Thailand Does U-Turn On Reintroducing Strict COVID Rules After Outrage
Anyone planning to vacation in Thailand might find their head in a spin after the Asian country first reimposed strict COVID measures. This was due to China seeing a viral surge after opening its borders. However, after major traveler outrage over the plans, health officials changed its mind.
Thailand backtracks on stricter COVID measures
Since China reopened its borders, COVID cases are quickly increasing, leading to officials in Thailand tightening their country’s COVID rules. However, after the media was full of news of travelers outraged by the change, Thailand did a U-turn, dropping its plans. It seems that protesting does, occasionally, have an impact.
Due to the surge in infections in China, a number of countries have reintroduced testing requirements on all travelers from China. None of the countries wanted to end up being the next COVID hotspot and blacklisted by travelers. According to Reuters, Thailand was the first travel destination to reintroduce mandatory vaccination this week. However, that decision, which would have seen unvaccinated Americans barred from entering the country, has also been scrapped once again.
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Thai Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said in a statement that requiring vaccination proof from international travelers was “inconvenient.” This came just two days after reintroducing the strict rules.
Basically, this means that Americans and other international travelers heading to Thailand will not face the tougher border rules announced earlier this week. Naturally, the reimposition of tough rules would have ruined the plans of unvaccinated travelers hoping to visit the Asian nation.
Reimposition of COVID rules in Thailand
Prior to Thailand reopening its borders to international travelers, only vaccinated travelers were truly welcome in the country. Meanwhile, those who had no vaccination certificate were required to present a negative test result or simply go home. However, by September last year, the Asian nation had eased its strict health checks at airports.
Following this, the Thai government fully reopened its borders, welcoming all international travelers under the same set of rules and without vaccine discrimination. This, together with the classification of COVID as an endemic virus, similar to the flu, many believed Thailand was finally returning to normal.
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However, this week, the health ministry in just three days reimposed restrictions, then completely u-turned. Meanwhile, Americans’ confidence in travel – which took months to rebuild – was destroyed. It also sent major shockwaves through the hard-hit Thai tourism industry, desperate for tourist dollars.
Hopefully, Thailand won’t now completely lose the trust of travelers, as the destination is one of the top 7 in Asia for 2023. Meanwhile, with nonstop flights from North America returning for the first time in a decade, the Asian nation was preparing to welcome an influx of US and Canadian travelers in the New Year.
It is unknown just how many travelers had to cancel their plans, especially those who are unvaccinated. However, it is clear that people were not impressed. Meanwhile, two days after making their cancellations they were told they were welcome after all.