Bangkok among more Thai tourist spots set for reopening

BANGKOK • Thailand is set to reopen more of its popular tourist destinations next month, betting that a higher inoculation rate against Covid-19 can help draw more foreign visitors and revive its pandemic-battered economy.

The reopening of the capital Bangkok and Chiang Mai as well as beach resorts Pattaya, Cha-Am and Hua Hin from Oct 1 will be modelled after an initiative in Phuket, the tourism ministry said.

More destinations, including Chiang Rai, Koh Chang and Koh Kood, may fully reopen to visitors from mid-October, with travel bubbles planned with neighbouring countries next year, it said.

The push to end pandemic-induced restrictions on tourists is part of Thailand's new "living with Covid-19" strategy.

Countries from Singapore to Indonesia and the Philippines are tweaking their policies to deal with the endemic nature of Covid-19 in order to protect livelihoods and save their economies from a prolonged slump.

For Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the revival of tourism is a key priority as it contributed to about a fifth of the nation's gross domestic product in 2019, the year before the pandemic.

A key criterion for tourist spots to waive the quarantine requirement for fully-inoculated tourists is a 70 per cent local vaccination rate. Phuket became the first Thai province to meet that target and reopened in July, with the programme extended to nearby islands and beach communities last month.

Thailand has deemed its so-called Phuket Sandbox a success, and the programme would be emulated across the country.

More than 26,000 vaccinated travellers used the Sandbox in its first two months, generating 1.6 billion baht (S$65.8 million) in revenue, Phuket officials said.

Less than 1 per cent of the visitors tested positive for the virus even though local infections increased.

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