Thailand needs foreign tourists to fill hotel rooms, but public health still top priority

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More hotel rooms were booked but the reservations could not make up for the disappearance of foreign tourists, the prime minister said.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha insisted that Thailand has not opened its door to welcome foreign tourists yet and people should not panic.


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He said that the Center for Economic Situation Administration discussed many measures to help people from the impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

The measures included a 400-billion-baht rehabilitation budget, 100 billion baht of which was spent.

The prime minister said the center was considering how to spend the rest of the budget including soft loans for small and medium-sized enterprises and money to create jobs for the students who will graduate this year and the people who lost their jobs in 2019 and 2020.

Gen Prayut said the government would also spend budgets of many ministries including the Labour Ministry for the purposes. He assured that the government would carefully spend its budgets.

Regarding tourism promotion, the prime minister said the government focused on domestic tourism. More hotel rooms were booked but the reservations could not make up for the disappearance of foreign tourists, the prime minister said.


However, he said, the government was not allowing in foreign tourists and people should not panic as it prioritized public health.

The prime minister thanked everyone for cooperating with disease control measures which resulted in Thailand having been free of local COVID-19 infection for 100 days. (TNA)