Non-Thais arriving in Thailand will no longer be required to apply for the “Thailand Pass” before their departure, nor will they be required to have insurance coverage of US$10,000 from July 1, according to the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) today (Friday).
They will, however, need to show their vaccination or a COVID-19 test certificate upon arrival and will have to complete a health declaration form, to prevent the spread of communicable diseases such as yellow fever. Body temperature screening, and the “Tor Mor 6” (TM6) immigration form for air arrivals will also be scrapped, to reduce congestion at airports.
While not compulsory, the wearing of face masks is still recommended by the CCSA while in a closed area or where there are a lot of people.
Outdoors, wearing a face mask is recommended while in a crowded area where social distancing is not possible or where there is poor air circulation, such as in a market, a stadium, at a concert or on public transport. Inside public places, wearing a face mask is still recommended.
According to the guidelines, a person can remove their face mask outdoors or indoors if they are alone and, if there are other people present who do not share the same lodging, face masks can be removed if there is good air circulation, the place is not crowded and there is space for social distancing.
Face masks can be removed to eat, exercise, engage in a performance or undergo facial treatment. It is still recommended that face masks be replaced at the completion of such activities.
The guidelines will be applied across the country and will come into force after they are published in the Royal Gazette, according to the CCSA.
The CCSA also decided to allow pubs and bars to operate past midnight at their regular operating hours, from only until midnight, following a call from nighttime venue operators to allow them to open until 2 am.
Yellow (High Surveillance) and Blue (“Sandbox”) zones will be reclassified as Green (Surveillance) zones nationwide. Hardly any restrictions are in place for the Green Zone.
Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said that, as a result of the easing of travel regulations, he is confident that the number of foreign arrivals in Thailand, currently between 20,000 and 25,000 a day, will increase to between 25,000 and 30,000 a day, adding that the arrivals are expected to peak at 50,000 a day from October, which is regarded as the start of the high season.
From June 1-15, the biggest of visitors to Thailand came from Malaysia (61,486), followed by India, Vietnam, Singapore and the US.
He estimated that the number of foreign arrivals for the whole year will be at least 7.5 million, adding that he will try his best to push the number of arrivals for the whole year to 10 million.
