Thailand resumes Test & Go entry effective Feb 1

Dhaka: Thailand has announced resuming its Test & Go entry programme on January 24. Under this system, fully vaccinated travellers will be exempt from quarantine upon entry from February 1.

According to the Covid Administration Council sources, the programme will be restarted with certain adjustments to the original version, including additional tests (totalling two) and more stringent health monitoring.

Since the Omicron variant spread over the world a month ago, the scheme was put on hold. But now it is resuming again.

Details reported for the revised Test & Go scheme are as follows: All countries/nationalities are eligible to participate in Test & Go; travellers must prepay for two RT-PCR tests; travellers must stay at a hotel on arrival day (0/1) and day five; travellers must remain at the hotel for test results; the hotels can be different but require specific partner hospitals for PCR tests; medical insurance covers up to USD 50.000; travellers will be sent to the hospital if found positive; and if there is a major outbreak, the scheme could be abandoned and changed to “Sandbox”.

Gen Supoj Malaniyom, Head of Operations, Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, said the Test & Go programme will be effective from February 1, under which arrivals will undergo two RT-PCR tests during their initial seven days, the first upon arrival and the second on the fifth or sixth day.

It may be mentioned here that Thailand has recently announced a new THB 300 per person tourism tax.

With pre-payment for Covid-19 testing, hotel accommodations or quarantine, and insurance with Covid-19 treatment coverage of at least USD 50,000, Thailand now has a long list of criteria for entry.