Samui Plus: Just 33 foreigners have booked flights to holiday island - but TAT say 1,000 tourists will spend 180 million baht in first month

[Tropicalevo]

4 hours ago, khunPer said:

I've been reading through the regulations, and the quite long Q&A section, and I unfortunately think, even I really wish some tourists back on the island, that many of the potential visitors might choose another holiday destination with less, and more simple regulations.

They kept this bit quiet:-

 

"stay within the confines of their certified hotels on the holiday island for four days and will also be prohibited from drinking alcoholic beverages for one week."

[crazykopite]

Theres nothing to spend your money on the place is decimated its like a ghost town I think TAT are living in dreamland 

[lolalol]

I don't appreciate constant bombardment of false hope

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

8 hours ago, Walker88 said:

Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates

And Richard Branson on his new spaceship, swooping right down from 282000 feet. They shall market AGGRESSIVELY for only the HIGHEST quality, VIP tourists. Spaceships, astronauts. The sky's the LIMIT. After all, we've got some real SPACE CADETS at the TAT.

[Walker88]

8 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

I am wondering how will a 0,67 tourist board the plane???

That's why Economy Seats are so small...to fit the .67s.

[gearbox]

7 hours ago, WhiteBuffaloATM said:

seriously why would anybody visit or live in samui with phuket offering wayyyyy more in every respect...... ? and yes I have been there....

It is high season in Samui now, low season in Phuket.  Many more tourists come during the high season, to state the obvious.

[gearbox]

3 hours ago, Dont confuse me said:

They really don't engage brain before opening mouth! 

The sad thing is that I'm sure some Thai's read/hear about this and get their hopes raised only to be deflated a month down the line.

There was a big opening party yesterday at Chaweng beach, boats, big screens, branded t-shirts, freebies..

Today was business as usual...empty beach with the same people hanging around for months.

 

I saw the Duke's Pub closed for the first time today..I was wondering how do they manage to stay open as usually there is not a single customer there...hopefully they didn't shut down permanently.

[bermondburi]

I'd do the Samui thing as an alternative to quarantine in Bangkok. It ticks some boxes for me, but unfortunately my country isn't on the list of 66 approved countries. Even though cases numbers are relatively low around 1000 a day, and vaccination rates are high, 1st shot around 70%, and 2nd around 40%. So until that changes, I ain't coming. 

[Ganesh108]

On 7/16/2021 at 1:27 PM, khunPer said:

More privacy, for example...

There are numerous resorts in Phuket where you can be very private, very secluded and with virtually a private beach in front - White Sand Beach Resort, Trisara, Amanpuri, Cape Panwa Hotel, the entire Ao Yon Beach, to mention only a few areas that immediately spring to mind.  

[khunPer]

59 minutes ago, Ganesh108 said:

There are numerous resorts in Phuket where you can be very private, very secluded and with virtually a private beach in front - White Sand Beach Resort, Trisara, Amanpuri, Cape Panwa Hotel, the entire Ao Yon Beach, to mention only a few areas that immediately spring to mind.  

There are only few resorts on Samui, where you don't find a reasonable level of privacy, including almost private beach in front - some beaches only have access through the resort - it's in the other hand hard to find rows of sun chairs and umbrellas on public beaches, probably because the demand for such items are almost non existing...????

[webfact]

Thailand’s “Samui Plus Model” hopes to draw 1,000 foreign tourists in a month

Sirakij Pornbanggird

 

   

BANGKOK (NNT) - After two weeks of the Phuket Sandbox program, it has generated over 500 million baht for the country. The government now expects that the similar “Samui Plus Model” will do as well as Phuket, welcoming over 1,000 foreign tourists in a month.

 

The spokesperson of the Center for Economic Situation Administration tasked with monitoring the impact of COVID-19 economically, Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana disclosed today that the Prime Minister appreciated all sectors that are part of welcoming foreign tourists to Samui island, Phangan island, Koh Tao island and Surat Thani under the Samui Plus model.

 

According to spokesperson Thanakorn, between July 15 and August 15, around 1,000 foreign tourists will join the Samui Plus Model expected to generate about 180 million baht.

 

At the same time, other destinations will gradually open after the Samui Plus Model such as Phiphi island, Railay Beach and Koh Ngai island in Krabi and Khao Lak and Koh Yao island in Phang Nga.

 

After that in September, provinces like Chonburi-Pattaya, and Chiang Mai will invite visitors to join them, while Buriram as the host of Moto GP will reopen as well.

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2021-07-19

 

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

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

[RichardColeman]

3 minutes ago, webfact said:

After that in September, provinces like Chonburi-Pattaya, and Chiang Mai will invite visitors to join them

With orders NOT to leave your house now issued, I very much doubt Pattaya will be joining the club very soon. Who will plan a holiday to potentially come and sit in their hotel all the time ? 

[Damrongsak]

On 7/16/2021 at 12:41 AM, ikke1959 said:

I am wondering how will a 0,67 tourist board the plane???

The stewardesses will hold their hand and booster seats are available. 

[sammieuk1]

Certificates of Entry at embassies around the world is the problem not the solution you fools ???? 

[Damrongsak]

I'd like to see the spending numbers per person for visitors and the number of days they stay.  Show me the math. 

[ikke1959]

was there no investigation on fake news???? 2 weeks 500 million Baht seems a bit too much

[gk10012001]

I am very eager to get to Thailand now that I am semi retired and can afford just about whatever I want to do.  I would even do ASQ quarantine.  But the stories about being whisked away to a separate quarantine I would then have to additionally pay for because the officials think I was at risk from some passenger or contact on some plane I was on is just not acceptable as a risk.  Over my 16 years of visits there I have seen lots of money grabs and scams, and the current situation does create the opportunity for some things.

[sezze]

On 7/16/2021 at 1:01 PM, Tropicalevo said:

They kept this bit quiet:-

 

"stay within the confines of their certified hotels on the holiday island for four days and will also be prohibited from drinking alcoholic beverages for one week."

So besides all the rules even to get there , there is now no way to know when and how to get off the island , are in a heavy infected , non vaccinated country , many km from home , and you cant even have a drink legally ... good luck in opening . Looks really promising , can't wait to go there .

[ThailandRyan]

8 minutes ago, sezze said:

So besides all the rules even to get there , there is now no way to know when and how to get off the island , are in a heavy infected , non vaccinated country , many km from home , and you cant even have a drink legally ... good luck in opening . Looks really promising , can't wait to go there .

Yes with Bangkok airways shutting down and not flying for at least 2 weeks as directed by CAAT ho do those on Samui now fly out to get to Suvarnabhumi and reconnect with their Next international flight after the 1st 2 weeks ends on the 31st.  Same in the Sandbox, looks like domestic flights within the country have been shuttered, so the only way out of Phuket is to return to whence you came, if possible, and no further travel to the islands can be done nor within Thailand.  The country will soon be red completely and more dark red.  Good luck to all and stay safe.

[khunjeff]

2 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Yes with Bangkok airways shutting down and not flying for at least 2 weeks as directed by CAAT ho do those on Samui now fly out to get to Suvarnabhumi and reconnect with their Next international flight after the 1st 2 weeks ends on the 31st.  Same in the Sandbox, looks like domestic flights within the country have been shuttered, so the only way out of Phuket is to return to whence you came, if possible, and no further travel to the islands can be done nor within Thailand.  The country will soon be red completely and more dark red.  Good luck to all and stay safe.

Sandbox and Samui+ flights are exempted from the domestic flight ban, but any potential tourists would be rightly leery of how that will be interpreted - they could indeed end up having a lot of difficulty getting wherever it is they want to go after their island sojourn.

[3NUMBAS]

7 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

With orders NOT to leave your house now issued, I very much doubt Pattaya will be joining the club very soon. Who will plan a holiday to potentially come and sit in their hotel all the time ? 

desperate sex tourists will travel even in hard times to get a leg over

[crazykopite]

On 7/16/2021 at 7:35 PM, CrunchWrapSupreme said:

And Richard Branson on his new spaceship, swooping right down from 282000 feet. They shall market AGGRESSIVELY for only the HIGHEST quality, VIP tourists. Spaceships, astronauts. The sky's the LIMIT. After all, we've got some real SPACE CADETS at the TAT.

Thai government announced last week that they are commencing a space project that’s on top of buying a plush new aircraft for generals to fly from A to B and. Buying rust bucket submarines for the Thai navy yet they are happy to watch people die of Covid ,commit suicide due to being in debt the money could be better spent on ensuring every single person in the kingdom has been fully vaccinated with a high quality vaccine rather than the rubbish coming out of China 

[Sydebolle]

Are these pr1cks for real and who do they want to impress? Maybe Prawatch should be woken up and get him to activate his "fake news" bureau - unless, of course, they are the source of the news. Unbelievably incompetent management on all levels - really! 

[Mario666]

On 7/16/2021 at 10:13 AM, hotchilli said:

Legless?

No alcohol allowed fist seven days!!!!!

[khunPer]

7 hours ago, gk10012001 said:

I am very eager to get to Thailand now that I am semi retired and can afford just about whatever I want to do.  I would even do ASQ quarantine.  But the stories about being whisked away to a separate quarantine I would then have to additionally pay for because the officials think I was at risk from some passenger or contact on some plane I was on is just not acceptable as a risk.  Over my 16 years of visits there I have seen lots of money grabs and scams, and the current situation does create the opportunity for some things.

If you do two weeks ASQ on entry then you will not be "whisked away to a separate quarantine", you are already booked into the separate quarantine. The problem was those not booked for a quarantine, but instead for the Phuket sandbox model.

[bermondburi]

1 hour ago, Mario666 said:

No alcohol allowed fist seven days!!!!!

I had 2 litres of whisky to get me through ASQ in Bangkok.

[Tropicalevo]

1 hour ago, bermondburi said:

I had 2 litres of whisky to get me through ASQ in Bangkok.

What did you drink on day three? ????

[gk10012001]

8 hours ago, khunPer said:

If you do two weeks ASQ on entry then you will not be "whisked away to a separate quarantine", you are already booked into the separate quarantine. The problem was those not booked for a quarantine, but instead for the Phuket sandbox model.

But you will be whisked away to a hospital if you test positive.  That has been reported.  I am not sure what happens if they decide you were in contact with somebody that was positive, but probably as you say you would remain where you are, at least I hope that is what would happen. I have not read of situations like that yet.

[khunPer]

1 hour ago, gk10012001 said:

But you will be whisked away to a hospital if you test positive.  That has been reported.  I am not sure what happens if they decide you were in contact with somebody that was positive, but probably as you say you would remain where you are, at least I hope that is what would happen. I have not read of situations like that yet.

If you are not positive, you stay in ASQ, that's what happens with Phuket Sandbox.

If you go to hospital your $100,000 insurance will cover you.

Edited July 19, 2021 by khunPer

[tomazbodner]

And this is being shared in Thai media about Samui.... from tourists....

 

https://hilight.kapook.com/view/214909

 

 

Great advertising, eh?