Thailand's Public Health Emergency Operation Centre has approved the proposal to reduce the mandatory quarantine period for tourists under the special tourist visa (STV), including those from Viet Nam, from 14 to 10 days.

Local media quoted permanent secretary for public health Kiattiphum Wongrajit as saying that it was agreed the reduction should apply to visitors from countries and territories with low risk of Covid-19 transmission.

If visitors are from countries assessed to have higher risk than Thailand, they will still be subject to the 14-day quarantine period, Kiattiphum said.

He explained that testing of Covid-19 is carried out on the first, second, third, seventh, eighth, ninth and eleventh days after arrival, and any infection is usually detected during the first 10 days.

However, chances of detecting infections after 10 days of quarantine are slim. Of 1 million people tested, only 1.5 persons were found to be infected, Mr Kiattiphum said. He added that the chances of finding infections after 14 days of quarantine are 0.3 out of 1 million.

He said the proposal will be submitted to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) for endorsement.

Meanwhile, Thailand’s Public Health Ministry and the Tourism and Sports Ministry are planning to propose to the Centre for Economic Situation Administration (CESA) to offer foreigners from some Asian countries and territories such as China, the Republic of Korea, and Taiwan (China) to spend their quarantine time in golf resorts.

According to the CCSA, Thailand has so far reported 3,830 Covid-19 infections with 60 deaths.

Source: VNA