Hanoi (VNA) - Thailandwill allow foreign tourists to visit for longer stays in Phuket tourist islandfrom October, a senior official of the country said on August 21, as thegovernment tries to revive a key economic sector that has been devasted by thecoronavirus pandemic.

Tourists will have to stay for atleast 30 days, with the first 14 days in quarantine in a limited vicinity oftheir hotel, before they can visit other areas, Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Yuthasak Supasorn said.

Visitors will have to take twocoronavirus tests during quarantine before they are able to travel to the restof the island, Minister of Tourism and Sports Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said on August 20.They will have to take an additional test and remain within the province foranother week before they can travel to other parts of the country.

Thailand has gone through nearlythree months without a confirmed case of a local COVID-19 transmission. It hasrecorded over 3,300 cases.

The Thai government’s coronavirustaskforce on August 21 extended a state of emergency for another month untilthe end of September to control the outbreak.

The tourism-reliant economy has beenbattered by the collapse of global travel as infections spread.

Southeast Asia's second-largesteconomy shrank 12.2 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, theworst contraction since the 1998 Asian crisis due to the pandemic impact.

The country expects to receive 8 millionforeign tourists this year. By comparison, it had a record 39.8 milliontourists in 2019./.