Thai resort island of Phuket reopens for tourists

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Any reports of numbers and where arrivals to Phuket came from today.

One report week back suggested many were coming from UAE. 

Seems like the first to come are from the middle eastern regions, maybe because they're the first nations to put Thailand back as a destination.

[spidermike007]

2 hours ago, pagallim said:

 

First flight to arrive was an Ethihad aircraft from Abu Dhabi.   There were 25 passengers onboard.

So the airline is running at about the same profit/loss margin as the remaining resorts will be, during the "Island sandbox plan"? 

 

And other than a PR stunt, why is Cha Cha greeting them? Surely they could have found an authority with some charm or humor? Not to mention credibility. Well, come to think of it, maybe not. 

Edited July 1, 2021 by spidermike007

[pagallim]

2 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

So the airline is running at about the same profit/loss margin as the remaining resorts will be, during the "Island sandbox plan"? 

 

And other than a PR stunt, why is Cha Cha greeting them? Surely they could have found an authority with some charm or humor? Not to mention credibility. Well, come to think of it, maybe not. 

 

Reality is this was the first flight, with a further 3 arriving today bringing a total of near 400 people.   A lot will be holding off until the process settles down, and the feedback from the first arrivals becomes public.

[Millcx]

4 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

At the rate the case numbers and deaths are growing they will be lucky to get anywhere near that number. 

No chance .. Usual TAT C**p and tourists is 3 who are kinky for being dominated and imprisoned “;0)

[Orinoco]

3 hours ago, ezzra said:

This sandbox will either be a gold-box or a sheet-box for the future of tourism in this country...

I think a well used box, is most likely

[LongTimeLurker]

3 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

Of course Thais are well known for their welcoming attitude towards Israeli travellers.

 

Oy vey!

 

Did the Israelis and the Arabs come on the same flight?

[ChipButty]

Im waiting for the first report from a sandbox refuge 

[QPRFC]

I can only imagine the Tuk-Tuk driver fighting / rush at the arrivals gate! 

[ChipButty]

1 minute ago, LongTimeLurker said:

 

Did the Israelis and the Arabs come on the same flight?

I doubt it, can a EL-AL plane land in Abu Dhabi? with an Israeli passport lots of Arab countries wont let you in

[aussienam]

4 hours ago, holy cow cm said:

I am sure a lot of Thai gals will do anything to get the jab in order to inpour and be present and waiting for tourists coming to Phuket.

To then be 'jabbed' over and over and over by many frustrated randy men with a lot of pent-up energy in the nether regions.  Stir the porridge.  Rinse and repeat!!

[eyup]

35 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

Might sound like a stupid question but what happens to all the crew? turn around and straight back

Good question ! But ,unlikely the crew can turn around and go back due to Flight Time Duty Limitations . I believe the routing is a "triangular route" I.e,. AUH-HKT-BKK-AUH. So the crew change will probably be in BKK ,looks like the others , El Al and Qatar are also operating triangular patterns so, similarly their crew "slips" will probably be BKK too.

[LongTimeLurker]

7 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

I doubt it, can a EL-AL plane land in Abu Dhabi? with an Israeli passport lots of Arab countries wont let you in

 

Did they come in on El-Al? and maybe they didn't have to disembark and go through customs but just sit and wait on the 'plane.

[Arkady]

A friend has been trying to get a COE for the sandox from the consulate in LA without success.  Regulations only went to embassies yesterday and he has been rejected twice already.  First time was for not paying in advance for the entire hotel bill as he assumed only a deposit required as for ASQ.  Second time was for not paying in advance for the 3 PCR tests, a new requirement.  It turns out you have to pay the hotel for these but it wasn't explained by consulate.  He figured it all out only by getting the hotel on the phone.  They said they had only 4 guests trying to get to book for the sandbox. 

 

Since the regulations only came out two days before I assume they wrote off arrivals from long haul destinations and got embassies in Singapore and presumably Dubai or somewhere in the ME to make sure a couple of hundred COEs got issued in time for there to be someone for Uncle Tu to greet. 

 

It would be funny, if he found himself greeting Thaksin slipping into the sandbox from Dubai under his new Clubhouse name of Tony Woodsome.

[Dirk Z]

[eyup]

12 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

 

Did they come in on El-Al? and maybe they didn't have to disembark and go through customs but just sit and wait on the 'plane.

Maybe there's a dispensation to clear customs and immigration when they get off in BKK. Probably , officially, they have not entered the country if they stay airside on the plane in HKT .So I think that will be the case.

[Kammie]

How is it on the ground in Phuket now? Everyone scared of each other afraid to catch the virus and be sent to hospital? Or business as usual with zero %^&* given? Masks everywhere, including outside? Such a strange phenomenon. 

[Nanaplaza666]

Don't know if anyone saw it on the news today with mr P in attendance what a pathetic display and when he got a difficult qeustion he turned around shaking his head and walked away this SMUG . 

[ThailandRyan]

Just watched the evening Channel 7 news.  They did a story on the Sandbox, but never stated any numbers of tourists who actually have arrived.  They showed plenty of video and each person I saw appeared to be of Asian descent other than the family with a Farang, Thai wife and 2 young kids walking into the fray of media.  Showed some from Singapore, but again not sure as they looked Thai to the GF and myself.  Might be many are opting for the sandbox instead of 14 days locked in a BKK ASQ.

Edited July 1, 2021 by ThailandRyan

[DrJack54]

4 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

  Might be many are opting for the sandbox instead of 14 days locked in a BKK ASQ

That imo was always going to be the majority. Farang men with their Thai wives and secondly Farang with strong attachment to Thailand. Family, GF etc living here along with returning Thai.

The Phuket option for them was always going to be attractive.

[snoop1130]

Thailand's 'paradise island' Phuket reopens to tourists

 

The first foreign tourists arrive at the airport as Phuket reopens to overseas tourists, allowing foreigners fully vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to visit the resort island without quarantine, in Phuket, Thailand July 1, 2021. REUTERS/Jorge Silva REFILE - REMOVING EXTRA SENTENCE

 

PHUKET, Thailand (Reuters) - Hundreds of vaccinated foreign tourists arrived on the Thai resort island of Phuket on Thursday, the first visitors to its beaches and golf courses under a pilot programme designed to revive a tourism industry devastated by the pandemic.

 

Under the "Phuket sandbox" plan, foreign tourists vaccinated against COVID-19 will not have to spend any time in quarantine and can move around the island freely.

 

A plane carrying the first foreign tourists to arrive at the airport as Phuket reopens to overseas tourists, allowing foreigners fully vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to visit the resort island without quarantine, receives a water cannon salute from fire trucks in Phuket, Thailand July 1, 2021. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

 

After 14 days, provided three coronavirus tests they must take are negative, they can travel elsewhere in the country.

"I'm so happy to be here," said Ian Shore, a British tourist who flew in from Abu Dhabi. "What could be better than getting stuck on a paradise island?"

 

Almost 400 people are expected to arrive in Phuket on the first day that flights resumed from Israel, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Singapore, the government said.

 

A foreign tourist arrives at the airport as Phuket reopens to overseas tourists, allowing foreigners fully vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to visit the resort island without quarantine, in Phuket, Thailand July 1, 2021. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

 

Millions of people visited Phuket every year before the pandemic and the government and tourism industry hope the reopening will help save its battered economy.

 

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who flew to the island to oversee the reopening, thanked officials and health workers, stressing the success of Phuket would pave the way for a larger reopening of Thailand's borders scheduled for October.

 

Health workers stand at the COVID-19 swab test area at the airport as Phuket reopens to overseas tourists, allowing foreigners fully vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to visit the resort island without quarantine, in Phuket, Thailand July 1, 2021. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

 

The government expects about 100,000 foreign tourists to visit Phuket in the third quarter of this year and generate 8.9 billion baht ($278 million) in revenue.

 

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 closures.

 

Hotel drivers wait for passengers at the airport, as Phuket reopens to overseas tourists, allowing foreigners fully vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to visit the resort island without quarantine, in Phuket, Thailand July 1, 2021. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

 

While Phuket has seen few COVID-19 cases ahead of its reopening, Thailand on Thursday reported a daily record of 57 deaths from the coronavirus, the second day in a row of record-high fatalities, as authorities struggle to control a third wave of infections.

 

"We know that there is a risk ... but we have to accept the risk so Thai people can make a living," Prayuth told reporters.

 

The latest deaths take Thailand's total fatalities to 2,080 since the pandemic started. The country's COVID-19 task force also reported 5,533 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infections to 264,834.

 

Book your sandbox hotel in Phuket here

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-07-01

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

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[Molly Malone]

Happy for Phuket folks! I have grave doubts this bloated Headline which has been NON STOP daily trying to brainwash us all into a false sense of hope for the Thai economy over the past few months, will EVER put a single grain of rice into the mouths of the poor folks in Thailand, none of which have been vaccinated to the 83% margin of Phuket.

Is this Gov and it's elites really so naive to think the common folks or even us white devils will fall for this Mao Tse Tung indoctrination garbage.

 

Buy the vaccines and DHL or Fly one of your JETS over with them, it's your people who are now dying at a horrible daily rate, because YOU did not get the vaccines delivered!

What happened to the AZ Bioscience factory in BK? Donations from Japan/USA/Aust, etc???

I will bet the Lamborghinni/Porsche dealers are selling loads of swish cars to the elites!!!

 

Do your job, get vaccines into people, YOU have all had yours! 

[Ricebarnandrooms]

4 hours ago, pagallim said:

First flight to arrive was an Ethihad aircraft from Abu Dhabi.   There were 25 passengers onboard.

Wonder how many were thai

[NCC1701A]

"I'm sorry, I left my paperwork at the departure lounge." 

 

 

[madmitch]

3 hours ago, BarraMarra said:

These 25 from UAE were likely the Tourist Reps and there Entourage to look how the Sandbox roll out went. No photos or news reports have so far been reported on the official welcome or, there were no tourists to film just Reps in Suits or Local Expat's returning.

That's because they were all at Central today, watching the great man make a speech.

 

Remind me not to go to Central next time there's a grand tourism reopening in Phuket!
 

[Yewbzee]

So what happened to the electronic tagging idea, or was that just another politician talking out of his toot?

[Misterwhisper]

I just read a news report that said the first plane, with a whopping 24 "tourists" on board, just landed in Phuket.

 

One of these "tourists" reportedly was unvaccinated. Which begs 2 questions, of course:

 

1 - Isn't one of the compulsory conditions of the Phuket sandbox scheme that only VACCINATED travelers are admitted?

2 - How and why did that unvaccinated person get on the plane in the first place?

 

But to spin this further: The reported fact that at least 1 unvaccinated person was on board (and has been referred to a local hospital to receive their first shot) makes me suspect that a good proportion of these so-called "tourists" may not be "tourists" at all, but either returning Thai nationals or returning expats. 

 

[grain]

6 hours ago, holy cow cm said:

I am sure a lot of Thai gals will do anything to get the jab in order to inpour and be present and waiting for tourists coming to Phuket.

I doubt it, most are now making good money doing cam sessions from their homes.

[jethro69]

5 hours ago, Heng said:

Anyone frontline reports from the sandbox?   Has anyone shown up?  ⛷️

Probably still locked up in their rooms waiting for the test results, despite the article states 3 times, there is no quarantine. ????

[ttrd]

RE - The first foreign tourists arrive at the airport

 

* Is it only me that doesn't see any foreigner -  not a single one ... ???? ... ahh yea, there behind with a cap on as nr 2 in the que of 4 - maybe ...

Edited July 1, 2021 by ttrd

[ChipButty]

1 hour ago, Yewbzee said:

So what happened to the electronic tagging idea, or was that just another politician talking out of his toot?

That was only meant for people who didn't have a smart phone