Thai tourism body calls for restrictions to be lifted

The Tourism Council of Thailand has called for a further lifting of travel restrictions in a bid to lift visitor numbers. 

Thailand’s tourism industry is still in a "comatose" state, TCT President Chamnan Srisawat said.

The TCT is proposing that the Government scraps the Thailand Pass scheme and ditches the mandatory PCR test on arrival in favour of the more convenient ATK tests. 

It says that these measures Thailand can attract about16 million foreign visitors this year, Travel Mole reported.

Chamnan noted that many countries - including the US and several European and Asian nations - have been relaxing entry restrictions in order to rejuvenate their tourism sectors.

He urged the Thai Government to consider similar moves, insisting that once these restrictions are relaxed, several sectors will immediately benefit. 

These could include construction, real estate, agriculture and food, as well as the healthcare and wellness sectors. 

“Tourism operators are still struggling to maintain business as the number of tourists has yet to fully rebound due to the current travel rules," Chamnan told local media. "This obstacle needs to be removed before more operators collapse.”

The TCT president said the agency aims to attract at least 16 million foreign visitors to Thailand and 75 million local travellers. 

Image: Winsor Dobbin, Krabi