Thailand is finalizing a plan that would make it possible for retired, sun-seeking Europeans to spend the upcoming winter months in the country in an effort to save its ailing tourism industry.
Although the Asian nation’s borders have been closed to most foreigners since late March to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the Thai government is planning to grant visas to foreigners who want to stay in the country for up to nine months, said Boon Vanasin, chairman of Thonburi Healthcare Group, the nation’s third-largest private hospital firm, which runs hospitals and retirement homes.
The long-term visitors would begin their stay with a mandatory 14-day quarantine and several COVID-19 tests in Phuket, one of Thailand’s leading tourist destinations.
Photo: AFP
After three weeks on the island and negative test results, they would be free to travel within the country, Boon said, adding that he has direct knowledge of the government’s plan and expects the arrivals to begin before winter.
While the government has approved the plan in principle, it is still finalizing measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infections, Thai government spokeswoman Traisulee Traisoranakul said.
The opening-up is a lifeline to Thailand’s devastated tourism and hospitality industry after five months without foreign visitors.
Although Thailand has been one of the world’s most successful countries in curbing its outbreak of the disease — the nation has not recorded any locally transmitted infections for more than three months — its tourism-reliant economy has been one of the worst-hit globally and is projected to shrink by 8.5 percent this year.
Thailand yesterday reported one imported COVID-19 case. Its total case count is 3,411, with 111 still hospitalized and fatalities at 58.
The move comes as economies dependent on tourism — from Bali in Indonesia, to Hawaii in the US — grapple with the pandemic, which has brought global travel to a virtual halt.
Reopening to tourists has led to the resurgence of infection in some places, and governments are fearful of striking the wrong balance between public health and economic help.
Thailand’s plan would allow millions of older people from European countries like Germany and Sweden, who usually spend their winter months in warmer Mediterranean countries, to consider the Asian nation instead, Boon said.
His company has fielded queries from European retirement communities that could amount to 50,000 seniors making the journey to Thailand, Boon said, adding that the company would cooperate with hotels to provide quarantine facilities.
Thai Airways International said it would operate at least two flights a month starting in late November to connect Phuket with Denmark, Germany and the UK.
“Many seniors don’t want to spend their time in a cold harsh winter. They want tropical weather,” Boon said.
The economy is in desperate need of a boost, Phuket Tourist Association president Bhummikitti Ruktaengam said.
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