Phuket officials, tourism leaders talk up Sandbox success

[Boedog]

After talking up there Sanbox success and dividing up the brown envelopes they will pack up there things and go to Ko samui Sandbox and chuck wow each other 

[LivinginKata]

24 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

The beaches didn’t look so good a few days ago before the wind changed direction.

 

there is one family mart open in Kata atm. The rest of the convenience stores are closed afaik.

Looks like Kata Beach. It's cleaned up quickly by the town hall workers and vehicles. For sure lots of rubbish washes up after a storm. But gone within 24 hours. 

[no deal]

3 hours ago, gargamon said:

I really haven't been following the phuket sandbox saga. Maybe someone can clarify my observations.

 

So the phuket locals were vaccinated, likely with sinovac out of China, maybe with AZ. Now we all know the Chinese vaccine is ineffective against the delta variant which is now dominant. All it is going to take is one person with the delta variant to get into phuket to kick this disaster off and necessitate the shutting down of the sandbox. That shouldn't take long.

 

Anything wrong with my assessment? 

also how this tourists are going back to they country when the eu and usa just ban people coming from thailand?

[ChipButty]

8 minutes ago, no deal said:

also how this tourists are going back to they country when the eu and usa just ban people coming from thailand?

They cant ban their own people from going home, As far as the UK is concerned if you are a UK citizen and you have come from a red zone you will need to quarantine, No country has banned it's own citizen from returning home thats why we had repatriation flights 

[wensiensheng]

17 minutes ago, LivinginKata said:

Looks like Kata Beach. It's cleaned up quickly by the town hall workers and vehicles. For sure lots of rubbish washes up after a storm. But gone within 24 hours. 

Only if the storm is gone in 24 hours. Otherwise it just collects again, as it was when I went there the next day. This time of season, there is usually a prevailing onshore wind that brings in trash. That photo was last week. Today the beach was in pretty much pristine condition. If the wind changes, it will be trash laden tomorrow. It’s in the lap of the elements.
 

That particular day there was one old lady rather than the 5/6 who normally work their way down. “Cleaned up quickly” is a vast overstatement of their abilities, they don’t clean 100% and it takes them most the morning. They are in no rush.

[Cake Monster]

Obscene

These Fat Cats just want to get fatter, and the Medical Workers elsewhere are getting infected because they are not Vaccinated correctly.

But thats OK, because Noi can rent out Her 3 Deckchairs a Day to Tourists, because she is Vaccinated.

[tlandtday]

Rather than studying and admitting that the sandbox has not worked as planned and learning from their mistakes they would rather move the goalposts and pat themselves on the back in a face saving manner.  Thai leadership in action.

[Rhacsyn]

1 hour ago, Thechook said:

Well those pictures don't fit the narrative the propaganda machine is putting out.

That is Kata and a tiny part of Phuket. I know what closed outlets and empty streets look like in Thailand having seen enough this last year. Seeing these photos again simply adds to the (my) depression, and there is plenty of other reason for being depressed. By the way, I have many "cheerful" photos I have collected in the last two weeks around Phuket.

 

As for propaganda, I have seen so many hysterical posts from TAT that i have now learnt to have a good laugh when I read one, ignore and move on. Sandbox numbers to date are thankfully small.

 

A little info along the same lines to finish off. Patong area has had about 38% of sandboxers to date. I am guessing wildly that most of the others will be in expat residing areas such as Chalong, Rawai, Laguna...

[ChipButty]

5 minutes ago, Rhacsyn said:

That is Kata and a tiny part of Phuket. I know what closed outlets and empty streets look like in Thailand having seen enough this last year. Seeing these photos again simply adds to the (my) depression, and there is plenty of other reason for being depressed. By the way, I have many "cheerful" photos I have collected in the last two weeks around Phuket.

 

As for propaganda, I have seen so many hysterical posts from TAT that i have now learnt to have a good laugh when I read one, ignore and move on. Sandbox numbers to date are thankfully small.

 

A little info along the same lines to finish off. Patong area has had about 38% of sandboxers to date. I am guessing wildly that most of the others will be in expat residing areas such as Chalong, Rawai, Laguna...

I live in Rawai and I have noticed a few new faces

[chalawaan]

6 hours ago, wensiensheng said:

Yesterday the sun finally came out after three days of rain and it had the crowds of tourists flocking to Nai Harn beach.

 

to be fair, this photo was taken just before midday, so maybe they were all spending millions of baht in restaurants or something

They were rushing to buy THB 8 million plus landed property, and showing their paperwork for their masters degree, 5 years work experience, income of $40,000 a month, with a company worth $10 Billion, and the ability to juggle running chainsaws on a unicycle, blindfolded. For a 10 year visa with free 90 day reports thrown in.

A bargain when you consider rivals offer a passport that lets you travel the world visa free and live in a true island paradise without ever visiting immigration.

Edited July 17, 2021 by chalawaan

[wensiensheng]

3 hours ago, Rhacsyn said:

Agreed, but also to be fair, your photo is of a different beach! As for Patong, having passed by the last few days, it is nice to see a few people there.

Well, I didn’t say anything about Patong beach. That’s because I never go there. Nai Harn beach is a comparative, so relevant.

 

What was the point of your post? The OP is labeled Patong beach, my post clearly says Nai Harn beach. Is there a need to emphasize that point? People can read.

 

enjoy your time in Patong.

[billd766]

3 hours ago, wensiensheng said:

Massively over stated I would say. 40k baht per person would be tough even if on a shopping trip with my wife.

Would that 40k per day include the airfare, hotel rates, food and drink etc? At a forex of 45bht to the GBP that comes to GBP 890 per day. For a family of 4 that would be 160,000 thb or GBP 3,555 per day or for 15 days, 2,400,000 thb or GBP 53,333.

 

I cannot see any farang tourists shelling out that much for a 15 day holiday.

[wensiensheng]

2 minutes ago, billd766 said:

Would that 40k per day include the airfare, hotel rates, food and drink etc? At a forex of 45bht to the GBP that comes to GBP 890 per day. For a family of 4 that would be 160,000 thb or GBP 3,555 per day or for 15 days, 2,400,000 thb or GBP 53,333.

 

I cannot see any farang tourists shelling out that much for a 15 day holiday.

Indeed. It’s total nonsense. They can’t lie about the number of arrivals, so they lie about how much the smaller number of tourists might spend, so as to get back to their original projection of money spent in Thailand.

 

but the amount of money supposedly spent by each tourist is so fantastical that it can clearly be seen as a lie.

[bkk6060]

40,000 over 2 weeks which is approx. 3k per day seems more realistic.  

[PETERTHEEATER]

7 hours ago, ChipButty said:

I dont know about you guys but that photo looks old to me, 

Oh ye of little faith.......

[Rhacsyn]

50 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

Well, I didn’t say anything about Patong beach. That’s because I never go there. Nai Harn beach is a comparative, so relevant.

 

What was the point of your post? The OP is labeled Patong beach, my post clearly says Nai Harn beach. Is there a need to emphasize that point? People can read.

 

enjoy your time in Patong.

Apologies.

[khunPer]

The Phuket Sandbox originally expected 120,000 arrivals within three month, i.e. 90 days.

 

By the 15th of July so far 5,473 had arrived, 75 days more to go, and each day in average should show 120,000 minus 5,475 divided with 75, equaling 1,527 arrivals per day.

 

Average for first half of July was 365 tourist arrivals per day.

 

With 13,000 to 18,000 as predicted tourist arrivals for July, it means that in the remaining half of July (i.e. 13,000 -5,473 /15)  between 501 and 835 shall arrive per day.

 

So with around 105,000 further expected tourists arrivals in August and September combined, this equals an average of 1,750 arrivals per day.

[khunPer]

4 hours ago, wensiensheng said:

The beaches didn’t look so good a few days ago before the wind changed direction.

 

there is one family mart open in Kata atm. The rest of the convenience stores are closed afaik.

The northern hemisphere summer months are monsoon time and rainy season on Phuket, so actually not the best time of the year for a holiday visit, if you expect 2-3 weeks of calm sea and continuous sunshine.

[pagallim]

18 minutes ago, khunPer said:

The Phuket Sandbox originally expected 120,000 arrivals within three month, i.e. 90 days.

 

By the 15th of July so far 5,473 had arrived, 75 days more to go, and each day in average should show 120,000 minus 5,475 divided with 75, equaling 1,527 arrivals per day.

 

Average for first half of July was 365 tourist arrivals per day.

 

With 13,000 to 18,000 as predicted tourist arrivals for July, it means that in the remaining half of July (i.e. 13,000 -5,473 /15)  between 501 and 835 shall arrive per day.

 

So with around 105,000 further expected tourists arrivals in August and September combined, this equals an average of 1,750 arrivals per day.

Numbers are going up slightly, with 871 arriving on 5 flights yesterday, giving a new total of 6581 (of course, some of those may have either returned home or having completed the 14 day stay in Phuket, moved elsewhere in Thailand).   There were also a further 2 positive Covid tests from the Sandbox people, for a total of 12 in 16 days.

 

[LivinginKata]

5 hours ago, wensiensheng said:

<snip>

That particular day there was one old lady rather than the 5/6 who normally work their way down. “Cleaned up quickly” is a vast overstatement of their abilities, they don’t clean 100% and it takes them most the morning. They are in no rush.

 

That one lady is assigned to sweep the beach road and I say hello to her every morning.

 

The bigger crew is called in when there is beach debris. Usual 3 or 4 ladies with the support of collection trucks or backhoe if big tree debris.

[wensiensheng]

12 minutes ago, LivinginKata said:

 

That one lady is assigned to sweep the beach road and I say hello to her every morning.

 

The bigger crew is called in when there is beach debris. Usual 3 or 4 ladies with the support of collection trucks or backhoe if big tree debris.

Thanks for confirming what I said. 

[impulse]

10 hours ago, Rhacsyn said:

Agreed, but also to be fair, your photo is of a different beach! As for Patong, having passed by the last few days, it is nice to see a few people there.

Not to mention, who hangs out on a beach when there's thunderclouds overhead?

[Stargeezr]

At this time, there should not be any unvaccinated children allowed to travel by air. or land  or sea Internationally. These COVID carriers

like the 2 that arrived in Phuket, should have had to stay at their home country until they also have been

vaccinated with 2 shots. Otherwise the Phuket sandbox or any sandbox will just become a sand trap.

  That is the new reality that people should wake up to. Wake up Thailand!

Geezer