COVID-19 vaccine guide for travelers to Thailand

International travellers, including returning Thais and foreign residents, who are above 18 years of age should get fully vaccinated for COVID-19 with a vaccine approved by Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) or the World Health Organisation (WHO) no less than 14 days before their travel date. Those travelling to Thailand under either the TEST & GO entry scheme or the Sandbox programme must get fully vaccinated.  

For travellers under 18 years, the following new rules apply from 16 December, 2021.

• Travellers 12-17 years of age travelling to Thailand under the TEST & GO entry scheme or the Sandbox programme unaccompanied must get vaccinated with at least one dose of an approved vaccine. Those travelling with parents are exempt from this requirement.
• Travellers 6-11 years of age, travelling with parents, are exempt from this vaccination requirement.
• Travellers under 6 years of age, travelling with parents with a negative RT-PCR test result within 72 hours before travelling, are not required to have a pre-arrival negative RT-PCR test result and can have a saliva test when entering the Kingdom.

Travellers with the history of COVID-19 infection who have recovered by medical treatments and travellers who have received at least 1 dose of an approved vaccine after post-infection must have a certificate of COVID-19 recovery.

*All travellers, except those under 6 years of age, must have a Medical Certificate with an RT-PCR lab result indicating that COVID-19 is not detected issued no more than 72 hours before travelling.

Currently, the MoPH has approved the following manufacturers and vaccines:

1. CoronaVac by Sinovac Biotech Ltd – 2 doses needed / 2-4-week interval;
2. AstraZeneca or Covishield by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, SK Bioscience (South Korea), Siam Bioscience, and Serum Institute of India (Covishield) – 2 doses needed / 4-12-week interval;
3. Pfizer–BioNTech or Comirnaty by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech 2 doses needed / 3-week interval;
4. Janssen or Janssen/Ad26.COV2.S by Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc. – 1 dose needed;
5. Moderna by Moderna Inc. – 2 doses needed / 4-week interval);
6. Sinopharm or COVILO by Sinopharm Co., Ltd. – 2 doses needed / 3-4-week interval);
7. Sputnik V by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology – 2 doses needed – 3-week interval);
8. Covaxin by Bharat Biotech International Limited – 2 doses needed / 4-week interval.

Meanwhile, the WHO’s guidance on the COVID-19 vaccines is available here.

According to the MoPH, travellers are considered fully vaccinated if:

• They get their second dose of a 2-dose vaccine; such as, the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines, no less than 14 days before their travel date to Thailand.
• They get a single-dose vaccine; such as, Janssen vaccine, no less than 14 days before their travel date to Thailand.
• In case of mix-and-match vaccines, travellers should get their second dose of a different vaccine within the recommended interval of the first vaccine no less than 14 days before their travel date to Thailand. For example, if the first vaccine is CoronaVac from Sinovac Biotech and the second vaccine is AstraZeneca, the time between the two doses is 2-4 weeks.

Travellers who do not meet these criteria may be denied entry into Thailand.

The travellers’ Certificate of COVID-19 Vaccination should contain the following details:

• Given name and last name;
• Date of Birth;   
• Nationality;
• Passport or Identification No.;
• Name of the COVID-19 vaccine;
• Vaccination dates;
• Vaccine manufacturer and lot/batch number;
• Authorised organisation in the country of origin.

In addition to being fully vaccinated, international travellers should have all of their advance arrangements in good order for arrival and entry. For more information on Thailand’s reopening programmes, see: https://sonasia-holiday.com/reopening-thailand/.