A PHEU THAI Party committee member today (Jan 10) urged the government to separate Chinese medical tourists from those who are coming here for a holiday after China reopened its borders on Sunday and Chinese travellers have again started flocking in, Sanook.com said.
Mr. Worawat Auapinyakul, a member of the party’s Strategy and Political Direction Committee, said while it is true a large number of Chinese arrivals are leisure tourists, however among them are also those seeking medical help here because China’s Covid treatment system is said to be unable to support the number of patients.
The Thai economy is now slowly beginning to improve therefore care must be taken to prevent another Covid outbreak from sweeping in, he cautioned.
Worawat urged the government, particularly the Public Health Ministry, to clearly separate the two groups of tourists to prevent an upswing in Covid infections.
In the past Thailand failed to do this and it caused damage to the country and this opportunity must not be turned into another crisis, he added.
Asked whether separate flights should be arranged for the two groups of tourists, Worawat said clear support and procedures must be put in place here first.
Those coming to Thailand for medical treatment should not be mistreated because they too are spending money here and once they have recovered some of them could stay on for a while to wait for the outbreak in their homeland to subside, he said.
There are no steps or procedures about this in place and the lack of clarity has led to people starting to worry that the government might neglect to take action and this could lead to the economy being hit again as happened in the past, he cautioned.
CAPTIONS:
Top: Chinese tourists wearing face masks watch a traditional Thai dance at Erawan shrine. Photo: AFP/Mladen Antonov and published by CNA
Insert: Pheu Thai Party member Mr. Worawat Auapinyakul. Photo: Sanook.com
Front Page: A Chinese tourist who arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport yesterday, Jan. 9, 2023. Photo: Thai Rath
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