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Thailand Approves Rapid Antigen Tests for Foreign Arrivals
For fast COVID-19 testing and visitor convenience, the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) in Thailand decided that visitors could undergo rapid antigen tests upon arrival instead of RT-PCR tests.
The rapid antigen tests measure is only applicable to air arrivals.
Visitors from countries eligible for the Test & Go program must have been fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus and their RT-PCR tests must show negative results 72 hours prior to arriving in Thailand. From December 16, visitors will be able to undergo rapid antigen tests instead of RT-PCR tests.
Read: Bangkok to Setup Covid-19 Swab Hubs to Test Tourists
According to Dr. Taweesilp Visanuyothin, CCSA approved the same measure for immigrants crossing the border at the Nong Khai border checkpoint only, beginning Dec 24.
Those who are fully immunized and have a negative RT-PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before arrival do not need to quarantine.
The Test and Go immigration policy is also available for arrivals by sea, but they must undergo an RT-PCR test first.
There have been a very small number of infected visitors who arrived through the “Test and Go” process, according to Taweesilp. 64,493 fully vaccinated visitors arrived through the Test and Go program from Nov 1 to 25, and only 45, or 0.08%, of them, had COVID-19.
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