First Tourism Flight From China to Arrive in Thailand on January 9th

Thailand-

Chinese tourists will be arriving in Thailand on the first flight of tourists in almost three years on January 9^th, 2023.

Our previous stories:

No more mandatory quarantine. No more restrictions on flights. A negative testing result 48 hours before the trip is the only Covid requirement to travel to China as of January 8th.

The Minister of Public Health and Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said to the Thai media yesterday, (January 5^th), “Countries that need Covid – 19 testing before going back to their countries also must have health insurance before coming to Thailand. This is because when they test positive with Covid -19 before traveling back, they have to be treated in Thailand. Hotels have to facilitate for an RT-PCR test.”

However, not all details on this plan have yet been released. Some background data below:

Chinese visitors can finally more easily return to Thailand effective Sunday, January 8th, and one of the most excited parties is Pattaya tourism officials and business owners.

Led by Minister of Public Health and Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, multiple government agencies agreed in principle this afternoon, January 5th, 2023, to more stringent Covid requirements for visitors to Thailand.

The Minister of Tourism and Sports, Mr. Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, stated to the press, “The first flight from China is from Xiamen Airlines which is a direct flight from Xiamen to Suvarnabhumi Airport and will be full with 200 passengers who will arrive on January 9^th.”

Mr. Suttipong Kongpool, the director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand said, “There will be up to 20 flights per day from China in the first three months of this year arriving at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Phuket International Airport and Chiang Mai International Airport. Each flight will contain about 200 passengers which will be about 4,000 passengers per day.”

Mr. Thanet Petchsuwan, Deputy Governor of Marketing in Asia and the South Pacific Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) stated “We are expecting 300,000 visitors from China to be arriving in Thailand in the first quarter of this year. There will be 60,000 Chinese visitors in January, 90,000 visitors in February and 150,000 in March. This year we estimate will bring five million Chinese visitors.”

“Chinese tourists are being marketed by Thailand to come back as ‘Revenge Travelers’. One of our tourism plans to attract Chinese tourists is to bring Chinese celebrities to Thailand. This strategy was successful before Covid -19.” Thanet concluded.

China’s borders, including for citizens leaving for tourism, were basically closed for three years due to their Covid Zero policy, which ended late last year.

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