Thailand's Health department has proposed a new plan for opening up the country for international visitors.

Presented by Director-general of the Health Service Support Department, Dr. Thares Krassanairawiwong, the proposal allows short-term visitors to come into the country, and conditions are quite strict. They are an improvement on the first visa scheme though - which no one applied for.

The new scheme is to allow visitors to leave their hotel room, which was discouraged in the original visa scheme. The new restrictions are:

  • You must wear a tracking device all the time.
  • You must only travel via routes that Thai people do not use. You cannot go "off course" at all.
  • You will be assigned a minder who will follow you 24/7. The minder will make sure you are healthy and do not come into contact with Thai people.
  • You will be encouraged to do fresh air activities such as golf.

These restrictions could perhaps work in resorts that are exclusively for tourists. In those cases, you may only need to have a minder when you leave the resort. Similar rules regarding tracking and movement restrictions were initially floated for Hawaiian hotels, though it has been abandoned.

Other than a resort though, the restrictions make the idea of a vacation in Thailand much less appealing. As a commentator noted though, having a minder follow you 24/7 does give you a certain North Korea vibe, so if that is your thing....

Another report of the Health Department press release has different, though equally vague, conditions. The biggest difference is that you must quarantine for 14 days in your own home before leaving - as well as 14 days once you arrive in Thailand. And you still get the minder.

The original visa scheme was a grueling 31 step process. The highlights being:

  • Submit your application to visit to the Immigration Bureau, Foreign Ministry, Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration and the Tourism Ministry
  • Fly into Thailand on a Charted Flight or Private Jet
  • 14 Day Quarantine (At your expense, and pre-paid).
  • Negative COVID test within 72 hours of arrival
  • Prepay 90 Days of Hotel Accommodation

Perhaps unsurprisingly, no one applied. 

There were reports that a private group of 120 Chinese tourists were booked and ready to fly, when their flight was delayed - the reason given was. "The Vegetarian Festival". Perhaps sensing this wasn't the strongest of reasons, further investigation revealed that there had only been a list of people interested in applying, rather than actual applicants.