BANGKOK, Mar 6 (NNN-TNA) – Thailand is considering COVID-19 vaccine passports and quarantine exemption, amid efforts to boost the ailing tourism sector, as inoculation rolled out worldwide.
Thai Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, ordered the foreign ministry, to conduct a study into the vaccine passports. “If we decide to unveil the plan, China will be among the first countries that we’re going to negotiate with,” Thai Deputy Prime Minister, Wissanu Krea-ngam, said.
Preliminary plan will involve issuing certifications for inoculated visitors to Thailand, lifting them from the two-week mandatory quarantines, and relaxing some restrictive measures, said Wissanu, adding, equal treatment will be required from other countries, for inoculated Thai visitors.
However, he said, the government still needs time to go through details and specific measures for implementation.
Thailand welcomed about 40 million foreign visitors in 2019, but only 6.7 million trickled in last year. Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, contracted 6.1 percent last year, in its sharpest decline since 1998.
The Bank of Thailand, the country’s central bank, has seen tourism sector, which accounts for more than 15 percent of Thailand’s economy, as a key to economic recovery.– NNN-TNA
