THAI needs health slips:
High-risk flyers must prove ‘clear’ status
Thai Airways International (THAI) will now require passengers departing from China, Italy and South Korea to present health certificates before they are issued boarding passes.
The airline announced the restriction on its website.
The statement, also posted on Facebook via THAI president Sumeth Damrongchaitham, said passengers joining flights in areas seriously hit by coronavirus (Covid-19) must present the health certificates to prove they are free of the disease.
THAI staff will issue boarding passes only to passengers with certificates in compliance with an instruction from the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand, he said.
The measure applies to passengers departing from all airports in virus-affected countries that THAI planes visit.
It currently applies to Seoul and Busan in South Korea; Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Shanghai in China; and Milan and Rome in Italy, Mr Sumeth said.
The situation has prompted THAI to temporarily cancel its Bangkok-Milan flights from March 13 to 31.
It is also reportedly considering halting flights to Rome after Italy decided to extend its shutdown in the northern region of Lombardy, which includes Milan, to cover the whole country.
THAI Smile, a subsidiary budget airline of THAI, will also require passengers flying from Hong Kong to Thailand to present health certificates, THAI Smile chief executive officer Charita Leelayudth said.
However, this regulation will only apply to passengers who have been in the territory for more than 14 days.
In related news, the Culture Ministry is preparing to encourage people to make the Songkran festival a “closed” activity after the cabinet decided not to cancel the celebration in mid-April. following the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s announcement on Monday that state-sponsored and many privately run Songkran parties had been called off.
Culture Minister Itthiphol Kunplome said after the cabinet meeting yesterday the festival must be held in accordance with public health measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
To be in line with its instruction, the ministry is preparing to recommend people hold “an intimate version of the Songkran festival in their homes”, Mr Itthiphol said.
They can continue the spirit of Songkran by sprinkling water onto Buddha images in their houses and pouring water on the hands of their parents and elderly people to ask for blessings.
“It’s better to avoid going out to splash water,” the minister said, adding more than half of outdoor festive activities have been cancelled already.