BANGKOK, May 19 (CNA) - Thais who do not want to wait for the COVID-19 vaccine distribution from their government have opted for a new option to get it overseas.
The growing demand for vaccination amid a new wave of outbreaks in the country has given rise to tour packages which let customers join the vaccination queue abroad and choose from a greater variety of vaccines to build their immunity against the coronavirus.
“People who opt for this don’t want to wait in Thailand any longer. If they have a choice and can afford the vaccination, they choose to pay instead of waiting because they don’t know for how long they’d have to do that,” said Mr Rachphol Yamsaeng, managing director of Unithai Trip.
His company recently began to advertise organised trips from Thailand to the United States, offering overseas holidays with a twist.
Starting from about US$2,300 per person, the packaged tour includes a 10-day journey where customers not only get to travel around Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas but also receive the Johnson & Johnson single-dose COVID-19 vaccine.
“So many people have called – hundreds of them – but 80 per cent of them don’t have a US visa. This is despite me having said they need it to join as they won’t be able to travel otherwise,” Mr Rachphol told CNA.
Unithai Trip is one of a few travel companies in Thailand that offer COVID-19 vaccination in their tour packages. According to Mr Rachphol, several customers were finalising their travel plans with his firm and a few others have already departed for the US since last week.
Most of his clients are families who paid for private tours. Prices range from US$2,300 per person for a group of eight travellers to US$3,700 per person for a group of two. These include hotel accommodation in the US, private transport, entry fees for tourist attractions and a service charge for liaising with the Thai embassy to obtain certificates of entry, which are required for their return to Thailand.
As for the vaccination, the appointment will be confirmed prior to the clients' departure from Thailand.
“We’ll take care of everything from start to finish,” said Mr Rachphol, who also flew to get a COVID-19 vaccine jab in the US earlier this week.
COVID-19 vaccine tourism recently took off in Thailand, where vaccination against the coronavirus is prioritised according to age and health conditions. Currently, tens of millions of local residents rely on the government for vaccine allocation as it is the sole importer of COVID-19 vaccines.
To create herd immunity, the government has set a target to inoculate at least 50 million people within this year or about 70 per cent of the population. Still, there are concerns among residents that the plan may not be rolled out within the set timeframe.
Since February, about 2.3 million people in Thailand have been vaccinated against the coronavirus. This means the government still needs to inoculate some 47.7 million residents within 226 days to reach its target. However, data from the health ministry showed the daily rates of vaccination are far below what is required.
Moreover, the country is battling its biggest wave of COVID-19 outbreak so far. On May 17, its COVID-19 centre reported 9,635 new patients in one day. More than 70 per cent of the new infections were detected in jails and prisons.
Since the new wave hit Thailand in early April, 84,692 people have been infected by the coronavirus and more than 500 have died. The recent spikes in cases and fear of possible mutations have pushed Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha to procure more COVID-19 vaccines.
The government has so far secured 63 million doses of the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines. The latter – 61 million doses – will be produced in Thailand and is expected to be ready from June.
