Phuket hotels to offer isolation rooms for asymptomatic guests who refuse hospital

Phuket hoteliers have come up with a solution for asymptomatic guests who test positive for the Omicron variant but refuse to be transferred to hospital. Kongsak Khoopongsakorn from the Thai Hotels Association says in order to keep Phuket’s re-opening going, tourists who test positive but have no symptoms should be offered isolation facilities at their hotel instead of having to fork out for a hospital bed.

The Bangkok Post reports that hoteliers have reported challenges in persuading guests who test positive without symptoms to go to hospital. As most insurance schemes will not cover hospital treatment for asymptomatic patients, guests are reluctant to be admitted. Besides the cost, guests who aren’t sick don’t want to be made to spend time in hospital. Kongsak says hoteliers cannot force people in this situation and furthermore, some local hospitals don’t have the capacity…