Pattaya-area tourism officials met with hospital representatives to hammer out final details on plans to offer “hotel isolation” for “Test & Go” tourists found on arrival with Covid-19.
Chonburi Sports and Tourism Director Ampai Sakdanukuljit Sliwinski met Jan. 26 with the heads of the Tourism Authority of Thailand Pattaya office, Chonburi Tourism Industry Council, Pattaya Business & Tourism Association and Thai Hotels Association Eastern chapter, as well as representatives from area hospitals.
Ampai said the restart of the Test & Go tourist-entry scheme Feb. 1 will see changes for Pattaya hotels.
For starters, hotels are now required to have the TAT’s “SHA Extra Plus” certification, which requires not only all staff to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, but a partnership with a local hospital to provide coronavirus testing and medical services.
Previously, only SHA+, without the hospital integration, was required.
Second, Pattaya hotels will now be eligible for the “Hotel Isolation” program, which began in Phuket when tourists tested positive for Covid-19 on arrival but were denied coverage by their insurance companies as their symptoms weren’t serious.
The tourists refused to leave their room, pointing out Thailand’s government required them to purchase the insurance, and now the companies refused to honor their policies. The tourists refused to pay for medical care at hospitals and would not leave their rooms.
To save face, Thailand allowed the revolting tourists to stay and began calling it hotel isolation. Expecting the same circumstances elsewhere, the government expanded the program nationwide.
Currently, 177 Chonburi hotels are SHA Extra Plus-certified, with 125 of them in Pattaya. Those resorts are required to reserve 5% of their rooms for Hotel Isolation.
The rooms must be separated from other guests, the hotel must provide three daily meals in disposable containers, provide essential medical supplies and medicine, and use standardized equipment.
The partner hospitals must arrange enough appropriate medical and public-health staff to follow up daily and evaluate the patients’ symptoms via video call. Moreover, the patients can contact and question the partner hospital at any time.
The committee passed its final draft regulations onto the Chonburi Public Health Department for approval.
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