Lockdown revisions for Vietnam and Thailand
It seems that Vietnam might be emerging out of its travel restrictions ahead of the rest of Southeast Asia
While Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced new procedures for the re-entry of non-Thai nationals who legally work in the country, the country will not be allowing international travellers to enter the Kingdom before July at the very earliest.
The Ministry of Affairs details that those who urgently need to enter the Kingdom can now submit an application for a Certificate of Entry to the Royal Thai Embassy or the Royal Thai Consulate-General. Supporting documents for both the application and the port of departure will be required. And upon entry into the country, all arrivals will be subjected to a mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Despite these strict administrative procedures, according to the National Security Council (NSC), the government does plan to completely lift the lockdown of all businesses and activities on 1 July . “This includes interprovincial and international travel, as well as the end of emergency decree and curfew,” the NSC said.
NSC Secretary-General Gen Somsak Roongsita explained that during the next month, officials would be preparing the country for reopening. “Authorities will have serious discussions because after the emergency decree ends, other laws will be used instead,” he said. “People's co-operation is important. This concerns the use of face masks, social distancing, hand washing and limiting activities. As long as the disease is spreading worldwide, we will have to fight against it for some time.”
Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, Vietnam has already begun resuming domestic flights within the country. Vietnam Airlines is understood to be in discussions with the government to resume some international flights in June and the country is also reportedly in talks over instating travel bubbles with China and South Korea.
Vice-Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board Kenneth Atkinson noted that the first ‘bilaterals’ would be with the markets the country needed the most such as China and South Korea. “Then Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan,” he added.