After observing a surge in Covid-19 cases in China, India has made RT-PCR negative report compulsory for passengers traveling from the six countries of China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand which it deems as high-risk.
The Embassy of India in Laos also clarified on its Twitter account on Tuesday that the same holds true even for people transiting through any of these countries.
Since Laos doesn’t have any direct flights to India, a significant number of the Indian diaspora usually take connecting flights through Bangkok to travel to their country. And now, albeit any inconvenience, they would have also have to get a RT-PCR negative report in place before they commence their journey.
The report needs to be submitted 72 hours before travel on the government’s Air Suvidha so that travelers are deemed eligible to board their flights.
This announcement is also likely to affect tourism in Thailand as Indian visitors make up the second highest group of international tourists to the country after Malaysia. In fact, since 2022, Thailand had also been looking at becoming a top destination wedding venue for Indian weddings as a new source of tourism following the loss of Chinese visitors.
Ahead of Christmas and New Year celebrations last year, India also made masks mandatory in crowded places. The country has reported 173 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours.
