Changes – or elimination – of the Thailand Pass tourist-entry system will be debated next week by the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration, with any changes expected to take effect June 1.
Several changes have been proposed to Thailand Pass since the CCSA last met to cancel the Test & Go entry scheme last month, from the outright dropping of Thailand Pass to only exempting Thai nationals from it.
Thai business leaders – including the government's own Board of Investment and the Tourism Council of Thailand – have urged the full cancellation of Thailand Pass, which requires all international arrivals to register via a buggy website with passports, proof of US$10,000 health insurance and proof of Covid-19 vaccination. Travelers must then wait up to 48 hours for a QR code which must be presented at the airport upon arrival.
The Tourism and Sports Ministry at the end of April said it would propose just that for June 1, but the Public Health Ministry later said it would recommend only that, for now, returning Thais be exempted from the QR code requirement, even though arriving tourists tested positive for Covid-19 less than 1% of the time.
The latest rumors leaking out of the government suggest Thailand Pass will be ended for foreigners on June 30.
CCSA spokesperson Apisamai Srirangsan on Thursday did not reveal what changes to Thailand Pass are being debated today by the CCSA operations center, but said their recommendations would be forwarded to the full CCSA for final approval on May 20.
The CCSA operations center also discussed changing the plan for schools after the government earlier said all campuses nationwide would reopen May 17 for the new semester.
Now, schools that are not well prepared, or those with lower vaccination uptake could opt to arrange online classes for the time being, upon approval of their provincial communicable disease committees.