CHASING THE ENDGAME
UNDER PRESSURE, OFFICIALS CALL FOR EASING ENTRY MEASURES FOR TOURISTS
Phuket officials will petition the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) for permission to reduce the quarantine/ isolation period for people who test positive for COVID-19 from 10 days to five days.
They will also request to no longer include ‘Green’ patients ‒ that is, those who experience little to know symptoms of infection ‒ in their daily reports.
The request will ask the CCSA ‒ the sole regulatory body regarding all matters related to COVID-19 in the country ‒ permission for Phuket officials to report only patients designated as ‘Yellow’ or ‘Red’, or who had died as a result of a COVID-19 infection.
The news came at a meeting of the Phuket Provincial Communicable Disease Committee chaired by Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew on Monday (Feb 21).
According to a report of the meeting published by the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department (PR Phuket), at the meeting there was no mention of a request to declare COVID-19 an “endemic” disease in Phuket, meaning COVID-19 infections would be treated like any other disease ‒ despite widespread English and Thai news reports last Sunday citing Phuket Vice Governor Pichet Panapong as revealing that Phuket provincial officials will ask the CCSA to declare COVID-19 “endemic” in Phuket.
Of note, the report by PR Phuket did not deny that the reports of Vice Governor Pichet announcing the move to have COVID-19 declared endemic in Phuket were accurate.
At the meeting on Monday, Vice Governor Pichet sat in his usual position, by the Governor’s right hand.
“Phuket would be delighted to be the first province for the declaration,” Vice Governor Pichet said last Sunday (Feb 20), reported the Bangkok Post.
“I hope this will help alleviate concerns about the virus and [shift] focus to economic restoration instead.”
Regarding the request to reduce the quarantine period from 10 to five days, V/Gov Pichet said, “In the first five days, an infected person should be required to quarantine at home, a hospitel or hospital before being permitted to resume their lives for another five days under strict COVID-19 prevention measures to solve work leave issues.”
The daily report on the number of new COVID-19 infections should be cancelled and instead focus on reports of moderate-to-severe cases, he added.
At the meeting on Monday, Dr Kusak Kukiattikoon, Chief of the Phuket Provincial Public Health...
...Office (PPHO), repeated that most current cases of people in Phuket testing positive for COVID-19 were ‘Green’ patients.
The move by Governor Narong to request more eased measures for tourists came days after Tourism Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn publicly announced that the his ministry and the TAT will propose that the second mandatory RT-PCR test be rolled back to an antigen test kit, as it was before the current regime of entry requirements were brought into effect to counter the Omicron variant being brought into the country.
If approved, the new rule will be applied from next month (Mar 1), Mr Phiphat said.
“The plan to eliminate all RT-PCR testing upon arrival will be made once the country officially declares COVID-19 an endemic disease,” he added.
PRESSURE
Leading tourism figures in Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi have joined the call led by Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, President of the Thai Hotels Association, for the government to ease entry requirements for tourists to give the economy a much-needed boost with a formal request addressed to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, copied to Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
Signatories to the request included Phuket Tourist Association President Bhummikitti Ruktaengam; Phuket Tourism Council Chairman Thanet Tantipiriyakit; and Kongsak Khoopongsakorn, President of the Thai Hotels Association Southern Chapter, based in Phuket.
Also copied to the request were the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Tourism and Sports; Secretary General
of the National Security Council and the Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
The request pointed out how far Thailand is falling behind in easing COVID restrictions.
“Many countries around the world, especially European countries which are the main tourism source markets during the high season, have declared
COVID-19 endemic. Such countries include Sweden, Denmark, Norway, England and Switzerland. They have cancelled almost all measures to control the COVID-19, such as RT-PCR testing, quarantine and so on.
“And countries in the Asia-Pacific region have gradually adjusted their travel measures, such as the Philippines cancelled COVID checks on arrival since Feb
10. The only thing left to show are documents proving vaccine injection and RT-PCR examination test results issued 48 hours before travelling,” the request noted, adding that Cambodia, Taiwan, Vietnam and Japan were also all announcing the easing of entry measures.
“The easing of these measures by these countries will make Thailand begin to lose the ability to compete in tourism on the world stage, that is, tourists will choose to travel to a country that does not have any measures instead of travelling to Thailand,” the request said.
In light of the above reality deeply affecting Thailand’s tourism industry, the request sought four immediate key changes, as follows:
• To cancel the requirement for the second RT-PCR test on Day 5 of tourist’s stay in the country, as the rate of infections from these tests were less than current local infections and would provide cost savings for tourists.
• Reduce the quarantine period for those who test positive from 10 days to only five days.
• Cancel the quarantine measure for high-risk contacts if they tested negative on the first day of their stay.
• Reduce the travel insurance requirement from US$50,000 to US$D25,000.
The request further suggested, “In March, consider declaring COVID an endemic disease in line with the guidelines that other countries around the world have begun to implement, and abolish immigration screening measures, such as requesting a Thailand Pass and the first RT-PCR screening so that tourists can travel to Thailand easily and increase the volume of tourists as close as possible to the pre-COVID period.”