Picture: Thansettakij 

 

Thansettakij reported that three buses will be going between Phuket and Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport daily after foreign tourists got caught out by the ban on domestic flights to deep red zone provinces now in place.

 

The forty seater buses will carry just 20 passengers each and are called "Sandbox Express Bus".

 

The charge is only 1,500 baht, cost price said Thanet Tantiphiriyakij of the Phuket Tourist Business Association. 

 

The Phuket Sandbox began at the start of July before the domestic air travel ban. Some people planned to travel elsewhere but were unable to do so hence the need for the bus. 

 

Those going to nearby provinces were not affected and flights to Samui where the Samui Plus model is in operation were not affected. 

 

The three groups were reported as:

 

1. 14 day tourists who planned to fly out of Bangkok.

 

2. People who had planned to fly to other provinces but now couldn't.

 

3. Thai people who had used the sandbox to return to the country who needed to get to their homes. 

 

The last of these shows that some of the so called foreign tourists were none of the sort as pointed out in many online posts, notes ASEAN NOW. 

 

Meanwhile a Phuket Tourism Authority of Thailand representative told the media that in the first 20 days of the Phuket sandbox there had been 8,981 tourists. 

 

That's 449 average per day. If such numbers continued for the July-September period that would mean just over 41,312 tourists - well short of TAT targets of 100,000.

 

The TAT would say that things were expected to pick-up later but their assessments also came before a significant uptick in Covid-19 infections in Thailand that resulted in the flight bans, lockdowns and advisories not to cross provincial frontiers. 

 

It was further reported that in the July to September period 240,493 nights worth of accommodation had been booked in Phuket. 

 

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"Honey what adventure we are having! Only 11 hour and 38 minutes and 849 kilometers! This is a trip of a lifetime!"

1,500B for a 40-seater bus! Are you kidding me!?

If/When I am brave enough to do that trip on the road, a 24-seat VIP bus is 1,000B and the seats are really big and comfy and fully recline.

‘Free busses’ are being offered, according to the title of this topic. It’s only when you read the article that you will realize it’s about ‘three busses’, at a cost of 1500 baht…..????????

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7 minutes ago, damascase said:

‘Free busses’ are being offered, according to the title of this topic. It’s only when you read the article that you will realize it’s about ‘three busses’, at a cost of 1500 baht…..????

That, there...

Thank you, Sherlock!

16 minutes ago, 2long said:

1,500B for a 40-seater bus! Are you kidding me!?

If/When I am brave enough to do that trip on the road, a 24-seat VIP bus is 1,000B and the seats are really big and comfy and fully recline.

I took the overnight VIP  bus from Khorat to Phuket once.  It was a last minute decision.  Driver was not good and loved to slam on the brakes and try and jack rabbit start.  He had no intention of looking ahead, slowing down before lights or traffic to minimized stops and starts.  Another time I took a nice VIP bus from Mo Chit to Sukhothai.  Now that was a pleasant and comfortable day drive with good scenery, a lunch stop.

 

 I presume some of these travelers had booked flights before and can get refunds, although since before flights from Phuket to BKK were easy to book, they may have not and like me, on other trips domestically planned on just walking to the nearest travel agency stall and paying cash.

Wonder if they will ever reveal the true number of "tourist" as opposed to number of people returning because they live in Thailand?

1 hour ago, webfact said:

... some of the so called foreign tourists were none of the sort as pointed out in many online posts

 

Finally they realized!  But not just "some": most of them.

 

 

 

The refund there’ll get back of the  Airline will offset some of the cost.

 

"Foreign tourists caught out by domestic flight ban offered free buses from Phuket Sandbox"

 

"The charge is only 1,500 baht"

 

Should anyone explain them the meaning of "free"?

 

4 minutes ago, Espanol said:

 

"Foreign tourists caught out by domestic flight ban offered free buses from Phuket Sandbox"

 

"The charge is only 1,500 baht"

 

Should anyone explain them the meaning of "free"?

 

Free for Thais...everyone else pays LOL

Reminding me the movie "Summer holiday" with Cliff Richard where he did the whole of Europe on double Decker bus...

3 busses with 20 people that's 60 a day, Where are the rest of all those thousands that came to enjoy the sandbox in Phuket?????

46 minutes ago, SomchaiCNX said:

3 busses with 20 people that's 60 a day, Where are the rest of all those thousands that came to enjoy the sandbox in Phuket?????

 

If seems that their only way out from Phuket is Samui's sandbox program.

 

They are forcing them to that only way of escape, so they can count them twice: 41,312 "tourists" in Phuket sandbox and 41,312 (same) "tourists" in Samui sandbox.

 

After that, they will open Hua Hin sandbox and Pattaya sandbox.

 

If they keep them moving from here to there, they can reach those estimated 100.000 tourists in sandbox program. ????????

 

 

jesus, what a sandbox deal, going from bad to worse,

 

I am sure they will be happy to spend 20 hours in some crappy bus after their "happy" lockdowns in Phuket ????

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The forty seater buses will carry just 20 passengers each and are called "Sandbox Express Bus".

Leaving from platform 9 3/4?

3 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

"Honey what adventure we are having! Only 11 hour and 38 minutes and 849 kilometers! This is a trip of a lifetime!"

Destination deep red zone.

If the photo is correct these are the airport buses. Local buses not suited to long distance travel, uncomfortable seats, no toilet.  This is joke. Owners of these buses trying to make some income. Mind you 20 at 1,500 = 30,000 Baht.  If full load which I doubt. Will be only Thai folks I think.  Just allow use the usual buses. Something looks dodgy here. Big business wins again. 

 

Delete

3 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

"Honey what adventure we are having! Only 11 hour and 38 minutes and 849 kilometers! This is a trip of a lifetime!"

 

11 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Destination deep red zone.

 

Authentic adventure tourism  ????

 

 

3 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

"Honey what adventure we are having! Only 11 hour and 38 minutes and 849 kilometers! This is a trip of a lifetime!"

Hopefully once in a lifetime.

The only question is...where are the tourists????

2 hours ago, Espanol said:

 

"Foreign tourists caught out by domestic flight ban offered free buses from Phuket Sandbox"

 

"The charge is only 1,500 baht"

 

Should anyone explain them the meaning of "free"?

 

As Sherlock wrote above, it's THREE and NOT FREE

 

You know.... the TH and F difference... same same, but different....

Let me see if I've got this right.

 

If you're in Phuket where there is a high level of vaccination amongst locals and any visitors have to be vaccinated and have undergone PCR tests you can't take a flight of an hour and a half to Bangkok in a plane with efficient air systems where you could wear a mask the whole time.

 

Buses have been stopped because obviously if you can't fly in the circumstances I've mentioned above then spending 12 hours in a bus which will have inferior air changing and cleaning systems would be stupid.

 

The solution to this is providing buses so you can spend 12 hours in a bus which will have inferior air changing and cleaning systems.

 

I hardly ever drink alcohol and never take drugs of class A,B or C but it's looking a more reasonable option by the day.

 

Edit

I've just checked and on Kayak there seem to be flights from Phuket to BKK via Singapore with Singapore Airlines and with Bangkok Airways via Koh Samui.

 

I'm not sure if these flights are taking place or how they make you safe.

I know those buses. They're the type with thick plastic seat coverings that you have to be peeled off at your destination. They make for a very uncomfortable and somewhat sweaty journey - that is, if you arrive intact at all after a fourteen-hour journey with a maniac ya ba specialist at the wheel. And it's just right for a further fourteen hours onward flight, masked up and in damp clothes.

25 minutes ago, Pottinger said:

Nil

 

It's free, just like the vaccine 

11 minutes ago, Pottinger said:

I know those buses. They're the type with thick plastic seat coverings that you have to be peeled off at your destination. They make for a very uncomfortable and somewhat sweaty journey - that is, if you arrive intact at all after a fourteen-hour journey with a maniac ya ba specialist at the wheel. And it's just right for a further fourteen hours onward flight, masked up and in damp clothes.

Don't you just love the russian roulette game that comes with these buses? Bread... ok, Rice... and Games... A very Thai take on panem et circenses

Yep, they really haven’t thought this through have they !

Should have considered and planned a bit more with the airlines to keep Phuket-Bangkok route open.

 

It’s not ideal to be faced with a 12 hour bus ride to get out of the country.

 

However, what I am more intrigued by is those poor sods arriving at Bangkok after long-haul flights and expecting a smooth 1 hour airplane transfer to the Phuket sandbox only to be informed that a “12 hour scenic bus tour” is now required.  Already tired after a long flight and not having had a shower for 12-15 hours, that really doesn’t sound like much fun. These people are not mentioned in the article but as there are people leaving via Bangkok, it makes sense that people are also arriving there as well ? 

 

I wonder if they are allowed to get off the bus at all during the trip down to Phuket or are considered too high a COVID risk ? If not, what’s the food and bathroom arrangements for these 12 hours  ?

Questions, questions….

 

Anyway, faced with all this hassle, I reckon I would probably just get back on the plane and head home to Europe.