The tourism index in the first quarter remains depressed due to the Omicron variant and the Russia-Ukraine war.

According to a Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) survey, which polled 200 international travellers during Feb 20-March 10, some 71% agreed that the RT-PCR test upon arrival is a troublesome process while visiting Thailand.

Meanwhile, TCT's recent tourism confidence index in the first quarter this year stood at 44, higher than 36 last March, but still down from 47 iat the end of 2021.

A reading below 100 indicates low confidence in the industry.

The poll, which was conducted among 740 operators during Feb 20-March 10, also found that entertainment venues, which have been affected the most by pandemic curbs, have the lowest confidence at only 20, down from 41 in the same period last year.

The TCT said said Thai tourism must retain 40% of 2019's level or 1.2 trillion baht this year from 16 million international tourists and 75 million domestic trips to sustain the whole industry.

Thus, the government has to quickly scrap travel regulations, removing the complicated Thailand Pass and RT-PCR tests to ease travel as soon as possible.