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Thailand’s quarantine-free travel pass suspended amid Omicron variant concerns

(CNN) — Amid the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus, Thailand has announced some changes to its inbound quarantine-free travel status for some visitors.

As of midnight on December 22, no new applications for quarantine exemptions under the Thailand Pass scheme will be considered. The government says this is a temporary suspension rather than a permanent ban, but there’s no date yet for when the hold might be lifted.

Thailand Pass was one of the southeast Asian country’s significant moves toward reopening to travel. Tourism is one of Thailand’s biggest industries, with nearly 40 million visitors in 2019. Under the conditions of the Thailand Pass, fully vaccinated people hoping to visit from a low-risk country could apply to bypass quarantine on arrival.

The pass, which was under the “Test & Go program,” kicked off November 1.

According to a Thai government news release, 200,000…

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