Chairman of Minor International, William Heinecke, has called upon the Thai government to relax all entry measures as soon as possible to boost inbound tourism.
In an open letter, he wrote: “Despite the cancellation of pre-arrival Covid-19 testing, the visitors to Thailand are still required to complete an unnecessary series of steps, including pre-booking RT-PCR tests, prepaid one-night hotel accommodations, mandatory health insurance, and more in order to secure a visa and/or Thailand Pass. Visitors must go through too many requirements before arriving in Thailand compared to many other countries that are now completely open, including nearby Cambodia.”
Heinecke noted that many countries which relied on international tourism, such as Singapore, had already revoked complicated entry measures to boost the recovery of domestic tourism and their economies.
He advised the Prime Minister to scrap the country’s entry measures, including the ‘Thailand Pass’ and the ‘Test & Go’ programme, stating that only a vaccination certificate and/or medical documents to prove the vaccination should be sufficient.
The statement also highlighted the importance of cooperation between government and private sectors which would help revive the tourism industry and stimulate the economy after the financial hardship of two years of border restrictions, business closures, curfews, and more due to Covid-19 in Thailand.
“(Government and private sectors’) efforts, together with concrete and straightforward communication regarding entry requirements, are crucial for the success of tourism in Thailand,” he added.
Thailand has been ahead of its Southeast Asian neighbours in easing entry rules, after imposing strict quarantine and entry requirements for more than a year. It started a calibrated reopening to vaccinated tourists from July last year with two island “sandbox” programs as pilot projects, before fully reopening in November, when visitors were required to take tests on arrival.
This helped boost January arrivals to nearly 134,000 from about 7,700 in 2021, a year when total arrivals were less than 0.5 per cent of the pre-pandemic figures. But industry members agree that more must be done if Thailand wants to attract the kind of numbers that made it one of the world’s most visited countries.
