Thailand wants to conduct travel bubble talks with China and Malaysia later this month, just days after reinstating a quarantine-free visa programme aimed at boosting tourist arrivals, which are viewed as critical to the country’s economic recovery.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha’s government will soon discuss with the Chinese Minister for Culture and Tourism details of a possible bilateral travel deal, Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, a government spokesman, said in a statement Monday. Thai officials are also planning to meet with Malaysian officials later this month to discuss a similar deal, he said.
After the waiver of quarantine for vaccinated visitors and the so-called tourism sandbox trials failed to attract a substantial number of tourists in recent months, Thailand is pursuing bilateral accords to jumpstart a larger recovery in its pandemic-wounded tourism industry.
The return of Chinese and Malaysian tourists, the largest groups of visitors to the Southeast Asian nation before the pandemic, is seen by the industry as key to a sustainable rebound.
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