The Thai Government has assigned a special budget to take care of foreign tourists, including those from China, in case they are infected with COVID-19 on arrival and require medical treatment, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said today (Tuesday).
He said that it would, however, be much better if foreign tourists take out health insurance coverage before their arrival in Thailand.
Senior officials of Thailand’s Public Health, Tourism and Sports and Transport ministries are scheduled to meet this Thursday to prepare for the arrival of Chinese tourists, expected to begin in the middle of this month.
The Chinese government has eased travel restrictions, effective January 8th, allowing Chinese citizens to travel out of the country again and allowing tourists to visit China.
Anutin said that Thailand will treat Chinese tourists in the same way as it treats tourists from other countries, adding that Thailand has an effective health system to deal with COVID-19, as has been proven during the pandemic.
No special measures are to be imposed on Chinese tourists, according to the recommendation of a technical sub-committee of the National Communicable Disease Committee.
Chinese tourists will, however, be required to present their COVID-19 vaccination certification, are be advised to wear face masks while travelling around Thailand and should take out health insurance coverage before leaving for Thailand.
The health minister admitted, however, that it cannot be predicted with accuracy whether the COVID-19 situation will worsen with increased arrivals from China, but he noted that Thailand has already overcome the worst of the pandemic.
Thai tourism-related officials said that, during the initial stage, not many Chinese tourists will visit Thailand, due to the limited number of flights between China and Thailand, and many Chinese citizens may have to renew passports which expired during the COVID-19 pandemic, when travel restrictions were strictly enforced under China’s Zero Infection Policy.
About 50,000 arrivals from China are estimated for the first month and many are expected to travel overland and through the border crossing in Chiang Saen district of Thailand’s northern province of Chiang Rai, or via the Lao-Chinese high-speed train service to the north-eastern province of Nong Khai.
Then, with increased flights, the number of arrivals is expected to rise to about 100,000 a month and, this year, total arrivals are forecast to be about 5 million, compared to 11 million a year pre-pandemic.
