A new survey conducted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) showed that the vast majority of Finns request a removal of the 14-day quarantine or they simply will not travel to Thailand. The results in TAT’s survey, which was conducted with several groups of foreigners, plays a key role in TAT’s efforts of implementing a vaccine passport to Thailand.
TAT’s survey showed that 68 percent of the Finnish people indicated that they would not take any trips to a country that still had a mandatory quarantine policy and 99 percent of Finnish people said that vaccines were important concerning traveling abroad.
According to TAT, Thailand needs to have a clear-cut plan on a vaccine passport by June if plans to reopen the international market by the fourth quarter are kept.
To Bangkok Post, Siripakorn Cheawsamoot, TAT deputy governor for Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas, said that the government policy would have a tremendous effect on international market plans, particularly on the long-haul market, which is progressing rapidly in terms of mass vaccination programs.
Siripakorn Cheawsamoot added that 62 percent of the Finns surveyed said they would choose Thailand as their ideal destination in the winter but a group of 20 Finnish tourists who had booked inbound trips under the new golf quarantine scheme this month has postponed their plans due to uncertainties over the quarantine period the first 3 to 5 days of arriving.
“Those surveys told us that the government must accelerate a concrete plan for a vaccine passport by June to receive inoculated tourists, or else we could miss a huge opportunity as some countries have already started a quarantine-free program for vaccinated travelers,” Siripakorn Cheawsamoot said.
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