Thailand Resumes Quarantine-free Entry for Vaxxed in February

Thailand will resume its quarantine-free travel scheme for fully-vaccinated inbound visitors from next month, the country's COVID-19 task force announced Thursday.

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The Test & Go quarantine exemption scheme was suspended from Dec. 22 only after seven weeks of its launch due to the fast spreading of COVID-19 linked to Omicron variant.

Beginning Feb. 1, fully-vaccinated visitors could be able to enter without quarantine requirements as long as they take RT-PCR tests on the first and fifth days of their arrival in Thailand, Taweesin Visanuyothin, spokesperson of the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), said at a news briefing.

Visitors should wait for their test results at their booked hotels and agree to download an app tracking their whereabouts, according to Taweesin.

He said the infections in Thailand are considered to be at a manageable level, and expected to be stabilizing and going into a declining trend.

The move came amid the government's efforts to revive the tourism sector and boost economic recovery.

In a further relaxation of restrictive measures, the government allows restaurants to serve alcohol until 11:00 p.m., extending two hours from previous requirement. However, bars and nightclubs will remain closed.

On Thursday, the Southeast Asian country reported 8,129 new cases during the last 24 hours, rising for the second consecutive day, and 19 more fatalities, according to the CCSA.

As of Wednesday, 66.4 percent of the country's nearly 70 million population had been fully vaccinated, while 15.3 percent had received booster shots