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Thailand will allow foreign tourists to visit for longer stays from October, a senior official said on Friday, as the government tries to revive a key economic sector that has been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Tourists will have to stay for at least 30 days, with the first 14 days in quarantine in a limited vicinity of their hotel, before they can visit other areas, Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Yuthasak Supasorn told Reuters.

Visitors will have to take two coronavirus tests during quarantine before they are able to travel to the rest of the island, Minister of Tourism and Sports Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, said on Thursday.

Staff will also have to remain in the hotel, he added.

Visitors will have to take an additional test and remain within the province for another week before they can travel to other parts of the country.

I saw this too, not sure this is official and approved yet. Will be interesting to see how many really take this up. Kinda demanding on the staff, too, not being able to leave the hotel, but I guess many will prefer that over not having a job & income at all. 

Maybe this model might be a route for people on retirement visa/extension to return to Thailand. First as "Phuket tourists" as described in the article, and after that simply stay as per normal under the retirement permission. Not the cheapest way, sure, but sounds doable. And better than the 300k Baht ordeal that dutch guy went through. 

Yup, this is a better option than the current one. And if its true, youd want to queue for it as soon as possible, given the current queue to return is outrageous. And seems like this one is the first that doesnt require a special visa too. Its a way in for many, but definitely not for short term visitor.

I doubt this policy will revive the tourist industry.

it's not supposed to revive it, just to throw a life line. And, if successful (in terms of not getting an outbreak from it), possibly serve as a model for the rest of Thailand. How successful in terms of number of takers it might be, I am rather doubtful too. Like I said in my earlier post, stranded expats rather than real tourists might be the main takers and beneficiaries.