The expected restart of the Test & Go tourism scheme in February should allow the country to attract at least 8 million tourists this year, says the Tourism and Sports Ministry.

Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said his ministry plans to push for the resumption of the quarantine-free Test & Go scheme next month.

The proposal is scheduled for discussion at the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration meeting on Jan 20.

He said the public should be confident about the country reopening to vaccinated tourists because the Public Health Ministry is capable of containing an outbreak, as the number of new infections stabilised at 7,000-8,000 for 14 days after the New Year holiday.

Moreover, the number of patients with severe symptoms remains low, with the fatality rate at only 10-20 per day.

Concerns about the severity of the Omicron variant have reduced, said Mr Phiphat.

He said each major tourism province has to prepare hotel isolation for asymptomatic tourists who test positive, while tourists have to take two RT-PCR tests.

Mr Phiphat said while 5-15 million international arrivals is the target this year, 8 million appears the most likely, generating 480 billion baht.