Bangkok prepares for tourists

A worker cleans Don Mueang, one of the airports to reopen for fully vaccinated travellers on Monday. (Photo: Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)
A worker cleans Don Mueang, one of the airports to reopen for fully vaccinated travellers on Monday. (Photo: Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)

About 300,000 foreign tourists are expected to visit Bangkok in each of the next two months after the capital reopens, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

At a meeting, TAT officials stressed that foreign visitors must book hotels that are collaborating with hospitals which provide Covid-19 testing so they can be admitted immediately in the event of a positive result.

In case tourists arrive in large numbers, "swab hubs" will be set up near airports to carry out tests upon their arrival in the capital. This will help reduce their travelling time and overcrowding at airports, said TAT.

Officials from City Hall's health department also told the meeting that everyone who is registered as living in Bangkok has now received their first shot of Covid-19 vaccine while 75.5% have been given two shots. This is expected to climb to 80% in the coming days.

During the meeting a plan was also approved to handle and provide treatment to foreign visitors who become infected with Covid-19 during their trip, as well as another plan to set up a command centre to oversee the capital's reopening.

However, the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) is concerned about the risk of a new surge if the consumption of alcoholic drinks widely resumes on Dec 1.

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Vocabulary

  • climb: increase -
  • collaborate: to work together with someone else - ร่วมมือ
  • consumption: using, eating or drinking something - การบริโภค
  • hub: the central and most important part of a particular place or activity - จุดศูนย์กลาง, จุดรวม
  • immediately (adv): happening right after something else with no delay; right away - ทันที
  • overcrowding (noun): having too many people or things in something ซึ่งแออัดยัดเยียด - ซึ่งแออัดยัดเยียด
  • register: to put your name and other information on an official list in order to be allowed to do something, e.g., vote, study, stay in a hotel etc - ลงทะเบียน
  • resume: to begin again after stopping for a period of time - ดำเนินต่อไปใหม่, กลับมาอีกครั้ง
  • stress: to emphasise something such as an idea, fact or detail; to explain why something is important - เน้น
  • surge: a sudden increase in something - การเพิ่มขึ้นอย่างรวดเร็ว
  • swab (noun): an act of taking a sample from somebody's body, with a swab - การเก็บตัวอย่างโดยใช้ฟองน้ำ ผ้า สำลีหรือวัตถุซับอื่น ๆ
  • treatment: the process of providing medical care - การรักษา
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