The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) stressed that all airlines must strictly check the Certificate of Entry (CoE) of all foreign passengers before they arrive in Thailand, in compliance with the Foreign Ministry's screening guidelines.
The CoE is a letter issued by a Thai embassy or consulate which allows a foreign visa holder to enter Thailand aboard a special repatriation flight, chartered flight, or semi-commercial flight.
The order came after the ministry moved to suspend the issuance of CoEs for foreigners from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal, on Monday, since a Thai returnee travelling from Pakistan was found to have contracted the highly contagious Covid-19 strain spreading in India. The person is currently in state quarantine.
The CAAT said airlines that allowed foreigners to travel to Thailand without a CoE will be held responsible for transporting them back to their countries of origin.
The variant from India, named B.1.617.1, was first detected in October before spreading to other countries. Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh were among the nations on the subcontinent which have reported the variant.
Thailand has barred foreign arrivals from India since the beginning of this month due to worries about this contagious Covid-19 strain spreading. In Southeast Asia, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia have also detected cases caused by the same variant.
