Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha ( Photograph / Shutterstock.com)
Prime Minister Prayut announced in a speech on national TV on Monday evening that Thailand will open to vaccinated international tourists from at least 1 countries on November 10. Also new is that the whole country is opening up and not just the predetermined tourist areas.
The tourists from at least 10 countries with a low Covid risk are then allowed to enter Thailand by plane without quarantine requirements. The prime minister mentioned, among others, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Germany, China and the United States as examples of countries where vaccinated tourists are welcome again.
“All the tourists have to do is prove they are Covid free at the time of travel with an RT-PCR test that is done before they leave their home country. And they have to take one more test in Thailand, then they are free to move around Thailand in the same way any Thai citizen can do,” said Prayut.
He also announced that more countries will be on the green list on December 1, for which there will no longer be a quarantine obligation. All other countries would then have their turn on 1 January.
Thailand will make a decision on December 1 on whether to allow alcoholic beverages in restaurants and reopen the entertainment sector.
Prayut hopes to save the peak tourist season and boost the economy again.
Source: Bangkok Post
Below is the Prime Minister's full speech
National Address of the Prime Minister of Thailand
“THAILAND WILL WELCOME QUARANTINE-FREE VISITORS”
Monday October 11, 2021
My fellow citizens, brothers and sisters:
In the last one-and-half years, we have lived with some of the greatest peacetime challenges our country has ever faced in its history, brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and one that has left nobody untouched and no country in the world undamaged.
It has been one of the most painful experiences in my life, too: to make decisions that balance the saving of lives with the saving of livelihoods – a choice that is not always clearly separate, and where we may save lives, but commit those lives to the unbearable pain of trying to survive with little or no income; or where we may save livelihoods but commit one's family, friends and neighbors to loss of life and the loss of their breadwinner.
In facing this terrible choice, it was my decision that we could not allow a slow, wait-and-see approach to confronting the pandemic and let it claim the lives of so many of our countrymen and women, as we, ultimately, saw happen in so many other countries.
As a result, I acted decisively on the advice of many of our outstanding public health experts to make our country one of the first in the world to move quickly with lockdowns and tight regulations.
With the cooperation of all sectors of society, and with everyone joining hands to face this crisis together, we have been among the most successful countries in the world in saving lives.
But it has come at very great sacrifices of lost livelihoods, lost savings, and destroyed businesses – what we have all given up so that our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children, friends and neighbors may live for today.
The threat of a large scale, lethal spread of the virus in Thailand is now diminishing, even though the risk of resurgence is always there, and even though there are still serious constraints on our hospital and medical staff capacities.
The time has come for us to ready ourselves to face the coronavirus and live with it as with other endemic infections and diseases, much as we have learned to live with other diseases with treatments and vaccinations.
Today, I would like to announce the first small but important step in decisively beginning the process of trying to restore our livelihoods.
During the last weeks some of Thailand's most important tourist source countries have begun to ease their travel restrictions on their citizens – countries like the UK, that now allow convenient travel to our country, as well as countries like Singapore and Australia that have started to ease travel restrictions on their citizens visiting other countries.
With these developments, we must act quickly but still cautiously, and not miss the opportunity to entice some of the year-end and New Year holiday season travelers during the next few months to support the many millions of people who earn a living from our tourism , travel and entertainment sectors as well as the many other related sectors.
I have, therefore, instructed the CCSA and the Ministry of Public Health to urgently consider within this week to allow, as of 1 November, international visitors to enter Thailand without any requirement for quarantine if they are fully vaccinated and arrive by air from low- risk countries.
All that visitors will need to do is to show that they are COVID-free at their time of travel with an RT-PCR test undertaken before they leave their home country, and do a test in Thailand, after which they will be free to move around Thailand in the same way that any Thai citizen can do.
Initially, we will start with at least 10 countries on our low-risk, no-quarantine list, including the United Kingdom, Singapore, Germany, China, and the United States of America, and enlarge that list by December 1, and, by January 1 move to a very extensive list.
Visitors from countries not on the list, will, of course, still be much welcomed, but with quarantine and other requirements.
By 1 December, we will also consider allowing the consumption of alcoholic beverages in restaurants as well as the operation of entertainment venues under appropriate health precautions to support the revitalization of the tourism and leisure sectors, especially as we approach the New Year period.
I know this decision comes with some risk. It is almost certain that we will see a temporary rise in serious cases as we relax these restrictions. We will have to track the situation very carefully, and see how to contain and live with that situation because I do not think that the many millions who depend on the income generated by the travel, leisure, and entertainment sector can possibly afford the devastating blow or a second lost new year holiday period.
But if, in the months ahead, we see an unexpected emergence of a highly dangerous new variant of the virus, then, of course, we must also act accordingly and proportionally when we see the threat. We know that this virus has surprised the world several times, and we must be ready for it to do so again.
In mid-June of this year, I had set a 120-day goal for quarantine-free entry into Thailand and to accelerate our vaccinations.
I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the extraordinary achievements of our public health workers, other officials and all citizens for their response to my appeal in June.
- After we adopted the 120-day goal, extraordinary efforts were made to increase our supply of vaccines and compete with many other countries to get deliveries. And they were very successful. Our vaccine deliveries jumped threefold, from around 4 million doses in May to almost 12 million in July… then to almost 14 million in August, and will now run at over 20 million a month until the end of the year, totaling over 170 million doses , far ahead of the goals I had set.
- Similarly, our public health staff worked tirelessly to accelerate vaccinations to support our 120-day goal, and the public gave great cooperation to register for vaccinations despite the inconveniences that may have been caused in scheduling. As a result, our daily vaccinations, which were running at around 80,000 doses a day in May, shot up immediately. One month after our goal-setting, our public health team tripled the number of shots being administering a day, and they kept increasing that number until Thailand rose to be among the fastest ten countries in the world for administering shots! Currently, they have frequently been administering more than 700,000 shots a day, and sometimes even exceeding one million shots a day.
Shortly after my address to the nation in mid-June setting our goal for quarantine-free entry into Thailand in 120 days, the world was struck by the highly infectious Delta variant. Worldwide cases spiked up and peaked in August, just as they did in Thailand, and few thought that it would be possible to achieve any quarantine-free entry into Thailand this year.
The fact that we can begin quarantine-free entry in November, and despite many countries still trying to contain Delta variant infections with restrictions on the travel of their citizens is a great tribute to the unity of purpose and determined response to my appeal by the public health services, by many other government departments, by the private sector, and by the cooperation given by citizens in all matters.
Our nation has performed an extraordinary feat in the last months that we can all be very proud about everyone's enormous contributions to those achievements. These achievements, coupled with the gradual relaxation of other countries' travel restrictions, now enables us to begin the process of quarantine-free entry into Thailand.
Thank You.
… and let's hope that the Netherlands and Belgium will also be on his 10 country list.
Now that he has announced this on National TV channels, it is difficult for him to go back… that would be too much loss of face.
Reading the comments here and elsewhere makes me a lot less hopeful. In fact, I'm getting the impression that PM Prayut's talk was mainly for domestic use and not for international travelers at all.
"Bringing happiness to the people" ever since the coup.
Anything known about the "extra" Covid insurance? Does this also expire?
The Netherlands will probably not be on the list of 10 countries. Of course I hope so. If the Netherlands is not listed, it is a disappointment for Dutch people who thought they could easily go to Thailand in November and not just to Phuket or Samui.
I know Thailand a bit and know that things change very quickly and not always in the most logical or expected way so I didn't wait it out. Still happy with my decision to quarantine for 7 days in October as fully vaccinated. I deliberately did not choose Phuket.
There is talk of “travelers coming from one of the ten countries mentioned”. The question is whether it means departed from one of the 10 countries mentioned or nationality from one of these countries. Had something similar last year. Apply for COE at Embassy. I was going to leave Germany and then applied for the COE at the German embassy. No problem. Was just finished.
Well William,
How consciously did you choose “not for Phuket”??
On the advice of “Thailand Travel” in R'dam I enjoyed my quarantine period on Phuket island.
Enjoyed it with a big G, because the same evening I received the license for the PCR test, so I went for a delicious snack at a beach restaurant, of course with a beer that was conveniently camouflaged in a coffee cup. The earlier mojito was in a white paper cup.
Or that the hermandad doesn't know, hahaa.
The rest of the period I was able to explore the entire island on my rented motorbike.
So I really liked the “sandbox” method. And so is Phuket, because I will fly to Phuket sometime in my Th residence.
Oh yes, today I saw a direct flight from Chiangmai to Phuket on Thai-Viet Air for 1317 bath, that's € 34 = !!
Welcome to Thailand
I have my reasons.
All very personal and no reason for discussion. The quarantine is now only 7 days of which my arrival at the hotel at 4pm already counts as day 1. You can now also go to the relax area.
I will stay in Thailand long enough that I can enjoy my portion of the big G very extensively and for a very long time.
And now we have to wait and see whether the Netherlands and Belgium belong to those at least 10 countries. Could just be not, people probably go for the countries with the large numbers. Funny that the UK is included, they are now, despite a good vaccination rate, at about 40.000 (!) Daily infections. For comparison, the UK has about 4x as many inhabitants as the Netherlands. We are now at approx. 2000 infections per day. If you calculate that to UK numbers, we would be at 8000 infections per day in the Netherlands, which is much lower than in the UK. But then things would still be pretty locked up here. But if you look at the figures, the Netherlands should definitely be on that list of at least 10 countries, we are also doing much better than the USA. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't get it right away though. Not interesting enough in terms of numbers of tourists. The same applies to Belgium.
@Johan Massop
UK on the list is a quid pro quo for putting Thailand on the UK green list..... us know us as it always goes
Hello all,
Can someone tell me if the Netherlands is also included in this
gr Perry and thanks in advance
Against better judgement, this gives hope again. From now on I can start dreaming about a month of Thailand around Songkran. Think that many are ready and that many people working in the tourism sector will also be very happy with this message.
I heard the news through Pravit (Khaosod), who always has a nice wink in his messages. About this breaking news he wrote: “ที่ต้องรอจนเปิดประเทศล่าช้าจนธุรกิจท่อ งเที่ยวเจ๊งระนาวไปแล้ว ก็รจั How about? ควรโทษใครน๊าาา… ว่าบริหารเฮงซวย”. Translation: “That we had to wait for the slow, late opening of the country, until [the moment] when companies in the tourism sector have already collapsed one by one… It is not the slow management of the vaccines, or Prayuth hear? Should we blame someone? The performance is worthless”.
When will it be the Netherlands' turn?
After Singapore has put the Netherlands on the list, Thailand will also follow, probably/hopefully by December 1?
https://twitter.com/teeratr/status/1446874538554236932?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Enews%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
The choice of the ten will be based on the Covid numbers in the countries, but mainly determined by how many tourists came from the countries in the years before Covid. Unfortunately I think that NL and BE are somewhat low with the tourist numbers, compared to larger countries.
A slightly overly optimistic (translated) message: the PM and CCSA are considering both the wider opening of Thailand and the opening of the entertainment sector!!! So nothing has been decided yet!
Well, uncle Prayut announced it on television, hey… he can't go back now. This will go ahead.
I'm in quarantine in Bangkok myself, 2 more days to go and then I can go wild. Completely agree with William. It is and will remain Thailand so change is part of it.
Let's just hope for the best
Also in my 2nd day of quarantine now in Bangkok. Great to do. A bit of sports in the room with YouTube videos is also good for the line haha. The Netherlands is not on that list anyway. That will be December. And certainly not Belgium. Around my hotel I see quite a bit of activity. I can even leave my room and spend 45 minutes a day “airing and boohoo boohoo on the roof” ;'-) Great to do. 5 more days and then go home, finally. Happy to be back and endure the quarantine with a big smile on the face. Anything better than that miserable Netherlands.
Dear sa
Hahaaaaa…… “I can even leave my room for 45 minutes”!!
As if your father makes you stand in the corner and you can get out and pop a sapphie.
I also stayed in an ASQ hotel in January. It was doable, because I had the prospect of being able to travel freely through Thailand for 4 months.
But don't tell us that it's fine to do?
I was able to compare it with the Phuket Sandbox, where I settled at the end of September.
That's a party compared to the lonely Bangkok hotel confinement!
But Saa: to each his own.
Welcome to Thailand
If you are fully vaccinated, who cares which country you come from?
Typical Thai logic again.
1/China is included in the original list of approved countries, but authorities there still ban foreign tour groups and insist on long-term quarantine restrictions for their returning citizens. The US has not yet lifted its advice not to travel to Thailand due to health risks.
2/Full details will not be available on Thai embassy websites for a week or two as the Prime Minister's plans must be ratified by the government's top health commission and then tabulated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for distribution to diplomatic posts abroad.
3/Unrestricted entry into Thailand provided they have prior approval from the Thai Embassy in Thailand
country of departure. That requires a recent recognized antivirus health test and mandatory Covid insurance worth US$100.000 in all cases. Other Certificate of Entry requirements vary depending on the specific visa or visa waiver actually applied for. These may include proof of income, proof of prior accommodation in Thailand or even additional health insurance (non-Covid).
4/In an immediate response, Kasikorn bank's research department said the revised policy was welcome in the short term, but was a modest step as most tourists planned vacations months in advance.
5/Most entertainment companies are out of business or dissolved and will likely remain closed until they see an actual improvement in international arrivals. Walking street in Pattaya remains in the dark because no operating permits are issued there and many thousands of hotels, travel agencies, bars, rental companies, ... no longer exist.
1. The same goes for Australia (although it is unknown at this time if they are on the list, I suspect so). An important country, because the (for them) summer vacation is coming up there. The US will soon allow travel to Thailand again, but whether that will be November 1 is the question.
2. Nothing has been finalized yet, so embassies have nothing to publish or work with
3. Covid insurance is a keeper, because extra income. It is already an old wish to have tourists take out compulsory travel insurance, under the guise of “we are left with unpaid bills”. Every other country has a jar for that, but apparently not TH or the jar is used for much needed submarines in the shallow waters off the coast
4. I think that is also the reason why this is being announced now; tourists plan their vacation in advance. With the coming 'high season' just around the corner, a longer closure (or lack of clarity about it) would mean that tourists spend their holidays elsewhere and the door to Thailand is closed for good.
5. Unfortunately very true. But Thais are creative, so that will soon be present again. But I think the mass is a thing of the past, although there will be plenty of choice.
Overall, I share your sentiment. I think it is good (and very important for TH) that clarity has come. The world has to move on and Covid is here to stay for now. You can wait until it's completely over and everyone is immune or the vaccines work better, but then the Thai economy will be immediately screwed up and the country will be thrown back decades in terms of prosperity and future developments (infrastructure also costs billions). Thailand had no other choice and if people start to feel the misery directly in their wallets, the unrest will also become noticeable and Thailand can certainly not use that now.
Do you have more information than what is on the internet, source or something? I don't see a list of countries anywhere yet, the Prime Minister only told me last night. Ad 2, the Prime Minister tells you so then the ractication is a formality, and how can he look in the kitchen of the embassy and know that it takes 2 weeks, you can put something in a table within half an hour. Ad 3. details are not known or can be adjusted, Ad 4 you read that every day and everyone knows that you have to plan a holiday in advance and that it takes a while before tourism picks up, you don't need to be an expert ahead of it to tell this. Ad 5 You have quite a bit of knowledge if you know exactly what the financial situation is of all the tens of thousands of companies in tourism, how the possible start-up will proceed, etc. In short, stay level-headed, provide sources and don't tell things here as if you know what it's like. while nothing is known on the internet and elsewhere.
Since when is expressing an opinion forbidden? You don't have to be an Einstein to see, understand and conclude that a closure of almost 2 years and therefore 2 years of no income has a disastrous effect on people and companies in the tourism industry.
The clincher “which source” is also often used here on the blog is a farce. What do you want? Official statistics from the Chonburi Chamber of Commerce? Even Stevie Wonder can see that Pattaya is a mess and then again, you don't have to be an Einstein to do the math.
People simply need information. The tone of writing (yours) is also rather stilted. What knowledge do you have of using such a tone? Please enlighten us!
Ad Dennis, if you look you will see that my reaction to Luc's writing is. I also like information but information based on facts and not on sentiment or thinking to know. That's why I like to read a lot of media so that I can form a good picture. And therefore my response to Luc so that the readers of this blog do not get the idea that what Luc writes is based on any published things, but his personal view.
..
What Luc wrote is no more than a concise summary of an article in Pattaya Mail: https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/news/happy-thai-christmas-to-vaccinated-tourists-but-entry-hurdles-remain-in-place-375351
I just see on thai social media.
They also talk about that the 100 000 USD covid insurance is one obligation.
Then the 10 countries : UK, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, France, Russia, China and HK, South Korea, Australia and Singapore. Again, this is not yet on the Thai Embassy website. So it looks like the Netherlands and Belgium are not yet able to make use of these 'relaxations'. So it will be another month of waiting, as Luc already wrote, we will only know after all the authorities have checked it and it will be sent to the diplomatic.
Nice this, the internet is also full of it, Thailand is opening again!!
Or not? If you read the text above, it says “As a result, I acted decisively on the advice of many of our outstanding public health experts to make our country one of the first in the world to move quickly with lockdowns and tight regulations.”
Prayuth has only indicated that he will advise the CCSA (in NL the OMT) to open, but nothing is final yet so I do not understand the fuss, until the Royal Gazet of Thailand comes with an announcement, this is only PR .
Secondly, there is a list of 10 low-risk countries whose inhabitants are allowed to enter without quarantine.
But the Netherlands is not among them. Germany is the only EU country that is on it, I think the list is based on trade relations instead of Covid figures.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Netherlands is missing from the list because of Thailand's qualification as a high-risk country…..
Sweden, Denmark and certainly France have so far really been members of the EU.
Denmark and Sweden do not belong to the European currency union, but they do belong to the European (States) Union.
Color
In the earlier reports about opening up 5 areas including Bangkok, a vaccination rate of 70% of the population in that area was mentioned as a battle if I'm not mistaken. I don't see that reflected in this text, has that starting point been abandoned?
With a national percentage of fully vaccinated people of now 33% (I can't find that specific to province), it will take a few months before 70% is reached. In other words, after the turn of the year.
My plan was also to go to CNX from December 14th. What I wonder is. How can I best find out when the Netherlands is on the list? Don't dare book now.
Menno,
Flex ticket when booking. (Various companies. Pay by credit card.
Even better: wait with booking until there is clarity.
Waiting for clarity is not necessarily better, because if everyone starts booking at the same time, prices can rise considerably.
And if the travel restrictions in force at that time are disappointing, you can still adjust the travel dates with a flexible ticket, so why wait?
If the country opens (whether or not to a limited number of countries or to every fully vaccinated tourist from anywhere) there are a number of factors that determine the success of such an opening:
– the number of tourists to be expected based on historical data (and the objective)
– the exit restrictions for each country in the direction of Thailand
– each country's return travel restrictions for tourists who were in Thailand
– the assessment of the attractiveness of Thailand as a destination compared to other holiday destinations
– the number of flights to and from Thailand
– the travel restrictions and conditions within Thailand. (today another article about the APP that tourists have to download and that transmits their location to a central computer every half hour, in addition to facial recognition).
Ok, but still with a pcr test before departure and 1 on arrival.
Only the 2nd test in Thailand is canceled in order to continue traveling.
And what does the test cost in Thailand?
In Belgium that is around EUR 50, so for 4 people that is EUR 200 per test.
We are planning to go in March/April.
Mss by then still relaxations.
What does serving or rather the ban on alcoholic drinks in restaurants have to do with Covid? As progressive as this country wants to be…how backward are these decisions? Another ban on selling alcoholic beverages during the day and only between certain hours? If I want to drink myself to death, I buy at noon for the whole day and night!
For exactly the same reason as alcohol was temporarily banned in restaurants in some Western countries: because it makes you less attentive, and therefore less aware of the corona measures. In the Netherlands, possession of alcohol after 20.00 p.m. – without drinking – was even punishable for months. I honestly didn't think that was retarded and certainly understandable given the circumstances.
Addition:
In the Netherlands, possession of alcohol after 20.00 p.m. “in public space” was even punishable for months.
The Netherlands is a small country, but the Dutch are very fond of travelling. Many Dutch people have enough money to go on holiday several times a year and did so before Corona struck. The Dutch also have many more vacation days than, for example, residents of the United States.
As a result, the Dutch are an important target group for tourism in Thailand.
I think that people are rather based on countries that provide large numbers of visitors and the Netherlands is not one of them.
furthermore, people with few holidays spend more days per day than people who take long holidays. Chinese, Russians, Americans and British spend the most per day.
Number of tourists per country visiting Thailand.
China – 9,92 million
Malaysia – 3,30 million
South Korea – 1,71 million
Laos – 1,61 million
Japan – 1,57 million
India – 1,41 million
Russia – 1,34 million
US – 1,06 million
Singapore – 1,01 million
UK – 1,01 million
For the 10 countries, more account has been taken of the fact that the large number of inhabitants of these countries can mean for the economic recovery of tourism, and much less with the actual infections in these countries.
For example, you can assume that smaller countries, where the vaccination status is clearly better than Thailand itself, can wait a while.
For me, although as a Brit I was immediately welcome without quarantine in November, the application for a CoE, mandatory testing, and expensive mandatory covid-19 insurance is still the main reason not to respond to Prayuth's invitation for the time being.
Dear people,
Reports from our family in Germany, bookings are in full swing. What is needed, only a mandatory PCR test from Germany and this test is done again in Thailand.
According to them, there is no longer a COE and compulsory insurance.
It was also stated on the Thai news at 18 p.m.
The Netherlands is not on the first list of 10 countries.
Just copied and pasted (at 20.55pm) from the Bangkok Post: “Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Monday that he will push for the opening up of the country to fully vaccinated foreign tourists from at least 10 countries on Nov 1 .” , with the emphasis on “at least”, so “at least 10”. There remains hope…
MAYBE A STUPID QUESTION :
What is not yet clear to me: does 'tourists' also mean all non-residents living abroad who live in Thailand with a retirement visa, but are currently still abroad?
I have been waiting in the Netherlands for several months for the mandatory 2-week quarantine to be lifted, but I don't know whether I fall under 'tourists' from the first ten countries (so not yet welcome from the Netherlands) or whether retirees can already return with an annual visa without mandatory two-week quarantine.
WHO CAN CLARIFY THIS?