Thailand government hopes to reopen by October

Thailand is hoping to open its doors to the world by October this year, according to an assistant spokesperson at the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. But there are still several hoops to jump through, with the spokesperson treading carefully with her words.

Apisamai Srirangsan made the announcement but said the revelation was just a goal and “not a set decision or promise.” She says the shift to reopening would hopefully start in April, seeing reduced quarantine times and more “freedom of quarantine.” The pending changes would be part of the Phase 2 rollouts, with Phase 3 being marked by completely reopening the country.

Apisamai says such a decision would be announced well in advance, taking the tourist industry into consideration as they would need time to prepare. Despite the quarantine possibly being eradicated, she says is isn’t clear if the reopening would only be for those vaccinated tourists.

She went on to say that the reopening was also dependent upon other countries’ Covid situations, as well as the vaccine situation and the status of safety measures by airlines. A reopening could also exclude certain countries if they still have a high rate of Covid infections. Earlier this week, the CCSA noted that Africa would not be included in the reduced quarantine program as the continent has seen multiple variants of the virus pop up.

Apisamai says even if the country isn’t fully reopened by October, it could still see a wider opening, just in time for Thailand’s high season. The decision will be mulled over during several meetings next Monday, March 15 with the CCSA. Next Tuesday and Friday, meetings will also be held with the Thai Cabinet.

Recently, the CCSA has indicated that Thailand has successfully controlled the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, as daily new infections have dropped to the double-digits.

SOURCE: The Pattaya News