Laguna founder KP Ho calls for Phuket, other Sandbox destinations to be ‘Green listed’ as COVID safe havens

[webfact]

KP Ho addresses the Phuket Sandbox Summit held at Laguna Phuket

 

PHUKET: As Bangkok grapples with rising numbers of COVID infections, leading tourism voice KP Ho, Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree Group, has told European envoys, airlines, senior officials and business leaders, that for Phuket Sandbox to succeed it is imperative for Phuket to be given “green” destination status.

 

Speaking at the Phuket Sandbox Summit held at Laguna Phuket, KP Ho called on policy-makers in Europe and around the world to support Phuket as a separate “green” zone.

 

Phuket has the potential to lead the global tourism recovery, as the historic Phuket Sandbox initiative sets the standard for other destinations to follow, he said. But, to succeed, governments need to recognise it as a safe, self-enclosed destination, rather than combining its travel status with the rest of Thailand. 

 

Planning to visit Phuket? Book your Sandbox hotel here

 

Full story: https://www.thephuketnews.com/laguna-founder-kp-ho-calls-for-phuket-other-sandbox-destinations-to-be-green-listed-as-covid-safe-havens-80900.php

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2021-08-03

 

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[RichardColeman]

16 minutes ago, webfact said:

Phuket has the potential to lead the global tourism recovery

Flipping eck, talk about blowing your own important hooter

[ourmanflint]

What a plonker! For a start, Phuket is a very insignificant destination for most world travellers, secondly, no country on Earth will treat a region of Thailand any differently than the whole country, either all of Thailand id OK, or nowhere is OK

[ChC1]

52 minutes ago, ourmanflint said:

What a plonker! For a start, Phuket is a very insignificant destination for most world travellers, secondly, no country on Earth will treat a region of Thailand any differently than the whole country, either all of Thailand id OK, or nowhere is OK

I agree with the first part. However, I beg to differ in the second part.

 

UK has been treating Canary Islands, Balearic Islands separate from Spain mainland in terms of travel list evaluation, UK also treated Madeira Islands and Azores from Portugal mainland in this travel list. This method did not get protests from Spain nor Portugal governments, as they see opportunities to promote tourism for these islands while trying to contain the Covid in mainland. Savage what they can in tourism dollars. 

 

So separate Phuket from Thailand in travel warning or travel list evaluation can be done if Thailand press European and American governments agencies and come to an agreement. For instance, if British government recognise Thailand's efforts to contain Covid in Phuket and its vaccine drive on the island, it could put Phuket Island in green list as long as Phuket has strict travel requirements for all tourists (whether international or domestic), while maintain Thailand (except Phuket) as Amber or even Red list. This would promote tourists look at possibilities to come to Phuket without going to other places in Thailand.

 

So it can be done. But, if Thailand is determined to do that, it would require two things to happen:

1, This dual list can not be short term. No foreign governments wants to do this for a month or two only, then get request by Thailand to cancel the special privilege of Phuket. So safe to say, Thailand needs to prepare an eventuality that the dual list may last until end of the year.

2, This dual list can also destroy confidence of other regions in Thailand and their outlook on Covid. Basically it would be a sign that some fractions within Thailand is thinking oh gee the October opening is not likely to happen, we need to preserve Phuket now to at least save part of the season and tourism industry. Once Phuket is recognised, it would be other regions to follow except possible Koh Samui.

 

Hence, this is an important article to follow. 

 

What the baseline message, from my understanding, is that some Thai elites might have seen the real sense of the current situation, and come to a conclusion that Phuket sandbox need to be saved regardless what happens in other regions. Recognise the Covid situation is bad (and might turn worse) in other regions, and vaccine drive may not reach herd immunity until end of 2021 or even early 2022, and Thailand could be in danger of being put on Red list, some elites are floating the idea of asking other countries to recognise Phuket Sandbox as a separate region like UK has been doing for Spanish and Portuguese islands. This idea is the backup plan to guarantee Phuket can still receiving tourists even if Thailand as a whole is on the red list. Also I read between the lines, that some high level elites is preparing for a long battle against Covid for the reminder of 2021. All above ideas won't go well among ordinary Thai people, for one thing, some nationalists sentiment may see this as 'separation', and some regions may argue why Phuket only. So any Thai government officials would see it problematic to even suggest such move. That, however, does not stop businessmen and lower level politicians from making suggestions. 

 

If Thai government did follow the suggestion quietly, it only means two things:

1, October opening is not going to happen; and 

2, Reality finally sink in.

Edited August 2, 2021 by ChC1

[Geoffggi]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

KP Ho, Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree Group, has told European envoys, airlines, senior officials and business leaders, that for Phuket Sandbox to succeed it is imperative for Phuket to be given “green” destination status.

Things must be starting to hurt his pocket, what a load of twaddle .......................LOL

[smedly]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

leading tourism voice KP Ho, Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree Group, has told European envoys, airlines, senior officials and business leaders, that for Phuket Sandbox to succeed it is imperative for Phuket to be given “green” destination status.

here are the boxes that need to be ticked for that to happen

 

the assessment is based on

 

- testing level (current fail across Thailand)

- Infection rate and spread ( only known through mass testing) - fail

- infection rate and current numbers even with limited testing - fail

- (Effective) vaccine deployment - fail

- sinovac is not an approved vaccine in Europe and the US so why should they recognise its use in Thailand - fail

 

a lot of unticked boxes

 

gey your house in order then you might see some improvement

[smedly]

1 hour ago, ChC1 said:

I agree with the first part. However, I beg to differ in the second part.

and here's the part you are missing TiT

 

also read my previous post

[bkk6060]

57 minutes ago, ChC1 said:

Thailand's efforts to contain Covid in Phuket and its vaccine drive on the island

Nice post, but this is more the issue.  Phuket was vaccinated early on which means they mostly got Sinovac.  Sinovac is not a recognized or approved vaccine by the US or the UK so they cannot at this point with conscious send their citizens there claiming it is safe.

[metisdead]

A post using an oversized trolling emoji has been removed. 

[impulse]

23 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Nice post, but this is more the issue.  Phuket was vaccinated early on which means they mostly got Sinovac.  Sinovac is not a recognized or approved vaccine by the US or the UK so they cannot at this point with conscious send their citizens there claiming it is safe.

They're fully vaccinated.  They're tested before their flight, and upon arrival.  They're tested again after a week.  Then, they're tested yet again before they can fly back home.

 

They're safer than 99% of their citizens back home who are exposed to Delta just by going out for groceries.

 

[Scrotobike]

Really! TIT

He must have a sniff that the EU/USA/UK are about to redlist Thailand.

I am not sure they will redlist Thailand, as keeping good relations with Thailand - against the CCP is a consideration for the UK/USA (maybe the EU). Not saying I agree but it is not as simple as it seems....

[zzzzz]

2 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

Things must be starting to hurt his pocket, what a load of twaddle .......................LOL

 

2 hours ago, smedly said:

here are the boxes that need to be ticked for that to happen

 

the assessment is based on

 

- testing level (current fail across Thailand)

- Infection rate and spread ( only known through mass testing) - fail

- infection rate and current numbers even with limited testing - fail

- (Effective) vaccine deployment - fail

- sinovac is not an approved vaccine in Europe and the US so why should they recognise its use in Thailand - fail

 

a lot of unticked boxes

 

gey your house in order then you might see some improvement

without weekly testing of locals and mandatory vaccination of locals, infections will always be here

Even thou 38 incoming international arrivals have tested positive, none have died

[madmitch]

Thailand, including Phuket, is more likely to enter the UK red zone rather than part of the country going green. I wouldn't be surprised to see the whole of Southeast Asia, excluding Singapore, going red.

 

Just another desperate plea from a very wealthy individual with a vested interest.

 

 

 

 

[trainman34014]

Selfish Moron only interested in himself !

[ourmanflint]

8 hours ago, ChC1 said:

I agree with the first part. However, I beg to differ in the second part.

 

UK has been treating Canary Islands, Balearic Islands separate from Spain mainland in terms of travel list evaluation, UK also treated Madeira Islands and Azores from Portugal mainland in this travel list. This method did not get protests from Spain nor Portugal governments, as they see opportunities to promote tourism for these islands while trying to contain the Covid in mainland. Savage what they can in tourism dollars. 

 

So separate Phuket from Thailand in travel warning or travel list evaluation can be done if Thailand press European and American governments agencies and come to an agreement. For instance, if British government recognise Thailand's efforts to contain Covid in Phuket and its vaccine drive on the island, it could put Phuket Island in green list as long as Phuket has strict travel requirements for all tourists (whether international or domestic), while maintain Thailand (except Phuket) as Amber or even Red list. This would promote tourists look at possibilities to come to Phuket without going to other places in Thailand.

 

So it can be done. But, if Thailand is determined to do that, it would require two things to happen:

1, This dual list can not be short term. No foreign governments wants to do this for a month or two only, then get request by Thailand to cancel the special privilege of Phuket. So safe to say, Thailand needs to prepare an eventuality that the dual list may last until end of the year.

2, This dual list can also destroy confidence of other regions in Thailand and their outlook on Covid. Basically it would be a sign that some fractions within Thailand is thinking oh gee the October opening is not likely to happen, we need to preserve Phuket now to at least save part of the season and tourism industry. Once Phuket is recognised, it would be other regions to follow except possible Koh Samui.

 

Hence, this is an important article to follow. 

 

What the baseline message, from my understanding, is that some Thai elites might have seen the real sense of the current situation, and come to a conclusion that Phuket sandbox need to be saved regardless what happens in other regions. Recognise the Covid situation is bad (and might turn worse) in other regions, and vaccine drive may not reach herd immunity until end of 2021 or even early 2022, and Thailand could be in danger of being put on Red list, some elites are floating the idea of asking other countries to recognise Phuket Sandbox as a separate region like UK has been doing for Spanish and Portuguese islands. This idea is the backup plan to guarantee Phuket can still receiving tourists even if Thailand as a whole is on the red list. Also I read between the lines, that some high level elites is preparing for a long battle against Covid for the reminder of 2021. All above ideas won't go well among ordinary Thai people, for one thing, some nationalists sentiment may see this as 'separation', and some regions may argue why Phuket only. So any Thai government officials would see it problematic to even suggest such move. That, however, does not stop businessmen and lower level politicians from making suggestions. 

 

If Thai government did follow the suggestion quietly, it only means two things:

1, October opening is not going to happen; and 

2, Reality finally sink in.

There is a reason that Madiera (1000km from Portugal), Canary Islands (2000 km from Spain) & Balearics (300km from mainland Spain) are treated separately.

Phuket has a 500m bridge and is manned by corrupt officials, it will never be treated differently to Thailand as a whole

[ChC1]

1 hour ago, ourmanflint said:

There is a reason that Madiera (1000km from Portugal), Canary Islands (2000 km from Spain) & Balearics (300km from mainland Spain) are treated separately.

Phuket has a 500m bridge and is manned by corrupt officials, it will never be treated differently to Thailand as a whole

Distance is not an issue. For instance, Hong Kong and Gibraltar are separated from neighbouring China and Spain in UK's Covid travel advice. Yes technically they are independent (although Hong Kong's case can be disputed), sort of. But thousands people cross its boarder daily just like Phuket bridge if not more. My point was that you said it can not be done because nobody did that. And I approved to you that it was done. Now you say it can't be done because of distance, I listed two territories that was physically connected to mainland countries and can be seen as separate regions for Covid travel warning. Please do not argue they are not like Phuket that is part of a sovereignty country, that is just for the sake of arguing. Let us not go down that path. Thanks.

[nkg]

8 minutes ago, ChC1 said:

Please do not argue they are not like Phuket that is part of a sovereignty country, that is just for the sake of arguing. Let us not go down that path. Thanks.

 

Don't worry, people arguing for the sake of it will never happen on this forum. ????

[HappyExpat57]

I've seen reports from various sources that more restrictions are being put on the Phuket Sandbox. Call it whatever color it whatever you want, it won't make it a winner.

[stevenl]

25 minutes ago, HappyExpat57 said:

I've seen reports from various sources that more restrictions are being put on the Phuket Sandbox. Call it whatever color it whatever you want, it won't make it a winner.

And I have seen reports from the people responsible that for the moment things will stay as they are.

[HappyExpat57]

21 minutes ago, stevenl said:

And I have seen reports from the people responsible that for the moment things will stay as they are.

You mean tourism ministers? 555!

[stevenl]

4 minutes ago, HappyExpat57 said:

You mean tourism ministers? 555!

Let's see in 2 weeks.

[Cake Monster]

13 hours ago, webfact said:

Phuket has the potential to lead the global tourism recovery, as the historic Phuket Sandbox initiative sets the standard for other destinations to follow, he said. But, to succeed, governments need to recognise it as a safe, self-enclosed destination, rather than combining its travel status with the rest of Thailand. 

What a load of Tosh

[Burma Bill]

14 hours ago, webfact said:

KP Ho

More appropriate "KP Nut"??????

[impulse]

10 hours ago, madmitch said:

Just another desperate plea from a very wealthy individual with a vested interest.

Every once in a great while, the interests of the wealthy coincide with the interest of the masses.  Re-opening tourism in Thailand is one of those rare occasions when millions of hungry Thai people are out of work, with no gub'ment safety net.

 

Edited August 3, 2021 by impulse

[ourmanflint]

5 hours ago, ChC1 said:

Distance is not an issue. For instance, Hong Kong and Gibraltar are separated from neighbouring China and Spain in UK's Covid travel advice. Yes technically they are independent (although Hong Kong's case can be disputed), sort of. But thousands people cross its boarder daily just like Phuket bridge if not more. My point was that you said it can not be done because nobody did that. And I approved to you that it was done. Now you say it can't be done because of distance, I listed two territories that was physically connected to mainland countries and can be seen as separate regions for Covid travel warning. Please do not argue they are not like Phuket that is part of a sovereignty country, that is just for the sake of arguing. Let us not go down that path. Thanks.

Just what part of this do you not understand? Nobody is going to fing do this for THAILAND!!!!

[HappyinNE]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

Every once in a great while, the interests of the wealthy coincide with the interest of the masses.  Re-opening tourism in Thailand is one of those rare occasions when millions of hungry Thai people are out of work, with no gub'ment safety net.

 

Yes reopening Thailand is important.  Phuket is not that important to Thailand just to Phuket.

[stevenl]

7 minutes ago, HappyinNE said:

Yes reopening Thailand is important.  Phuket is not that important to Thailand just to Phuket.

And it has been announced over and over again that this is the start for opening Thailand.

[DoctorB]

13 hours ago, madmitch said:

Thailand, including Phuket, is more likely to enter the UK red zone rather than part of the country going green. I wouldn't be surprised to see the whole of Southeast Asia, excluding Singapore, going red.

 

Just another desperate plea from a very wealthy individual with a vested interest.

 

 

 

 

Really? Why? The UK infection figure for 2 August is quoted as 21,952 down from around 51,000 on 16 July. The Thai infection figure today is given as around 19,000 and has never been anywhere near 51,000. Surely we Brits are more dangerous to the Thais than they are to us.

[mjnaus]

27 minutes ago, DoctorB said:

Really? Why? The UK infection figure for 2 August is quoted as 21,952 down from around 51,000 on 16 July. The Thai infection figure today is given as around 19,000 and has never been anywhere near 51,000. Surely we Brits are more dangerous to the Thais than they are to us.

Infections become rather meaningless for a country that has vaccinated the majority of its people. Hence tens of thousand of infections in a country like the UK or The Netherlands means pretty much nothing since these infections don't translate in large numbers of people needing medical care, hospitalization or deaths. This in stark contract with a country like Thailand where a smaller of number of infections translates into a much larger strain being put on the healthcare system.

 

The virus is here to stay; I think that much is pretty obvious by now. So focussing on just numbers of infections only, without taking context into consideration does not make much sense. 

 

We had a big spike in infections in The Netherlands recently, yet live carried on as normal without any additional restrictions. The increase in infections did not put a massive burden on the hospital and deaths stayed pretty much the same. 

[DoctorB]

6 hours ago, mjnaus said:

Infections become rather meaningless for a country that has vaccinated the majority of its people. Hence tens of thousand of infections in a country like the UK or The Netherlands means pretty much nothing since these infections don't translate in large numbers of people needing medical care, hospitalization or deaths. This in stark contract with a country like Thailand where a smaller of number of infections translates into a much larger strain being put on the healthcare system.

 

The virus is here to stay; I think that much is pretty obvious by now. So focussing on just numbers of infections only, without taking context into consideration does not make much sense. 

 

We had a big spike in infections in The Netherlands recently, yet live carried on as normal without any additional restrictions. The increase in infections did not put a massive burden on the hospital and deaths stayed pretty much the same. 

I agree with you entirely. I was in London on Saturday and pubs and restaurants were buzzing. The only people wearing face masks were a few 'virtue signallers' on the tube. I can see absolutely no reason why the UK government would want to put either Phuket, or Thailand as a whole, on any red list; not that logic seems to play much part in UK governemt decisions in this regard.