The Thai government on 30th December,2020, has announced that all Drinks and Food will be banned on flights in Thailand from New Year’s eve.
This decision has been taken in order to curb the spread of COVID-19. Airlines are also prohibited from handing out magazines and newspapers; however, safety-related documents will still be available to passengers. This rule will apply to all flights of less than 2 hours and will ban consumption of food and drinks on domestic services, either provided by the airline or brought on board by passengers.
The two longest flights within Thailand between Chiang Mai and Phuket & Chiang Mai and Krabi both take around 2 hours.
A statement issued by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) said that the government had “the level of public health measures in order to stabilize the public health emergency situation and prevent its escalation”.
“It is forbidden to eat and drink during flight operations. In case of emergency, crew may consider providing drinking water to passengers, which is to be done in an area as far away from the other passengers as possible.”, says an announcement by CAAT.
This decision is in effect from 31st December,2020, and will remain in place “until the situation is ended or any further notification is issued”.
The original Food and Drinks Ban
All scheduled commercial flights were banned in Thailand at the end of April in the face of escalating COVID-19 pandemic. Eventually, domestic flights were allowed to resume from 1st May, but food and drink were banned along with the sale of souvenirs.
CAAT on 3rd September lifted the ban on eating and drinking on flights with immediate effect, but with strict safety measures that airlines had to follow. However, with COVID-19 cases rising again, the authority has imposed the ban again.
Thailand recently eased border restrictions
Just a few days ago, the Asian country eased travel restrictions for citizens from 56 countries including United States, France and Australia, although travellers will still need to undergo a mandatory 2-week hotel quarantine upon arrival.