TerraplaneGuy Posted June 20, 2021 Share Posted June 20, 2021 Has anyone looked at whether, in order to make use of the upcoming "sandbox" Alternative Local Quarantine (in Phuket or Samui or wherever), you have to fly direct to the sandbox location from abroad or can change planes in BKK? For example if flying in from the U.S., when you apply for your COE do you have to show the embassy an air ticket going directly to Phuket (maybe via Hong Kong or another hub) or can you go via BKK, and if the latter, how long can the stopover be? Obviously with Samui it will be next to impossible to fly directly in from abroad. So you would think they would allow connecting in BKK. But my concern is that at Suvarnabhumi they may not want you wandering around for hours waiting for your connection when you're supposed to be in quarantine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJack54 Posted June 20, 2021 Share Posted June 20, 2021 (edited) Like most things with the Sandbox it seems to be one announcement followed by another with different info. You need to wait untill it's finally in the book. Pretty useless when July 1 couple of weeks away. There was a video by Richard Barrow where a 'special transit area was going to be created at BKK. I assume there would need to be partner airline to facilitate this. Nothing in concrete. Why anyone would book early I have no idea Edited June 20, 2021 by DrJack54 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted June 20, 2021 Share Posted June 20, 2021 Nothing has been confirmed yet for connecting to another flight. There may be some flights that stop in Bangkok to let passengers off and then continue onward to Phuket or Samui. Edit: There are already some flights going to Phuket originates between here and the US. There is already flights from Singapore to Phuket shown here .https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ijBJOTgFJPAuWUfkPIA60iniXB9j9Ba2XHafXzA6JCw/edit#gid=2100613241 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KhunBENQ Posted June 20, 2021 Share Posted June 20, 2021 Of course it would ridicule the whole sandbox if you could just walk freely (even within the arrival terminal) and no way to change to a normal domestic flight arriving at domestic terminal in Phuket. There was some idea about dedicated transit flights from a dedicated terminal just for this purpose. 11 days to 1st of July and still uncertainties and still not finally approved! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerraplaneGuy Posted June 20, 2021 Author Share Posted June 20, 2021 Udate: I was just informed by one of the ALQ resorts in Samui that their sandbox does not work for foreign arrivals because you DO have to fly direct to the sandbox from abroad and (possibly with the exception of Singapore?) there are no such flights into Samui. They say if you arrive in BKK you have to do ASQ there. But they caution that the rules may change. It seems they'll have to if this sandbox is to work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJack54 Posted June 20, 2021 Share Posted June 20, 2021 1 minute ago, TerraplaneGuy said: Udate: I was just informed by one of the ALQ resorts in Samui that their sandbox does not work for foreign arrivals because you DO have to fly direct to the sandbox from abroad and (possibly with the exception of Singapore?) there are no such flights into Samui. They say if you arrive in BKK you have to do ASQ there. But they caution that the rules may change. It seems they'll have to if this sandbox is to work. Don't mix your sandbox (Phuket) with all the others to follow later. They can't even finalize Phuket currently. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted June 20, 2021 Share Posted June 20, 2021 For Samui they have not scheduled any flights yet since it not starting on the 1st. Flights from Malaysia and Singapore have been mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gim12 Posted June 20, 2021 Share Posted June 20, 2021 dont see how you could, if you are changing terminals you are not in a controlled environment which defeats the whole purpose of quarantining, if you plan on transiting through Singapore read the transit guidelines carefully, transit guidelines were very strict and were limited to passengers arriving from some , but not all, departure cities and on certain airlines the following is from March 2021 but the logic remains Lufthansa customers can now transfer through Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport between international flights only. It is currently not allowed to transfer onto domestic flights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritTim Posted June 20, 2021 Share Posted June 20, 2021 30 minutes ago, TerraplaneGuy said: Udate: I was just informed by one of the ALQ resorts in Samui that their sandbox does not work for foreign arrivals because you DO have to fly direct to the sandbox from abroad and (possibly with the exception of Singapore?) there are no such flights into Samui. They say if you arrive in BKK you have to do ASQ there. But they caution that the rules may change. It seems they'll have to if this sandbox is to work. Maybe domestic flights between sandbox locations might be allowed. This would not help for many of the small locations being touted as sandboxes in August. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treetops Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 On 6/20/2021 at 2:46 PM, gim12 said: dont see how you could, if you are changing terminals you are not in a controlled environment which defeats the whole purpose of quarantining, The plan was for Concourse E in BKK to be sealed off for this purpose so no mixing with other passengers. Details are here: https://www.caat.or.th/en/archives/56377 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerraplaneGuy Posted June 21, 2021 Author Share Posted June 21, 2021 39 minutes ago, treetops said: The plan was for Concourse E in BKK to be sealed off for this purpose so no mixing with other passengers. Details are here: https://www.caat.or.th/en/archives/56377 Interesting, thanks. I don't see anything in the link about transferring from an international arrival flight to a domestic flight (e. g. to get to a "sandbox" destination like Phuket or Samui). Do you know if that is supposed to be possible? And has any of this been implemented? (I note you say the plan "was" ...). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treetops Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 I don't know the logistics or if it has been implemented at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geisha Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 57 minutes ago, TerraplaneGuy said: Interesting, thanks. I don't see anything in the link about transferring from an international arrival flight to a domestic flight (e. g. to get to a "sandbox" destination like Phuket or Samui). Do you know if that is supposed to be possible? And has any of this been implemented? (I note you say the plan "was" ...). I don’t think you’ve read the above replies. Samui is not on the sandbox list yet, and the Phuket sandbox has not yet been approuver officially ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerraplaneGuy Posted June 21, 2021 Author Share Posted June 21, 2021 45 minutes ago, geisha said: I don’t think you’ve read the above replies. Samui is not on the sandbox list yet, and the Phuket sandbox has not yet been approuver officially ! I think I've read them. You're right that Phuket has not received final approval but all the reports indicate they're going to proceed on July 1. You're also right that Samui is not scheduled to be a sandbox on July 1 but there have been many statements that if Phuket works, Samui will join the list. And TAT has announced that on July 15 "the Samui Plus (Surat Thani) for Samui-Phangan-Tao Sealed Routes" will start. https://www.tatnews.org/2021/06/thailand-confirms-reopening-plan-from-1-july-2021/ The same has been widely reported elsewhere. So I think it's fair to say there is a high chance they will go ahead with Phuket on July 1 and see what happens; if it's successful, Samui will follow. Of course, you never know ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtls2005 Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 This has been mentioned as a potential option, but it may not be implemented from day 1. Also, available flights may ne limited to THAI or ThaiSmile. Best to wait for the officially apporved rules. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerraplaneGuy Posted June 23, 2021 Author Share Posted June 23, 2021 (edited) It's official: "The cabinet on Tuesday approved the Phuket sandbox tourism scheme that sees the island reopen on July 1, followed by a trio of destinations in the Gulf of Thailand -- Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao -- on July 15, allowing in fully vaccinated tourists from some countries." BKK Post June 22 Edited June 23, 2021 by TerraplaneGuy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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