The government will next week consider scrapping the Test & Go entry scheme and Thailand Pass registration.
Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said on Wednesday the ministry and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will put forward a proposal for the cancellation at a meeting of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on April 22.
If approved, the changes are expected to start on May 1, meaning tourists would be able to enter the country using vaccine passports instead of having to wait 3-5 days for their documents to be approved, as required by Thailand Pass, he said.
Mr Phiphat said the ministry estimates that at least 10 million tourist arrivals, and 1-1.5 trillion baht in tourism income, depends on what travel policies each country has.
"Thailand is ready to welcome back foreign visitors as our public health system is adequately equipped," he said.
"However, there has been concern about the number of domestic deaths caused by Covid-19, while daily caseloads of infections after Songkran will also be taken into account when the government considers further reopening the country to tourists," Mr Phiphat said.
Restrictions have been gradually eased since November.
The government lifted the requirement for a pre-travel RT-PCR test for air travellers arriving in the kingdom under its Test & Go, Sandbox and quarantine programmes from April 1.
RT-PCR tests on arrival for foreign visitors are also expected to be replaced by antigen tests from next month.
Source - The Bangkok Post
