Thailand to reopen for tourism only to vaccinated tourists

One of our favourite overseas holiday spots will reopen to foreign tourists in four months, but only a certain kind of traveller can enter.

Thailand plans to fully reopen to foreign visitors in four months –as long as they have been vaccinated – in a bid to repair the country’s ailing tourism industry.

The coronavirus pandemic has hammered Thailand’s tentpole tourism sector amid border closures and strict hotel quarantine measures.

The impact has reverberated across different sectors, downing hotels, restaurants, bars and local transport operators. And the country’s present battle against a third wave (it recorded 3000 new cases on June 15) has left local businesses clambering for more government aid.

Tourism previously made up almost 20 per cent of Thailand’s national income.

Thailand plans to reopen to vaccinated tourists from overseas in October. Picture: iStock

“I am therefore setting a goal for us to be able to declare Thailand fully open within 120 days from today, and for tourism centres that are ready to do so even faster,” Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said in a televised address on Wednesday night.

He said the only exception would be “if a truly serious situation develops”.

People out and about in Lumphini Park in Bangkok on Wednesday as Thai authorities ease Covid restrictions. Picture: Sirachai Arunrugstichai/Getty Images

“I know this decision comes with some risk … but I think when we take into consideration the economic needs of people, the time has now come for us to take that calculated risk,” he said.

To do this, Thailand’s top priority is to get at least one shot for everyone in the country ahead of the reopening, he said.

Prayut expects 50 million Thais to be inoculated by October with a target of at least 10 million per month.

Tourism previously made up almost 20 per cent of Thailand’s national income. Picture: iStock

“We cannot wait for a time when everyone is fully vaccinated with two shots to open the country or for when the world is free of the virus,” he said.

However, even vaccinated Australians will not be able to travel to Thailand until Australia reopens its international borders.

Thailand has recorded close to 205,000 infections and 1525 deaths. Mr Prayut’s administration has been under pressure over its economic management as Thailand experiences its worst performance since the Asian economic crisis of 1997.

Thailand’s Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha is under immense economic pressure to revive the nation’s tourism economy. Picture: Jes Aznar/Getty Images

The government has also been under fire over its slow vaccine rollout, which to date has seen about seven per cent of the population inoculated with a first dose before the program was paused this week due to a lack of supply.

A so-called “Phuket sandbox” has also been floated – allowing vaccinated tourists to enter the country without quarantine – but the mixed messaging from authorities on the program has left some potential visitors gun-shy on purchasing flights.