The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has tightened its health inspections on airport arrivals and warned it will turn away incoming passengers who fail to meet health documentation requirements.
The warning came after the CAAT discussed border screening issues with the Airlines Operation Committee (AOC), Suvarnabhumi airport, Immigration Bureau, disease control officials and more than 90 airlines, said a source in the CAAT.
The meeting said airlines must thoroughly check the documents of passengers entering Thailand to help heighten the efficiency of health review measures performed prior to their arrival in the kingdom.
On 11th November, the CAAT issued a regulation requiring airlines to check if passengers heading to Thailand have all essential health-related documents in order before issuing them a boarding pass.
The documents include an RT-PCR certificate issued 72 hours prior to travel and registration with the Thailand Pass system under the Test & Go and the sandbox programmes.
If a passenger is missing any documents, they will not receive a boarding pass.
The source said airlines that fail to comply with this regulation will be subject to a warning. Repeat offenders may face more severe punishments or fines.
The airlines were informed of these actions and have all been cooperating, the source added.
Upon arrival in Thailand, those who are joining the Phuket sandbox programme must also produce all related health documents so they can be checked.
Anyone with missing documents will be directed to a designated area of the airport where they must wait to be sent back to the country where they last boarded.
The strict measure comes into effect as the registration for the “Test & Go” programme for inbound travellers was suspended after a surge in local Omicron variant cases. Prior to that, about 200,000 people registered for the programme and 110,000 received approval, with the rest pending review.