Thai Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob and Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn will be at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport on Monday to welcome the first group of Chinese tourists to visit Thailand post COVID pandemic.

The visitors will fly into Bangkok in a 289-seat Boeing-789, on a direct flight from Xiamen operated by XiamenAir. The plane is scheduled to touch down at 12.50pm.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand says that, during the first three months of this year, about 338 flights from China will fly into Suvarnabhumi airport, including 98 in January, 144 in February and 96 in March.

At Phuket International Airport, there will be one flight from China each day between February 15^th and 17^th, then the flights will be increased to four a day from February 18^th to March 25^th.

At Chiang Mai International Airport, the first direct flight from China will land on March 15^th. There will be about 200 flights during the three-month period, with 42 flights in January, 84 in February and 74 in March.

About five million Chinese tourists are expected to visit Thailand this year after their government decided to ease travel restrictions, effective from Sunday, January 8^th.

The CAAT has issued a set of rules to be applied to all air passengers, including Chinese, arriving in Thailand between January 9^th and 31^st.