Thailand to boost travel bubble talks with China, Malaysia

Thailand planned to negotiate bilateral travel agreements with neighbours China and Malaysia this month as part of its efforts to promote tourism recovery in the coming time, according to Thai Government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana.

A man rides a horse at Cha-Am Beach in Phetchaburi province, Thailand (Photo: Reuters)

Wangboonkongchana said China has agreed to discuss a travel bubble programme with Thailand, and will work with the Southeast Asian nation to determine the number of people allowed to travel between the two countries, and issues related to visas, domestic travel and insurance.

The announcement comes after Thailand resumed its "Test & Go" quarantine-free scheme, which allows fully-vaccinated foreign tourists to stay for just one night in hotel while waiting for their test results.

This scheme helped Thailand attract about 350,000 visitors in just two months before it was suspended on January 7 due to the spread of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19.

The Thai government believes that the country's well-equipped public health system can cope with the situation after the "Test & Go" scheme is resumed.

The Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports hopes the resumption of this programme will allow Thailand to attract 8 million tourists this year.

It said that Thailand wants to continue tourism bubble initiatives, especially with neighbouring countries such as Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia and China./.

VNA