Thailand to allow quarantine-free travel from 46 countries from November 1

Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha recently stated that his government has decided to allow travellers from 46 countries, vaccinated against COVID-19, to forgo quarantine from next month. This number has been raised up from 10 that was previously announced.

The Southeast Asian country is all set to introduce new quarantine-free travel arrangements from November, as a move to revive its vital tourism industry.Last week, Prayuth added that at least 10 countries, including Singapore, Britain, Germany, the United States, and China, would be exempt from quarantine. Prayuth added that the visitors could skip mandatory quarantine as they are fully vaccinated, arrive via air, and have a document to show that they are virus-free.
Thailand added that they will reopen the capital Bangkok and other key tourist destinations, including Pattaya and Hua Hin, where curfews will be lifted at the end of the month.

Reports have it that strict quarantine and entry requirements measures have helped keep Thailand's COVID outbreaks under control until recent months. However, the said curbs impacted the tourism sector, and Thailand lost around USD 50 billion in tourism revenue last year, which was an 82 per cent plunge. As such to revive its tourism sector, it started with a pilot reopening that began on July 1 on its most popular island, Phuket, which had vaccinated most of its local population.