Thailand has added Taiwan and 16 other countries to a quarantine-exemption list to spur the revival of a tourism sector hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Starting today, fully vaccinated travelers from Taiwan would no longer be required to quarantine upon arrival in the country, the Thai government said, adding that travelers would have to be inoculated with a COVID-19 vaccine recognized by the Thai Ministry of Public Health at least 14 days before their arrival.
Additionally, travelers would need to have stayed in one of the listed countries for at least 21 days prior to their departure, present a negative COVID-19 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test result from within 72 hours of departure and proof of medical insurance covering at least US$50,000, it said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Travelers from the listed countries would have to undergo another RT-PCR test upon arrival and stay at a designated quarantine hotel for one night, it said, adding that once the second test result comes back negative, travelers would be allowed to leave the facility.
Thailand approves the COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Sinopharm, Sinovac and Sputnik V. The Taiwan-made Medigen COVID-19 vaccine has not been approved.
With the most recent additions, the quarantine-exemption list contains 63 countries and territories. Thailand on Oct. 22 introduced the quarantine-exemption policy, listing 46 countries. Travelers from other countries have to quarantine upon entering Thailand.
Travelers who have received one dose of a two-dose vaccine or do not have a vaccine certificate must quarantine for 10 days when arriving by air or for 14 days when arriving by land, it said.
Partially vaccinated Taiwanese can so far travel to Palau without being required to quarantine, after the Pacific nation on Oct. 21 relaxed rules of a “travel bubble” arrangement between the two countries. Palau recognizes the Medigen vaccine.
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