JAKARTA - Thailand canceled its policy of showing proof of COVID-19 vaccination for travelers coming to the country, announced at the weekend, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Monday, considering adequate immunization rates in China and globally.
Menteri Anutin mengatakan, pemeriksaan bukti vaksinasi tidak nyaman dan panel ahli kesehatan telah setuju untuk mencabut aturan baru, yang diumumkan pada Sabtu oleh regulator penerbangan menjelang kedatangan pengunjung dari China, di mana kasus COVID-19 melonjak.
In addition, Minister Anutin also said that those who were not vaccinated would still be allowed to enter without restrictions.
"Showing proof of vaccination will be troublesome and uncomfortable, so regulatory decisions are unnecessary," Anutin told reporters.
As one of Asia's most popular travel destinations, Thailand enjoyed the entry of visitors during its first peak season since the lifting of last year's strict entry restrictions, which caused its tourism sector to collapse.
As of November, 1.75 million visitors were recorded, four times the number over the past year, when flights and foreign arrivals were restricted.
It is known, China is very important to Thailand, with about a quarter of its annual visitors before the pandemic coming from the Bamboo Curtain Country.
Minister Anutin said the government now expects 7-10 million Chinese visitors, compared to the previous estimate of 5 million.
The first flight from China arrived in Thailand on Monday, with the first group of 3,465 passengers expected to arrive on the first day.
"We are very excited to return to Thailand. We have been waiting for three years," said Wang Zhenyin, 39, one of the passengers who had just arrived.
"Before COVID started, we came here every year. And this time I brought my family to come here."
Thai tourism authorities estimate the number of tourists who came to the country last year reached 11.5 million people, more than a quarter of the record nearly 40 million visitors recorded in 2019.
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