THAILAND FULLY OPENS BACK UP FOR TOURISTS

From 1 July 2022 all restrictions on entry to Thailand will be lifted. A ‘Thailand Pass’ and proof of COVID insurance will no longer be required. Tourists will once again be able to hop on a plane and land back in Thailand without requiring any special paperwork, other than a visa.

Thailand’s reopening is necessary to support tourism and GDP growth, which has been below that of regional peers. The plan to fully reopen also signals the country’s move toward declaring COVID-19 an endemic disease. Interna?onal arrivals remain lacklustre. Although January arrivals were 17-times higher year on year, they were only 3.6% of January 2019 arrivals.

Travel receipts in the service account reached US$59.8bn in 2019 (equivalent to 11% of GDP), but only US$3.4bn in January-September 2021.

The Ministry of Public Health has also recommended the listing of the emergency decree, intended to contain the spread of the disease, by the summer. Instead, the Communicable Disease Act will be used to manage COVID-19. Around 72% of the population have been fully vaccinated, and around 32% have received a booster shot as of mid-March.

Thailand is expected to steadily move towards a full reopening of the tourism sector by July 1. Although arrivals will not reach pre-pandemic levels this year without the return of visitors, tourism will still improve significantly in the second half of the year, a positive development for Thailand’s 2022 growth and balance of payments.