Thailand will temporarily suspend the registration for quarantine exemption for foreign visitors in an effort to control the spread of the Omicron strain of COVID-19, Thai government announced on Tuesday. "Test and Go" quarantine exemption program and "sandbox" scheme will be temporarily halted from Dec. 21 to Jan. 4, 2022, except Phuket sandbox, a government spokesperson said after an urgent meeting chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. The announcement came a day after the Southeast Asian country reported its first locally transmitted case of the Omicron variant. According to the spokesperson, visitors who have previously registered to enter the country under the "Test and Go" and "sandbox" schemes before this announcement will still be able to enter Thailand. However, they will be required to take two RT-PCR tests instead of one RT-PCR test and one antigen test. While traveling in Thailand, their mobility will be closely tracked and monitored. The "Test and Go" program, launched on Nov. 1, allows fully vaccinated foreign visitors from government-recognized low-risk countries and regions to enter Thailand without undergoing a mandatory quarantine. In order to boost the economy, from July 1 this year, Thailand has introduced "sandbox" scheme in popular tourist destinations including Phuket and Bangkok, to allow vaccinated visitors to remain in the designated areas with limited activities. Entry policies and other related measures will be reviewed again after the holidays on Jan. 4, 2022, the spokesperson added. As of Monday, Thailand has reported 63 cases of Omicron variant. – Agencies