Thailand’s key tourist destinations reopening plan postponed to November 2021

The government of Thailand is planning to delay its reopening of the capital Bangkok and other key tourist destinations to foreign visitors until November, refering to that the vaccination rate in these regions is as yet behind the targets.

The planned return to fully-vaccinated foreign visitors sans quarantine of key tourist destinations including Bangkok, Hua Hin, Pattaya, and Chiang Mai in October could be stretched out to November 1, the Tourism and Sports Minister Pipat Ratchakitprakan said. The minister added that the ministry would submit the change per the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration, the country’s COVID-19 team, for approval on September 27.

“One of the important criteria that we have to meet before reopening is to have at least 70 percent of the population in those areas fully vaccinated, but this target has not been met,” said Pipat. He said, “From the assessment of the current COVID-19 situation and the overall readiness in various fields, we would like to postpone the reopening timeline of these key cities further.”

As indicated by Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang, about 44% of the citizens have been fully vaccinated so far, and the capital city is presently speeding up the pace of vaccine carry out to achieve 70% vaccination coverage.

The reopening plan was essential for Thailand’s tries to support the tourism industry, a key engine of economic growth before the pandemic, and strike a balance between guaranteeing lives and livelihood.

The Southeast Asian country intends to vaccinate around 70% of its almost 70 million populace before the year’s over. As of Wednesday, 22.6 percent of its kin have been completely inoculated, as indicated by the CCSA.