CCSA eyes new tourism measures in light of improving Covid situation
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) will meet on Friday to evaluate the situation and discuss measures to promote tourism now that there is a decline in confirmed Covid-19 cases.
Deputy government spokesperson Trisulee Trisaranakul said on Tuesday that the CCSA expects more foreign arrivals during the high season (November to March) and believes measures must be implemented as early as October to ensure all sectors are ready for the influx.
Trisulee added that the Covid-19 situation in Thailand is continuously improving, with the number of confirmed patients being below the 1,000 mark for most of last week, except for Wednesday and Thursday, which saw 1,321 and 1,125 confirmed patients respectively. Covid-related deaths too have dropped to about 10 to 15 people daily. On Tuesday, Thailand recorded 774 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 15 deaths.
Earlier, in a bid to boost tourism the CCSA had greenlighted a scheme allowing visitors to stay longer. The scheme, which lasts from October 1 to March 31, will extend visa-on-arrival for visitors from 18 countries from 15 days to 30 days. Also, visitors from 50 countries who currently get a 30-day stamp under the visa exemption scheme will be able to stay for 45 days.
“More measures will be discussed on Friday to promote tourism as well as prevent infections brought in by visitors,” Traisulee said.
Back in August, then-premier General Prayut Chan-o-cha had announced that the Emergency Decree would be lifted from October 1 and the CCSA dissolved in response to the improving outbreak situation.
As of October 1, Covid-19 is expected to be officially downgraded from “dangerous communicable disease” to "communicable disease under surveillance”.
The 2015 Communicable Disease Act will be the governing law to tackle the Covid-19 outbreak instead of the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situations, which has been in place since March 24, 2020.
