No really, Thailand’s finest minds aren’t making things up as they go along, and PM Prayuth Chan-ocha definitely knew all of the 10 countries he failed to name this week when he announced they would soon be traveling here again.
That was the message this afternoon from the COVID-19 task force, which said it was in the process of “finalizing” the full list of nations from where vaccinated travelers may soon arrive without quarantine.
The final list, it said, will be out by the middle of next week and may contain even more than 10 countries, it assured.
It was Monday when Prayuth commanded the airwaves to announce the first major steps toward dismantling travel barriers in place for a year and a half. It was deemed so important that his announcement was announced in advance and flagged “important,” just to get everyone’s attention.
Just a few days before his previous deadline for fully reopening the country came to pass, Gen. Prayuth offered a very obvious five examples of what he said were definitely 10 nations: the United Kingdom, United States, Singapore, China and Germany. He did not mention the other five countries.
Meanwhile, a new web-based application is on the way to replace the so-called certificate of entry, or COE, system that has been required for travel authorization. Called Thailand Pass, it is also under development and expected to be launched by Nov. 1, according to Tanee Sangrat, spokesperson of the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
The nation’s poor track record with sound and secure IT development suggests one may want to temper their hopes for Version 1.0.
Once the Thailand Pass system is rolled out, people who wish to travel to Thailand by air will need to upload their immigration arrival forms, aka the TM6, and a health declaration form designated T8 – hopefully without hiccups. However, the COE system will still be required for anyone arriving via land or sea.
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