Thailand ready to kick off Phuket reopening program on July 1: official

[webfact]

 

Editor: huaxia

 

BANGKOK, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Thailand has been ready to kick off the Phuket Sandbox campaign on Thursday to open the resort island to vaccinated international visitors, Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said Monday.

 

Hotels and other tourism-related venues throughout the island province have been prepared for the reopening campaign whereas up to 80 percent of Phuket's residents, including those hired in hotel and tourist industry, will have been vaccinated against COVID-19 by Wednesday, Yuthasak said.

 

An estimated 400 to 500 foreign tourists are scheduled to arrive in Phuket on Thursday and many more are expected to follow at later dates, he said.

 

Phuket Sandbox Hotels Packages - Book Now!

 

Full story: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/asiapacific/2021-06/28/c_1310032688.htm

 

-- © Copyright Xinhua 2021-06-29

 

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[ezzra]

And to that one might say: here goes nothing.. Good luck with that, i for one hope it will work for them but....

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

I HOPE IT WILL WORK

[sammieuk1]

Spent the day (all of it) trying to navigate a return as cheap as possible first obstacle expired O visa second flights wow very few example BA is gateway for Quatar    third insurance and so on still stuck on one as all the documents I need are at home in Chiang Mai its going to be ridiculously expensive so forget any short wedged tourists until some of these loony requirements get the elbow ????

[nkg]

I wonder when it will be Gazetted?

 

They must be frantically writing last-minute obstacles, fees and rules ... ????

[JCP108]

6 minutes ago, nkg said:

I wonder when it will be Gazetted?

 

They must be frantically writing last-minute obstacles, fees and rules ... ????

Oh, there's plenty of time. It's only June 29th in Thailand. Sorry to all those sandboxers who are trying to get their COEs approved before they jump on their flights tomorrow. 

[ukrules]

This is going to be a laugh to watch

[Geoffggi]

Stupid is as stupid does ...............LOL

[CANSIAM]

400-500 arrivals Thursday, thats 1 aircraft ( A380 ), and more on later dates - laughing......

[rasmus5150]

This is what Thailand expects Phuket to look like July 1st.

 

This is what Phuket will actually look like July 1st.

[Somtamnication]

Wait for it: China is one of the 60 odd countries to be allowed in. Can anyone spell PANDEMIC #2?

Edited June 28, 2021 by Somtamnication

[ChipButty]

I for one are wishing them Good Luck we know it will be chaos but the island needs it, we need to move on 

[nobodysfriend]

1 hour ago, rasmus5150 said:

This is what Thailand expects Phuket to look like July 1st.

 

This is what Phuket will actually look like July 1st.

I like the 2nd photo more than the 1st one ...

 

Edited June 29, 2021 by nobodysfriend

[simon43]

Mods - is it OK to post this cartoon?  I found it on another website (credit in the cartoon).  It just about sums up my own feelings about this sandbox ????

 

[Walker88]

They just added yet one more requirement, which is proof of pre-paid after-arrival PCR tests.

 

That is really going to inconvenience the one guy still signed up for the Sandbox. I hope he didn't pre-pay the charter charge on the Cessna 152 he's flying in on.

 

As for all the PCR tests....before travel, after arrival, during the stay, and after the 'lovely vacation'....anyone who does the Sandbox is going to be able to park a semi or a 1960's wide-track Pontiac up his nose.

[Boedog]

We all know how this is going to turn out everyone except the TAT and the PM 

[Walker88]

One could make an argument that this 're-opening' is going to do more harm than good to Thai Tourism, as it is likely some of those who enter the 'sandbox' are going to post about the nose picks, Big Brother surveillance tactics, and other intrusive and onerous requirements that some probably thought wouldn't really be imposed.

 

Lots of on-line gripes about the reality of the sandbox may well re-direct potential travelers to more open and relaxed locales, not Thailand. One might surmise the powers that be have a wildly over-inflated view of how attractive Thailand is relative to the rest of the world.

 

Better to stay closed and do nothing than open the way this is setting up.

[Hanaguma]

Not that i am booking flights yet, but it is very strange that Japan is on the list of countries that are ineligible for the sandbox. Covid here is not severe- less thant 1500 cases a day in a country with twice the population of Thailand. Plus vaccines are getting out at the rate of almost a million a day.

 

BTW, how can people begin to make plans if they can't get the CoE paperwork even started yet? It is unconscionable that the sandbox has yet to be in the Royal Gazette.  Can anyone see the various Thai embassies overseas working around the clock to process the incoming flood of applications? 

[MrJ2U]

Unreal as the third deadly wave starts to get out of hand.

[petedk]

1 hour ago, Walker88 said:

They just added yet one more requirement, which is proof of pre-paid after-arrival PCR tests.

 

That is really going to inconvenience the one guy still signed up for the Sandbox. I hope he didn't pre-pay the charter charge on the Cessna 152 he's flying in on.

 

As for all the PCR tests....before travel, after arrival, during the stay, and after the 'lovely vacation'....anyone who does the Sandbox is going to be able to park a semi or a 1960's wide-track Pontiac up his nose.

 

Maybe it's not the last requirement. I think they'll wait until the Cessna is airborne and then come with some ridiculous requirement.

[Stargeezr]

Well compared with Alcatraz, Phuket is a bit bigger, and there will be less guard towers and less

bars on the Hotel windows.  Also there will be more places to go eat at and shop at, and beaches to look at from a

distance, if some of the regulations have not been changed.    Maybe by December the rules will be

different and by January 2022 some tourists can go to Phuket and maybe Thailand without feeling

a bit like prisoners.

Geezer

[pagallim]

2 hours ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

Well compared with Alcatraz, Phuket is a bit bigger, and there will be less guard towers and less

bars on the Hotel windows.  Also there will be more places to go eat at and shop at, and beaches to look at from a

distance, if some of the regulations have not been changed.    Maybe by December the rules will be

different and by January 2022 some tourists can go to Phuket and maybe Thailand without feeling

a bit like prisoners.

Geezer

 

OK, if you have been to Phuket before, imagine it exactly as you remember it (at least in the tourist towns), but with bars and clubs closed, and most other businesses also.   Few people, little traffic, quiet, beaches fully open, all in all very pleasant (unless it's specifically nightlife that you're seeking), and you're free to do what you want when you want.  Great time to hire a car or motorbike and tour the island.

[stratocaster]

On 6/28/2021 at 11:08 PM, CANSIAM said:

400-500 arrivals Thursday, thats 1 aircraft ( A380 ), and more on later dates - laughing......

The two direct aircraft scheduled for 1 July are Etihad from Abu Dhabi arriving 1020am and Qatar at 1155am. Then Etihad again on Friday 2 July.