One month after Thailand's reopening to tourism, the kingdom has recorded more than 133,000 arrivals from countries around the world.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand is confident that the target of 500,000 international travelers will be met, despite concerns about the new Omicron variant of Covid-19 that has seen countries rush to limit or block travel from at-risk countries.
During November, 133,061 international travelers landed in Thailand, most of whom entered under the Test & Go program, which allows vaccinated travelers from 63 countries to enter Thailand without quarantine except for an overnight stay in an approved hotel while awaiting Covid-19 RT-PCR test results.
Of the 133,061 travelers who entered Thailand during the first month of reopening, 106,211 were Test & Go passengers.
Another 21,438 tourists arrived using the Sandbox program, which requires a 7-day soft quarantine during which travelers must remain at their arrival destination for one week before continuing their journey.
5,412 used the Happy Quarantine option and underwent a 10-day quarantine upon arrival.
TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn said they still expect to reach 500,000 international travelers by the end of 2021, although new figures have shown signs of a slowdown in travel from some European countries.
Europe is one of Thailand's main tourists' source markets and, according to the president of the Thai Hotel Association, the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 is likely to harm the tourism sector, although it is unclear at this stage whether the impact will be minor or major.
The tourism authority believes Thailand can still meet its target, noting that more than 300,000 people have applied online for the Thailand Pass needed to enter the country.
However, these numbers may be inflated, as it is common for travelers to have to register multiple times to obtain authorization.
It is unclear whether these multiple registrations are considered one person or whether each application or re-application is counted.
Top ten countries of origin of travelers arriving in Thailand during November 2021 (number of visitors):
USA - 14,730
Germany - 12,099
Netherlands - 8,478
UK - 6,701
Russia - 5,307
Japan - 5,146
South Korea - 5,003
France - 4 741
UAE - 4,338
Israel - 4,035