Thailand Abolishes the Pre-Registration Process for Foreign Tourists and Mask Policy

According to a report on June 17th, Thailand announced on Friday that it would abandon the pre-registration process for foreign tourists and no longer requiring masks to be worn in public.

Thailand’s tourism minister Pipat Ratchakitprakarn told reporters the “Thai pass” which required foreign tourists to apply with the Thai authorities in advance would be discontinued from July 1st, thus the country’s only remaining travel restriction was eliminated.

Thailand is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Nearly 40 million people visited Thailand in 2019, but fewer than 1 percent of that number was received last year. Traveling businesses complained that the recovery of tourism has been hampered by the long-standing requirement for foreigners to submit a variety of documents, vaccine and swab test certificates to health insurance and hotel reservations.

While tourism has picked up in recent months, the sector is far from recovering, huge job and business losses in an industry that typically accounts for about 12 percent of Thailand’s gross domestic product.

The CCP virus working group said on Friday that the policy of wearing masks voluntarily would be implemented next month but advising people to wear masks in crowded environments or when people suffer from a health condition.

Thailand has more than total 30,000 deaths from the CCP virus, but the outbreak has been largely contained currently.