Thailand’s plans for travellers

Thailand has launched a website for inbound travellers and a new vaccine passport for its outbound citizens.

Thailand has created a new website geared towards guiding travellers through the process of entering the country at a time when changes can be daily.

The website provides information for vaccinated travellers along with a list of the seven vaccines that Thailand currently accepts.

The country has also launched its own version of a digital vaccine passport.

Details are unclear but the government has confirmed that it can be used by vaccinated travellers as an official document when travelling to other countries.

While most countries are using digital passports, the Thai one is paper, which may not be acceptable to countries because of the forgery risk.

On the cover of the approved vaccine passport format there is Thai-English text that reads “Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand”, a Garuda emblem and more text reading “Covid-19 Certificate of Vaccination”.

The name of the vaccination certificate holder and their passport or national identification number is typed in English, certifying that the certificate holder has already been vaccinated against Covid-19.

Only individuals vaccinated with vaccines registered in Thailand or those certified by the World Health Organisation will be issued with the vaccine passport, while the signature of an authorised disease control official is required to validate the passport.

Legislation for the vaccine passport has been announced in the Royal Thai Gazette, which means it is now law.

Thailand is reworking its vaccine strategy. A month-long soft lockdown to contain its worst wave of Covid-19 infections is deepening an economic crisis and risking plans to open the crucial tourism industry.

Under 2% of the population has been vaccinated and most hotels on Phuket have closed again; many will not re-open until October while others may never re-open.