Tourists Can Apply for 15 Day Extension Until December 29

The Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration said that tourists who have entered Thailand under the 30-day tourist visa can apply for a special 15-day extension so they can have more days to stay in Thailand after being released from quarantine.

This brings the number of days of their visa to 45 instead of the initial 30.

CCSA spokesperson Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin said that tourists have until the 29th of December to apply for a 15-day extension.

This applies to tourists who have arrived via cruise ship, who are required to spend 14 days on board their vessel as a form of quarantine before they can be released to their holiday destinations. Because they only have 15 days left on their visa after quarantine, the CCSA has seen it fit to provide a 15-day extension to these tourists.

Other types of visas can also be eligible to apply for the 15-day extension. These are, specifically, foreigners who hold transit visas as well as athletes who are in the Kingdom to attend sports events.

This is only one of the three revisions to current regulations that the CCSA has allowed to relax.

The other extension deals with the certificate of entry requirement that comes along with the Special Tourist Visa and the regular tourist visa. There have been cases where a foreign tourist was unable to fly to Thailand with the 72-hour specified time period in the CoE.

Under the new rules, these people can now apply for an extra 24 hours on their CoE. If they are able to travel within 72 hours, however, they will no longer need to apply for a new certificate of entry.

Dr. Taweesin provided no details on the Foreign Ministry’s intentions to facilitate the application for CoEs exclusively through the Internet.

In addition, Dr. Taweesin said that the Kingdom has initiated a change in the COVID-19 testing schedule for people serving their mandatory quarantine. Since December 1, the government has already mandated a series of three COVID-19 tests during each individual’s 14-day quarantine period.

In the new system, the CCSA spokesperson specified that the first two tests will be on the first day and either the 9th or 10th day in quarantine. After three or four days, the individual will again be tested for the COVID-19.

Dr. Taweesin said that this is part of the authorities’ drive to possibly reduce the quarantine period to 10 days instead of 14 although he did not give a clear timetable for a decision on that concern.

The CCSA also released a list of countries whose nationals do not need to apply for any type of visa if they are staying in the Kingdom for only 30 days maximum.

These countries are the following: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bahrain, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Latvia, Principality of Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, San Marino, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Republic of Slovenia, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Peru, Hong Kong, and Vietnam.

Source:
NationThailand