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Thailand: Foreign visitors hit with more obstacles
Russian and European tourists started booking rooms at Alternative State Local Quarantine (ASLQ) hotels in Pattaya of Chon Buri province, but were then blocked from organising flights to the kingdom after Thai Consulate-Generals said they were only allowed to quarantine in Bangkok and its surrounding areas.
Thanet Supornsahasrungsi, president of the Chon Buri Tourism Council, told media on Wednesday that the ASLQ hotels in Chon Buri had passed health standards, adding that Russian and European guests had already booked their rooms.
According to the consulates, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has blocked ASLQs altogether, so the large number of foreign tourists who booked the hotels in Pattaya to quarantine for 14 days and stay, failed, he said.
Mr Thanet said that the Special Tourism Visa (STV), initiated by the government to allow foreign visitors to enter the country as a way to offset the economic losses caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic, has hit a stumbling block once more. There are not enough rooms in hotels in the Alternative State Quarantine (ASQ) category in Bangkok and its surroundings. This was a reason why ASLQs were launched in the provinces, yet the CCSA still blocked quarantines in provinces outside Bangkok.
In Pattaya, 13 hotels have currently applied to to the quarantine programme, while only three have passed the state’s criteria to control the disease; nonetheless, guests who booked in those three hotels will not be allowed to enter, he said.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2006035/foreign-visitors-hit-with-more-obstacles