Thailand Lays Ground for Vaccine Mandate for Air Travel With Building of Yet Another Mobile App. Thailand’s solution to just about everything these days is to build a quick mobile app that might or might not expose your personal data to hackers. Bangkok Herald

Thailand Lays Ground for Vaccine Mandate for Air Travel With Building of Yet Another Mobile App

11 September 2021

Thailand's solution to just about everything these days is to build a quick mobile app that might or might not expose your personal data to hackers.

Next up is an app you'll need to get on an airplane that shows the domestic airline whether or not you've been vaccinated (in Thailand) for Covid-19. Vaccinated overseas? There's no app for that.

The Ministry of Public Health said Friday it's preparing yet another iteration of its Mor Prom platform to facilitate air travel, while asserting that vaccinated individuals not showing up in the database comprise only three percent of the total vaccinated.

Deputy Minister Satit Pitutecha chaired the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation to develop and connect a Mor Prom platform that would facilitate the inspection of travel documents. Permanent Secretary Dr. Kiattiphum Wongrajit, Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand Suthipong Kongpool, and President of Thai Airline Association Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth co-signed the document.

Satit explained the platform would provide digital health passes valid for up to three years. The passes will display vaccination status, RT-PCR or Antigen Test Kit results and past infection details.

They are designed with public safety as well as personal privacy in mind and the ministry aims to develop the system into a National Health Platform.

This is of course the same ministry whose vaccine-registration website left all the personal data of registrants open on the Internet and allowed hackers to get into its database from an Issan hospital, comprising more than 10,000 personal records.

As for vaccinated people not showing up in the Mor Prom database, the ministry explained that, with 35 million people now vaccinated, about three percent are still having their data entered into the system.

Citizens who don't see their information in the application can contact the ministry directly through the app. Nonetheless, the deputy minister indicated all data in the system is updated in real time.

No information was given how air travelers who were vaccinated outside the country will prove their status in order to travel. Officials also didn't state whether the app will be required or whether its development presages a requirement that only vaccinated travelers can fly.