The governor of Phuket, Narong Woonsiew, told Thai PBS World, when we asked whether he feels the pressure of being the first province in Thailand to reopen to fully vaccinated foreign arrivals without quarantine in July, under the tourism campaign called “Sandbox”.

 

Narong said Phuket is determined to make it happen and that, if Phuket does not take this path, the future of the island and the livelihoods of people here, which very much depend on the tourism industry, would be crippled.

 

 

Eighty percent of Phuket’s revenue came from Tourism, worth over 442 billion baht. When the world was on lockdown, Phuket saw only 10 percent occupation of its 100,000 hotel rooms. Phuket earned just over 108 billion baht in 2020, 91 percent of which was in the first three months of the year, before lockdown.

 

All 230 Sandbox Hotels in Phuket - Book Now!

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/phuket-sandbox-the-determination-to-have-a-better-livelihood-on-a-tourist-island/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2021-06-24

 

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When are they going to realise that the golden goose is long gone?

It's unlikely that tourism will ever return to pre-covid-19 levels.

They need to put energy and resources into diversification. 

Educate and train in technology and IT skills that are in demand.

Make Phuket attractive to highly skilled digital entrepreneurs.

Provide incentives and open up Phuket to digital nomads.

Nowadays many people can work remotely and Phuket should be an attractive place to live.

 

8 hours ago, Phuketshrew said:

When are they going to realise that the golden goose is long gone?

It's unlikely that tourism will ever return to pre-covid-19 levels.

As a retired Phuket expatriate, who enjoys the peace and quiet without the tourist hordes, IMHO for myself that no tourist hordes would be nice.  But I think that a wrong belief.

 

I know of some in Phuket hotels that are using this time to renovate, rebuild, and of a couple that have either just opened or are planning to build.

 

Contrary to your view, they expect the Island to return in the coming years, and are laying down millions of $$ to build to take advantage of their view.  Money thrown away?  Maybe ... Maybe not. I think 'maybe not'.

 

Again, for myself, I would like to see it stay quiet, but I doubt that it will.

 

8 hours ago, Phuketshrew said:

They need to put energy and resources into diversification. 

Educate and train in technology and IT skills that are in demand.

Make Phuket attractive to highly skilled digital entrepreneurs.

Provide incentives and open up Phuket to digital nomads.

Nowadays many people can work remotely and Phuket should be an attractive place to live.

I VERY MUCH like that view point - as I would like to see more of that for an emphasis, than the tourism.

 

But if I had to put my money down and bet, I would (sadly) think I have a better chance of seeing the tourism return to previous levels in a few + years from now (not this year or next, but in a few years).

13 hours ago, Phuketshrew said:

When are they going to realise that the golden goose is long gone?

It's unlikely that tourism will ever return to pre-covid-19 levels.

They need to put energy and resources into diversification. 

Educate and train in technology and IT skills that are in demand.

Make Phuket attractive to highly skilled digital entrepreneurs.

Provide incentives and open up Phuket to digital nomads.

Nowadays many people can work remotely and Phuket should be an attractive place to live.

 

So what do they do in the meantime until this grand scheme of yours happens?

I am not advocating replacing tourism completely, just to try and become less reliant tourism by trying to diversify into other areas not dependent on the tourist dollar.

I was here through the tsunami and Phuket bounced back fairly quickly. It seems that recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic will take much longer.

I don't think that eduction and training and opening Phuket up to make it more attractive to entrepreneurs, digital nomads and remote workers in a "grand scheme of mine". Just a way of decreasing the dependence on tourism and shifting some of the eggs into other baskets.