Thailand Moves to a One-Night Quarantine Requirement for Vaccinated Visitors

For the first time in more than 18 months, Thailand is allowing travelers to skip a lengthy mandatory hotel quarantine.

Starting today, Thailand will allow vaccinated travelers from “low-risk countries,” a category that includes both the United States and Canada, to skip a lengthy hotel quarantine. Instead, vaccinated travelers will now be required to stay just one night at a government-approved hotel where they will await the results of their COVID-19 tests.

Those travelers will still be required to show a number of documents—proof of vaccination, a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours, a confirmed payment for their one-night stay, and proof of an insurance policy with coverage no less than $50,000.

All those documents can be uploaded to the Thailand Pass website prior to travel. Once approved, travelers will get a QR code to show Health Control upon arrival before undergoing the PCR test and then heading to their government hotel.

Travelers who had been previously infected within 3 months will only need to show proof of one dose of an approved vaccine received at least 14 days before travel. Children under 12-years-old will be exempt from the vaccine requirement.

Those who are not fully vaccinated will still be required to quarantine for 10-days upon arrival at one of those government-approved hotels.

The news comes just ahead of the traditional busiest tourist season for Thailand. The nation is still dealing with the second half of a late-summer COVID-19 peak, and vaccination rates are below 50%, however, the country is hoping that vaccinated tourists coming into the country won’t impact its fight against the pandemic.  

It is also hoping the news helps spark its beleaguered hotel industry that, according to reports, suffered a loss of more than 50% of the country’s hotels during the pandemic.

Thailand is also hoping to take lessons from its “Phuket Sandbox” pilot program, launched at the beginning of July. That program gave fully vaccinated visitors from over 60 countries, including the U.S. and Canada, the opportunity to enter Phuket without quarantine requirements. For a minimum of two weeks, visitors were free to explore the island.