Quarantine Expected to be reduced to 7 days starting from November should the reopening of Thailand be COVID-19 incident free
According to a statement by the Thailand’s Tourism and Sports Minister the mandatory quarantine period for overseas arrivals can see a reduction of up to 7 days should there be no new COVID-19 infection increases during the reopening of the borders as a result of limited arrivals starting from October. However, this is merely speculation.
More details could become available after the Cabinet meeting, according to Minister Phiphat ratchakitprakarn. There is an expectation for the STV to grant entry for those who intend to stay long within the Kingdom in October 1st with visitors being granted permit to extend their stay of 90 days twice and be allowed to stay of upwards to 9 months within the Kingdom. Similar to previous VISA renewal costs it is 2000 baht as it sits currently under the STV proposal that is currently in use.
With the government being extremely cautious only 300 foreign tourists will be allowed so far and the first 2 groups will include sets of 150 tourists per group and all must first fulfill the 14 day quarantine period requirements and should none test positive the country will remain open to a limited number of visitors which will steadily increase over time and there is hope then for the reduction of the length of the mandatory quarantine waiting periods.
Despite this, there is the agreement that 300 tourists from abroad will not suffice to revitalize the whole supply chain and assistant operators and it does not even come close, but it is the first step in the right direction. This is because the figures must first comply with the regulations for the capacity of the healthcare workforce by the Public Health Ministry who provides preparation for swab tests. To face this shortage of manpower the Tourism Ministry has approached private hospitals to pitch in to alleviate the strain and help to minimalize holdups at airports. For now, the Phuket Provincial Health Office is only able to conduct tests for 1000 people in a day.
It is with the hope that should there be no spike in COVID-19 cases by middle of November the 14-day quarantine can be halved and this reduction will hopefully encourage tourists to come and visit the country to help revitalize a weakened tourism industry. With estimations by the Tourism Council of Thailand, there is a prediction that should the COVID situation worldwide finally be under control, the foreign arrivals to Thailand will finally be able to reach its 60 million mark to help rebuild and recuperate this shattered economy. The government holds optimism that the Thai tourism sector can recover against the trend that the world’s travel industry could only recover in a decade.