Thailand will end quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated tourists from at least 10 low-risk destinations from 1 November, officials have said.
The list of nations allowed in includes the UK, as well as China, Singapore, Germany and the US.
Speaking in a televised appearance on Monday, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha said that “this decision comes with some risk”.
Despite recording around 10,000 positive infections a day since July, the country is keen to revive tourism, one of its most important sectors, which brought in $62bn (USD) in 2019.
The decision was sparked by travel restrictions being eased in other countries including Australia and Singapore.
“With these developments, we must act quickly but still cautiously, and not miss the opportunity to entice some of the year-end and new year holiday season travelers during the next few months to support the many millions of people who earn a living from our tourism, travel and entertainment sectors as well as the many other related sectors,” Mr Prayut said.
When tourists from the countries are permitted to arrive, “they should present a [negative] Covid test… and test once again upon arrival”, he explained.
If the second test is also negative, any visitor from those countries will be able to “travel freely like Thais”.
Thailand will not open entertainment venues or serve alcohol until 1 December, however – and several provinces including the capital Bangkok still have a 9pm-4am curfew.
Mr Prayut said that the Thai government would remain vigilant and be prepared to reverse the relaxed travel restrictions if there was a spike in cases.
Visitors from countries not on the low-risk list can enter Thailand, said the Prime Minister, “but they have to be in quarantine.”
He added that more nations would be added to the low-risk list in December.
November will be the first time tourists have been allowed into Thailand since April 2020, when the government closed the country’s borders due to the pandemic.
