but the Omicron variant has been the subject of the increase of COVID cases in many countries prompting Thailand to take severe action. Since the start of the pandemic, Thailand has registered 2,196,529 cases and 21,346 deaths.

The government had set a tourism revenue target of 1.5 trillion baht for 2021

Foreign tourist visits were about 40 million in 2019, but fell to 6.7 million in 2020, with the majority of visitors arriving in the first quarter, according to AP News. The government had set a tourism revenue target of 1.5 trillion baht for 2021. In 2019, Thailand's tourism industry brought in 3.4 trillion baht.

(Inputs from AP News)

Image: AP

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Published December 22nd, 2021 at 14:47 IST

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