A South African cheetah sits near its trainer at its confinement cage in Tiger Kingdom zoo, as Phuket gets ready to open its doors to overseas tourists from July 1 allowing fully vaccinated foreigners to visit the resort island without quarantine, Phuket, Thailand June 28, 2021. Picture taken June 28, 2021. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

 

PHUKET, Thailand (Reuters) - A Thai tiger park in Phuket is gearing up to welcome back overseas visitors this week, as businesses on the resort island hope to benefit from a pilot programme to allow fully vaccinated tourists in the Southeast Asian country.

 

Under the plan, foreign tourists vaccinated against COVID-19 can bypass quarantine requirements and freely move around the island. After 14 days, barring any coronavirus issues, they can travel elsewhere in Thailand.

 

The general manager of Tiger Kingdom said the park had taken precautions ahead of Thursday's reopening to ensure foreign visitors are comfortable.

 

"We have vaccinated more than 90% of our staff and also trained them about the 'new normal' tourism," Chadarat Taodaeng said.

 

The park, which offers close encounters with big cats is home to more than 50 tigers and a cheetah. Since the pandemic, visitor numbers have slumped from nearly 1,000 a day to fewer than 20.

 

Thailand lost about $50 billion in tourism revenue last year as foreign arrivals plunged 83% to 6.7 million, from a record 39.9 million in 2019. Phuket was hit particularly hard by job losses and business closings.

 

"I'm happy that finally there will be people visiting the tigers, and Phuket city will be bustling again," said the park's assistant manager, Phonphawit Ton-od, adding that the reopening would "help with both tigers' and the staff's mental health."

 

There has been an increase in popularity of such parks, despite criticism by conservationists and concerns over safety after some instances of maulings.

 

For Thailand's government, bringing back visitors has been a priority, even as authorities have tried to contain a stubborn wave of coronavirus infections in recent months.

 

The government hopes Phuket's pilot programme will draw 129,000 visitors to Thailand in the third quarter of 2021, a number still far below the average 3.3 million monthly arrivals in 2019.

 

"I'm happy about the park reopening because our cheetah Gregor loves being around tourists and staff," said keeper Abdulrahim A-waekechi.

 

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-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-06-29

 

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8 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

South African cheetah sits near its trainer at its confinement cage in Tiger Kingdom zoo

 

Do they make striped cheetah's that look like Tigers now .?

 

10 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

 

"I'm happy about the park reopening because our cheetah Gregor loves being around tourists and staff,"

 

especially if he can eat a few of the unsuspecting one's .. 

Shame. I was hoping the place would be closed for good.

9 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The government hopes Phuket's pilot programme will draw 129,000 visitors to Thailand in the third quarter of 2021

Sheesh, that's over 1,500,000 hotel bookings Q3 by Thai new hotel mathematics.

 

God help them when they have 3.3 million tourists a month and they stay for only a week each, that's 277,000,000 hotel bookings !

Question: Do tourists in this scheme who test positive and are asymptomatic, making them a "case" end up at one of those "hospitels" potentially holding "mild cases" patients? Or do they get sent for a full obligatory two week stay in a hospital?

Better tell the tigers that nobody is coming !! 
The belief the place is going to be swamped with tourists is off the scale insane . ????

...dream on.

I'm sure the animals are loving the peace and quiet.

South African cheetah in Phuket? Legally imported? 

I thought that, after that fiasco in Ratchburi (or somewhere close by in Western Thailand) they would have closed down all those wild cat parks. 

Thailand - shame on you! 

6 hours ago, khaowong1 said:

I'm sure the animals are loving the peace and quiet.

 

But are they getting any food ?

49 minutes ago, LivinginKata said:

 

But are they getting any food ?

Don't worry LIK.  If after one year without food (no tourists), the tigers will be all gone by now.

"concerns over safety after some instances of maulings."

 

not likely now that all penises have been removed surgically and sold to the chinese.....  very placid animals... not a care in the world....

The whole place needs to be torn down and the animals sent to a sanctuary.

10 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

The whole place needs to be torn down and the animals sent to a sanctuary.

Since you live in Phuket, can you keep us up to date on those tourist arrivals?