Thailand withdrew a rule requiring foreign travelers to carry proof of Covid vaccination on Monday, just days after reinstating the barrier ahead of the arrival of Chinese tourists.
(Bloomberg) — Thailand withdrew a rule requiring foreign travelers to carry proof of Covid vaccination on Monday, just days after reinstating the barrier ahead of the arrival of Chinese tourists.
The vaccine certificate requirement, first announced last week and effective from Monday, will not be enforced as it is seen to deter tourists, Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters. The decision to pull the rule was taken by the ministry’s health committee early on Monday, he said.
The vaccine rule was brought back as the country prepared for a wave of tourist arrivals from China following Beijing’s decision to reopen the country to the world and scrap quarantine for arrivals from Sunday. But the move drew protests from the local tourism industry, saying the sudden announcement of the entry rules would affect travelers.
The waiver of vaccine certificate will help avoid “inconvenience” to travelers as most Thais as well as tourists from China and other countries have been fully vaccinated and possess a certain degree of immunity against the virus, Anutin said.
The minister said tourist arrivals to Thailand will continue to rise and power an economic recovery that’s been underway. The country expects 7 to 10 million Chinese travelers to arrive by air this year, Anutin said.
“If Thai people warmly welcome travelers while being cautious about their own health and safety, the economy will recover quickly after being hit hard by Covid during the past three years,” Anutin said. “Today we will accelerate the process of bringing back what we have lost.”
Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy drew about 11.5 million foreign visitors last year, compared with 40 million before the pandemic in 2019 — when nearly a quarter were from China. The government has increased its target for foreign visitors to 25 million this year.
While the “rapid reversal may suggest a risk of frequent policy changes,” Nomura Holdings Inc expects limited implications to its forecast for a strong recovery in Thailand’s tourism, analysts Charnon Boonnuch and Euben Paracuelles wrote in a report. Nomura expects tourist arrivals to jump to 28 million this year, helping the nation post a current account surplus of $25.5 billion that’s seen helping the baht extend a rally against the dollar.
Boost for Baht
“Thai authorities’ apparent prioritisation of tourism recovery is a tailwind for baht outperformance,” Nomura said. “Overall, we maintain a maximum conviction level in our long” baht against the US dollar and the euro recommendation, targeting 10% cumulative gains by end-February, it said.
The baht gained 0.6% to 33.541 to a dollar on Monday, the strongest level since April. It has gained 3.3% so far this year, extending almost 95 advance in the final quarter of last year.
Still, Thailand will require travelers coming from nations which insists on negative RT-PCR test results for entry to have adequate health insurance to cover the cost of treatment in case of getting infected while visiting the country, Anutin said.
A group of 269 tourists arrived at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport on Monday from Xiamen, the first direct flight to the Southeast Asian country after China reopened its borders.
(Updates with comments from Nomura in eighth paragraph.)
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