When can you travel to destinations in Thailand such as Bangkok, Phuket, Ko Samui, Krabi and Phang-Nga; or Australia, Fiji, Montserrat and Chile?
As Thailand winds down from their summer of strict lockdowns the country is looking to open to foreign visitors. In this there is both good news and bad. The bad news is that the opening for many cities such as Bangkok, which were originally set to welcome travelers on October 1 have been pushed back to November at the earliest. The primary reason for this is delay is difficulty in reaching their intended vaccination rates. The good news is that some destinations have reopened. Fully vaccinated and approved travelers can visit Phuket, Ko Samui and other areas such as Jrabi and Phang-Nga. The requirements to be an approved traveler you must be fully vaccinated, have a negative covid test taken within 72 hours of departing. Provide proof of accepted covid Travel Insurance, and be staying at an approve resort for a minimum stay of 7 days.
Moving south of Thailand we have some optimistic news coming out of Australia. It’s looking like they are on track to open to travelers by Christmas at the latest. The reopen date is currently a moving target, but Australia has been working hard to welcome travelers as well as allow their citizens to travel to other countries. We don’t yet know the full requirements for U.S. travelers to visit Australia. Currently it looks like they will only allow fully vaccinated travelers. They are also looking at using a digital vaccination passport to assist in vaccination verifications.
And some other welcoming news recently, many countries are getting close to reaching their goals for vaccination rates. And as they get close they are now working on reopening. Fuji for example is on track to have 80% of their population vaccinated. Once they reach this threshold they will reopen to foreign travelers. Currently Fiji believes they will reopen either November or December. And they aren’t alone, an underrated Caribbean island, Montserrat is reopening, as well as the South American country of Chilli.