Phuket to open to fully vaccinated, COVID-19 free foreign tourists without quarantine in July

[Miss Pickle]

I doubt they will have many people booking .Thailand realistically will maybe open in a year if they get the Covid outbreak sorted out.I arrived here in March once I got out of 15 days Quarantine bars closed then restaurants coffee shops beaches pools nothing much left to enjoy.I have just travelled from the UK after a year of closure the UK has now opened up with still having more or roundabout the same amount of cases as Thailand and that is with the vaccine.Covid is something we are just going to have to get used to living with.

[Mywayboy]

15 hours ago, Shuya said:

What will they be allowed to do? Stay inside the hotel room 24 hours a day, by themself, not drinking alcohol, not meeting anyone and eating krapaow to prevent covid? That island is dead.

Wonder if I can travel inter provence on a motorbike from Phuket to Chiang Mai over a 3 week period.???

[BananaGuy]

14 hours ago, WineOh said:

can I go as an unvaccinated expat?

 

bet there be some horny western women down there that miss the smell of coconut oil and a man in speedos. 

Why would you use coconut oil on your Zimmer frame? It’s got no moving parts. Have you?

[ronaldo0]

These fairytales give Hans Christian Andersen a run for his money !! ????????

[GeorgeEboy]

Why would you want to go to a place where nothing is open? Businesses have closed there so what are you going to do other than lay at your hotel pool or lay on the beach? What has to happen or which will happen first? Do businesses open and then the tourists come or do the tourists come (no pun) and when there are enough of them some businesses open? July 1st in Phuket might be like 5:00am at Walmart on Black Friday.

[13thomas13]

I am vaccinated and no worries to others...science tells me that...looking forward to my next visit to Thailand....as I have done many times before.

[Surasak]

Greed rearing its ugly head yet again!!!. Open up the island and within a week, the number of Covid cases will be through the roof. The logistics of supply will be its undoing, as well as the possibility of someone arriving as a carrier, but with proof of their vaccination status. Will EVERY Phuket resident be vaccinated by the opening date?? The island is not self sufficient, so as said, that will more than likely be its undoing.

[steevjee]

16 hours ago, stubuzz said:

Another article states that it will cost 150-200,000bt per person for the pleasure.

Where would I find that article ?

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, phantom51red said:

Thai airways may propose to do and take bookings......

...Thai Airways. 

 

I called their Sydney office a week back re their flight Sydney to Bkk (I refer to the return of the repat flight Sydney to Bkk TG475.

 

I asked if they are taking bookings for the return flight in December 2021, answer was 'yes'.

 

 

 

I asked for and got confirmation that the check-in luggage allowance is 30K. I asked if passenger can pay for extra KGs, answer 'No'.

 

I asked if changes to flight date are allowed. Answer 'No, of course not, TG have never allowed changes for the basic fare'.

 

I asked about refund if TG cancels the flight' answer 'No, this is not allowed under TG policy.

 

Seems that TG never learns anything.

[steevjee]

2 hours ago, scorecard said:

 

Canada blood clot reactions supposedly 1 in 60,000.

 

That's not the experience of most /all other countries. Yes there have been some reactions (blood clot) In other countries / to all vaccines, but a long long way less then 1 in 60,000. Is this number correct?

 

As said, most /all vaccines have experienced some reactions, but what's not stated generally is a profile of the other reactions and their severity / data per country.

 

Also, re Canada, how quickly were the blood clots reduced/ totally dissolved across the 60,000 (in Canada),  and how many deaths specific to blood clots and specifically caused the AZ vaccine.

 

Also, what's the data on this point in a profile of other countries.

 

I've had the AZ vaccine, no reaction whatever. 

 

Overall there's not enough information. 

 

Australia with AZ,  18 out of 1.8 million vacs as of yesterday, from those 18 there has been 1 death, most were mild and allowed to leave hospital within a few days

[Guderian]

It's a shame that the Thais are taught not to question decisions, and lack any serious analytical capabilities. They should estimate what the economic cost of the latest outbreak has been to the country, with bars and clubs closed for weeks (and probably months yet to come), all attractions closed, reduced shopping hours, travel discouraged and restaurants reduced to serving only take-aways. Then compare the cost of the lost activity nationwide with the probable economic benefits deriving from the Phuket sandbox, and they wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. A shame they can't even do basic mental arithmetic.

 

On top of there being absolutely no economic grounds for opening Phuket to foreign tourists, they also seem to be very confused about what vaccination achieves. The latest study I've seen suggests that the Pfizer and AZ vaccines cut the likelihood of transmission by between 38% and 49%.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-56904993

 

So if 10,000 fully vaccinated tourists are allowed to enter Phuket and then, after 7 days, to travel anywhere they like in Thailand, between 5,000 and 6,000 of them will still be carrying the virus and able to pass it on to the local population. And some of them will be bound to be carrying nasty variants that are not yet on the loose in Thailand. Here comes the fourth wave!

 

When this is over, they'll build a giant statue to Prayut, but it will be a statue of him wearing a dunce's hat, lol.

[wensiensheng]

I don’t really expect TAT to do anything other than plan for tourism arrivals, they are a tourism authority.

 

I expect that the health authority has assured them that they will meet the 70% vaccination goal and that current restrictions will reduce Covid to zero. That leads to the removal of all restrictions. So on that basis, why not plan for reopening?

 

in reality, the 70% vaccinated population will always be a fudge. Lots of people here are registered in their own province, migrant workers, farang are unregistered. And then once they DO open, back come the seasonal workers living elsewhere. So that one will be met because it will be fudged.

 

cases at zero……hmm. To date it hasnt been so, hard to guess if that point is reached in 6 weeks or not.

 

but in any case, the “ sandbox” idea is deeply flawed because phuket isn’t a box, it’s more like a sieve, lots of people coming and going by land, sea and air. So the concept of a bubble isn’t met.

Likewise the idea of 70% vaccination giving herd immunity. Lots of fresh meat arriving for the virus to feed on and infect the 30% unvaccinated population.

 

nope, come July IF they have opened, and IF tourists are arriving, I will be at our house in Udon until I am vaccinated. Phuket will be a Petri dish of infection. Maybe others disagree, but that’s what I am going with.

[shackleton]

They blow like the wind changing every day their  statements on when and who will be coming to Phuket 

Why don't they put their hands up and admit nothing is going to happen until everyone is vaccinated first

 

[mar zarych]

I think the horse has left the barn for Thailand this year no matter what they do. Not everyone wants to visit Phuket. On my first visit there in 20 years a couple of years ago I declared it total  devastation, overdeveloped to the point of disgust. Full of rude money grabbers. You could not pay me to spend a week there. 

 

 

[Maejo Man]

There is a popular acronym that sums this up W.O.F.T.A.M

[Darkside Gray]

16 hours ago, from the home of CC said:

fortunately, it's not the decision for the TAT to make. Ontario (CDN) stopped the AZ vax yesterday, finding 1 in 60,000 people experiencing the blot clot issues. That's a far cry from the one in a million chance we heard from the makers. Since this country is banking on local production of this in a few months who knows what vaxes and how many may be available down the road. This **** is far from over..

Quoted from what?

[MarcIssan]

And what about the 'fully vaccinated' bar girls and other workers that help make Phuket what it is?

[BobinBKK]

16 hours ago, darksidedog said:

That might be what he is saying today, but we all know that something very different is likely to be uttered within a day or so, and then again two days after that. Consistency in position is not something Thailand seems noted for.

Are they going to vaccinate the 100,000 or so prostitutes from all over the country that will be flocking to Phuket?

[IamNoone88]

An ill conceived and poorly thought through and explained initiative. I cannot even travel from Phuket to supervise my project and workers in Isan. It is well known that even with vaccinations, you are open to infection and transmission to others - you are simply less sick. Just follow Singapore, which is well managed, has a superb vaccination program with the best vaccines and has a lengthy state quarantine - yet Covid still somehow penetrates this society and reaps havoc in the community through new clusters. Be careful what you wish for, you might get it and in my opinion the Hotel Association will have some explaining to do for pushing so hard if goes awry.

[0815]

16 hours ago, stubuzz said:

Another article states that it will cost 150-200,000bt per person for the pleasure.

A bargain ! ????

[mberbae]

Zero word on locals in Phuket being vaccinated by July. Highly unlikely at the

snail's pace things are currently moving vaccine wise.

[Millcx]

17 hours ago, Shuya said:

What will they be allowed to do? Stay inside the hotel room 24 hours a day, by themself, not drinking alcohol, not meeting anyone and eating krapaow to prevent covid? That island is dead.

This has to be a Joke .... Thailand sits on the worlds Amber list which means 14 days Quarentine when returning back to your country after being in a country that’s empty ... Maybe an odd plane with rich Indians will pack the place 

[crazykopite]

Every day all we hear being spewed out is TOTAL BS from these ???????????? with Covid cases rising every day along with deaths increasing there is no way this is going to happen yesterday the government had to come clean over 3,000 inmates having Covid and being in such an enclosed environment I expect that to double in the next few days  . The only tourists coming are those desperate anyone with a brain will give it a miss .

[robbioff]

2 hours ago, Jumbo1968 said:

What about fights if you are travelling from the U.K., you have to transit through BKK ?

You get off in Bangkok, have a fight, then carry on to your destination 

[Nanaplaza666]

4 hours ago, paahlman said:

No. You can stay wherever you like.. In a house or in a hotel.. You follow the same restrictions as the other locals, but you cant leave the province for 7 days.. Easy.

 

In many parts of europe they are lifting restrictions and the nr's are going the right way with less IC beds filled and less hospitalizations so things are looking better there then here . Why would people come ? So it's not that Easy. If it would be 20 below celcius around there maybe , but summer is starting in most parts as well so . 

[jomtienisgood]

17 hours ago, darksidedog said:

That might be what he is saying today, but we all know that something very different is likely to be uttered within a day or so, and then again two days after that. Consistency in position is not something Thailand seems noted for.

Well yes, a lot of time and opposite decisions by July.. lol 555

[jomtienisgood]

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

...Thai Airways. 

 

I called their Sydney office a week back re their flight Sydney to Bkk (I refer to the return of the repat flight Sydney to Bkk TG475.

 

I asked if they are taking bookings for the return flight in December 2021, answer was 'yes'.

 

 

 

I asked for and got confirmation that the check-in luggage allowance is 30K. I asked if passenger can pay for extra KGs, answer 'No'.

 

I asked if changes to flight date are allowed. Answer 'No, of course not, TG have never allowed changes for the basic fare'.

 

I asked about refund if TG cancels the flight' answer 'No, this is not allowed under TG policy.

 

Seems that TG never learns anything.

Why would they, money keeps flowing in.....5555

[Bkktodd]

One week quarantine free then can travel to provinces vs 2 weeks quarantine for vaccinated arrival.  Easy choice.  Abit unfair too. Vaccinated can go to phuket yet the same vaccinated cant go to pattaya with a length quarantine.   Bring back the 7 day as promised.  Most of the covid isnt from the LEGAL arrivals

[skorp13]

Total bunch of <deleted>, vaccines are vaccines

[Nanaplaza666]

3 hours ago, scorecard said:

 

Canada blood clot reactions supposedly 1 in 60,000.

 

That's not the experience of most /all other countries. Yes there have been some reactions (blood clot) In other countries / to all vaccines, but a long long way less then 1 in 60,000. Is this number correct?

 

As said, most /all vaccines have experienced some reactions, but what's not stated generally is a profile of the other reactions and their severity / data per country.

 

Also, re Canada, how quickly were the blood clots reduced/ totally dissolved across the 60,000 (in Canada),  and how many deaths specific to blood clots and specifically caused the AZ vaccine.

 

Also, what's the data on this point in a profile of other countries.

 

I've had the AZ vaccine, no reaction whatever. 

 

Overall there's not enough information. 

 

The CDC quoted that there have died more people of the covid vaccines since the start then there have of all other vaccines since 2001