The first day of Thailand's reopening to fully vaccinated visitors saw 61 commercial flights land at Suvarnabhumi airport with just over 3,000 passengers arriving on Monday, plus 3,613 at other international airports.

Suvarnabhumi airport's general manager said the majority of the flights arrived from Europe. Out of the 3,000-plus travellers who arrived on Monday, about 2,300 were foreign tourists while the rest were Thai returnees.

The manager said that while he was satisfied with the reopening, there was some congestion reported at screening stations, where passengers' vaccination documents were checked before they were allowed to proceed.

According to the Transport Ministry's estimates, about 3,260 international flights will arrive at Suvarnabhumi airport this month, carrying 135,407 passengers, while 3,241 international flights will depart with 135,122 passengers.

A government spokesman said that by Friday, 27 airlines will have conducted flights to and from Suvarnabhumi, Phuket, Samui and Chiang Mai airports, with 15,230 passengers from 26 countries.

The first flight which arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport under the new rules was an All Nippon Airways flight from Tokyo, with 11 foreigners and 32 Thais on board.

Passengers were required to undergo strict Covid-19 screening upon arriving at the airport, which was conducted by airport staff in PPE suits.

Among those who arrived on the first day of Thailand's reopening to vaccinated visitors was a family of four from Frankfurt, who told the Bangkok Post they were excited to be back in Thailand after two years.