Thailand considers adopting new reopening policy to boost tourism

14/09/2021 16:03

Thailand is rethinking its reopening model as it will adopt the "One SOP, One System" (OSOS) policy, with a hope to lift both mandatory quarantine and sealed routes for all pilot areas within this year and cut COVID-19 test costs by half.

Thailand considers adopting new reopening policy to boost tourism ảnh 1

Illustrative image (Source: Xinhua/VNA)

Bangkok (VNA) - Thailand is rethinking its reopening model as it will adopt the "One SOP, One System" (OSOS) policy, with a hope to lift both mandatory quarantine and sealed routes for all pilot areas within this year and cut COVID-19 test costs by half.

Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Yuthasak Supasorn said the reopening plans for Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, Cha-am and Bangkok will be submitted to the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) next week, seeking to receive inoculated tourists from October 1, while “Samui Plus” will pivot to a quarantine-free destination.

Under this plan, every province will apply the same standard operating procedure (SOP), which will enable tourists to travel freely within designated areas in each province. Tourists are required to follow the guidelines, such as activating the Mor Chana app and being checked daily by an SHA Plus manager, instead of being kept in quarantine or only travelling under a tour programme.

The TAT has also discussed with health authorities a reduction in the price, to around 8,000 THB, for three RT-PCR tests, which is considered an obstacle for the reopening programme in both “Phuket Sandbox” and “Samui Plus”. The package price should be universally applied to every province from October, including the “Phuket Sandbox”.

The Labour Ministry of Thailand said that it will permit businesses to import migrant workers once again, but at a steep cost associated with COVID-19 surveillance.

Employment of Myanmar, Lao and Cambodian nationals will be secured under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with the respective countries as part of an effort to fill the void created in the labour sector by workers returning home en masse as the situation worsened.

On September 14 morning, Thailand announced additional 11,786 new COVID-19 infections and 136 fatalities, raising the national counts to over 1.4 million and 14,631, respectively./.

VNA