Thai Government approves Special Tourist Visa for Foreigners

On Monday (Sept 28), Thai Government Deputy Spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul said that the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) meeting has approved a Special Tourist Visa (STV) starting from October 1 to attract foreign tourists across the world. The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday.

The Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and other ministries agreed to introduce the special tourist visa.

Before traveling to Thailand, foreign tourists must take a COVID-19 test not before 72 hours prior to departure, purchase COVID-19 health insurance and will require signing a letter of consent agreeing to comply with the COVID-19 precautionary measures issued by the government. In addition, foreign travelers holding a STV must still be required to undergo quarantine for 14 days.

In regards to the idea of ​​the Minister of Tourism and Sports to reduce the quarantine period for foreign tourists to 7 days, Ms. Taisaranakul said that the government has not considered this idea and confirmed that the government will start with a 14-day quarantine before considering about gradually relaxing the lockdown measures.

She also informed that travelers holding the STV must travel on charter flights and these all flights must receive permission from the CCSA Operations Center or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

She said that it is expected that 1,200 STV travelers will enter into Thailand in a month after the reopening of the country and it will bring revenue of over 1.03 billion baht. Within one year, the number of STV travelers will likely reach 14,400 people, bringing tourism revenue of approx 12.4 billion baht for Thailand.

At the same time, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has ensured that strict aviation measures are implemented on domestic flights, international flights and at airports during the coronavirus pandemic.

The CAAT standards manager Mr. Klot Senalak has said that foreign travelers must present basic documents at least 72 hours before their travel, such as a confirmation letter issued by the Thai embassy or consulate in their country of residence, a negative COVID-19 (RT-PCR) swab test result and they require buying a US $100,000 COVID-19 insurance policy.

After their arrival in Thailand, they must screen for COVID-19 symptoms and download a mobile app to monitor their health. All travelers arriving in the country have to undergo quarantine for 14 days.