Thailand speeds up plans to reopen borders after taming coronavirus wave

Bangkok

THAILAND'S tourism reopening plans are gaining momentum as authorities roll out a national Covid-19 inoculation programme and look into coronavirus vaccine passports and quarantine waivers.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said government officials will study vaccine certificates for international travel after signalling that the tourism-reliant nation is open to scrapping the two-week quarantine for inoculated visitors.

The local tourism industry wants mandatory quarantines to be lifted from as early as July 1 so the nation can open to potentially millions of vaccinated travellers.

Thailand managed to contain a flareup in Covid-19 infections at the start of the year, and its overall caseload is relatively low at about 26,000, with 84 deaths.

A successful reopening by Thailand could spur other tourism-dependent nations to follow suit, though the World Health Organization this week warned about the risks of countries easing restrictions too fast.

"A gradual reopening, with the appropriate cautionary steps taken, will undoubtedly save businesses, jobs and bolster the economy," said John Blanco, the general manager at luxury hotel Capella Bangkok.

"Given the building global momentum of vaccination, it would make sense to begin planning for the necessary steps."

Thailand's central bank says tourism, which accounted for about a fifth of the country's gross domestic product pre-pandemic, is key to returning South-east Asia's second-largest economy to growth.

Thailand's GDP contracted 6.1 per cent in 2020, the most this century. While the country has made some efforts to reopen its borders to foreign tourists, strict quarantine rules have kept most away.

William Heinecke, chairman of Minor International, which operates 500 hotels worldwide, is leading a campaign to petition the government to reopen the borders from the third quarter after the pandemic forced hundreds of hotels and tourism businesses to close.

"The current situation is unsustainable," says the online petition, which got almost 6,000 signatories in two days.

"The July 1 reopening would be a strategic opportunity for Thailand to show a leadership role among Asian countries and prepare the way for a solid recovery of the Thai economy in 2022." BLOOMBERG