New Thailand Plus app for tourists will help officials track their whereabouts

A new app, named Thailand Plus, for tourists has been created to help officials track their whereabouts more precisely once they have arrived in Thailand. The app was developed by Sompote Arhunai, the CEO of the Energy Absolute Company, which also developed the “Mor Chana” application.

Sompote says the app will send information to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and will function similarily to a GPS. Such information will include certificate of entries, as well as screening and tracing. He says officials will know the whereabouts of tourists during their stays in case any of them are found to have contracted the virus. Such precise whereabouts will reportedly help authorities to take immediate action to prevent the spread of the virus in the areas in which the tourists visited.

So far, he says 600,000 Thais have downloaded the Mor Chana app and he urges more Thais to do the same. But following the controversial app, which some say is an invasion of privacy, he says their privacy will not be compromised.

Such a new development comes after The Tourism Authority of Thailand has introduced a special tourist visa, for tourists from low-risk countries, in order to start helping the country recover after Covid wrecked the tourism-reliant economy. However, some of the requirements have been controversial as critics say only rich tourists would be able to take advantage of the special visa option. Such requirements include a mandatory 14-day stay at an approved alternative state quarantine hotel or hospital, which is may be quite pricey for the average backpacker. Other requirements include the procurement of travel health insurance that covers a minimum of 400,000 baht.

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Recently, tourism authorities have announced that the nation will see 681 tourists arriving by next month, as they have secured the special visas and a place to quarantine.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World