The Thai government has reportedly expected the influx of at least 5-10 million tourists in the kingdom in the third quarter of this year. The expected tourists can also enter the country with no quarantine requirement if they have received the COVID-19 vaccine.
According to Thai PBS, Minister of Tourism and Sports Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn has planned to acquire 5 million doses of the inoculations for personnel in the tourist industry, including hotel and restaurant staffers, in seven leading travel destinations, namely Bangkok, Chonburi, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Krabi, Surat Thani, and Songkla. This policy, he believes, would effectively build up confidence among both the workers and tourists.
Yuthasak Supasorn, the governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, also mentioned the possibility of launching a "vaccine passport" in collaboration with the National Tourist Organization (NTO) in ASEAN. The said passport is intended to allow any inoculated travelers to travel freely in and out of countries in the region without the need to practice 14-day self-isolation, which is aimed to be used in Quarter 3.
All in all, the government admitted that to achieve the anticipated number of travelers in Quarter 3 depends on the traveling policy of the origin countries such as Malaysia, China, and India.