Pandemic-era airport restrictions are again as travellers set for ‘screening’ upon entry
Thailand has tightened entry checks in the wake of the Hantavirus crisis, forcing travellers who have been in 13 South American countries in the past six weeks to complete a Covid-style T.8 health declaration
Travellers in Bangkok during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic(Image: Getty Images)
Travel restrictions to a top Brit holiday destination have been tightened in the wake of the Hantavirus outbreak. Thailand has introduced stricter Hantavirus screening for passengers arriving from 13 South American countries, despite the nation recording no cases.
The Department of Disease Control (DDC) said the move is a precautionary step aimed at boosting public confidence and keeping international travel safe. DDC director-general Montien Khanasawat inspected the health checkpoint at Suvarnabhumi Airport on May 12, a day after the tougher screening was introduced.
Under the measures, anyone who has visited any of the designated South American countries within the past six weeks must report to disease control officers before reaching immigration.
Travellers must reportedly complete a T.8 health declaration form and answer screening questions about any symptoms. The T.8 is Thailand’s official health declaration, required by quarantine officers under the Communicable Disease Act, and is used to support border screening and contact-tracing to help prevent infectious diseases entering the country.
Officers are looking for a temperature above 38C alongside symptoms such as headache, muscle aches, fatigue, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting or breathing difficulties, the Thaiger reported. Passengers who meet the criteria and have a relevant risk history will be referred to the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute for testing, with isolation or quarantine used where necessary.
The DDC said Thailand has not detected any infections, and the enhanced checks are intended to catch potential cases early, as per the Thaiger. Thailand’s Hantavirus response revives elements of the country’s COVID-era border health controls, bringing back familiar paperwork and arrival procedures, but this time aimed at a narrower group of travellers.
Central to the measures is the reactivation of the T.8 health declaration form, which was widely used during the pandemic for international arrivals. The checks also lean on digital submission in a similar way to pandemic systems.
Travellers are expected to use official online channels, including the Airports of Thailand (AOT) app, to complete health details and generate QR codes for inspection before clearing immigration. Inside airports, the arrival flow mirrors the COVID set-up, with health screening taking place before passport control.
Anyone who meets the screening criteria can be moved into a formal medical pathway rather than entering normally.
The UK is not expected to introduce blanket airport screening or health declaration forms like those brought in by Thailand.
Instead, the response is tightly focused on a single, known exposure point: the outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said the risk to the wider public remains “very low”, noting that the Andes strain of hantavirus associated with South America is not spread through everyday social contact in the way respiratory viruses such as flu or Covid can be.
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