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Thailand’s Permanent Secretary of Public Health Kiattiphum Wongrajit on Friday said that the nation’s main covid task force will consider a proposal offered by the Health Ministry to waive the RT-PCR test requirement before traveling to Thailand. The ministry also added that the government is also seeking to lower the minimum medical insurance need to USD10,000 from USD20,000. However, the travelers must note that they still need to undergo an RT-PCR test on arrival and a self-administered rapid antigen test on day five.
To recall, the Thailand government had earlier issued a slew of measures to contain the spread of the virus in the country. The government had mandated vaccinated visitors to pre-book a hotel and an RT-PCR test before applying for a visa. They were also required to possess a negative RT-PCR test taken within 72 hours of boarding a flight.
According to the Thai Chamber of Commerce, the Russian tourist arrivals this year are seen 50 per cent below an earlier forecast of 500,000 due to the travel disruptions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “We will propose further easing of travel requirements this Friday as the Covid-19 situation is moving in line with our assumption, which predicts new cases to start slowing down from mid-March,” Kiattiphum told reporters, according to a Mint report.
The Covid task force will also deliberate a road-map for classifying the pandemic as endemic from July, Kiattiphum said, adding it may also waive mask mandate in some places such as public parks. A national state of emergency to handle the pandemic may no longer be required once the outbreak is classified as endemic, he said.
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