Travel

Thailand ready to welcome foreign tourists under ‘Special Tourist Visa’

Thailand is ready to welcome foreign tourists entering the Kingdom under the Thailand Special Tourist Visa (STV), which is a special visa introduced by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) for long-stay tourists.

Deputy General Manager of Suvarnabhumi Airport Kittipong Kittikachorn said that the first group of 39 Chinese tourists, under STV, arrived in Thailand on 20 October 2020 from Shanghai.

These tourists have passed the COVID-19 screening process and have agreed to compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures, set by the Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health. They must also enter alternative state quarantine for 14 days.

Suvarnabhumi Airport has been working with the Ministry of Public Health and other relevant agencies in setting guidelines for their joint operations in accordance with the Government’s STV scheme and COVID-19 measures.

For instance, screening areas have been arranged at the international disease control checkpoint. A laboratory has been prepared for checking for COVID-19 with the PCR testing system, which provides quick and accurate results in detecting the virus within 90 minutes.

According to TAT, after completing the 14-day quarantine and testing negative for COVID-19, STV holders are free to travel anywhere around Thailand, with a mobile tracking application that will track their location. However, they are not allowed to change or convert the STV into any other type of visa during the duration of their stay in Thailand.

TAT stated that another group of Chinese visitors would arrive in Bangkok from Guangzhou on 26 October, and Thai Airways International plans to fly in another group of Chinese visitors on 28 October.

This article is taken from Thai PRD
Photo: VOA