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RECAP: Thailand discovers 58 domestic infections among 77 new Covid-19 daily cases with one additional death in past 24 hours - Pattaya News

RECAP: Thailand discovers 58 domestic infections among 77 new Covid-19 daily cases with one additional death in past 24 hours

Sunday, 28 March 2021, 13:48

National –

Thailand discovered 58 domestic infections among a total of 77 new Covid-19 Coronavirus daily cases with one additional death in the past 24 hours, the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) announced this morning, March 28th.

Thailand's 94th Covid-19 fatality was a 75-year-old Thai bedridden woman from Bangkok with underlying health conditions of thyroid disease, high blood lipids, and a pituitary tumor. She was reportedly in close contact with four family members who all previously tested positive for the virus.

The patient was suffering from suspicious symptoms of high fever, coughing, and tiredness on March 23rd. She sought a Covid-19 test at a local hospital and was confirmed with a Covid-19 infection. However, her condition became worse and she was pronounced dead on March 27th.

Regarding the domestic infections, 32 of them were walk-in/hospital cases, including contact tracing, that were confirmed in Bangkok with 20, Samut Sakhon with 7, Samut Prakan with 3, and Pathum Thani with 2. Most of them were Thai nationals with slight symptoms.

The other 26 local infections were reported during proactive case finding in local communities, particularly in local markets, factories, migrant worker's dormitories, and immigration detention in Bangkok with 12, Samut Sakhon with 9, Samut Prakan with 2, Nonthaburi with 2, and Ratchaburi with 1. Most of them are asymptomatic. All of them are being isolated in quarantined areas under the supervision of public health officials with no public exposure.

As of today, 103 people fully recovered in the past 24 hours and have been released from field hospitals and quarantine centers. Thailand has now reached a total of 28,734 cases with 27,239 recoveries and a total of 94 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

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Antique Map of Bangkok 1920 by Imperial Japanese Government Railways.



Phuket's chance to start afresh - Bangkok Post

Phuket's chance to start afresh

March 28, 2021

With the prime minister today expected to announce plans for the reopening of Phuket to foreign tourists in July and the kingdom hoping to regain its crown as one of the most visited and desirable holiday and travel destinations in the world, there is understandable concern over the move.

Indeed, after sheltering so successfully from the storm ripping the rest of the world asunder for so long, December's outbreak in Samut Sakhon was a timely reminder that Covid-19 will spare no territory if given the chance.

Nevertheless, that outbreak has not turned into the full-scale disaster endured by many nations over the past 15 months or so since the first reports of the virus, and the holistic nature of Thailand's community networks has once again shone in a bottom-up effort to locate, isolate and treat the infected.

From July 1, the Phuket "Sandbox" will see tourists who want to join the proposed quarantine-free programme required to show a vaccine certificate, vaccine passport or International Air Transport Association (IATA) travel pass to prove they have had the inoculation and pose no risk of transmission. In the run-up to that date, mandatory quarantine will also begin to be cut, first to 10 days then a week for those who have had jabs.

However, foreign tourists are still required to take a PCR test at the airport and activate the ThailandPlus tracing app while in Phuket, according to the plan.

So much of Thailand's economy is geared towards the revenue brought in by its tourist industry that the current shutdown cannot be indefinite. The swift emergence of vaccines that are reported to be effective in preventing the spread of the disease coupled with the excellent reputation of the Thai healthcare network (its community volunteers, as well as its doctors, nurses and professional staff), mean there is little reason not to pursue reopening, albeit with all due caution.

If this is to be a rebirth, of sorts, for the island province of Phuket, which has been brought to its knees by an external force of nature, then perhaps there is also a wider significance to this chance to start afresh that should not go unremarked on.

For years, the island has been allowed to not only become overly reliant on the income of its foreign guests, but has also forged an unfortunate reputation for offering the kind of cut-and-shut Thai experience many in the nation are keen to move away from. Indeed, the first taste of this beautiful country many have had was coughing up the exorbitant taxi fare to their hotel that the island's passenger vehicle cartel is tacitly allowed to charge by state authorities with a vested interest.

Viral clips of Grab drivers and riders being accosted by members of the local ranks have been especially prevalent in the province as there is zero competition in the sector and outright hostility towards anyone who dares to challenge that.

It is a dark side of the island that has also included accusations of mistreatment at its zoo and various other animal attractions.

Much of what Phuket represents is emblematic of a broader conundrum faced by Thai tourism in general. Catering to the lowest common denominator is often the way to the quickest baht. Sex, booze, performing animals, sun and good Thai food has for many Europeans become their more exotic Asian equivalent of a jaunt to Spain's Benidorm or Magaluf. Favourable exchange rates and an arrival-to-return-flight-home mollycoddling by those making a living in the tourism sector, whether legitimately or otherwise, brought in around 500 billion baht to the island's economy each year prior to the pandemic.

And now we've seen at what cost that came. Without depth, there can be no substance, and the island's economy crumpled like a paper serviette at a beachside eatery. Now is the time for residents and business operators in the province to not only cautiously welcome back their foreign friends with all the prescribed safety measures in place, but also for them to consider ways to diversify and develop revenue streams not so dependent on the foreign buck.

So, in this sandbox it will soon be playtime once again, let's hope that those in the industry and local government realise that there's no reason that frivolous fun can't be combined with a richer, more varied portfolio of businesses and enterprises. These may include hosting more domestic and international events, developing its culinary scene, promoting the arts and cultural attractions of the area, as well as encouraging longer-term stayers such as international students and retirees.

Before then over 900,000 doses of vaccine are set to be administered to those in the province in the hope of achieving general immunity to Covid-19. Let's hope that this colossal effort also includes a dose of reality and the island doesn't slip back into some of its less savoury habits as soon as the tourist money comes rolling back in.

Govt eyes 30m jabs by August - Bangkok Post

Govt eyes 30m jabs by August

The Public Health Ministry has unveiled a plan to progressively roll out almost 30 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine across all 77 provinces by August.

The plan adds to the more than 100,000 people in the target groups already inoculated in the national vaccination programme, according to Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the Department of Disease Control (DDC).

The department chief said the next phase of vaccination began this month with 300,000 people earmarked for the jab. The vaccination timetable will continue until August when the last 10 million doses will be provided.

The priority is at-risk groups of people who make up 10.4 million of the 28.1 million candidates for vaccination during that time.

The vaccine distribution plan also involves identifying and entrusting 4,000 clinics and medical facilities to deliver the jabs nationwide with the number of provinces receiving the jabs increasing from 13 this month to all 77 next month.

"Indeed, the inoculations hinge on the amount of vaccines made available.

"We can only operate within our capability to meet these targets. We will distribute as many of the vaccines as we possibly can," Dr Opas said.

As for the first phase from Feb 28 to March 25, altogether 136,190 doses have been administered so far. Of these, 121,392 were first doses and the rest were receiving their second of the two required jabs.

"The numbers of people being vaccinated and health facilities offering the service will increase in the coming months. This is vital for fast and effective vaccine distribution and coverage," he said.

Meanwhile, the quarantine period for international arrivals will shrink from 14 to 10 days next month, according to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA). However, the revised quarantine is not applicable to nationals of countries with rampant infections by highly-contagious variants of Covid-19. In these cases, the standard 14-day quarantine period still applies.

Dr Opas said the department is keeping watch on the South African variant now affecting South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Kenya, Rwanda, Cameroon, Congo, Ghana and Tanzania.

Updates of quarantine information are relayed to the Foreign Affairs Ministry for dissemination and for announcement on the DDC website every fortnight.

Dr Opas said that even though about 500 million doses have been administered to people worldwide, Covid-19 transmission rates remain high in some countries. For example, Brazil recently reported a single-day jump of almost 100,000 new cases despite its rollout of 17 million doses of vaccine to 5% of the population.

"It goes to show that vaccines alone can't protect people from the disease," he said.

Health precautions and protection measures such as the wearing of face masks, frequent hand washing and social distancing must still be practised, Dr Opas said. Also yesterday, the Department of Health Service Support (DHSS) warned people not to fall for false advertisements offering Covid-19 vaccinations for a fee that were being shared on the Line chat application. The Line group chat was created by the so-called "Qinsong Group" claiming it has vaccines with a 100% efficacy for sale. 

Phuket reopening without quarantine still poses many unanswered questions - Pattaya Mail

Phuket reopening without quarantine still poses many unanswered questions

Pattaya MailMarch 27, 2021

Digital passport technology is getting more and more sophisticated.

The news that Thailand will allow vaccinated foreign tourists to holiday on Phuket Island without undergoing any quarantine has raised spirits across the board. The Centre for Economic Situation Administration (CESA), chaired by the prime minister, approved the business suggestion on March 26. The starting date for the so-called "Phuket Sandbox" is July 1, with a more general aspiration to open up all Thailand on the same basis from October.



However, the devil is in the detail where he always lurks. The program assumes that 70 percent of Phuket residents will themselves have been vaccinated in time for the new arrivals.

That's about 477,000 Thai citizens. The idea here is to establish herd immunity prior to the tourist avalanche. Almost a million doses have been promised to arrive in Phuket in the near future, with two injections required for each individual. Keep your fingers crossed about the optimistic time-scales here.

Passengers wait with their mobiles at the ready.

The policy isn't quite through the bureaucracy yet as it has to be endorsed by the whole Thai Cabinet as well as by the CESA. Hopefully, the affirmation will be swift. But Cabinet members might cause a delay by asking if the vaccinated tourists will have a free run of the island or will be "limited on the trail" as recently suggested by the Thai tourist ministry.

Other question marks might be the detail about a Covid test to be taken at the Thai airport, or the reliability of requiring the tourists to activate the Thailand Plus tracing app. The problem with apps is that they can be switched off.

The projected Phuket arrivals will need to show a vaccination certificate, a vaccine passport or an International Air Transport Association (IATA) travel pass. The trouble with hand-carried vaccination certificates is that they are easily faked and available from unscrupulous vendors on the internet, particularly the dark web. Vaccination passports are in their infancy and by no means universally accepted because of concerns about cybersecurity and data privacy.

Ethiopian Airlines, one of Africa's leading carriers, is currently piloting the IATA travel pass.

The IATA travel pass, a new system to validate and authenticate all country requirements about Covid, whilst providing the individual traveller with a digital certificate, is not yet fully operational. The second functionality will be launched in April. The current version can be found on iOS and Play Store. Use of the IATA technology assumes very detailed coordination between governments, airlines and vaccination centres.



A final factor to be considered is the bureaucracy for potential international vacationers to Phuket. Presumably, they will still need to register online (like all other potential visitors) with the local Thai embassy and present the voluminous paperwork for the mandatory certificate of entry.

One assumes too that even vaccinated applicants will need to provide a Covid-free test within 72 hours of anticipated departure. There is also the question of possible health insurance and whether it would be Covid-specific or general health or both or neither. These details will eventually appear on embassy websites, one assumes, but that will take weeks.

Thai government sources are confident that the quarantine-free scheme at Phuket will bring an extra 100,000 visitors and produce 30 billion baht in much-needed revenue. Before that can happen, a great deal of missing detail has to be inked in. And July 1 is only three months away.



Thailand road carnage: Nearly half of all bikers don't have a licence - almost two dead PER HOUR - Thai Visa



 

As the number of motorcycles being purchased and used in Thailand has exploded so has the number of people riding them without a licence and dying on the roads.

 

Thailand has one of the worst per capita death tolls in the world - maybe 24,000 to 26,000 per annum -  and 70-80% of that is from motorcyclists, notes Thaivisa. 

 

Now damning statistics have come from a leading advocate of road safety with calls to the prime minister of Thailand to follow a six point plan to avoid nearly 4,000 deaths a year to young people.

 

There is also a call to designate a "Big Bike" as only 249 cc not the current 400cc, a recent change in itself. 

 

Dr Chaimaiphan Santikan - former WHO advisor in Asia on injuries and the handicapped and now working on motorcycle safety - was speaking at the Amari Airport Hotel as reported by New TV.

 

She said that one million more motorcycles were appearing on Thailand's roads per year and the figure was now 21 million vehicles (more than double that of cars).

 

Eighteen years ago 1 motorcyclist died per hour.

 

Now nearly two are dying every hour - one per 35 minutes. 

 

She said that between 2011 and 2019 26,126 children and young people died.

 

In the next eleven years the death toll among youth could be expected to be 40,000 if nothing is done.

 

Drowning used to be the number one death toll for under 15s - now it is on a par with bike deaths. 

 

Of particular concern are the lack of safety specs for bikes in Thailand, lack of graduated driver licensing, poor training for newbies, poor rules about who can ride what kind of bikes and roads lacking motorcycle lanes.

 

She said that motorcyclists are forced by the law to inhabit the same space on the roads as large trucks and buses resulting in the unwary being sucked under the wheels of the larger vehicles due to aerodynamics, drafting and slipstreaming. 

 

Dr Chamaiphan has sent a six point plan to Thai PMPrayuth Chan-ocha to address the issue of motorcycle safety as a matter of priority.

 

She is calling for the changing of laws and regulations, better helmet use and changes to bike specs and limits on their speed to discourage easy adaption and street racing.

 

She also proposes that the "Big Bike" designation be changed to make it those with engine sizes of 249cc up. 

 

She also proposes an "L" category for bikes in which the rider is limited to going 50 kmph and changes to the issuing of licences so they relate to the age and experience of the rider. 

 

Nowhere in the New TV article were the police mentioned. 

 

Critics of the RTP say that lack of enforcement of road rules has been a major part of the problem and until this is adequately addressed other moves to limit the appalling carnage on Thai roads are destined to fail, notes Thaivisa.

 

 

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Thai economic committee approves in principle to welcome selected vaccinated foreign tourists to visit Thailand without state quarantine, piloting in Phuket - The Pattaya News

Thai economic committee approves in principle to welcome selected vaccinated foreign tourists to visit Thailand without state quarantine, piloting in Phuket

Friday, 26 March 2021, 19:59

Bangkok –

The Center for Economic Situation Administration (CESA) has agreed in principle with a reopening plan to allow selected vaccinated foreign tourists to visit the island of Phuket without state quarantine, starting in July.

Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), revealed this afternoon, March 26th, that the CESA has approved in principle a TAT plan to welcome vaccinated foreigners to visit Phuket island without mandatory quarantine upon arrival.

According to TAT's previous market survey, the plan is expected to draw at least 100,000 foreign tourists to the island province in the third quarter. The TAT also aims to formulate a tourism promotional plan to initially attract vaccinated tourists from Europe, the United Kingdom, Russia, United States, United Arab Emirates, and Scandinavian countries. However, not all of these countries may be allowed at first and restrictions could be placed on countries let in.

The CESA has assigned the TAT to discuss the agenda with the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) and related local authorities before summarizing and proposing the plan in detail next month for further approvals.

Yuthasak continued that TAT also proposed a procedure to gradually reduce the quarantine period to seven days for vaccinated foreign tourists in the second quarter of 2021, prior to the arrival of non-quarantine tourists in July.

The plan is planned to be firstly implemented in major tourist provinces, piloted in Phuket and respectively followed by Koh Samui, Krabi, Phang Nga, Pattaya, and Chiang Mai. However, this is only an initial plan that has to be further discussed and approved by the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

The Pattaya News notes that the plan is not finalized and needs multiple other levels of approval, including from the CCSA and Thai Cabinet and also depends on vaccination levels in Phuket.



Government approves plan to reopen Phuket from July - Thai Enquirer

Government approves plan to reopen Phuket from July

March 26, 2021

The government has agreed to reopen the resort island of Phuket to vaccinated international tourists with no quarantine from July 1, subject to the island's own vaccine roll-out, the tourism authority said Friday.

The Centre for Economic Situation Administration (CESA) approved the Phuket quarantine-free arrival as a pilot plan for major tourism provinces, which could open in same way from October.

The Phuket reopening model, known as Sandbox, will require the island to achieve herd immunity by vaccinating 70 per cent of its population before the foreign visitors arrive, said the governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

"The reopening plan will depend largely on vaccine allocation," said Yuthasak Supasorn, adding that the estimate of visitor numbers was at least 100,000 in the third quarter.

According to the plan, at least 466,587 of Phuket's population will need to receive two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, meaning a total of 933,174 doses, with the first round beginning on April 15 and the second on May 15.

Foreign tourists coming to Phuket will need to show proof of vaccination, take a Covid-19 screening test at the airport, and activate the tracing application ThailandPlus.

The latest foreign arrivals outlook in 2021 from the country's central bank is 3 million, down from its December forecast of 5.5 million.

Listen to this story



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FDA approves Johnson & Johnson vaccine - Bangkok Post

 FDA approves Johnson & Johnson vaccine

A vial of the Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus disease vaccine is seen at Northwell Health's South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore, New York, on March 3 this year. (Reuters photo)

Thailand cleared Johnson & Johnson's single-shot Covid-19 vaccine for local emergency use, the third manufacturer to win the approval.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the shots on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said in a post on Facebook.

Vaccines manufactured by AstraZeneca and Sinovac Biotech were previously approved and are being used in the national inoculation programme.

The approval showed that Thailand is open to all vaccine manufacturers and is keen to provide more choices to its people, Mr Anutin said.

Bharat Biotech International Ltd has submitted some documents for approval, while Russia's Sputnik V, China's Sinopharm and Moderna Inc have shown interest in seeking local approvals, according to Paisarn Dunkum, secretary general of the regulator.

So far, more than 5,800 are fully vaccinated and 96,000 more have received their first shots.

Thai private firms and hospitals keen to administer the locally approved vaccines can register with the Department of Disease Control, Mr Paisarn said on Thursday, adding that the government hasn't ordered any shots from Johnson & Johnson.

The government has so far approved plans to purchase a total of 63 million and is in talks to procure an additional 5 million doses from Sinovac, according to officials. It aims to inoculate at least 50% of the nation's population before the end of 2021.

Thailand reports first death of patient after having COVID vaccine - Thai Visa



 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

Health ministry aide Dr Sophon Mekthon said that a patient had died after receiving a Covid-19 vaccination but it was unlikely to be related.

 

The patient had a history of being treated for problems related to broken blood vessels in the stomach and had passed away from that, something that could happen at any time. 

 

Two other people suffered severe hives reactions to taking the virus, he said.

 

Normal side effects would be pain, swelling and redness at the site of the jab and maybe fever that would subside in 1-2 days, he noted.

 

Thai Rath asked him about the case of deputy Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Mananya Thaiset being in hospital for four days after getting a vaccination.

 

Dr Sophon said he didn't know anything at all about that. 

 

Thai Rath said that the death of the patient was the first since the rollout began in Thailand at the end of February and further details would be needed to determine if it was related. 

 

Thailand tourism minister Pipat Ratchakitprakan has made the clearest statements yet related to Thailand finally opening up to foreign tourism without quarantine. Thai Visa



Picture: Daily News

 

Thailand tourism minister Pipat Ratchakitprakan has made the clearest statements yet related to Thailand finally opening up to foreign tourism without quarantine.

 

It will apply to tourists who have had two doses of vaccine in their home countries. The plan is that they will not need to quarantine from the start of the third quarter - July 1st.

 

It will likely start in Phuket first then Pattaya and after that Chiang Mai, Daily News reported.

 

Under the "sandbox" plan where limited travel is allowed tourists will be taken from airports to hotels and stay in a specified area for seven days before being allowed to travel to the rest of Thailand. 

 

Pipat said that the success of the plan rested on getting 70% of people vaccinated in the tourism areas with health workers, other officials and people in the tourism industry going first.

 

So far Phuket says it needs 925,000 doses to do this and Pattaya has asked for 950,000. Chiang Mai is yet to respond. 

 

Pipat will be presenting his plans to the CCSA main Covid steering committee at their next meeting. 

 



Har egentligen ingenting med Thailand att göra men kan i förlängningen påverka priset på din kommande flygbiljett till Thailand och andra flygresor👎👎👎👎😡😡😡😡

Regeringen vill införa klimatavgifter på Arlanda och Landvetter 

Flygplanens klimatpåverkan ska styra landningsavgifterna. Det vill regeringen införa från 1 juli. En olycklig timing när flyget går på knäna, menar flygbranschen som också tycker att retoriken från regeringen är bekymmersam.

I går landade ett förslag på riksdagens bord om att införa vad regeringen kallar "Miljöstyrande start- och landningsavgifter på flygplatser". I korthet innebär det att start- och landningsavgifterna sätts utifrån hur stor miljöpåverkan det aktuella flygplanet har. Storlek, ålder, motorer är sådana faktorer som påverkar kostnaderna för att trafikera Arlanda och Landvetter, de två flygplatser där systemet ska införas. Enligt regeringen ska de förmå flygbolagen att uppgradera sina flygplansflottor och över huvud taget öka flygbranschens ansträngningar att minska flygets klimatpåverkan.

- Flyget måste bevisa att de tar klimatfrågan på allvar det här är ett sätt att från politiskt håll trycka på och säga att nu är det dags att göra sin läxa, säger miljö- och klimatminister Per Bolund till Dagens Nyheter.

Om de nya reglerna, som är en del i januariöverenskommelsen, införs den 1 juli som planerat, blir Sverige första land inom EU med klimatsyrda start- och landningsavgifter. Förslaget har redan fått kritik bland annat att timingen, nya och dyrare regler är knappast vad flygbranschen behöver just nu när coronapandemin slagit ut stora delar av flygtrafiken.

- Utmaningen har varit den kris som flyget befinner sig i just nu och därför gäller det också att genomföra detta innan flyget återstartar så att det finns tydliga signaler om vilken typ av beteende som ska premieras, säger Tomas Eneroth till Dagens Nyheter.

Från den svenska flygbranschen tycker Fredrik Kämpfe, branschchef Transportföretagen flyg, att retoriken som regeringen använder när förslaget nu presenterats är bekymmersam. 

- Förslaget i sig är ingen nyhet. Redan 2018 när vi presenterade vår Färdplan för flyget hade vi med det som en av många punkter i arbetet på att göra flyget mer klimatneutralt. Däremot finns en ton i ministrarnas kommentarer som jag undrar över. Flygbranschen behöver knappast läxas upp, tvärtom pågår ett intensivt miljöarbete inom branschen som det hade varit klädsamt om det onämnts. Det finns ingen motsättning på det området utan är något som vi tar på allvar, säger han. 

I en andra proposition från regeringen ska inblandningen av biobränsle i flygfotogen öka de kommande nio åren, från 0,8 procent idag till 27 procent 2030. Även det ska hjälpa till att minska vad regeringen anser är alldeles för höga och ökande nivåer på utsläppen från flyget.

- Återigen, vi arbetar hårt med miljöfrågorna men faktum är att utsläppen från svenskarnas flygresor inte ökar. Enligt en rapport från Chalmers har de legat stabilt sedan sekelskiftet, trots att vi reser nästan dubbelt så mycket. Det kan vi tacka teknikutvecklingen inom flyget för. Den har hittills gjort mer mot klimatpåverkan än olika politiska beslut.   

Thailand DPM and health minister Anutin Charnvirakul told Daily News that he was in discussion with "many countries" to form so-called travel bubbles of vaccinated tourists. But he would not say who those countries are. Thai Visa / Daily News



Picture: Daily News

 

Thailand DPM and health minister Anutin Charnvirakul told Daily News that he was in discussion with "many countries" to form so-called travel bubbles of vaccinated tourists. 

 

But he would not say who those countries are.

 

It would not be right, he said, as agreements had not yet been finalized. 

 

Anutin and assistant at the MoPH Sathit Pitutecha and other officials were at an event getting their second doses of Covid-19 VAX. 

 

Daily News said no one showed any symptoms in the 30 minute monitoring period. 

 

Anutin said that having had two doses people would be able to use the evidence to move around along the lines of the "Vaccine Passport". He flashed what has been shown to be an old document. 

 

You can take it with you everywhere, he said.

 

Though he was at pains to point out that being vaccinated did not necessarily mean you coundn't get the virus just that serious consequences were much reduced. 

 

He played down the large numbers of detainees at immigration who contracted the virus saying that they would be treated at a field hospital.

 

They were not new clusters, he maintained. 

 

In other news 800,000 doses of vaccine will go into the arms of people in risky areas, tourism places and those of front line health care personnel in the coming weeks.

 

This will take place in 22 provinces initially though Bangkok, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon and Mae Sot district of Tak will continue to be prioritized. 

 

 



Pattaya business leaders not convinced by tourism minister’s quarantine plan - Pattaya Mail

Pattaya business leaders not convinced by tourism minister's quarantine plan

Jetsada HomklinMarch 25, 2021

(l-r) Chonburi Gov. Pakarathorn Thienchai, Minister Pipat Ratchakitprakarn and Pattaya Mayor Sonthaya Kunplome co-chaired the meeting at city hall to reassure the Pattaya business community that all efforts are being made to open the country as soon as possible.

Thailand's tourism minister told Pattaya and Chonburi officials that citizens of 120 countries are eagerly awaiting to travel to Thailand in October.

Meeting with Chonburi Gov. Pakarathorn Thienchai and Pattaya Mayor Sonthaya Kunplome at city hall March 22, Minister Pipat Ratchakitprakarn reiterated already announced plans to reopen the country to tourism.
The current phase allows vaccinated tourists to endure only seven days of quarantine – a rule that has left business owners and local governmentofficials scratching their heads – while four days have been cut off the two-week quarantine for unvaccinated travelers arriving from countries where coronavirus variants haven't spread widely.

Thailand's tourism minister Pipat Ratchakitprakarn met with members of the business community to outlinerelaxation of quarantine regulations for foreign visitors.

Business leaders across the country have scorned the plan, saying vaccinated tourists should not have to undergo any quarantine and that virtually no one will travel to the kingdom if they have to spend up to two weeks in isolation.

Pipat said plans call for all quarantines to be ended in October as vaccines will be widely available around the globe. One exception, ironically, may be Thailand, where not even half the population is expected to be inoculated this year.

Pipat said a million doses will be needed for the tourism sector by October.

Business leaders across the country are not convinced that the tourism minister's reopening and quarantine plan will work.

The government, he added, is prioritizing Chonburi, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Krabi, and Surat Thani in its vaccination campaign with overseas Tourism Authority of Thailand offices reporting strong interest in traveling to Thailand this fall in 120 countries that have controlled their Covid-19 epidemics and have not been hit hard by variants.

Thailand's tourism minister Pipat Ratchakitprakarn met with members of the business community to outline relaxation of quarantine regulations for foreign visitors.