The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) will next week consider a further easing of the ban on foreign visitors entering Thailand, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Tuesday.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Gen Prayut, who chairs the CCSA, said that the cabinet discussed the possibility of further relaxation to allow foreign businessmen who run major businesses to enter Thailand to conduct their transactions, though under strict health safety measures.
The matter will be raised at a meeting of the CCSA next week, Gen Prayut said.
Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Tuesday that the prime minister has instructed the ministry to work with the CCSA to come up with measures to prepare for the arrival of foreign visitors to ensure public health safety and keep the economy functioning at the same time.
He said that it is necessary for trade and business talks to continue while foreign experts must also fly in to operate machinery at industrial plants in Thailand.
In other news, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan has allowed some groups of Thais to re-enter the country, effective from July 29, according to a statement issued by the Thai embassy in Tokyo.
The first group comprises those who are on short-term stays for business.
The other group consists of those who enter Japan through the "residence track", which includes business managers, intra-company transfers, engineers, specialists in humanities, those working in international services, nursing care, highly-skilled professionals, technical training interns, specified skilled workers, and designated activities (start-ups).
Further details are available on the website of the Japanese embassy in Thailand https://www.th.emb-japan.go.jp.
Meanwhile, the CCSA on Tuesday reported one new case of Covid-19, a Russian woman in quarantine who had arrived in the country on July 20 , and no new deaths.
No cases of local transmission of the novel coronavirus have been reported for the past 71 days.
