Phuket Sandbox, Samui Plus going ahead; mid-August launch planned for Krabi and Phang Nga

[webfact]

 

The government is confident that the four pilot destinations have appropriate measures in place to ensure the health and safety of both the tourists and local people.

 

TAT Newsroom

 

Bangkok, 02 August, 2021 – The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) would like to reiterate that both the Phuket Sandbox and Samui Plus programmes are going ahead as usual, and the plans to reopen Krabi and Phang Nga to fully vaccinated international tourists are set to start within August.

 

Mr. Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, Spokesperson of the Centre for Economic Situation Administration (CESA), said the Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha had been keeping a close watch on the Phuket Sandbox and Samui Plus programmes, and voiced confidence in the plans to revive the economy through tourism by gradually reopening destinations that could ensure the health and safety of both the tourists and local people.

 

The new COVID-19 cases in Phuket were cited as mostly detected among locals, construction camp workers and domestic travellers with only a small number of cases found among international arrivals.

 

From 1 July until 1 August, 2021, Phuket recorded 14,910 international arrivals under the Sandbox programme. Of these, 34 tested positive for COVID-19 and had been sent for medical treatment.

 

To contain local transmission, Phuket has stepped up screening measures on domestic travellers, effective from 3-16 August, 2021. The measures are only meant to prevent the spread of the disease from other Thai provinces, while international arrivals under the Sandbox programme can still enter Phuket per the existing rules and regulations.

 

Meanwhile, the recent report of 54 new cases on Ko Samui from a restaurant cluster has been brought under control, and that none of the infections were related to foreign tourists under the Samui Plus programme or those who continued their journey from the Phuket Sandbox programme.

 

From 15 July to 1 August, Surat Thani recorded 137 international arrivals under the Samui Plus programme, with 1 person testing positive for COVID-19. In addition, there were 211 tourists from the Phuket Sandbox programme.

 

Surat Thani also stepped up COVID-19 control measures, effective from the last week of July until further notice, to safeguard the ‘Samui Plus’ model.

 

Krabi and Phang Nga are scheduled to reopen selected areas within this month under a 7+7 model. This will allow foreign tourists under the Sandbox programme to reduce the mandatory stay in Phuket from 14 to 7 days, after which another 7 nights can be spent in Krabi (Ko Phi Phi, Ko Ngai, and Railay Beach), and Phang Nga (Khao Lak and Ko Yao).

 

The 7+7 model aims to provide international tourists with more options to visit multiple destinations during their trip to Thailand. Krabi and Phang Nga are ideal for this given their proximity to and ease of access from Phuket.

 

For Phang Nga, Khao Lak can be reached within 1.5 hours by car, while Ko Yao Noi and Ko Yao Yai can be reached within 30-40 minutes by boat from Bang Rong Pier.

 

For Krabi, Ko Phi Phi, Ko Ngai and Railay Beach can be reached within 45-55 minutes from Rassada Pier.

 

Phuket, Krabi, and Phang Nga are declared among the 11 Controlled Areas or orange zone provinces in Thailand’s expansion of the COVID-19 restrictions from 3-31 August, 2021.

 

TAT would like to remind all travellers to continue with D-M-H-T-T-A precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19: D – Distancing, M – Mask wearing, H – Handwashing, T – Temperature check, T – Testing for COVID-19, and A – alert application.

 

You may find a full list of the ASQ/ALQ hotels here

 

Samui Plus hotels to suit all budgets

 

Source: https://www.tatnews.org/2021/08/phuket-sandbox-samui-plus-going-ahead-mid-august-launch-planned-for-krabi-and-phang-nga/

 

 

 

[Somtamnication]

Can't wait for the next change, in about...............5 minutes!

[ezzra]

With the current dire and very serious Covid situation all over Thailand it seem that any tourists who dose the Sandbox program will be foolish to safely travel to any other parts of the kingdom what with the lock-downs, severe restrictions and the closure of all entertainments avenues not to mention that even those sandbox places are rapidly getting their own Covid infections problems... 

[ThailandRyan]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

To contain local transmission, Phuket has stepped up screening measures on domestic travellers, effective from 3-16 August, 2021. The measures are only meant to prevent the spread of the disease from other Thai provinces, while international arrivals under the Sandbox programme can still enter Phuket per the existing rules and regulations.

No domestic travel to Phuket by tourists from within the country is allowed according to the regulations, only those with a verified reason to get onto the island and meet strict requirements.  You have to love the wordplay they use. I was also informed by several friends in the US that work for travel agencies including my own sister who is an international travel director for a major company that about 7 days ago the advertising for Phuket was pulled from the west coast market and the only information is what is available on-line, no more radio or television spots beings heard or shown.

[ikke1959]

Tourists??? Olympians coming back from Tokyo????

[Karma80]

The sandbox is a great way to attract longer term visitors as a giant ASQ island. There are plenty of people stuck all over the world unable to return home (looking at you Australia) that would work remotely and spend cash on the island whilst living here for several months.

 

Instead of leaning into that like other countries with a solid visa option, we're stuck with this tourist garbage rhetoric and face saving nonsense.