Thailand's reopening looms

Rather than overloading the article dealing with the possibility of returning to Thailand since October 2020 (which you can read here), I finally prefer to make a separate article to deal with the complete reopening, which will then mark the end of a long episode without arrivals of international tourists in the land of smiles. And if I do it now, it is because things have been moving for almost two weeks now here, the pressure being felt in the tourism sector, particularly affected on the islands in the south of the country, more dependent on this industry than other regions.

Phuket to reopen on July 1

It all started with a proposal from the private sector and business groups in the tourism sector in Phuket. The island has the advantage of having an international airport, so it is inclined to receive international tourists without having to go through Bangkok. The choice of Phuket, highly dependent on tourism, is also worth in the easier aspect of controlling crowd movements, since it is an island. Because it is important to specify that the people who will then go to the island, within the framework of this program called Phuket Tourism Sandbox (yes in Thailand we like to put "code names" for each project of this kind, and in this case, sandbox translates to sandbox...), will have to stay at least 7 days on site, before being allowed to travel to other provinces.

This proposal is similar to that known as the travel bubbles, which had been attempted several months ago, except that the big difference is that the island would be open to everyone, once you have received your two doses of the vaccineAt the same time, the local governor wants to inoculate 70% of his population with the vaccine, in order to achieve the much sought-after collective immunity.

Given the seriousness of this commitment, and the situation in Thailand being largely under control, the Center for Economic Situation Administration (CESA), chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, approved the proposal on Friday, as confirmed by Sports and Tourism Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn.

Of course, it goes without saying that the real interest for tourists will be to enjoy an island that is still calm compared to its pre-Covid “glory”, and above all, without having to quarantine.

I would like to clarify, however, that at the time and day of publication of this article, the information, if confirmed, is not official since it becomes so when it is published in the Royal Gazette, so watch this space, but I doubt that as things stand, things will change.

A gradual global reopening

As Thailand (somewhat painfully) rolls out its vaccination plan, the rest of the country is expected to gradually readjust, if not completely reopen like Phuket. First, for the 1st of April (I promise it's not a joke), Thailand has shortened the famous quarantine to 11 nights compared to 15 previously.

Source Bangkok Post.

To translate this infographic:

• If you are vaccinated

– With one of the vaccines recognized by the Thai authorities, namely: Pfizer BioNTech, AstraZeneca (Vaxzevria), CoviShield, Sinovac, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson;
– That you have received your two doses of the vaccine (except for Johnson & Johnson where only one dose is sufficient);
– That the last dose of the vaccine was injected at least 14 days before the date of departure for Thailand

You will then only haveonly one week of quarantine to be carried out, which already reduces by half this prohibitive aspect of an unequivocal return of tourists. However, the process is a little subtle, because in this case it is necessary to present proof of vaccination to the Thai authorities upon arrival in Thailand BUT, having nevertheless booked a 10-day ASQ quarantine. If after checking the documents on site, you are indeed in the case of a 7-day quarantine, you will subsequently have the possibility of asking your hotel for a partial refund.

• If you are not vaccinated

Quarantine is still shortened to 12 days / 11 nights instead of 16 days / 15 nights until now (even if we talk about a "10-day" quarantine, the term is a bit abusive...). The only people who still have to do the 15 days in quarantine will normally be those coming from Africa and certain countries confronted with monitored variants, and to date there are 3 recognized variants:

• • • • The variant B.1.1.7 from the United Kingdom,
      • The variant B.1.351 from South Africa,
      • The variant P.1 from Brazil,

People coming from these three countries will therefore logically be subject to a 15-night quarantine as always. This is also the case for countries with a high incidence of new variants of COVID-19, which include: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Zambia, Kenya, Rwanda, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana and Tanzania. This list will be revised every month.

The following measures will apply to non-Thai nationals whose flight lands in Thailand from April 1, 2021 at 00:01. If you are transiting through a third country, the quarantine period will depend on the country of your point of departure. For example, if your itinerary is Paris-Dubai-Bangkok, your country of departure is France.

According to reports from people who made their request before this date of April 1st, but arrived after, you have the right to ask your hotel for a partial refund if you have already booked the hotel for a 15-day quarantine.

In case you have already booked the hotel for a 10-day quarantine and you have received the COE but as things evolve, your country of origin becomes classified as a “country with a high incidence of new COVID-19 variants” (and therefore subject to a 15-day quarantine), you will remain subject to the 10-day quarantine as planned if the date of issuance of your COE is before the announcement of the new country classification.

It's not easy, but overall a good step forward, especially since the quarantine will subsequently become simpler. Because to date, it was a strict quarantine, locked in a room, it clearly didn't make you want to go on vacation, even if you still had a few weeks free afterwards. The proof is that since the introduction of visas to return to Thailand for tourism, barely between 6 to 7 people per MONTH have deigned to make the trip. To put things in perspective, that's practically the number of tourists who arrived every HOUR before Covid!

The hotels are empty at the moment, like the Vartika, where we just got back.

Dinner alone.

With the new rules, the quarantine will be less strict and will allow customers to freely roam in defined areas of the chosen establishment. Some clarifications have just been added concerning this remark, confirming on the one hand the easing of conditions, and detailing the time scale, planned for this gradual opening:

From April 1 to June 30, people in quarantine would be allowed to leave their rooms to go to a gym, an outdoor exercise area, the swimming pool and controlled areas for cycling and shopping outside.

From July 1 to September 30, you will be allowed to eat in the hotel restaurants and have access to the spa massage parlor (if there is one).

From October 1st, quarantine will only be required for people arriving from specified areas. The Phuket model of quarantine-free arrival is expected to be implemented for 5 other provinces (see below).

The full reopening is currently scheduled for January 2022.

From April 1st, 6 provinces will be able to welcome visitors to complete their quarantine (while today, only Bangkok and Pattaya, to my knowledge, welcome travelers in ASQ). In addition to Phuket, it will be possible to stay in Krabi, Phang Nga, Surat Thani (including the island of Koh Samui), Chon Buri (the province where Pattaya is located) and Chiang Mai, the only northern city to be included.

As a reminder, the process is still quite long, because only the "fit to fly" document is no longer necessary, the rest will still have to be obtained in advance to travel to Thailand in the coming months. In addition to the essential negative PCR test within 72 hours of your flight, it will be necessary, in addition to the documents below, to download a "tracing" application (I know that this word will make more than one person jump), to know your movements.

To download the app, called Mor Chana: Mor Chana on Android / Mor Chana on the Apple Store

As a reminder: the documents required to come to Thailand to date are as follows:

1. Passport with a validity of at least 6 months and having at least two full free pages.
2. Copy of passport page with photo and your names, birthday, expiration date etc.
3. Fill out the form visa application form, duly signed. You need one for each person traveling with you, including children, you can sign for them if they are not adults, as their legal guardian. You can download the form here.
4. Two passport photos (4×6 cm format) with white background, less than 6 months old.
5. Confirmation of your flight ticket reservation round trip clearly indicating the names of the passengers as well as your dates of stay.
6. Bank statements of the last 3 months with an amount of 2 € minimum by applicant (or €4 for a joint account). A photocopy of the family record book is required if the bank account statement is not in the name of the applicant, aged under 000.
7. Copy of the pay sheets of the last three months (in the case of an employee) the amount of which must be greater than the minimum wage or extract from KBIS, proof of retirement (if applicable) or a certificate of schooling (in the case of a student or minor).
8. Copy of a document certifying your place of residence as being located in the country where you are applying for the visa (EDF bill, telephone, where the name and address appear clearly).
9. Booking a hotel for quarantine in one of the "Alternative State Quarantine" (ASQ), in addition to the link given in the short stay section, you can see the choices here or an list with prices here.

Once these steps are completed, you should be able to obtain your visa after paying the payment of 35 €. But BE CAREFUL, the latter will only give you the right to access Thailand on condition of first obtaining your entry certificate (COE). For more details, I refer you to my article where I talk about coming to Thailand now.

Please note that the special STV visa, created especially for this period of return to Thailand (since October 2020), will be issued until September 30, 2021, after which, it will be necessary to turn to TR visas or others for long stays.

• • • https://www.entrythailand.go.th/journey/1

Target full reopening in January 2022

Even if all this remains restrictive, forty feet in the sand and a warm winter seems within reach. It is obviously still mandatory to take a PCR test within 72 hours before the flight, and that the latter must be negative to take your flight.

But let's be a little positive, because the trend is towards a reopening, with strong pressure from tourism stakeholders and associations. The south of the country, in particular, being largely more dependent on international tourism, is looking more than gloomy after a year without foreign tourists. A petition was still circulating recently (perhaps it is still the case) to request a complete opening for vaccinated people from July 1st. The argument being that vaccination campaigns have been well underway in several European countries and in the USA for example. Thailand, slightly lagging behind, is only just starting its campaign, but has set itself an ambitious goal of vaccinating 60% of the population by the end of the year.

This then makes the current goal of a full reopening of the country by January 2022 quite credible. This seems all the more coherent since the end of the year marks the high season, Thailand has more than an interest in ensuring that it does not miss a 2nd high season, at the risk of no longer having enough infrastructure to accommodate people if everything had to close, due to a lack of sufficient income.

Knowing that the TAT is projecting an already optimistic number of tourists, set at 2 million for this year 2021, when other organizations are aiming for 6 million, and we're not going to lie to each other, this seems unrealistic.

I will obviously keep you informed, but it seems encouraging that spending next winter in Thailand will be possible without any other constraints than being vaccinated!