A nurse administers a dose of Sinovac Biotech Ltd. vaccine in Nonthaburi, Thailand.
Photographer: Andre Malerba / Bloomberg
Photographer: Andre Malerba / Bloomberg
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One of the world’s most dependent tourism countries, Thailand is pursuing plans for vaccine passports and quarantine exemptions as the global Covid-19 inoculation momentum picks up.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha this week ordered officials to review vaccine certificates for international travel, after signaling the nation – famous for its edge beaches, temples and backpack culture – is open to quarantine two-week quarantine for inoculated visitors . The local tourism industry wants to lift mandatory quarantines from July 1 so that it can open potentially millions of vaccinated tourists.
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A successful reopening of Thailand could encourage other tourism-dependent nations to follow suit, as countries such as the United Kingdom have set ambitious deadlines to ease restrictions on their populations and resume international travel. While the World Health Organization warned this week of the risks of too fast relaxation, places like Thailand – which saw nearly 40 million visitors abroad in 2019 – are facing lasting damage to their economies with paralyzed global travel and borders closed for a year in a pandemic.
Confidence in tourism
Thailand has become more dependent on foreign visitors in the last decade
Sources: Ministry of Tourism and Sports, National Council for Economic and Social Development
“A gradual reopening, with proper precautions taken, will undoubtedly save businesses, jobs and support the economy,” said John Blanco, general manager at the Capella Bangkok luxury hotel in the Thai capital. “Given the growing momentum of vaccination, it would make sense to start planning the necessary steps.”
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Central Bank of Thailand says tourism, which accounted for about a fifth of the country’s pre-pandemic gross domestic product, is key to bringing Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy back to growth. Thailand GDP contracted by 6.1% in 2020, the most in this century.
Despite an outbreak earlier this year, Thailand largely contained Covid-19, with only 85 deaths during the pandemic. The country needs to balance by keeping the virus out and protecting the local population by counteracting the economic impact. Although it has already made some efforts to reopen the borders for foreign tourists, they have had strict quarantine rules. kept the most.
William Heinecke, President of Minor International Pcl, which operates 500 hotels worldwide, is leading a Thai government petition campaign to reopen borders in the third quarter after the pandemic forced hundreds of hotels and tourism companies to close.
“The current situation is unsustainable,” said the online petition, which received nearly 7,500 signatories in three days. “The opening of July 1 would be a strategic opportunity for Thailand to show leadership among Asian countries and pave the way for a solid recovery of the Thai economy in 2022.”
Prime Minister Prayuth has warned not to rush to issue vaccine passports and wants greater coordination with other countries.
On the verge of vaccinating most of its population soon, Israel is making arrangements to allow citizens to travel to several countries, including Greece. While a few months after their release, the European Union gives priority to certificates of immunity, and the United Kingdom is expected concludes a review of the “Covid status certification”, but only by 21 June. Europeans, including people in the UK, accounted for 16% of foreign tourists in Thailand in 2019.
The country began launching vaccines this week and aims to inoculate 50% of its population by the end of this year. There are also plans to distribute vaccines to tourist hotspots, such as Phuket and Koh Samui, in preparation for a wider reopening.
The government has eased business and travel restrictions after controlling the recent rebirth of the virus. But after giving up a nationwide deadlock to address the renaissance, Thailand may not return to zero soon, according to Thira Woratanarat, an associate professor at Chulalongkorn University School of Medicine.
“Discovering how to reopen for tourists is as important as planning the distribution of vaccines,” said Somprawin Manprasert, chief economist at Bank of Ayudhya Pcl. “The sooner the country can reopen for tourists, the faster the recovery will be.”
“The second wave has just delayed recovery, rather than derailed it,” he said. “Even though we are still in the dark, there is light at the end of the tunnel.”
(Update the title and add the global vaccination race to the first paragraph.)