This was announced by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha in a televised address on Tuesday. Other countries that are on the list for their low incidence of corona are Singapore, China, and the United States. Vacationers only need to do one PCR test before leaving home and another when arriving in Thailand, Prayut said. After that, they could travel freely to all parts of the country.
From December 1st, more countries are expected to be added to the list. Then the serving of alcohol in restaurants, which has been banned for months due to a severe corona wave, will probably be allowed again.
“For me, too, it was one of the most painful experiences of my life to make decisions that had to reconcile saving lives with saving livelihoods,” stressed Prayut. The tourism sector, which is extremely important for the country, has been almost completely on the ground for more than a year and a half. Since then, many people have lost their income.
Last year, Thailand was still considered a model country in the fight against the pandemic – but since April the state has experienced its worst wave to date. The number of infections in the country with 70 million inhabitants is slowly falling. On Tuesday, the authorities reported around 9,400 new infections and 84 deaths in connection with Covid-19.