Phuket Sandbox: 300 tourists mostly from the Middle East to arrive today, 82% island now vaccinated

[connda]

7 hours ago, zzzzz said:

i walk along the deserted Kamala beach daily ( and have been for nearly 18 months) ...... an its lovely  ????

 

why are people still harping on "tourists" arriving for the phuket sandbox?
the Sandbox is to simulate the economy, so it doesn't really matter the reason people are travelling to phuket for

I visited my Thai son in Chiang Mai today.
Took Mrs. Connda shopping at Warorot Market.  How immensely wonderful.  Virtually no people, very few cars, but most places open and doing a brisk "local" business.  No traffic.  Some enterprising entrepreneur took over the our friend's restaurant that Prayut and Friends put out of business permanently.  Now a noodle shop that's paying 30K+ a month in rent unless the landlord dropped the rent our friends were paying.  Other than that Thapae is still as dead as a door-nail  I'm fine by that.  I actually really like the quiet and lack of traffic and people.  I know - my bad.
As far as Phuket goes.  82% vaccinated.  Only if they massaged the numbers.  Note that only those with housebooks in Phuket can be officially vaccinated.  That and foreigners being denied vaccinations should tell you everything about those juked statistics.  I hate liars.  But we now live in a world of universal deceit.  So in that vein I'm sure we will be told about the stellar successes and billions of THB being spent by masked, tracked, and tagged "tourists."  Blah blah blah blah blah....ad-infinitum.

[Benmart]

Much ado about nothing.

[eyup]

17 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

If elderly means over 60, I am one of them. And yet so many young people here have had a jab. ????‍♂️

Why haven't you had a jab? All people with valid visas were able to register and get an appointment. If your visa is not valid for Phuket then you will just be registered But I'm not sure if that means you will eventually get a jab To the previous poster @Benmart FYI My visa is valid in Phuket I am registered at my address here and also have certificate of residence . I got a vaccination appointment no problem. People  I know whose visas are not totally valid and not registered,  haven't had an appointment or vaccination yet! So I guess the question is why aren't they registered and are their visas strictly legal?

Edited July 1, 2021 by eyup

[raccos21]

[wensiensheng]

1 minute ago, eyup said:

Why haven't you had a jab? All people with valid visas were able to register and get an appointment. If your visa is not valid for Phuket then you will just be registered But I'm not sure if that means you will eventually get a jab

I am registered in Udon province for a jab at the hospital where I have my annual medical. I was given an appointment for 14th June. That was postponed indefinitely because of a lack of vaccine. And now I can’t fly to Udon anyway because I would transit in Bangkok and there is now a 14 day state quarantine in Udon for Bangkok arrivals.

 

for a long while I could not register in Phuket. Initially they would only take registrations from Thai’s, then it was expanded to include farang who work for a Thai company. I am retired so could not register at that time.

 

It’s now possible for all farang in Phuket to register and I have done that. I got a message that they” have recorded your details”. Nothing more than that, no appointment, no mention of what vaccine.

 

my visa is valid for the whole of Thailand, it  is a retirement extension that I have had for 14 years.

 

to answer your first question. I have no idea why I haven’t had a jab? Incompetence on the part of the Thai health authorities is my first thought though.

[eyup]

2 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

I am registered in Udon province for a jab at the hospital where I have my annual medical. I was given an appointment for 14th June. That was postponed indefinitely because of a lack of vaccine. And now I can’t fly to Udon anyway because I would transit in Bangkok and there is now a 14 day state quarantine in Udon for Bangkok arrivals.

 

for a long while I could not register in Phuket. Initially they would only take registrations from Thai’s, then it was expanded to include farang who work for a Thai company. I am retired so could not register at that time.

 

It’s now possible for all farang in Phuket to register and I have done that. I got a message that they” have recorded your details”. Nothing more than that, no appointment, no mention of what vaccine.

 

my visa is valid for the whole of Thailand, it  is a retirement extension that I have had for 14 years.

 

to answer your first question. I have no idea why I haven’t had a jab? Incompetence on the part of the Thai health authorities is my first thought though.

No! I think not true ref incompetence! The problem is clearly because you are registered in Udon. Perhaps a visit to immigration might be in order?

[dade7812]

9 hours ago, WineOh said:

How long until the island locks down and these 300 poor souls are forced to stay in their rooms for the duration of their holiday?

 

Saying that, it's probably better than walking down a deserted patong beach during the rainy season....

 

How depressing can you get! ????

They don't have to stay in their rooms, they are quarantined to the island for 14 days......

[keithkarmann]

Great 300 Arabs arriving today but no domestic tourists or expats as most have not been vacinated. Still the Prime Minister can join them as he has been vacinated. But I am not sure if he likes foreigners so maybe he will not go.

[keithkarmann]

Hope the bar girls are prepared as Middle Eastern men are not known for their respect of ladies.

[joecoolfrog]

7 hours ago, zzzzz said:

i walk along the deserted Kamala beach daily ( and have been for nearly 18 months) ...... an its lovely  ????

 

why are people still harping on "tourists" arriving for the phuket sandbox?
the Sandbox is to simulate the economy, so it doesn't really matter the reason people are travelling to phuket for

You would be correct if it were simply a matter of semantics , but in this instance it is not.

The number of international visitors to Phuket this month will be used to illustrate tourist numbers for the next quarter or two.

In reality however , the vast majority of these ' visitors ' will be returning expats , media / travel representives and assorted dignitaries.

Not only will they not be contibuting very much to the islands economy , they will be utterly unrepresentive of future tourist numbers.

Will TAT recognise this in their forthcoming , wildly optimistic and unrealistic , press releases ?

We all know the answer to that is a big fat no , how could it be otherwise , the whole event is just a circus.

[3NUMBAS]

like walking into a post apocalyptic scenery of desertion

[VBF]

3 hours ago, Wiggy said:

One male tourist tourist on one of the first flights said he was looking forward to seeing the cultural sights and insisted he was not here for the nightlife. Mr Buster Gonad (48) flew in from Abu Dhabi. 

Accompanied by his friends, Mr Dick Strong and Mr Brian Dead, the latter suffering from an odd form of dyslexia. ????

[WineOh]

11 minutes ago, keithkarmann said:

Hope the bar girls are prepared as Middle Eastern men are not known for their respect of ladies.

.....or people in general.

[phetphet]

9 hours ago, WineOh said:

How long until the island locks down and these 300 poor souls are forced to stay in their rooms for the duration of their holiday?

 

Saying that, it's probably better than walking down a deserted patong beach during the rainy season....

 

How depressing can you get! ????

I would imagine that if they are all arabs, walking down a rainy street would be quite enjoyable considering the temperature  and humidity at this time of year in the Gulf States.

 

[CANSIAM]

7 hours ago, lolalol said:

 

So basically people from sand land are going for Phuket Sandbox.

Only thing I can think of is they are escaping the Middle East summer, 45-52c and cool off down here 30-32c...

[redwood1]

1 hour ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

russians coming to sell their condos to whomever they can find

 

This is only a half joke....

[wensiensheng]

37 minutes ago, eyup said:

No! I think not true ref incompetence! The problem is clearly because you are registered in Udon. Perhaps a visit to immigration might be in order?

Please don’t be silly. My post said:

 

“I am registered in Udon province for a jab at the hospital where I have my annual medical”

 

it’s a private hospital that expected to receive adequate supplies of AZ vaccine. As it turns out they received just 55 doses for their entire patient registration list.

 

I got my visa extension from the kind folk at Phuket Immigration. I personally  am not “registered in Udon”. 

 

I am not sure why you have a fascination with my visa. You have mentioned it in both your posts. You do realize I am talking about being vaccinated against Covid, not some kind of immigration issue?

 

your first post said this:

 

All people with validvisas were able to register and get an appointment.

 

is that meant to be some kind of joke? Because it is clearly a false statement.

Edited July 1, 2021 by wensiensheng

[zyphodb]

1 hour ago, connda said:

Well given the demographic they probably won't be put off by a beach littered with tar balls.
That aside, I truly wonder what a bunch of guys from the Gulf States expect to do in Phuket? 
Visit temples?  ????
Drink at the bars?  ????
Covort with bar girls?  ????
Get a special massage? ????

The last three I should imagine...

[dutchweller]

Standby for some utter <deleted>z show.

Mass infection.

Stranded "Tourists" getting squeezed for hospital bills.

Thailands track record for total cockups is outstanding dont let them down with this one.

[EvetsKram]

4 hours ago, Pravda said:

1500 tourists were supposed to come today from the news 2 days ago

1500...250...same same.  The infection spread is what gets me.  So many with 1 injection only,  how many with none?? Even fully vaccinated doesn't stop this,  it only lessens severity of that person contracts it

[Chelseafan]

Wait what?

 

300 a day = 9000 per month or 27,000 per quarter

 

I thought they said 129,000 100,000 per quarter

[Espanol]

4 hours ago, IamNoone88 said:

Interestingly, by it's own definition, the Thailand Dept of Disease Control, classifies itself - Thailand - as a Red High Risk Country together with a bunch of other high risk countries that are not welcome to visit just yet ... including South Africa, Netherlands, India etc etc. 

 

 

So, tourists from rest of Thailand should not be admitted in Phuket.

 

[JCP108]

4 hours ago, Wiggy said:

One male tourist tourist on one of the first flights said he was looking forward to seeing the cultural sights and insisted he was not here for the nightlife. Mr Buster Gonad (48) flew in from Abu Dhabi. 

Is that his real name?!

[Goldpanner]

From todays Daily Mail.

Fully-vaccinated Brits will be able to travel quarantine-free to amber list countries 'from the first week of the school holidays on July 26' 

THailand is on the amber list so its ok then > BWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Goldpanner]

1 hour ago, phetphet said:

I would imagine that if they are all arabs, walking down a rainy street would be quite enjoyable considering the temperature  and humidity at this time of year in the Gulf States.

 

They all hold hands too dont they?? Hmmmmmmmmm

[Goldpanner]

20 minutes ago, JCP108 said:

Is that his real name?!

No its Mr T Estes

[IAMHERE]

10 hours ago, Phuketshrew said:

I guess most of these are not actually from the Middle East but transiting through on Qatar or Etihad.

I automatically assumed they were Oil Rich Middle Easterners that paid someone else to do the red tape and hoops.

[ThailandRyan]

4 minutes ago, Goldpanner said:

From todays Daily Mail.

Fully-vaccinated Brits will be able to travel quarantine-free to amber list countries 'from the first week of the school holidays on July 26' 

THailand is on the amber list so its ok then > BWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Here they come, walking down the street,

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=here+they+come+walking+down+the+street+lyrics&docid=608051851790457511&mid=DD4592723B2248B12163DD4592723B2248B12163&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

[Goldpanner]

1 minute ago, ThailandRyan said:

Here they come, walking down the street,

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=here+they+come+walking+down+the+street+lyrics&docid=608051851790457511&mid=DD4592723B2248B12163DD4592723B2248B12163&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

Ya know I was auditioned for Davy Jones part but was considered too young for the job. True Dat. I was gutted

[Goldpanner]

3 minutes ago, Goldpanner said:

Ya know I was auditioned for Davy Jones part but was considered too young for the job. True Dat. I was gutted

 

HOnest. I was at the same Theatrical school as him. He cant sing, I can