Thailand expects hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers each month with quarantine-free visa program

Thursday, February 3, 2022

Thailand expects to welcome hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers each month by initiating a quarantine-free visa program that is being hoped to serve as a model for tourism-dependent countries balancing safe border reopening with economic revival.

From Tuesday, visitors of any nationality can apply for quarantine-free entry into Thailand, if they are fully vaccinated. The Thai government expects between 200,000 and 300,000 travelers to take advantage of the Test & Go program in February alone, with the numbers expected to go up in the following months.

The wider reopening is part of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha’sinitiative to embrace a “living with the Covid strategy” to rescue the pandemic-battered economy. About a fifth of gross domestic product before the virus came from tourism-related activities.

To quote Marisa SukosolNunbhakdi, the president of the Thai Hotels Association,“It’s a fine balance between tourism recovery and public health. We have to create confidence among the Thai society as there’s still a large group of people hesitant about foreign travellers. If other nations are still hesitant they can come and look at the Thai Test & Go model.”

The Thai government expects 5 million foreign visitors this year, with the majority of them expected from Europe and the U.S., and the numbers may reach 9 million, if Chinese and Indian tourists come back.

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