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Friday, March 29, 2024

The threat to Thailand from the abolition of the Test&Go scheme

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Tour operators have expressed strong resentment over the proposal to abolish the Test&Go scheme as such a change would clearly impact international tourism at the height of the “high” season.

The decision has not yet been made by the country’s authorities and the Bangkok Post has questioned Thai tourism industry representatives on what they expect from this choice.

“We should have a final decision this week from the Covid-19 Situation Centre, which has clearly stated that it plans to listen carefully to all stakeholders before making a final decision,” Tourism Authority head Yutasak Supasorn said.

“Thai tourism operators do not want to go back to passing the mandatory quarantine,” said Marisa Sukoshol Nunbhakdi, president of the Hotel Association of Thailand.

Marisa said that the current coronavirus screening measures under the tourism resumption plan were still effective and only a few cases of the disease among tourists had been reported. The drastic changes in entry regulations will affect both the economy as a whole and the country’s image, Marisa said.

Hotel operators would be the first to suffer, she said. Hotel workers who have recently been rehired run the risk of being unemployed again if there is insufficient demand for room bookings.

Marisa believes that the “Test&Go” scheme should be business as usual, but some measures could be added to ensure a higher level of security, such as requiring a PCR test within 24 or 48 hours before leaving for Thailand, asking for a full vaccination certificate with revaccination, and ensuring a digital health passport is available in every public place.

“Phuket is really confident in the security of the entry process we set up for the sandbox programme in July. It is perfectly acceptable if the Test&Go scheme is abolished and we will only accept tourists under the sandbox scheme, but we strongly disagree that tourists coming to the island will have to be quarantined,” said Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, president of the Phuket Tourist Association.

Bhummikitti said the Test&Go scheme had produced more productive results than the sandbox pilot programme introduced in July, as the number of tourists increased fivefold from 600 to 3,000 a day.

“As the vaccination rate has already reached 80 per cent and the province mandates a PCR test at the airport for every arriving traveller, we are confident of our well-prepared system,” Bhummikitti said.

Pattaya and Samui for entry without quarantine

If the government replaces the Test&Go scheme with strict quarantine measures, the tourism business will suffer directly, said Chonburi Tourism Board acting president Thanet Supornsahasrungsi.

Thanet said the sandbox scheme should be an alternative solution used for the Russian market as it is not included in the quarantine exemption list but is still in the top five for arrivals to Thailand.

According to Thanet, the number of tourists in Pattaya has increased, reaching 500-700 per day, up from 200-300 last month. However, if the country maintains the sandbox programme, the impact will not be as critical as the quarantine measures.

As for year-end bookings, the number of pre-bookings in Pattaya has already reached 70% and some hotels are fully booked for the New Year. However, operators and tourists are concerned about the sudden changes in entry regulations, Thanet said.

Phisut Sae-Hoo, president of the Eastern branch of the Hotel Association of Thailand, believes the international market will shrink by 30% if the “Test&Go” scheme is suspended and replaced by a “sandbox” programme, as tourists feel they cannot move freely around the city for at least the first week.

However, if the government reintroduces quarantine measures, the situation will worsen as tourists will opt for other destinations that offer entry without quarantine, Fisut said.

Ratchaporn Pulsawadi, president of the Samui Tourism Association, said the “Test&Go” scheme has helped attract more travellers to the island – 300-500 people a day now arrive – compared to the early opening phase, when the figure was in single digits.

Ratchaporn said the suspension of the Test&Go programme would stall the current momentum because of problems with direct flights, as Samui island has insufficient air connectivity and would only depend on the sandbox programme.

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