Phuket Sandbox: 14,000 "foreign" tourists have spent 800 million baht - spending options limited

[LivinLOS]

1 hour ago, joecoolfrog said:

Yes absolutely , and precisely what the majority of us have been saying for months.

Why TAT continues to push the ridiculous notion ,that bona fide tourists are desperate to visit Phuket at the current time, is beyond comprehension.

Is it really saving face , when the narrative is so embarassingly false , that everybody just laughs !

I would love to know if the ASQ system in bangkok dropped off and by how much.. 

Can we assume 2/3rds of those arrivals are ones who would have used ASQ, Thais and expats ?? So +- 4 or 5,000 people visited for the sake of visiting ?? 

Remember this was initially estimated at 50k.. then reduced to 29k.. and in reality.. Half that.. 14k.. 
 

Edited August 2, 2021 by LivinLOS

[the green light]

let us not get too excited on numbers

 

Bht800,000 for 15k visitors .. you are looking at Baht 3,500/day/visitor  or $110/ day/visitor..

I assumed that it includes, hotel and food on the island.  That seemed reasonable for a visitor.

how can that revive the economy?

 

It was predicted most of them are returning to their home in Phuket or close by, Given the pandemic with the rest of Thailand, the number of visitors will be less for August. then the sandbox will be delayed.

"a dream in the sky"

 

Airlines must make money to stop over Phuket. It may be possible that they will cancel flights to Phuket.   Reality "NOT ENOUGH PASSENGER "

 

[carlf]

5 hours ago, smedly said:

Hardly much to brag about - lets put this into perspective

 

This is equivalent to a single large day cruise ship in the Mediterranean carrying 400 people - it is hardly ground breaking tourism and to add that a significant number I suspect were not even tourists but those returning that live here, also offset by costs to set it up and the loss of local tourism 

 

- 400 people odd a day

- Bt800m spent minus hotel costs is about Bt2000 a day

 

was it really worth it ?, plus we have a massive drop in Sept - hardly enough to fill a couple of hotels - what then ?

I think that the other question to be asking is: how many of these people are real "tourists" vs returning people (Thai or expats)?  If they are returning people primarily, then the 57K THB per person being spent in Phuket is very likely the same money that they would have spent in a Bangkok ASQ, so Thailand isn't getting any extra money.  The money is just being moved from a Bangkok ASQ to Phuket hotel/etc.  That's fine if your the quarantined person... I don't doubt that it's nicer to hang out on a beach than sit in your room.  But I question whether Thailand as a country is making any extra money to save the tourist business.

[the green light]

from 800k we need to substract the 3 covid test at Bht 2000 each.

we need to substract 2,000x3x14,050 = Bht  84,300

 

I can't see how Phuket can get away with it and not be under the lockdown conditions.

NO malls

No health spa

No swimming pools

No travel

No restaurant...only take out

 

People who came to Phuket lives on the island or travel reporters writing to their newspapers or their followers.

I read one of those article  from Travel Leisure from Alisson Fox 7/29

 https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/one-first-vaccinated-americans-visit-194933827.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

"I Was One of the First Vaccinated Americans to Visit Thailand in More Than a Year — Here's What It Was Like"

 

or if you like bloomberg  "Phuket Tourism Experiment Risks Suspension as Covid Cases Surge" 7/27

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/phuket-tourism-experiment-risks-suspension-074617954.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

 

that is not opening up to tourism when the whole country is suffering.

 

[Grusa]

3 hours ago, Percy P said:

Never mind the money .I hope the people who came  had a fulfilment time. Thank you for coming. 

You mean "happy ending "?

[wombat]

a spend of 57k per person per day...on what?

[Phuketshrew]

2 hours ago, ttrd said:

Higher rates?

 

Phuket Hoping $1 Hotel Rooms Lure Travelers To Thailand (travelawaits.com)

Fake news that never happened. 

[kennw]

6 hours ago, Phuketshrew said:

Maths not our strong point? 800 million baht divided by 14,000 people equates to just over 57K baht per person. Entirely plausible given the higher rates that most SHA+ hotels are charging. Probably not much being spent out on the streets though.

About US$1,700 per person for the whole period, wealthy farangs Hotel US$110/night X  14 days ............

[Espanol]

4 hours ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

I'd guess that almost all of the Americans are returnees.

And also all of the Thais and most of the rest.

[MrJ2U]

Wonderful news finally!

[MrJ2U]

39 minutes ago, wombat said:

a spend of 57k per person per day...on what?

Taxis.

[stevenl]

4 hours ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

I'd guess that almost all of the Americans are returnees (two of my American friends are completing their sandboxes today and lamming out to Pattaya on today's last Nok Air flight to Utapao). If they wanted a tropical holiday, the Caribbean, Mexico, and Hawaii are much better options at the moment.

To my surprise there were many Americans on my flight yesterday. And they didn't seem to be returning expats.

[stevenl]

3 hours ago, Brickbat said:

Morons ! it has to be ! Risking their lives to holiday and irresponsible to allow this to happen . Responsible governments have shut their borders. 

The international tourism has not been responsible for any significant covid numbers.

[Hmunker]

3 minutes ago, stevenl said:

To my surprise there were many Americans on my flight yesterday. And they didn't seem to be returning expats.

Was it their age that made you think that.So they probably looked like younger tourists?

[chang1]

42 minutes ago, the green light said:

how Phuket can get away with it and not be under the lockdown conditions.

NO malls

No health spa

No swimming pools

No travel

No restaurant...only take out

 

We've just started our time at Karon beach. 

No malls - good

No health spa - not a problem 

No pool - ours is great and only 2 metres from the door.

No travel - I presume you mean onwards travel - in 2 weeks if still the case is the biggest problem by far.

No restaurants - plenty around unless you can't go native. 

 

First thing to do is rent a bike - 200 baht a day. The roads are quiet and a joy to use. No taxi vans around apart from the one that sits all day at the front of the hotel, my heart bleeds for the poor guy trying to screw us for 400 baht to go a few kms to patong. The fool would get me every night if he dropped to 200 each way assuming there are some bars open. 

The weather although not great is good for me, a good onshore breeze all day long. Nai Harn was great today with nice big waves.

So even if we don't get to see the in-laws it will not be a waste of 5 weeks. 

Worst bit so far - having my brain scraped by the person in one of the booths in the photo - training definitely lacking but my eyes stopped watering after a few minutes and don't think there is any permanent injury. As for money - about 2000 baht a day all in for food and the bike. 

The flight from Manchester to Singapore had 16 people on a wide body plane (but was full of cargo) - the smaller plane to Phuket was about 3/4 full. 

Only our 2nd day but so far very enjoyable. 

[aussienam]

7 hours ago, Phuketshrew said:

Maths not our strong point? 800 million baht divided by 14,000 people equates to just over 57K baht per person. Entirely plausible given the higher rates that most SHA+ hotels are charging. Probably not much being spent out on the streets though.

Yeah that's about $2400 Aussie dollars at the moment (roughly 24 Baht to 1 AUD).  That's totally plausible, considering the brakes have been put on for entertainment.  Otherwise add a few thousand bucks on top if the two week millionaires had their way. 

[chang1]

41 minutes ago, stevenl said:

4 hours ago, Brickbat said:

Morons ! it has to be ! Risking their lives to holiday and irresponsible to allow this to happen . Responsible governments have shut their borders. 

The international tourism has not been responsible for any significant covid numbers.

I am vaccinated so at extremely low risk and probably safer here than in the UK. 

Responsible governments vaccinate. The UK is now opening up - too soon? Maybe but it has to be done sooner or later. Just look at the normal death toll on Thai roads yet we still use them. If a few anti vaxers are lost along the way it is their fault alone (or YouTubes). The ones I feel sorry for,  are those unable to get vaccinated for whatever reason and those dying, like my brother, (possibly) due to resources being diverted. 

Tourists coming relatively risk free is the lesson that needs to be shouted out to those who think the sandbox is dangerous. Tourism is desperately needed here so the fewer restrictions are imposed the more will come - even genuine holiday makers!

[dallen52]

And let's not forget the 15,000 positive cases daily.

 

Thailand.

Amazing one day.

Out of control the next...

[impulse]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

To my surprise there were many Americans on my flight yesterday. And they didn't seem to be returning expats.

I ran into a gap year student the other day in Galveston where I'm a Covid refugee.  She's part of a big group of young kids planning a volunteer trip to Thailand as soon as they get assurances they can get in and get to the place they're volunteering.  She's thinking September...  Which means a Phuket entry.  If the Sandbox isn't available, they're not going to sit in a BKK hotel for 2+ weeks of their trip.

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by impulse

[Espanol]

3 hours ago, the green light said:

Airlines must make money to stop over Phuket. It may be possible that they will cancel flights to Phuket.

 

Reality "NOT ENOUGH PASSENGER "

 

 

Turkish Airlines already suspended flights to Phuket. 

 

Last week they cancelled my tickets and they gave me my money back.

 

Now I booked with Qatar Airways. 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by Espanol

[George FmplesdaCosteedback]

That's about US$123 a day each, does that include hotel? I'm sure they will all be please to know they have been watched and audited so closely too.

[ChC1]

Guys, have you deducted the testing costs and airport transfer cost that needed to be prepaid to the hotel from the THB 800 million figure yet? If not, you failed in this mathematic test already. 

 

Also TAT needs to specify whether mandatory insurance is included or not, as I understand many 'tourists' did purchase the insurance from the companies based in Thailand instead of their own. If TAT can not specify, please deduct THB1500 per person on assumption 50% of tourist purchased the USD$100 insurance.

 

After all these exercise you will get close to the more accurate spending locally. 

[MrJ2U]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

To my surprise there were many Americans on my flight yesterday. And they didn't seem to be returning expats.

You mean they were in good shape?

[RobU]

about £1,246 pounds each

[MrJ2U]

53 minutes ago, chang1 said:

I am vaccinated so at extremely low risk and probably safer here than in the UK. 

Responsible governments vaccinate. The UK is now opening up - too soon? Maybe but it has to be done sooner or later. Just look at the normal death toll on Thai roads yet we still use them. If a few anti vaxers are lost along the way it is their fault alone (or YouTubes). The ones I feel sorry for,  are those unable to get vaccinated for whatever reason and those dying, like my brother, (possibly) due to resources being diverted. 

Tourists coming relatively risk free is the lesson that needs to be shouted out to those who think the sandbox is dangerous. Tourism is desperately needed here so the fewer restrictions are imposed the more will come - even genuine holiday makers!

Fair enough.

[peleid]

They still do not get it! People are not going to come in numbers until most of the population are vaccinated

[shdmn]

55 minutes ago, George FmplesdaCosteedback said:

That's about US$123 a day each, does that include hotel? I'm sure they will all be please to know they have been watched and audited so closely too.

The 6 stages of doom monger grief.

 

Stage 1:  It will never happen, Thailand can't do anything right.

 

Stage 2: Nobody will come, Thailand can't do anything right.

 

Stage 3:  Everyone will die of covid.  It will be like a zombie apocalypse.  Thailand can't do anything right.

 

Stage 4: Ok so even though lots of people came even though it's ultra low season with few flights, and those numbers will only go up in high season with more time to plan the trip and more flights, big brother is watching them.  Thailand is a police state.

 

Stage 5: The tourists aren't spending enough money to make it worthwhile.  Total failure.

 

Stage 6: Thailand sucks.  Too many tourists throwing money around.  The Thai gov't does treat me with my meager pension like I am special.  I'm leaving.

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by shdmn

[Alidiver]

9 hours ago, Snuller21 said:

8.000.000 divided bu 14.000 = 571,4285714285714. Did they buy a drink for that money, or just Streetfood?

 

I guess you realise it's 800,000,000 which equates to 57,142 baht over a month.
The SHA+ hotel would eat most of that.

 

[Mike k]

10 hours ago, meauwnam said:

It's 800.000.000 for one month divided by 30 days = 26.666.666,66666667 a day, divided by 14.000 tourists = 1.904,761904761905 a day per tourist. So 1.900 baht. 

To many 666's in there ????

[RichardColeman]

11 hours ago, webfact said:

Manager reported Tourism Authority of Thailand figures that suggested in the first month of the much heralded Phuket Sandbox 14,055 foreign tourists had visited the holiday island

thought they were predicting about 120,000 in 3rd qtr. At this rate they will be looking at about <40,000, and even less if they shut up shop on the sandbox due to covid rising