Hotels Urged To Reimburse Test & Go Day 5 Packages

With the government’s decision to remove the mandatory Day 5 RT PCR test requirement for Test & Go travelers, 2,000 hotels and their affiliated testing centers or hospitals have been requested to reimburse the cost of a night stay associated with RT-PCR testing. Under the new version of the Test and Go entry program which will take effect on March 1, travelers may now do a self-administered antigen test on the fifth day of their stay in Thailand, and they are no longer needed to reserve a hotel room while waiting for the results.

The hotels are being requested to voluntarily refund the booking fee or convert it to credits. Hotel owners are being requested to collaborate with their affiliated hospitals and testing centers to refund the RT PCR test worth 2,000 baht.

Although the Thai government has stated that they will not strictly require hotel owners to issue refunds for Test & Go packages, Tourism Authority of Thailand deputy governor for marketing communications Siripakorn Cheawsamoot told reports that there are hotel owners that require a legal order from the government to issue refunds because their cancellation policy doesn’t cover the refund. If a complete refund is not feasible, they will be requested to convert their cash to credits.

The Tourism and Sports Ministry will release a notice requesting cooperation from hotels to reimburse their customers’ 5th-day booking fee. Although this is not mandatory, hotels are urged to handle their own cancellation policies for such reservations. If a refund is not feasible, they must consider converting payments to hotel credits or coupons redeemable for restaurants or in-house services.

The Day 5 requirement for a hotel stay with PCR testing was implemented early this year in response to the Omicron variant’s fast spread in Thailand.  However, the Day 5 test requirement discouraged a significant number of travelers from arranging a trip to Thailand and was removed by the government. Today, the new guidelines will take effect. Travelers must still spend their first night in Thailand at an authorized hotel while awaiting the results of their PCR test on their arrival.

We got an agreement from the business sector to eliminate the 5th-day test. While it may be inconvenient for hotels during the first few weeks of March, the new version of Test & Go will provide the convenience of travel and help the tourism industry in the long term. Siripakorn reports that 77,851 persons have registered for the Test and Go program and have already paid for a hotel stay and the second PCR test.  He noted that about 20% to 30% are residents who would almost certainly want a refund for their hotel stay due to their residence in Thailand.

Source: Bangkok Post

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