Thailand will not impose tougher COVID measures for Chinese travelers, hundreds of thousands of whom are expected to pour into Thailand after Sunday, when China scraps travel restrictions.
After officials met yesterday to weigh their options given the recent spread of COVID-19 in China, they agreed not to apply additional requirements. That means no testing but mandatory insurance for visitors from countries that require negative RT-PCR test results before flying back home.
Starting Jan. 8, China will open its borders to international travelers, scrapping quarantine and on-arrival COVID tests. However, it still requires all returning passengers to present a negative test result obtained within 48 hours of boarding.
Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the rule is to guarantee that those who contract the disease are able to afford treatment in Thailand.
The decision came days after Anutin said “no special measures” would be imposed on Chinese arrivals as Thailand would not discriminate against them.
On Jan. 9, the first flight from China’s Xiamen will arrive into Thailand with approximately 200 passengers on board.
Tanes Petsuwan, a deputy governor at the tourism authority, estimates that Thailand will see 300,000 Chinese tourists in the first quarter of 2023: 60,000 in January, 90,000 in February, and 150,000 in March.
COVID-19 has been running rampant in China since the government lifted its lockdown measures under public pressure.
Before the pandemic, Chinese travelers accounted for 28% – nearly a third – of visitors. In 2019, nearly 12 million Chinese tourists visited Thailand. Popular destinations included Bangkok, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, and Phuket.
Related
Thai tourism preps for Chinese arrivals – but rules out COVID tests
