Thailand

In response to COVID-19, the Cabinet has approved a fiscal package with phases I, II, and III amounting to at least 10% of GDP or THB1.9 trillion including (i) health-related spending; (ii) assistance for workers (includes 3 million workers outside the social security system), farmers, and entrepreneurs affected by COVID-19; (iii) support for individuals and businesses through soft loans from Specialized Financial Institution (SFI) and Social Security Office (See THB500 billion in Measure 2A), and tax relief; and (iv) lower water and electricity bills, and lower employees’ and employers’ social security contribution.

September 11, The BOT released new supervisory guidelines for financial service providers to enhance fair customer service and protect borowers affected by COVID-19. [update]

(i) 23 March, Countries considered as risk zones and travellers from those countries need to undertake quarantine for 14 days. Travellers from these countries must submit health certificates that show no COVID-19 infection in advance of their trips. Thailand also halted issuance of visa on arrival for some other countries. (ii) All schools have been closed since 18 March until further notice. (iii) In Bangkok and its vicinity, leisure and sport facilities, such as boxing arenas, pubs, among others, have suspend their businesses for 14 days until the end of March. In addition, the Bangkok Metropolitan Government announced on 21 March that most of nonessential commercial services, including shopping malls, restaurants and sport facilities, among others, would be closed from 22 March to 12 April. (iv) 28 April 2020, The government extended the period of the state of emergency including the night curfew between 22:00 to 4:00hr,as well as the temporary ban on all international flights to Thailand, until 31 May 2020. As of July 22, the state of emergency has been extended until end-August. (v) May 1, several airlines resumed domestic operations in major airports, except Phuket International airport (where the closure has been extended until May 15,) conditional on strict hygiene and preventive guidelines. (vi) The first out of four stages for relaxation of Covid-19 containment measures started on May 3, by opening low-risk businesses including markets, small eateries, small retail outlets, exercise facilities, and hairdressers;mplementation of subsequent stages will depend on the evolution of Covid-19 infection. (vii) May 11, The BOT revised its bond issuance program for 2020: (a) Expanded ranges of maximum and minimum issue size per auction to 10,000 – 60,000 million baht for all maturities of BOT bills; and (b) may consider adjusting the auction frequency of the 3- and 6-month BOT bills, and the fixed-coupon bonds, to accommodate the issuance schedule of Treasury Bills and government bonds of comparable maturities. (viii) May 16, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand extended the temporary ban on international passenger flights until June 30 with limited exceptions. (ix) May 17, the second phase of lockdown relaxation took effect with more businesses allowed to resume activities. (x) June 12, Authorities announced the lifting of the nationwide curfew on June 15 as part of its phase four easing of lockdown measures. (x) June 30, Authorities announced the lifting of the ban on international flights on July 1 after the government earlier approved limited foreign travel to the country including business travellers and foreigners with spouses, work permits or residency in the country.