Covid vaccination rate ahead of Nov tourism reopening

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At a Thailand beach, a tourist is seen sitting on a swing.

Come Monday, Thailand will be lifting quarantine restrictions for travelers from more than 40 countries — even though less than half its population has been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

According to Our World in Data, only 42% of Thailand’s population had been fully inoculated against Covid-19 as of October 27th. Comparatively, more than 70% of the population in other regions like Singapore, Malaysia, and Cambodia have been fully vaccinated against Covid.

All three Southeast Asian countries as well as Australia, China and Australia are included in this list. Thailand’s list of approved countriesThe country is preparing to reopen its doors to tourists Nov. 1.

Following the announcement last week, Bank of America economists said it was good news for Thailand’s tourism sector, economic recovery and currency — but noted that it was “not without risk.”

As is evident in the other countries, the vaccination rate is way too low to prevent an outbreak, particularly with the Delta variant.

According to economists, “Despite an impressively admirable vaccine effort, the level of full vaccination remains low and uneven.” “As is evident in the other countries, the vaccination rate is way too low to prevent an outbreak, particularly with the Delta variant.”

They said that a lockdown was not likely due to the high level of risk tolerance in the country, except if the country’s ICU capacity is overwhelmed.

The country has a varied inoculation rate. Therefore, data might not accurately reflect vaccination levels at certain places like Bangkok. Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s deputy governor recently told Singapore-based media outlet CNA75% have been given the second dose and 75% are still vaccinated.

Thailand’s tourism is of vital importance

Thailand, which accounts for approximately 21% (or more) of all the economies in the region, is the most dependent. According to Sian Faner of Oxford Economics Sian Fenner of Oxford Economics Thailand, Thailand has the highest proportion of tourism-related GDP.

Fenner said that Thailand’s economic recovery is behind other countries in Asia because of travel restrictions.

However, we don’t expect an inbound recovery to pre-Covid levels by 2025.

Sian Fenner

lead Asia economist, Oxford Economics

Government data shows that the Thai economy saw a 7.5% increase in second-quarter growth. This growth rate was below that of other regions like Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines. They grew between 11.8%-16.1%.

Oxford Economics predicts that Thailand will see a 1.8% increase in GDP over the next year.

According to economists, the return of international tourists is unlikely to happen immediately because visitors could still be subject to quarantine in their homeland.

Fenner stated that while we expect inbound travel to recover in 2022 and international arrivals to remain at 66% of 2019 levels, Fenner added that they do not expect them to increase inbound. Fenner stated that inbound travel will not recover to pre-Covid levels fully until 2025.

Meanwhile, Bank of America economists highlighted that Chinese tourists — which accounted for about a quarter of Thai tourist arrivals in 2019 — are not expected to return till the second half of 2022.

China has closed nearly all its borders for international travel in the past year. China continues to implement a zero-Covid strategy which results in massive lockdowns even though there have been a few cases of infection.

Some other parts of Southeast Asia want their borders to be reopened to foreign visitors.

Singapore announced travel lane agreements with many countries, including the U.S.A and U.K. Last week, Malaysia’s tourism minister said that they were vaccinating the country could reopen its borders to international tourists in November

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