Chinese government tweet hints at return of tourists to Thailand

The tweet by Hua Chunying came after the Chinese government announced that travellers will no longer have to be in quarantine from January 8 onwards.

"We have been waiting for you for 3 years! Warm invitations flowing in from Thailand, UAE, Israel, Seychelles, Austria, Iceland, Poland, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Montenegro, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland, Serbia, Spain, Chile, Australia, New Zealand…" Hua Chunying said on her Twitter.

In response to the possible return of Chinese tourists, Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn has proposed that the Thai government provide free Covid-19 booster shots to travellers so as to increase collective immunity.

"This is similar to the situation when Thai citizens went abroad to get booster doses and travel at the same time, " added Phiphat.

Chinese tourists who are considering visiting Thailand responded favourably on social media to the campaign. Though, some people continued to be worried about the pandemic.

However, a negative RT-PCR report has been made mandatory for arrivals from China in countries such as US, Japan, and Malaysia as the number of Chinese Covid-19 patients is still murky.

With Chinese tourists spending about US$127.5 billion abroad, China was the largest outbound travel market in 2019