(Photo by Tudor Adrian)

 

Following in the footsteps of tropical paradise Phuket, three more islands start welcoming fully vaccinated foreign tourists with relaxed quarantine rules from today (July 15). Surat Thani’s Koh Samui, Koh Pha-ngan and Koh Tao have been cleared to go ahead under the Samui Plus model after the Phuket Sandbox scheme successfully trialled quarantine-free tourism in Thailand.

 

Since its launch on July 1, the Phuket Sandbox has attracted close to 4,000 foreign tourists. A few have tested positive over the past two weeks, but not enough to put the scheme in danger.

 

Samui Plus, however, is slightly different from the Phuket Sandbox.

 

Full Story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/after-phuket-success-hope-of-thai-tourism-revival-now-hangs-on-samui-plus/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2021-07-15

 

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

- Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

a bit early to be claiming anything 

 

House of cards comes to mind 

There were only 5 people on the flight to samui and around only 40 seats booked for rest of the month ! ????

success with the Phuket Sandbox???.....if the truth were known ????

How many visitors has Phuket had?, how many cancelations?, and now how many domestic tourists gave been dissuaded based on New rules?  Let's revisit this in October to see if it was a succes or just an alternate ASQ site for people returning home.

I seem to recall that TAT had a lowest case scenario of 100 000 visitors over the 3 months. At the current rate of arrivals there will be less than one third of that number which would be difficult to call a success. And with the upsurge of cases in the UK and EU it is hardly likely that even 30 000 overseas visitors will arrive. The soft opening of Samui is a truly creative description of the reality. How long will Bangkok Airways be able to sustain their schedule with 4 visitors a day remains to be seen. And as the daily transmission figures nudge up towards 10 000 how many visitors will risk coming here. Thats the hard reality!

21 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

A few have tested positive over the past two weeks, but not enough to put the scheme in danger.

Of course not.