Before the Covid-19 vaccination is accessible, beaches and national parks will not be fully opened to foreign visitors. After a 6 month ban on foreign tourism, about 120 to 150 tourism leaving China are expected to arrive in Phuket on October 8. They're going to have to go through a 14-day state quarantine, so they will not be allowed to visit any of the beaches of the island after that. A Bloomberg paper reports that before vaccination is out, it is "unlikely" that beaches and parks would be entirely accessible to overseas tourists.
According to the president of the Tourism Council of Thailand, Chairat Trirattanajarasporn, the boundaries of Thailand will not completely reopen to foreign visitors until vaccination is readily accessible to the public. For the time being, only visitors with a 90 day Special Tourist Visa may reach the country on select charter flights.
"Even though it's just for a trial, it's nice for the community to reopen ... After we've checked our reopening proposal for a month, we will decide how to go ahead and encourage further guests to come through."
The latest Unique Tourist Visa is an attempt to help restart the tourism sector in Thailand, which was devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. The sector generates just around a quarter of the nation's economy, according to Bloomberg. With around 40 million international tourists, the tourism industry produced 1.9 trillion baht last year. With travel restrictions in order to monitor the spread of the coronavirus, Chairat forecasts that by the end of the year, tourism income would decline 82.6 percent to 336.5 billion baht.
"Businesses that rely on foreign visitors will continue to close in the coming months, especially in Phuket, Samui, Pattaya, and Chiang Mai, as there will only be a limited number of people coming in after the reopening."
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