Tourism Officials Will Propose To Abolish Test & Go

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports and Tourism Authority of Thailand will make a proposal to abolish the country’s Test & Go entry program at the CCSA’s next meeting which is scheduled on April 22, Friday.

Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, Tourism and Sports Minister said that if the proposal is approved, travelers are allowed to enter Thailand with just vaccine passports and expected to take effect on May 1. This means travelers no longer need to wait for the Thailand Pass online registration system approval which usually takes up to 5 days.  RT PCR testing on arrival for international travelers is scheduled to be replaced by antigen tests at the airport under the new proposal.

“Thailand is once again prepared to welcome international tourists since our health system is fully equipped.”

It’s worth mentioning that these are ideas from the Ministry of Sports and Tourism and Tourism Authority of Thailand both of which have a strong interest in reopening Thailand to all.

The proposal to ease restrictions and eliminate the Thailand Pass is still not yet reviewed by the CCSA and needed to be approved by CCSA members, the Thai government, and then the Royal Gazette before making it official.

For the remainder of 2022, the tourist ministry forecasts at least 10 million foreign visitors and more than 1 trillion baht in income. The Ministry and the TAT have forecasted 3, 5, 11, and 15 million tourists in 2022, respectively.

Thailand had a tourist spike in early April, but even though the country welcomes 9,000 to 11,000 visitors per day throughout the year, the country would reach just 8% of its pre-Covid tourist numbers in 2019.

To reach the ministry’s and TAT’s 2022 targets, the number of visitors coming from abroad would have to climb to an average of 35,000 – 40,000 per day for the remainder of 2022.

Source: The Daily Star

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