Phuket Sandbox drama: Tourist flees hotel to find Thai wife

[Kinok Powell]

3 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

 

Ah yes, quality tourists.....got it, thank you.

I have a 92 year old friend who still harbours hope of returning to LOS. if you take that dream away from these guys they are finished.

Edited July 7, 2021 by Kinok Powell

[BRUFC]

3 hours ago, Mickeymaus said:

Obviously he doesn't care about restrictions. He could give Covid to family members. They should send such people back home to the country where they came from. 

 

Everything that governments have done and said have convinced me that this covid virus is a clever little beggar Yeah, right!) It can tell the time, it knows whether you are standing or sitting, it can judge distance. it loves beaches and now it appears that it also infects the family of a hotel escapee ( who has successfully navigated every medical and financial hoop the Thai government chose to put in front of him) and you have the sauce to say he doesn't care about restrictions!...but not during the day, only when the escape has been confirmed, presemably at curfew time, whenever that is.

[Tarteso]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Another man, aged 83, was staying at a hotel in Thalang and went out without his phone or passport, just with his wallet.

For the good times..????

[Rimmer]

An off topic troll post and replies have been removed

[Mickeymaus]

15 minutes ago, BRUFC said:

Everything that governments have done and said have convinced me that this covid virus is a clever little beggar Yeah, right!) It can tell the time, it knows whether you are standing or sitting, it can judge distance. it loves beaches and now it appears that it also infects the family of a hotel escapee ( who has successfully navigated every medical and financial hoop the Thai government chose to put in front of him) and you have the sauce to say he doesn't care about restrictions!...but not during the day, only when the escape has been confirmed, presemably at curfew time, whenever that is.

This regulation that you have to stay in a selected hotel only at night - great for these hotels... 

[4MyEgo]

1 hour ago, Kinok Powell said:

I have a 92 year old friend who still harbours hope of returning to LOS. if you take that dream away from these guys they are finished.

As long as he can still take care of his own, why not !

[wombat]

4 hours ago, Dart12 said:

 

 

4 hours ago, Dart12 said:

turned on his Bat signal

or did his wife, who should have been at the airport but wasn't ?

[tlandtday]

5 hours ago, Phuketshrew said:

The only sensible answer is to chain them up to stop them leaving the hotel ...

Covid cages.  Food water and a tracking app inside the cage.

[itsari]

5 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

 

Ah yes, quality tourists.....got it, thank you.

You will probably got it in a few years Mr Ego

[oldcpu]

3 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

The thought of jumping through hoops for your 2 week vacation, that's all most get from the US, and then subjecting yourself to all of the mandatory PCR tests, and tracking is a big turn off for many. 

Clearly the Phuket Sandbox is not aimed to get any tourists from the USA (who only have 2 week vacations).  Some other places in the world 6-weeks vacation/year is typical.

[cnx101]

What’s going on in Phuket now reminds me of a series I watched on internet tv The Man in the High Castle excellent series but the goings on seem very similar 

[joecoolfrog]

3 hours ago, stevenl said:

How nice. Now look at Facebook and see many happy visitors. Oh, but that would be something positive, so can't do that.

Define ' many '.

[Spock]

5 hours ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

reminds me when I see the trucks with cages of soi dogs or the hogs headed to slaughterhouse..

 

protip--do NOT get behind a hog truck on your motobike aka downwind.......life lesson # 294059

Where do you see them given that there is no dog slaughter in Thailand? 

[ChrisKC]

There should be a provision for compassionate leave, or would that be "passionate" leave?

[saminoz]

4 hours ago, DFPhuket said:

I'm in the sandbox now. The reality is that you only need to stay in your room until after your first test comes back (mine took 10 hours). After that you are free to come and go as you'd like. You must have your QR code scanned once a day at the hotel and leave your tracking app turned on. But you don't really have to sleep in the hotel bed each night. 

 

The sandbox folks, who (mostly) had Western vaccines, a PCR test before the flight, another test when landing, and then a 3rd and 4th test, are at much less of a risk to have or pass on Covid that the locals living in Phuket. 

Thanks

[cardinalblue]

How about requiring them to stay in their hotel room and let out one hour a day for exercise? Put their food outside their door.
 

Much easier to keep track of them this way…

[saminoz]

"A third person had a personal emergency abroad and was allowed to return home and not complete the 14 day required stay". 

 

In other words, when he saw the clusterf*ck that it was going to be, he decided "<deleted> this for a game of soldiers!", and decided to go home instead!

[saminoz]

4 hours ago, Mickeymaus said:

They obviously have different regulations for different locations. In Koh Samui you are not allowed to leave the hotel the first 3 days. 

 

•   Day 1-3: Can leave the hotel room for designated areas in the hotel only;

•   Day 4-7: Can travel within designated routes and on tour programmes on Ko Samui only;

•   Day 8-14: Can travel within Ko Samui, Ko Phangan and Ko Tao;

•   Day 15: If the last test on Day 12-13 is negative, can go anywhere in Thailand.

 

https://thepattayanews.com/2021/07/06/an-extensive-faq-for-foreign-tourists-who-want-to-visit-koh-samui-koh-tao-or-koh-phangan-the-samui-plus-program-starting-from-later-this-month/

" Day 8-14: Can travel within Ko Samui, Ko Phangan and Ko Tao;

•   Day 15: If still alive after the Ko Tao visit, he can buy many lottery tickets and run home."

[khunjeff]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

A third person had a personal emergency abroad and was allowed to return home and not complete the 14 day required stay. 

 

He wasn't "allowed" to leave, he just left - and they somehow didn't notice until he failed to do his daily check-in at his hotel. And there is no "14 day required stay" - the rules of the program are quite clear that you can stay less than two weeks as long as you're leaving the country and not going elsewhere in Thailand.

[ThailandRyan]

36 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

Clearly the Phuket Sandbox is not aimed to get any tourists from the USA (who only have 2 week vacations).  Some other places in the world 6-weeks vacation/year is typical.

That must be very nice to be able to take 6 weeks at a crack.  Most jobs in the US give 8 hours a month of vacation that you can accumulate, that equates to 12 days a year plus a few holidays thrown in so that a person has just over 2 weeks a year that they can take as a paid vacation.  Over time that does grow, and by the time you have 20 plus years with a company you may accumulate up to 6 weeks a year.  Just because you accumulate the time does not mean you can take it all at once, except in the case of having plenty of staff to backfill and cover your absence.  Teachers on the other hand have an 8 to 10 week summer break, but it is unpaid time off and many will work a second job during that time to help make ends meet.  The adds for the Phuket Sandbox have been on television in the US as well as in the newspapers, so telling me it is not aimed to get any tourists from the USA  (who only have 2 week vacations) as you said is not correct.  A few years ago I knew plenty of folks who would come to Thailand for 2 weeks and travel for a week in Phuket, a few days in Bangkok and then hit Chaing Mai before flying back to the US.  If memory serves me correct one of the first articles on the sandbox as it was being discussed was that a group of Americans were booked and coming.

 

The grand re-opening? Just 20 American tourists to arrive in Phuket on July 9 - Page 3 - Phuket News - ASEAN NOW formerly Thai Visa Forum

 

 

It was revealed that the first arrivals as part of the much vaunted Phuket Sandbox tourism reopening scheme in the southern province would include people from the USA.

 

However, it was hardly opening the floodgates - just 20 had booked to come on July 9th. 

 

And also CNN were coming. 

 

Edited July 7, 2021 by ThailandRyan

[itsari]

6 minutes ago, cardinalblue said:

How about requiring them to stay in their hotel room and let out one hour a day for exercise? Put their food outside their door.
 

Much easier to keep track of them this way…

Seems like you have experience at this way of life .

[saminoz]

3 hours ago, rbkk said:

.....Shame the “ fleer” ( or is it fleeist? )

Fugative?

 

Flea?

[oldcpu]

8 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

That must be very nice to be able to take 6 weeks at a crack.  Most jobs in the US give 8 hours a month of vacation that you can accumulate, that equates to 12 days a year plus a few holidays thrown in so that a person has just over 2 weeks a year that they can take as a paid vacation.

I know what you mean.

 

Over 20 years ago - back in 1999, after spending 2 year in Thailand, I was back in Canada looking for work.  I had an opportunity to work in the USA for an exciting aerospace job (2 weeks vacation/year) or work in Europe for an exciting aerospace job (6 weeks vacation/year).  Salary was about the same, although European taxes much higher.   Still - I think you can guess which one I took ....  For me the vacation was simply worth it, despite the higher taxes.

 

Not taking vacation can be a bad thing.  Prior to working in Aerospace, I was in the military for over 12-years.  When I left the military, I had over 1-year unused vacation - where although I was in effect 'released' from the military, I still received pay for another year to consume all that built up vacation.

 

Now that might sound nice, but my now being over 35 years older, and looking back at those days, I think not taking as much vacation as I should have (when in the military) adversely affected my attitude, and I would have been a better person in the military to have tried harder to have taken the vacation (although in the military it was pretty darn impossible to take such vacation).

 

Ergo - having learned my lesson, I subsequently only went for a job where taking vacation was actually feasible (although typically I found a maximum of 3-weeks was the most I could take 'at a crack').

 

My 'heart' goes out to those who can't easily take their vacation.

Edited July 7, 2021 by oldcpu

[saminoz]

1 hour ago, Mickeymaus said:

This regulation that you have to stay in a selected hotel only at night - great for these hotels... 

THAT'S the whole point!

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

He couldn't remember where his hotel was and was tired and hungry. He appeared to have Alzheimer's.

But managed to find Phuket okay?

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

83 and confused and wandering around at 430 am.......how did he even get there???? looking for his teerak?  

Looking for his marbles?

[aBigSmile]

Is Joe Biden on the loose again?

[spidermike007]

No worries. These fully vaccinated tourists have undergone multiple covid tests already. 

 

The Thai population at large and the officials are far more dangerous. 

 

It is the international tourists who are taking the big risk here, not the other way around, as they would lead us to believe. 

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

3 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

The Sandbox or how you may call it is an area quarantine.. You are allowed to go around on the island, but are obliged to sleep and use your hotel. The only difference is that you are not need to stay in your room all day. Only available for fully vaccinated people and no exceptions for expats who return to Thailand. But with the low vaccination grade, because of that the most people only got one jab, there will be serious risk that Phuket also will face more Covid cases. 

nobody cares about phuket. we all want to get to bangkok

[Guderian]

Ye Gods, and people are willingly paying good money for this???