300,000 travellers arrive in Thailand during first week of May
About 300,000 international travellers have arrived in Thailand within the first week after the Thailand Pass program was simplified and the Test & Go and Sandbox schemes scrapped on May 1. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says he’s “happy with the number of visitors” according to Government Spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana.
A proportion of the ‘visitors’ continues to be Thais.
After removing the Test & Go and Sandbox programs at the start of the month, fully vaccinated visitors don’t need to take any PCR tests either pre-travel or on-arrival. However, unvaccinated or under-vaccinated travellers, who either prefer not to take, or are unable to take, a pre-travel PCR test 72 hours before their inbound flight will be required to quarantine for 5 days.
Everyone entering Thailand at the moment, Thais and foreigners, are required to apply for the much-debated Thailand Pass online ‘gateway’. It remains a procedural barrier for the tourism sector and seen as one of the the final obstacles in Thailand fully reopening to tourists.
The Thailand Pass is FREE to register. Beware of scams!
Between May and September, the Tourism Authority of Thailand predicts that there will be 300,000 people visiting Thailand each month, so May has already had a nice kickstart, according to the published numbers. From October to December, the number is projected to jump to 1 million people per month as Thailand shifts to the annual high season.
Pre Covid travel numbers (2019) averaged 3.3 million travellers arriving in Thailand each month, so the projection of 300,000 per month is still fewer than 10% of the international arrivals pre-2020.
With an increase in international travellers coming to Thailand, hotels and tourism companies are being urged to re-train their employees to be multi-skilled, and improve their facilities. The PM has also ordered government agencies to improve and repair tourism attractions to make them more appealing to travellers, according to the spokesperson.
SOURCE: Nation
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If you want to travel to Thailand, apply for the Thailand Pass with the 24-hour service and obtain Covid Insurance (including free SIM cards).
Note: Unvaccinated travellers require a negative RT-PCR test result 72 hours before travelling.
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