Today, the government officially restarted the "Test & Go" scheme, a quarantine waiver programme for international visitors which was first launched in November last year
The scheme -- which was suspended early last month due to the threat posed by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus -- had been well-received by visitors, as under the arrangement, they would only have to spend one night in a certified hotel while they waited for the result of their RT-PCR test, as opposed to staying for at least a week under previous rules. Those who tested negative for Covid-19 would then be allowed to leave and explore the rest of the country.
Under the relaunched scheme, travellers will now be required to take two RT-PCR tests -- the first upon arriving in Thailand, while the second is to be taken five days after arriving -- and spend those nights at a certified hotel while they wait for the result.
Given the lower-than-expected Covid-19 case load in recent weeks and encouraging vaccination rates, the government made the right decision to reinstate the programme.
That said, the government cannot afford to be complacent. The latest cluster of infections in Chaiyaphum showed how a little slip-up can lead to mass contagion. Furthermore, the recent discovery of a new sub-variant of the Omicron strain in Thailand showed that the Covid pandemic won't be over soon -- or in the words of the World Health Organization last week, "far from over".
The government must reflect on its inconsistent policies and disastrous communication strategy over the past two years, which have caused many people to lose faith in its ability to contain the disease.
Indeed, news of embarrassing failures to track down travellers at Covid risk are still vivid in the public's memory. Despite Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul's assurances that the ministry had upgraded MorChana, a mobile tracing app which tracks all travellers who entered the kingdom under Test & Go, the outcome proved to be completely different.
Last year, authorities spent days looking for 272 travellers from eight Covid-prone countries in southern Africa which had entered the country on Nov 15. The ministry relied on the tracing app to find them, but was only able to locate 44 travellers and give them RT-PCR tests.
The frantic search for a male tourist who evaded Covid-19 regulations just before Christmas further showed that the authorities' statements about its Covid tracing system are just a load of hot air. This time, authorities had to call in the police to trace the infected tourist' whereabouts, without success.
The tourist, who ran away from a hotel in Bangkok to Koh Samui, finally turned himself in after police in Bangkok issued a warrant and began a public manhunt to have him arrested.
The latest embarrassment came just after New Year, when authorities scrambled to find two infected tourists who left a hospital in Chon Buri.
Instead of using the tracing app that both tourists had already downloaded, the Ministry of Public Health once again publicly announced the case, ruining its own image.
In addition to making sure the tracing system is in place and workable, authorities must also ensure that certified hotels strictly enforce disease control rules. In reality, some certified hotels are known to allow tourists to sneak out before their test results come back.
All authorities concerned must learn from past mistakes. Failure to do so will make the new Test & Go scheme just another headache for the government.
