Today we received a Reader Question about entering Thailand as a traveler who has either not received any or only a partial vaccination and how this will affect the experience of traveling to the Kingdom.
Readers are encouraged to send us questions, comments, or opinions by email, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. We’ll try to cover them here several times a week.
Throughout the pandemic, Thailand has always been available as a destination for unvaccinated travelers but up until recently, this involved a stay at a quarantine hotel and a series of costly PCR tests.
We have previously reported about the changes that came into effect per May 1st:
The policy changed to the tune of unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated travelers being allowed without any quarantine as long as the passenger gets tested negative prior to departure from the destination.
One of our readers now asked if there are any changes following some news reports that further changes are going into effect from June 1, 2022.
Yesterday the Bangkok Post reported on a few tweaks regarding the upcoming June 1st date that John briefly hinted on this week as well.
Here is what they wrote about the last Covid Situation Council meeting on Friday:
There will be no mandatory quarantine for unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated tourists from June 1, but they will still have to pass an antigen test for Covid-19 at the airport on arrival, under changes announced on Friday.
Other measures include the end of the Thailand Pass requirement for Thai returnees, but not for foreigners – who are however promised an immediate decision on their application for the pass.
Spokesman Taweesilp Visanuyothin said after a meeting of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) that the five-day quarantine requirement for unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated foreign air travellers will be dropped at the end of this month.
They would be tested using a professional antigen kit (ATK) on arrival. If it was positive they would be treated at a hospital under their travel health insurance, he said. If negative, they would be allowed to enter the country without quarantine.
“Travel health insurance coverage for foreign visitors is still necessary, so that it will not be a financial burden on the public health system catering to Thais,” Dr Taweesilp said.
The professional ATK test would be conducted by health personnel with the authority to issue a Covid-19 test result certificate.
Foreign visitors were required to purchase health insurance coverage of US$10,000 before their departure to Thailand.
At present, unvaccinated and partially vaccinated visitors have to stay at designated hotels for five days and an RT-PCR test is mandatory during the quarantine period, if they cannot provide an RT-PCR test certificate on arrival.
The end of quarantine reflects the urgency of the need to catch up with regional rivals in attracting foreign visitors. …
There are several ways to interpret this but let me look at it from the most cynical perspective:
Thailand would keep their stringent, discriminatory anti-foreigner measures going as long as possible and possibly forever wouldn’t they be forced to drop them as neighboring countries in Asia are now siphoning off all prospective tourists from Thailand as they’re dropping all requirements.
Mind you, Thailand is also dropping the Thailand Pass from June 1st – but only for Thais. While it’s no big deal to use this system and takes a mere 5 minutes to get it all done this doesn’t surprise me one bit. The xenophobia in Thailand has increased tenfold during Covid.
Requiring travel health insurance isn’t the worst idea but to state that uninsured travelers are a burden on the Thai health system is ridiculous. Thailand is a huge medical tourism destination and that’s an entire industry in and for itself. On top of that, most hospitals and clinics brutally rip off foreign patients when it comes to treatments and especially surgeries as well as mandatory hospital stays. This pervasive overcharging and price gouging of foreigners in the Thai medical system more than pays for the few unpaid bills that destitute or uninsured foreign patients leave behind. In other words: Cost of doing business!
Unvaccinated travelers are now able to travel to Thailand with a negative PCR test since May 1st and as can be interpreted from the article even that won’t be required after June 1st but then the traveler would be ATK tested upon arrival in Thailand. Even if this comes into effect I don’t consider this a very wise method of arriving for the traveler.
I’d recommend getting PCR tested abroad and then having a free ride as soon as you touch down. Why even subject yourself to any risk of getting a positive test result in Thailand with all the consequences that’d entail?
Bottom line is that Thailand got forced into a corner by its competition in the tourism sector that is Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines and now Indonesia/Bali so the government had to make concessions or risk being left behind entirely.
Conclusion
Unvaccinated travelers are already able to travel to Thailand as long as they are PCR tested at their point of origin. The Bangkok Post suggests that even this requirement will be dropped and respective unvaccinated arrivals would be ATK-tested upon arrival in Thailand and issued a negative certificate which would then “set them free”.
As I mentioned in the article I wouldn’t feel comfortable with that option and rather elect of getting myself tested and certified abroad. It limits your risk to deal with the nonsense of the Thai health policies and you’re free to do whatever you want right after touching down.
