Tourist favourite Thailand's recovery lags on Covid rule changes

Foreign tourists prepare their documents at the new entry lanes at Suvarnabhumi airport on Nov 1, 2022, the first day of the country's reopening campaign to jump-start the pandemic-hit tourism sector. (Reuters photo)

When 23-year-old Norwegian Anastasia Johansen and her boyfriend were planning their first vacation in two years, they considered going to Thailand but chose nearby Vietnam instead, for its simpler entry rules on the coronavirus.

"The regulations to enter Thailand ... were complicated to me and we had to pay for the hefty PCR test," Ms Johansen said.