After months of closed borders, Thailand will allow in its first group of foreign tourists from China on Oct. 8, on a chartered Air Asia flight, both the Bangkok Post and Thai PBS World reported.

A total of around 120 tourists from Guangzhou will arrive in Phuket, and will stay in "alternative state quarantine" for 14 days such as certified hotels, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Yuthasak Supasorn.

Three hotels in Phuket have been chosen for this purpose.

Tourists will be issued a Special Tourist Visa (STC) valid for up to 90 days and extendable for up to 270 days.

The Chinese tourists visitors must also have health insurance and a negative coronavirus test 72 hours prior to travelling. They will be tested twice in quarantine.

Nationalities that can enter Thailand will be from countries deemed low-risk

Bangkok Post further reported that nationalities who are from countries deemed as low-risk will be permitted to enter Thailand, with the government monitoring them.

According to Thai PBS World, apart from the Chinese tourists flying into Phuket, a group of seven Chinese businessmen will also be arriving at Suvarnabhumi airport in a private jet on the same day.

In addition, another 126 Chinese tourists from Guangdong will be flying into Bangkok on Oct. 25 while 120 tourists from Scandinavian and Schengen countries will be flying in on Nov. 1.

In a statement to reporters, Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha stated,"We are not opening the country, we are limiting the number of entries and will manage with wrist bands, apps to follow them."

The Phuket deputy governor Pichet Panapong added that arriving tourists will also be required to load the country's tracing app onto their phone so that they are traceable throughout their entire time in Thailand.

Restarting the tourism sector

The move comes as part of Thailand's attempt to restart its tourism sector.

A spokesperson for the government, Traisulee Traisoranakul, was quoted by Reuters as stating that Thailand expects to receive 1,200 tourists in the first month, generating about 1 billion baht (S$43.32 million) in revenue and around 14,400 tourists over a year, generating 12.4 billion baht (S$537.2 million).

Thailand's government has predicted that it expects to receive only 6.7 million foreign visitors for 2020 after a record of 39.8 million in 2019, with spending at that time making up around 11.4 per cent of the country's GDP, or 1.93 trillion baht (S$83.18 billion).

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Top photo by MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP via Getty Images