Thailand delays reopening major cities to international visitors again as the country's tourism industry reels from the Covid pandemic.
Thailand will scrap its mandatory quarantine requirement in the capital Bangkok and nine regions from November 1 to vaccinated tourists. The Southeast Asian nation is trying to boost its immunisation rate and revive its Covid-19 battered tourism sector. It has already delayed and altered its reopening plan several times due to low vaccination rates. Cities like Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin and Pattaya were supposed to reopen from October, however travellers will now have to wait until at least November, Reuters reported.
"Cities we've targeted have not reached 70% vaccination rates and so we have to push out the date to November," Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Yuthasak Supasorn told Reuters. While the reopening of some cities has been postponed, Thailand has welcomed fully-vaccinated tourists back to Phuket under its Sandbox programme. Since July, overseas tourists have been able to visit the popular tourist spot without having to quarantine, provided that they are vaccinated and fly directly there.
