Still unclear if visitors to Thailand will need health insurance after May 1

The future of Thailand’s requirement for foreign arrivals to have medical insurance is up in the air, along with other rumours of reduced impediments to international arrivals.

Right now, all foreigners ,except those with work permits, are required to have US$20,000 anti-Covid cover, including hospitalisation. The price used to be US$50,000 until the CCSA lowered it in March.

Now, although the Ministry of Tourism suggests that starting next month, the entire Thalang Pass registration process for visitors should end, it’s still unclear what insurance requirements will be, if any. The Tourism Authority of Thailand has proposed that the insurance requirement could drop to US$10,000. No government agency, however, has explicitly stated that mandatory insurance will stop being required altogether.

Usually, any changes to immigration rules and Covid restrictions are left to the last minute, leaving prospective travellers having to wait to organise their visits.

Thailand has long discussed loosening its entry requirements for foreign visitors, keeping would-be travellers on edge. The government will propose removing the Test & Go scheme and Thailand Pass at a meeting with the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration on April 22. If the changes and revisions are approved, they could start as early as May 1, allowing travellers to enter Thailand using their vaccine documents rather than waiting one to five days for the Thailand Pass to be approved.

Thailand has already stopped requiring foreign arrivals to take a PCR Covid-19 test before their flight to Thailand, but visitors still need to take a PCR test once they land. If the new changes are approved, PCR tests-on-arrival, and the one night of pre-paid accommodation at an SHA+ hotel could be replaced by 10-15 minute antigen test at the airport.

Nothing has been approved at this stage and, even after the meeting on April 22, any changes would have to be signed into law through the Royal Gazette before being enacted.

SOURCE: Pattaya Mail

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you are fully vaccinated and looking to travel to Thailand, you may enter by a 1 Day Test & Go Packages.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________