Intense screening of international passengers at Samui Airport, as precaution against Omicron variant

[Jonathan Fairfield]

 

SAMUI (NNT) - The first international flight to land on Samui island since the emergence of the Omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19. The personnel of Samui Airport and officials at the point of entry disease control unit have stringently screened the arriving passengers to prevent any spread of the new variant.

 

Of the 54 passengers on the flight from Singapore, none had traveled to the 8 countries where significant numbers of Covid cases were identified as being caused by the Omicron variant. All passengers passed through a thermal scan and presented evidence of inoculation against Covid as well as proof of a negative RT-PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before departure. Additionally, the passengers had to present their Thailand Pass at the airport disease control unit before being allowed to progress to immigration. All passengers landing in Samui on a direct international flight are swabbed for the on-arrival RT-PCR test and must stay within their hotel until a negative test result is issued.

 

Since December 1, entry into the Kingdom was denied for travelers from any of the 8 countries in Africa deemed by the Ministry of Public Health to present high risks of the Omicron variant. Travelers departing from other countries will be contacted by officials who will follow up on their conditions for 14 days.

 

So far, RT-PCR re-testing for COVID-19 has been administered for 9 out of 11 travelers from Africa who entered Samui on or after November 15, with all results coming back negative.

 

 

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-- © Copyright NNT 2021-12-05

 

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[Tropicalevo]

Deleted

[Henryford]

Why would anyone even think of travelling to Samui with all these ridiculous rules.

[mvdf]

53 minutes ago, Henryford said:

Why would anyone even think of travelling to Samui with all these ridiculous rules.

Sheer desperation perhaps. Chronic beach addiction? 

[khunPer]

1 hour ago, mvdf said:

Sheer desperation perhaps. Chronic beach addiction? 

Can't be beach addiction during Samui's monsoon period, unless you are masochist...

 

Samui monsoon 2021...

[yogi yogi]

2 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

Deleted

i always wondered how to delete a post 

[khunjeff]

So to sum up, the "intense screening" consists of carrying out the normal inspection procedure for passengers arriving under the Thailand Pass scheme and then issuing a self-congratulatory press release about it.

[Tropicalevo]

6 hours ago, Henryford said:

Why would anyone even think of travelling to Samui with all these ridiculous rules.

In spite of what many TV experts think, Samui is quite a beautiful island with lots of good restaurants (serving alcohol).

Just stay away from Chaweng as most locals do.

Quite a variety of overseas guests checking into villas at the moment and this is monsoon season. The Christmas 'high season' has not even started yet.

Eastern beaches are not very pleasant (big waves, strong surf, coconuts, seaweed and flotsam /jetsam), but most of the western and northern ones are OK.

[terryofcrete]

5 hours ago, mvdf said:

Sheer desperation perhaps. Chronic beach addiction? 

Or Badly in need of a jellyfish sting...shhh... don't tell the tourists !! 

[huberthammer]

7 hours ago, Henryford said:

Why would anyone even think of travelling to Samui with all these ridiculous rules.

Given the number of unsteady pale scooter riders on Samui's roads over the last two weeks there seem to be a lot more than you think. People making fun of the tourist arrivals but you can see a clear difference compared to a month ago. These are not expats returning back to Thailand or domestic visitors. 

[vandeventer]

8 hours ago, Henryford said:

Why would anyone even think of travelling to Samui with all these ridiculous rules.

Couldn't the government at least wait to see how dangerous Omicron is before all these rules come into play? Either you want tourist or you don't. Too many governments around the world hit the panic button without having all the info.

[arithai12]

So, "intense screening" is actually the standard procedure. Thanks for wasting 2 minutes of my time.