The government will relax entry rules for foreign visitors starting next month.

Vaccinated arrivals to Thailand will not be required to take an RT-PCR test on the fifth day of the arrival starting March 1. Instead, they can do an ATK test, scrapping the need to have a hotel reservation for day five.    

The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) also lowered the minimum medical insurance coverage for visitors to no less than $20,000 from $50,000.

The government is making it easier for travellers to visit the country after nearly two years of curbs hit the tourism industry.

While Thailand is battling a spike in Omicron-led Covid cases, the low mortality rate compared to the Delta wave means healthcare facilities can cope, the CCSA said.   

The vast majority of new cases were locally transmitted, Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said, with approximately one in a thousand arrivals testing positive.

Asked whether hospitals were prepared to accommodate more Covid-19 patients, Mr Anutin said all measures have been put in place.

He told people to get vaccinated, and avoid going to parties and other crowded places.