Thailand approves 8 vaccines for foreign travellers seeking shortened quarantine

Thailand has approved a total of 8 Covid-19 jabs for vaccinated tourists hoping to avail of reduced quarantine on arrival in the Kingdom. Despite a third wave of infections gripping the country, officials are pinning their hopes on the return of international visitors in order to revive the decimated tourism sector. In 2019, approximately 40 million foreign visitors to Thailand contributed over 60 billion US dollars in revenue.

The 8 approved vaccines are the Chinese Sinovac and Sinopharm jabs, along with AstraZeneca, SK Bioscience, Pfizer-BioNTech SE, Serum Institute of India, Johnson & Johnson, and Moderna. However, in a move likely to further complicate already complex arrangements, people intending to visit Thailand will need to be vaccinated no less than 14 days before travel.

Vaccinated tourists will be required to upload their certificates of vaccination on the Foreign Ministry’s website before arrival, after which they can avail of a reduced quarantine period of 7 days. Unvaccinated arrivals will be subject to 10-day quarantine, while arrivals from several countries, including South Africa, will have to endure 14-day quarantine.

Foreign visitors will also require a certificate of entry, a valid visa, adequate health insurance and a negative Covid-19 test result.

Tourism officials in Thailand are desperately hoping foreign visitors will still want to enjoy the country’s beaches, temples, culture, and food, and are pinning everything on a reduction in mandatory quarantine. The quarantine requirement is widely seen as the biggest obstacle for foreign visitors. Prior to the latest outbreak, the southern island of Phuket was hoping to waive quarantine entirely for vaccinated arrivals from July. It remains to be seen if this will still go ahead.

SOURCE: Travel Daily