Thailand has added the UK, USA and several other countries to list of countries it regards as being ‘high risk’ due to the ongoing coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic.
On 13 March 2020, at 19.00 Hrs, the Public Health Ministry’s Department of Disease Control updated its list of countries with ‘ongoing local transmission’.
This list now includes Japan, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the UK and USA.
According to an update posted on the Tourism Authority of Thailand website on 14 March, travellers arriving in Thailand from these countries are expected to “ensure self-monitoring for no less than 14 days”.
The statement regarding countries with ‘ongoing local transmission’ reads:
Travellers arriving from the countries with ongoing local transmission are required to be under observation (supervision without quarantine) in order to ensure self-monitoring for no less than 14 days until the end of the infectious period or the reason for suspicion.
- Travellers must record their own symptoms in the reporting system and monitor their symptoms strictly as required by the MOPH.
- The traveller must notify the disease control officer about the places he/she visits so that a surveillance officer can closely monitor his/her movement and contacts.
- If a traveller feels sick or suspects that he/she has a fever accompanied by at least one of the symptoms; such as, cough, runny nose, sore throat, and shortness of breath within 14 days of arrival into Thailand, he/she must inform a disease control officer immediately upon the symptoms onset or upon suspecting illness to be tested, treated, clinically diagnosed, isolated or quarantined.
According to the Department of Disease Control, self-monitoring involves: “Body temperature screening twice a day, every day since arriving in Thailand, for a total of 14 days. If you have fever with respiratory symptoms, report to the local health authority”.
Travellers who fail to comply face fines up to 100,000 baht and/or one year in jail.
Meanwhile, as reported previously, travellers from ‘Disease Infected Zones’, such as China – including Hong Kong and Macau, Italy, Iran and South Korea, are required to have a visa prior to entering Thailand.
Travellers from the aforementioned countries also need to provide a medical certificate confirming they are not infected with COVID-19. Failure to provide a ticket will result in them being denied boarding.
Travellers from ‘Disease Infected Zones’ must then undergo a mandatory self-quarantine at their accommodation for 14 days, where their condition will be closely monitored by health officials.
The update from TAT also linked to a Q&A for travellers coming to Thailand: Q&A regarding the Measures for Travellers.
The news comes as Thailand on Saturday announced seven new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of reported cases in the country to 82. The new cases included people who had recently returned from Japan.
