Sandbox tourists stuck in quarantine ask to go home

[webfact]

Dr Kusak Kukiattikoon confirmed the news yesterday (July 8 ). Photo: Radio Thailand Phuket

 

By The Phuket News

 

PHUKET: Twelve tourists now stuck in “alternative local quarantine” (ALQ) in Phuket after one person who arrived on the same flight to the island tested positive for COVID-19 have asked to fly home.

 

Phuket Provincial Public Health Office (PPHO) Chief Dr Kusak Kukiattikoon confirmed the news yesterday (July 8 ).

 

Dr Kusak explained that the 12 tourists who have asked to fly home were among the 14 people who arrived on Emirates flight EK378, which landed in Phuket on Tuesday (July 6). 

 

Full story: https://www.thephuketnews.com/sandbox-tourists-stuck-in-quarantine-ask-to-go-home-80618.php

 

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2021-07-09

 

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[Surelynot]

What a mess........in one sense you have to feel for them..........in another you have to say...What were you thinking?

Edited July 9, 2021 by Surelynot

[petermik]

 

Seems they don,t.....not good for any future Sandboxes methinks........

[darksidedog]

I suspect this incident is going to result in a significant number of sandbox cancellations.

[Mickeymaus]

They should not worry. The health minister said that everything is under control and what happens in the sandbox will stay in the sandbox. 

[ezzra]

Oh blimey .. they forget to put THAT in their Sandbox travel brochures...

Edited July 9, 2021 by ezzra

[darksidedog]

A post attempting to bypass the profanity filter has been removed.

[Surelynot]

3 minutes ago, Mickeymaus said:

They should not worry. The health minister said that everything is under control and what happens in the sandbox will stay in the sandbox. 

Including tourists who want to go home....555

[jojothai]

How on earth do they think they can fly back home??

And what will it achieve.
The declarations to fly normally include that you have not been exposed to somebody that has covid.
Even if they can fly (which I doubt), then they are going to have to quarantine at their home country, unless they lie on the declarations.

The Clowns Covid "illogical thinking" disease must be spreading.

Edited July 9, 2021 by jojothai
Word correction

[NCC1701A]

train wreck does not cover it. 

 

 

[Mickeymaus]

1 minute ago, jojothai said:

How on earth do they think they can fly back home??

And what will it achieve.
The declarations to fly normally include that you have not been exposed to somebody that has covid.
Even if they can fly (which I doubt), then they are going to have to quarantine at their home country, unless they lie on the declarations.

The clowns Covid "illogical thinking disease" must be spreading.

Obviously they didn't read the fine print when they booked their tour... 

[Justgrazing]

17 minutes ago, webfact said:

Twelve tourists now stuck in

quicksand ..

[colinneil]

Silly sods should never have been there in the first place, just wanted to be the first tourists, now they are seriously regretting  that decision.

[Saltire]

Surprise, Surprise! Not

 

Hope they get a refund on their original hotel, even if the ALQ one is 'free'.

 

 

[stubuzz]

19 minutes ago, webfact said:

PHUKET: Twelve tourists now stuck in “alternative local quarantine” (ALQ) in Phuket after one person who arrived on the same flight to the island tested positive for COVID-19 have asked to fly home.

Does the insurance cover the cost of the ALQ or is this all at the guest's expense?

[keith101]

19 minutes ago, stubuzz said:

Does the insurance cover the cost of the ALQ or is this all at the guest's expense?

Its at the guests expensive that why they are there so being fully vaccinated means nothing compared to the extra money that will be made .

[WhiteBuffaloATM]

personally dont really understand why anybody would vacation outside their country during a pandemic; I have not moved from Phuket since March 2020. intl holidaying now so complicated and worrisome, esp. bringing children, that most people dont consider all the (hidden) negatives, like this situation. the detailed post here recently from the “british asian” guy laid out the the whole position why he would not be coming to Phuket......so many complicated potential negatives, including this case here.....my head was spinning........

[bkk6060]

A totally flawed "scheme" full of incompetence and lack of proper planning.

Shameful.

[J Town]

4 minutes ago, WhiteBuffaloATM said:

personally dont really understand why anybody would vacation outside their country during a pandemic; I have not moved from Phuket since March 2020. intl holidaying now so complicated and worrisome, esp. bringing children, that most people dont consider all the (hidden) negatives, like this situation. the detailed post here recently from the “british asian” guy laid out the the whole position why he would not be coming to Phuket......so many complicated potential negatives, including this case here.....my head was spinning........

Stupid is as stupid does.

[BobinBKK]

Give this world wide media attention!!!  No one should ever come here again!!! For those of us that are still here, we can take everything our advantage and treat this country the same as plague of locusts treats a ripe green field and move on to the next!!!

[Thailand]

5 minutes ago, J Town said:

Stupid is as stupid does.

Beyond stupid!

[chalawaan]

I really feel for the everyday Thai people.

 

Maybe the sandbox would have worked with a competent government (local and federal) but the habitual control-freak bureaucratic insanity of the border-keepers, among other clueless health initiatives, have not only made this a failure, but a complete joke and now, it risks becoming a massive international loss of face.

 

If a pandemic does not wake them up and realize they need to urgently modernize, cut out the rent-seeking deadwood all the way up the totem pole, and get off peoples' backs for all the wrong reasons. Then nothing will.

 

They negotiate with criminal taxi cartels, and treat tourists like suspects.

 

That's all anyone really needs to know to get a handle on how grotesque this society has become.

Edited July 9, 2021 by chalawaan

[connda]

How on earth do people fail to anticipate exactly this event?  

 

[RichardColeman]

Sad thing about this is that the TAT will now spout this as an additional 12 bookings in other hotels and another 144 hotel bookings, even though they count as 12 tourists and 144 bookings already !

[Cake Monster]

What ever possessed these people to Vacation in Phuket in the first place ?

Surely they should have done some kind of risk assessment for the Trip, and factored in various possibilities that may or may not happen.

Being placed into a ASQ facility due to no fault of your own would have been really high upon my list of risks.

 

[WhiteBuffaloATM]

“ are you stupid, son or just plain crazy” 

though all of us make stupid costly mistakes, (romance/ money/ career / driving, etc.) with the brilliant clarity of actual loss, hindsight and incomplete pre-risk analysis, but intl long haul vacationing I would have thought a “ no brainer” decision.......which it appears 99% do make properly....we are as usual talking the 1% who buy beach front property in Siberia....... or shrimp boats when shrimping dead.

[Sharp]

Fully vaccinated people walking around shouldn't be an issue unless the zero game is in play well then its goodbye Sandbox 

[david555]

1 positive on a plane  could ruin the whole load on that planes sandbox vacation / entry solution , even a false positive test ....,and waiting in that quarantine period if no others appear a sudden .

But it could become a vacation time  or a hotel quarantine time ....

 

Thai's can  get anyway some money out of that . (the original purpose of sandbox system)

[WhiteBuffaloATM]

on the positive side, Sandbox IS a start;  govt. here had NOW to tentatively try something like this,

with the foolish / brave 1% tourists, to learn lessons for later more successful, less restrictive tourism opening ( 1 Oct high season?)....... but too cautious/ restrictive for political reasons....should have been Zero Tests........even if transmitted by vaxed tourists it will surely be in a far less potent form......

[LivinginKata]

Thanks for your money .... now F off 

 

Seriously. What airline take them. What country accept then without more quarantine.