Keep Close Eye on Chinese Tourists, Says Chaturon Chaisang

Pheu Thai’s Chaturon on Chinese Tourists: Impose Strict COVID-19 Protocols

Thailand should cautiously prepare for the arrival of Chinese tourists as China eased off its COVID-19 restrictions after its three years of “zero COVID policy,” former Deputy Prime Minister and Pheu Thai Strategy Committee member Chaturon Chaisang said via a report by Thaiger on Dec. 28.

“We should have some guards up…and tests should be administered to find out what kind of variants are coming in from China…[I]f they are more severe than the variants that have been found in Thailand,” he was quoted as saying.

Enforcing stringent measures and close monitoring will help prevent another outbreak situation, while also making travellers from other countries feel safer from coronavirus when visiting Thailand, he added.

Chaturon’s statement came after China announced that inbound travellers are no longer required to undergo quarantine starting Jan. 8, alongside the news that Thailand will welcome Chinese tourists to further boost its tourism sector. In 2019, more than a quarter of Thailand's 40 million annual visitors came from China.

Meanwhile, Thai Chamber of Commerce Chairman Sanan Angubolkul said that the expected Chinese tourist’s arrival in the kingdom for next year will reach five million approximately. After hearing the news from the mainland, the Tourism Authority of Thailand raised its tourist forecast for 2023 from 20 million to 25 million.

On the other hand, Japan, India, and the United States are planning to implement new entry requirements for Chinese tourists, which include providing a negative COVID-19 test.

Using data through Dec. 11, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation reported on Dec. 15 that Thailand's daily infections in the last week went up to 117,000 per day on average, while daily reported cases in the last week remained at 620 per day on average.

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