CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)

UPDATE: Pushback from local associations over the Thai government’s “Phuket Model”

By The Thaiger

 

 

UPDATE: Amidst the “plans” and “models” being proposed by the government to re-open Thailand to some form of general tourism (nothing confirmed yet), there’s also been some pushback from operators in some of the hardest hit areas.

 

The government had proposed the Phuket Model as a way of kicking off tourism from early October. But the model involves a mandatory 14 day quarantine, another 7 days on the island and then tourists able to travel beyond. The limited flights, 14 day quarantine, expensive “registered” hotels and testing regime were seen to be impediments to possible success.

 

(New information) Under the proposal for the trial, the Thailand Longstay Company, a private company where the Tourism Authority of Thailand has a 30% stake, would provide assistance with visa applications and purchase of insurance for tourists (likely only Thai insurance companies). The tourists would be required to undergo a Covid-19 test 48 hours before their departure for Phuket and they would be tested again when they arrive.

 

Officials have estimated that 100,000 tourists could take advantage of the “model”. It was then extrapolated that the “Phuket Model” would be rolled out to other parts of the country, principally Koh Samui, Pattaya and 3 other destinations, also badly effected by the lack of tourists.

 

But the government admits it is facing a few hurdles – 1 from the healthcare providers who are concerned about ramping up their facilities to cope with the testing and possible increase in cases, and secondly from the local tourist associations who say the idea is flawed to begin with.

 

Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn says that… “Phuket would be a pilot area where foreign tourists are allowed to travel.”

 

But Sarayuth Mallum, the President of the Phuket Tourist Association, says they’ve developed their own model for the reintroduction of tourism into the island. They’ve proposed the 4Ts – Target (targeted low-risk countries), Testing (screening and testing when tourists arrive), Tracing (a mobile app to track tourists in real time) and Treatment (adequate health system conduct testing and and treat possible Covid-19 patients). Notably the 4Ts plan doesn’t involve a mandatory 14 day quarantine.

 

But noted that reopening Phuket “did not mean just opening the airport and letting any foreign tourists in”.

 

“We will allow only foreigners who used to stay in Phuket and now want to come back and those keen on staying for a long time. We intend to accept only a small group, not everyone,” he said in the Bangkok Post.

 

He disagreed with the Tourist Minister’s “Phuket Model”, saying that Phuket must “protect and serve local people first”.

 

The Mayor of Patong Chalermlak Kebsap shared the general concerns and said that places like Patong have been suffering but that there was a lot of concerns about the proposed model.

 

“Most of the people here are not very confident in the government’s measures. We are not sure if they will be strictly implemented but we must be open. People are having a tough time. Businesses have shut doors. We do not want a lot of money; we just want to get by and be healthy.”

 

She also voiced the concerns of many smaller hotels and guest houses that admitted they would be unable to participate in the program, and only the bigger hotels owned by powerful families would benefit.

 

The local Chamber of Commerce has also voiced its concerns saying that the locals want to implement their 4T program and disagreed with the Tourism Minister’s proposal. He believed that the first group of foreigners arriving from October should be the ones with plans to stay for a long time – foreign students, medical tourists, people with families or existing businesses.

 

The GM of a leading hotel group confided with The Thaiger that some sort of re-opening plan was “urgent” but that the government’s plan would not work and would only benefit a few hotels whilst adding a lot of inconvenience for the rest of the island as ‘quarantined’ tourists would be allowed to roam in a 1 kilometre radius from their registered hotel.

 

“Who is going to track these people? What happens to all the hotel staff, residents and other tourists that also work or wander into these 1 kilometre zones? The plan hasn’t been thought through.”

 

Under the current government plan proposal, foreign tourists travelling to Phuket would have to obtain permission to travel to and enter Thailand from their country’s Thai embassy with all the associated paperwork, applications and waiting times. They wouldn’t be able to simply purchase a flight online and jump on a plane.

 

They would have to test negative 48 or 72 hours before they travel (both times have been published in the media)and have a health insurance premium valued at least US$100,000. Then they have to find a direct flight to Phuket – at this stage there are none on offer excepting a plan from Thai Airways to re-introduce 2 flights a month from 6 destinations starting late November. The national airline is still in the middle of a generational restructure and ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.

 

Koh Samui, also desperate for tourists to reboot its flagging economy, has its own set of problems. Businesses, from restaurants to hotels, car rental businesses to tour operators, bars, massage services and retail shops, all report an almost 99% drop in business since the start of the year. Many hotels have not only shut their doors but shut down for ever.

 

But the remaining operators, desperately hanging on, say they don’t want to be left behind with all the focus on the Phuket Model.

 

Many of the island’s operators also bemoan the ongoing monopoly of Bangkok Airways and its strangle-hold on the air traffic into Samui, saying that international carriers should be allowed easy access to fly directly into Samui, rather than via Bangkok. They also demand Bangkok Airways stop price-gouging customers and leveraging its monopoly for profit.

 

At some stage all the players – the CCSA, tourism operators, hospitality representatives and associations – will have to meet and finalise a plan to co-ordinate the re-opening of general tourism into Thailand. But, with a month to go before the planned kick-off of the Phuket Model, there would be critical doubts whether decisions can be made, and then implemented, in time.

 

Even with these plans and limited importing of tourists, the numbers will only amount to 100s of thousands and not the millions that were once vital contributors to Thailand’s economy.

 

Source: https://thethaiger.com/coronavirus/pushback-from-tourist-and-hotel-associations-over-the-thai-governments-phuket-model

 

-- © Copyright The Thaiger 2020-08-31

 

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33 minutes ago, webfact said:

 

The government had proposed the Phuket Model as a way of kicking off tourism from early October. But the model involves a mandatory 14 day quarantine, another 7 days on the island and then tourists able to travel beyond. The limited flights, 14 day quarantine, expensive “registered” hotels and testing regime were seen to be impediments to possible success

if , if , if it ever gets off the ground they could always call it Club Confinement or Banged up Abroad 5 star .. the more of these they trot out the more it confirms their detachment from reality .. 

 

Certainly gives club 18-30 a new meaning !

So the 2 weeks in Quarantine are still part of the deal then !?

 

Not going to happen boys.

 

Went from 5T and now it's 4T. 

They actually dropped the trust one. Amazing. 

 

Warming up for the high season ????????

Pass, no thanks.

3 hours ago, webfact said:

 the numbers will only amount to 100s of thousands

yaaaa no it won't

Tourists will not come back in the numbers as before .

Covid is still surging elsewhere , people do not want to take a long airplane trip anymore .

There are enough destinations that are in easy reach for Europeans and Americans and they do not need to quarantine .

Thais can say ' bye bye ' to mass tourism for a long time .

The ones who will come back are the retirees , the long term stayers , the ones with a thai family .

To attract at least these people there is only one way to help them come back : facilitate Visa regulations .

They come here to spend their money , make them feel welcome .

 

there are so many rediculous mistakes in this plan .scrap it and start again,why only europeans?what about asians?europe  or the rich european nations  have higher fatality nos than asian nations.any of them.even indo and india.its whether that persons test is negative is the important thing not where they come from.the level of intelligence is not existent.100k insurance no one tries this one on.only the sleaze bags here and guess what its a thai ins company.most people are revolted by the crudity of the corruption and racism of it.the health system claiming it cant handle it,well theres been no cases here and months to get up to scratch,doesnt fly again,porous borders here with chinese and lao coming in one side burmese the other,zero testing and a massive no of mainlanders here till april,there would appear to be a reservoir of infection.hk vietnam singapore have all had upsurges s korea too and thats a virtual island.once again it doesnt fly.the overcharging from the hotels,its absurd,s korea charges 80 USD  a night and thats a 1st world country.its never ending the stupidity greed and racism is there for all the world to see.people with valid visas property and families are still being told different stories every day of the week by smug half wit incompetents in govt.philippines allows foreign residents[visa holders] to come and go and they quarantine at home as do most countries.as the hotel assoc point out people wont use it and it smells like a toilet

Little ideas but a lot of confusion

There is no point in bringing in foreigners.

Banks will not change foreign currency.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Officials have estimated that 100,000 tourists could take advantage of the “model”.

I heard that the views from some of the quarantine-hotels is really nice!

 

I think that thailand refuses or is unable, to view themselves from the outside perspective.

 

What made Thailand a popular tourist destination in the past, was that it was

• cheap
• carefree
• accessible
• fun
• exciting    

People came to Thailand because it meant they could get away from the bureaucracy which plagues the west; one could come here and clamber on a motorcycle and travel on pavements. You could dash away and be anonymous at a full moon party, or go up north and get lost in the jungle and fall in love with some crazy isaan girl and have mad sex parties until dawn (if that floats your boat) or you could take the family to a high-end resort in the south and have all manner of fun on boats and beaches.

 

You could be a pretty broke student backpacker with $50 in your bumbag, and you could stay in a crappy hostel and meet up with other fellow stinkies, and hitch it down to the south and have an adventure and make friends for life.

 

You could go kickboxing and train with some of the best in the word. Go rock climbing, sky diving, snorkelling and deep sea diving, and all at competitive prices.

You could finish it all off with a couple of hedonistic nights in Bangkok, which might still only cost you 1500-3000 baht, if you weren't completely insane ( less than that 10 years ago)

You could visit the silk factories in the north and go camping in Kao Yai, or if you were elderly you could receive great medical attention and get pleasured by a pretty nurse into the bargain.

If you were american you could have a stab at setting up a business pretty easily ( it would fail after a year or 2  - but still have some fun).

 

Simply put, that has all gone; poof! Up and disappeared like a fart in the wind, never to return.

 

It was going downhill long before Covid, and now it's well and truly gone forever.

The problem lies within Thailand and their inability to appreciate tourists and to integrate - and hell - even to learn the bloody english language properly.

 

Nobody is getting on a plane to stay here anymore.

 

As long as covid exists it will be over.

 

Thailand needs to accept that the world is not standing at the departure gates across the globe straining at the leash to get here - and even if and when they DID get here - they'd soon find out how deathly BORING it is now!

 

There's a horrible pall of depression hanging over everything and the current political situation is further dragging everything down and is like a powder keg waiting to blow. 

 

You can't have FUN here anymore.

 

Pattaya is dead - its all GONE. The fun was in the relative anonymity - the great melting pot hodgepodge of people from all over the world - getting lost in clubs in Silom and China town and waking up hungover with a bad tattoo  - it's all gone. It's over.

 

Stupid hairbrained "Schemes" are not going to solve it  - because nobody is thinking about thailand. Nobody wants to come - everyone just wants their lives back - and that starts at HOME. And HOME is screwed because some Chinese clowns wanted to eat bats for dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Under the proposal for the trial, the Thailand Longstay Company, a private company where the Tourism Authority of Thailand has a 30% stake, would provide assistance with visa applications and purchase of insurance for tourists (likely only Thai insurance companies).

You probably only need to look at who is behind this "Thailand Longstay Company" to find the real reason that they are keen on implementing this. Very few people in Phuket will benefit.

19 minutes ago, eeworldwide said:

I think that thailand refuses or is unable, to view themselves from the outside perspective.

 

What made Thailand a popular tourist destination in the past, was that it was

• cheap
• carefree
• accessible
• fun
• exciting    

People came to Thailand because it meant they could get away from the bureaucracy which plagues the west; one could come here and clamber on a motorcycle and travel on pavements.

....

 

Ouch for Thailand, but well said. I think these tourist calling cards have been in a death spiral for the better part of a decade. But alas... Not all Thai people want Thailand to be the world's frat house, or at least they don't think a tourist-centric economy will reliably will fund their own frat parties indefinitely. The growing middle class is tuned in to the rest of the world through Facebook and Instagram - they want to drive BMWs and buy iPhones, they want to carry Prada and Gucci just like their idols in Japan and Korea. I don't think there is a common belief among Thai's younger generations that a tourist economy holds the type of future they are dreaming of right now.

 

 

27 minutes ago, eeworldwide said:

I think that thailand refuses or is unable, to view themselves from the outside perspective.

 

What made Thailand a popular tourist destination in the past, was that it was

• cheap
• carefree
• accessible
• fun
• exciting    

People came to Thailand because it meant they could get away from the bureaucracy which plagues the west; one could come here and clamber on a motorcycle and travel on pavements. You could dash away and be anonymous at a full moon party, or go up north and get lost in the jungle and fall in love with some crazy isaan girl and have mad sex parties until dawn (if that floats your boat) or you could take the family to a high-end resort in the south and have all manner of fun on boats and beaches.

 

You could be a pretty broke student backpacker with $50 in your bumbag, and you could stay in a crappy hostel and meet up with other fellow stinkies, and hitch it down to the south and have an adventure and make friends for life.

 

You could go kickboxing and train with some of the best in the word. Go rock climbing, sky diving, snorkelling and deep sea diving, and all at competitive prices.

You could finish it all off with a couple of hedonistic nights in Bangkok, which might still only cost you 1500-3000 baht, if you weren't completely insane ( less than that 10 years ago)

You could visit the silk factories in the north and go camping in Kao Yai, or if you were elderly you could receive great medical attention and get pleasured by a pretty nurse into the bargain.

If you were american you could have a stab at setting up a business pretty easily ( it would fail after a year or 2  - but still have some fun).

 

Simply put, that has all gone; poof! Up and disappeared like a fart in the wind, never to return.

 

It was going downhill long before Covid, and now it's well and truly gone forever.

The problem lies within Thailand and their inability to appreciate tourists and to integrate - and hell - even to learn the bloody english language properly.

 

Nobody is getting on a plane to stay here anymore.

 

As long as covid exists it will be over.

 

Thailand needs to accept that the world is not standing at the departure gates across the globe straining at the leash to get here - and even if and when they DID get here - they'd soon find out how deathly BORING it is now!

 

There's a horrible pall of depression hanging over everything and the current political situation is further dragging everything down and is like a powder keg waiting to blow. 

 

You can't have FUN here anymore.

 

Pattaya is dead - its all GONE. The fun was in the relative anonymity - the great melting pot hodgepodge of people from all over the world - getting lost in clubs in Silom and China town and waking up hungover with a bad tattoo  - it's all gone. It's over.

 

Stupid hairbrained "Schemes" are not going to solve it  - because nobody is thinking about thailand. Nobody wants to come - everyone just wants their lives back - and that starts at HOME. And HOME is screwed because some Chinese clowns wanted to eat bats for dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WELL SAID. I agree totally. For those who doubt, then a short trip “off island” back to “civilization” Will show you how dull the brain can become without the daily challenges and on-goings that some here complain about. We actually thrive in this “wild East” nation because of the excitement, challenges and freedom that we may not fully appreciate.

Now certainly we cannot expect our LOS to remain the “same olde” forever but I pray that WE don’t throw the baby out with the bath.

SIAM POM RAK KHUN 

The quarantine and isolation measures might reduce the risk to Thai people, but what will Thailand do to reduce the risk that the foreigners face? And the risk is very high. These visitors will be elderly and many will have age related chronic conditions  such as heart disease, kidney disease, respiratory deterioration etc.

 

Thailand does not have a large amount of testing, so no one really knows the true extent of infection in Thailand.  There is most likely a sizable asymptomatic reservoir in Thailand that is ready to spread the disease to the high risk visitors.  Without a regular and extensive testing in Thailand,  those foreign   visitors would be foolish to return if forced to remain in tourist ghettos.

 

 

27 minutes ago, eeworldwide said:

Nobody wants to come

Spot on, on just about every point. 
 

There are a (very) few of the old brigade that would like to return for a vacation over here. They are prepared to accept that the place is virtually a ghost town. What they are not prepared to do is travel the distance to get here only to be placed in quarantine on arrival (although they accept quarantine is probably necessary). They will not accept (although knowing it’s necessary) quarantine on return to their own country. But what they fear most is being over here and airports being closed down by the govt following a (possible/probable) further outbreak of the virus. 
Generally, tourists have a job at their home. A job that they could lose permanently.

Before announcing ‘plans’ and ‘opening up’ the country the government should think things through fully.

 

5 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Certainly gives club 18-30 a new meaning !

I was there... many times, best holidays of my life.???? 

6 hours ago, webfact said:

But the government admits it is facing a few hurdles – 1 from the healthcare providers who are concerned about ramping up their facilities to cope with the testing and possible increase in cases

Better dust off those field hospitals you erected around the country four months ago, once you let the virus out of the bag it won't only be tourists that are affected by it.

an old song  Money-Money-money its a rich mans world. and still no government has had the guts to tell China we want compo

6 hours ago, webfact said:

limited flights, 14 day quarantine, expensive “registered” hotels and testing regime were seen to be impediments to possible success

.... so said Captain Obvious.

17 minutes ago, Guderian said:

Better dust off those field hospitals you erected around the country four months ago, once you let the virus out of the bag it won't only be tourists that are affected by it.

Give it a rest will you.  The media has stoke the irrational fear factor enough.  They don’t need more help.

36 minutes ago, geriatrickid said:

The quarantine and isolation measures might reduce the risk to Thai people, but what will Thailand do to reduce the risk that the foreigners face? And the risk is very high. These visitors will be elderly and many will have age related chronic conditions  such as heart disease, kidney disease, respiratory deterioration etc.

 

Thailand does not have a large amount of testing, so no one really knows the true extent of infection in Thailand.  There is most likely a sizable asymptomatic reservoir in Thailand that is ready to spread the disease to the high risk visitors.  Without a regular and extensive testing in Thailand,  those foreign   visitors would be foolish to return if forced to remain in tourist ghettos.

 

Thailand only test 10,000 per 1 million of population,

Australia tests 200000 per 1 million population,

So of course Thailand has very few cases.

Indonesia has now very high number of cases

 

2 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

Tourists will not come back in the numbers as before .

Covid is still surging elsewhere , people do not want to take a long airplane trip anymore .

There are enough destinations that are in easy reach for Europeans and Americans and they do not need to quarantine .

Thais can say ' bye bye ' to mass tourism for a long time .

The ones who will come back are the retirees , the long term stayers , the ones with a thai family .

To attract at least these people there is only one way to help them come back : facilitate Visa regulations .

They come here to spend their money , make them feel welcome .

 

It has nothing to do with long time on an airplane if people don't come. It's only the 14 days quarantine and for some, maybe the insurance. The proposed hotels in Phuket are very expensive to start with. 

Wake up. People are not standing in line to come to Thailand. No one will stay 3 weeks in qurantine and pay 100 thousands Baht just to be in Thailand.

There are other destinations they can go to for much less money and less hassle.

It wasn't the government who came up with the idea about the so called  "Phuket model", it was the local tourist authority. 

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The GM of a leading hotel group confided with The Thaiger that some sort of re-opening plan was “urgent” but that the government’s plan would not work and would only benefit a few hotels whilst adding a lot of inconvenience for the rest of the island as ‘quarantined’ tourists would be allowed to roam in a 1 kilometre radius from their registered hotel.

 

“Who is going to track these people? What happens to all the hotel staff, residents and other tourists that also work or wander into these 1 kilometre zones? The plan hasn’t been thought through.”

Yeah... that...

 

I mean it's a brilliant plan to destroy Phuket's tourism completely. If in total they are expecting 100k foreign tourists (and I'd say that's optimistic), they'll just lose millions of Thais that would have traveled there the moment it's known that "dirty farangs" are roaming around "without quarantine". Could pretty much expect Phuket to become Alcatraz after that with nobody allowed to leave the island, and all internal flights cancelled for lack of demand.

Tomorrow it will be just 3 point tourist have to consider. And at the end of the week it's just a corona test left.

Let it be before departure or when you arrive at the airport.

Same with health insurance, make it compulsory at the airport (communicated clearly before arrival or booking the flight) at a reasonable price and people will pay.

Let's face reality, anything else is not applicable in real life or accepted by tourist.