Phuket Sandbox project moves forward

[snoop1130]

 

BANGKOK (NNT) - Following the launch of the Phuket Sandbox tourism scheme on July 1st, the number of foreign tourists testing positive to COVID-19 in Phuket province is less than one percent, and the situation on the tourist island remains under control.

 

According to the Official Phuket Information Center’s Facebook page, there are 36 COVID-19 cases in the Phuket Sandbox project; 34 of whom are Thai nationals while two others are foreign tourists. On August 2nd, 259 tourists arrived in Phuket; 258 of whom tested negative, while one person is waiting on a test result.

 

From July 1st to August 2nd, Phuket Sandbox welcomed 15,169 visitors, 36 of whom tested positive. The tourism scheme has now generated hotel bookings numbering 317,416 nights from July to September.

 

This week, Tourism and Sports Minister, Pipat Ratchakitprakarn, attended a meeting with the Phuket Governor and representatives of government agencies and private firms to follow up on the tourism situation in Phuket. He said the provincial administration will be monitoring the situation for two weeks, after more stringent screening of visitors has taken. He expressed confidence that the situation in the province will remain under control because the number of tourists who have COVID-19 is less than one percent.

 

The Tourism and Sports Minister will request a booster shot against COVID-19 for 70 percent of vaccinated people in Phuket, and more vaccine doses for youngsters between 12 and 18 years old, totaling 58,000 people. The issue has been proposed to the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) and Prime Minister and Defense Minister, Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha, for closer consideration.

 

Planning to visit Phuket? Book your Sandbox hotel here

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2021-08-03

 

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[2long]

Since when has it been ok to vaccinate children?! ????????????

[smedly]

9 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

The Tourism and Sports Minister will request a booster shot against COVID-19 for 70 percent of vaccinated people in Phuket, and more vaccine doses for youngsters between 12 and 18 years old, totaling 58,000 people.

while people are dying across the country - failed priorities again 

[Valentine]

2 hours ago, 2long said:

Since when has it been ok to vaccinate children?! ????????????

Since at least in the 1950s

[2long]

17 minutes ago, Valentine said:

Since at least in the 1950s

Thanks but I thought that most readers of this thread realised I was referring to Coronavirus Covid-19 vaccines.

[Deli]

So, if all is that positive and under control on Phuket, why the hell do they ban alcohol in restaurants again ? You can't fix stupid.

 

[hotandsticky]

1 minute ago, Deli said:

So, if all is that positive and under control on Phuket, why the hell do they ban alcohol in restaurants again ? You can't fix stupid.

 

 

 

Can't trust the Thais not to gather in large groups.....restaurants, especially Thai ones,  extend beyond a 30 seater McDonalds.

 

 

I can't see the Thai authorities positively discriminating in favour of tourists/tourist restaurants.

[HampiK]

If they go on with a 3rd, 4th shot of vaccine, they can stop give vaccine to the normal population, as they not able to produce enough vaccine for new customers and existing!

 

Mean we will stay at the level of about 10-20% vaccinated people.. because this 20% need a new shot every 4-6 month again. Or how is this wonderful consideration to understand? With the actual speed of vaccination this country takes about 2 years, but only if you not need to give additional shots to already vaccinated persons!!!

[tompelli]

So minister of sports & tourism is determining vaccination policy? Can't they find a doctor?

[Sandy Bottom]

14 hours ago, 2long said:

Thanks but I thought that most readers of this thread realised I was referring to Coronavirus Covid-19 vaccines.

Moderna & Pfizer approved in US for 12 & up. Grandson turns 12 in February, and has to wait 

[Cake Monster]

18 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The Tourism and Sports Minister will request a booster shot against COVID-19 for 70 percent of vaccinated people in Phuket, and more vaccine doses for youngsters between 12 and 18 years old, totaling 58,000 people. The issue has been proposed to the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) and Prime Minister and Defense Minister, Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha, for closer consideration.

This just proves that it is not just Pornography that is obscene.

[sallecc]

What? Of all 15k Sandboxers, only 2 foreigners tested positive, and the rest 34 infected were all Thai, how come such big difference? I remember last year Thais didn't need a test abroad before a flight to Thailand, is that still the case?

[stevenl]

2 hours ago, sallecc said:

What? Of all 15k Sandboxers, only 2 foreigners tested positive, and the rest 34 infected were all Thai, how come such big difference? I remember last year Thais didn't need a test abroad before a flight to Thailand, is that still the case?

No, same requirements as foreigners. My guess for the reason would be for the Thai more social interaction with less precautions.

[kimamey]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

No, same requirements as foreigners. My guess for the reason would be for the Thai more social interaction with less precautions.

'more social interaction with less precautions'

is it just me or is that as smutty as it sounds.

Just me then. 

 

I think that should be 'fewer' rather than 'less'. 

There's nothing worse than grammatically incorrect innuendo don't you think? ????

 

On a serious note it would be good to know why there's such a difference. It might be due to precautions being different or possibly not the same vaccines.

[stevenl]

47 minutes ago, kimamey said:

'more social interaction with less precautions'

is it just me or is that as smutty as it sounds.

Just me then. 

 

I think that should be 'fewer' rather than 'less'. 

There's nothing worse than grammatically incorrect innuendo don't you think? ????

 

On a serious note it would be good to know why there's such a difference. It might be due to precautions being different or possibly not the same vaccines.

Smutty, and then start complaining about a non native speaker using less when it should be fewer. Right 

 

Regarding vaccines, would depend on the country where they got vaccinated. I presumed the returning Thai would be returning from countries similar to the other travelers, do you have any reason to believe differently?

[kimamey]

7 hours ago, stevenl said:

Smutty, and then start complaining about a non native speaker using less when it should be fewer. Right 

 

Regarding vaccines, would depend on the country where they got vaccinated. I presumed the returning Thai would be returning from countries similar to the other travelers, do you have any reason to believe differently?

I have no idea if someone is a non native speaker. My wife isn't an English native speaker and always asks me to correct her. I'm in a similar situation with the Thai language although I'm nowhere near as good at Thai as she is in English.

I wondered about putting the emoji at the end as I was sure it was so obviously a joke but I put it there anyway. It seems even that wasn't enough so my apologies. 

 

Although some Thais will be returning from overseas I would imagine that most who have contracted covid are Thais travelling domestically or residents. The requirements for domestic arrivals were far less stringent than for international visitors although the rules have changed now. It seemed obvious to me that the original requirements would lead to more Thais bringing covid from the rest of Thailand than international visitors from the rest of the world given the stricter rules.

 

One thing to remember is that there will be more Thais than non Thais on Phuket so we really need to be looking at percentages as well as raw numbers.

[nkg]

13 hours ago, sallecc said:

What? Of all 15k Sandboxers, only 2 foreigners tested positive, and the rest 34 infected were all Thai, how come such big difference? I remember last year Thais didn't need a test abroad before a flight to Thailand, is that still the case?

 

Correct - those numbers are astonishing. Why are Thais 10-20 times more likely to test positive than foreigners, considering they are supposed to be following the same rules?

 

I'd be interested to know the reason why.

[nkg]

16 minutes ago, kimamey said:

Although some Thais will be returning from overseas I would imagine that most who have contracted covid are Thais travelling domestically or residents. The requirements for domestic arrivals were far less stringent than for international visitors although the rules have changed now. It seemed obvious to me that the original requirements would lead to more Thais bringing covid from the rest of Thailand than international visitors from the rest of the world given the stricter rules.

 

One thing to remember is that there will be more Thais than non Thais on Phuket so we really need to be looking at percentages as well as raw numbers.

 

Your reasoning seems valid. However, I thought that domestic arrivals didn't need to do any kind of quarantining? They just had to show a week-old test result or proof of vaccination, and then they could roam the island freely?

 

I didn't think that domestic arrivals counted as part of the "sandbox" experiment, since they didn't have to stay in SHA+ hotels or do further PCR tests.

 

 

[Espanol]

43 minutes ago, kimamey said:

Although some Thais will be returning from overseas I would imagine that most who have contracted covid are Thais travelling domestically or residents.

No.

 

They are all "sandboxers".

 

From 38 of them Covid-19 infected, 36 where Thai and only 2 of different nationality. 

 

Of course none of them were tourists, but Thai people returning home.

 

 

Edited August 4, 2021 by Espanol

[stevenl]

2 hours ago, kimamey said:

 

Although some Thais will be returning from overseas I would imagine that most who have contracted covid are Thais travelling domestically or residents. The requirements for domestic arrivals were far less stringent than for international visitors although the rules have changed now. It seemed obvious to me that the original requirements would lead to more Thais bringing covid from the rest of Thailand than international visitors from the rest of the world given the stricter rules.

The numbers were for sandboxers, so only international arrivals 

 

Just saw Espanol beet me to it.

Edited August 5, 2021 by stevenl

[kimamey]

11 hours ago, nkg said:

 

Your reasoning seems valid. However, I thought that domestic arrivals didn't need to do any kind of quarantining? They just had to show a week-old test result or proof of vaccination, and then they could roam the island freely?

 

I didn't think that domestic arrivals counted as part of the "sandbox" experiment, since they didn't have to stay in SHA+ hotels or do further PCR tests.

 

 

A fair point.

 

I think there are things you'd need to look at to work out why there is this difference in numbers.

 

What is the proportion of Thai to non Thai arrivals? If there are more Thais that would cause higher numbers but at a lower percentage.

 

Which countries have they come from and are they ones that have higher rates of infection?

 

Are Thais more likely to be using fake PCR test results?

 

Stevenl has suggested Thais greater social interaction with less precautions. That's less likely if these figures are from initial airport tests. If they cover all tests during the 14 day stay then that's very likely part of the reason given that although a lot of the Phuket population is vaccinated the rules for domestic travellers that were in place until recently are more lax so the virus has an easier entry point domestically.

 

One very interesting comparison might be between the numbers in Phuket and those in Bangkok where you have to isolate in your hotel room.  Again if the figures are from initial airport testing then it's a bit of a mystery. If the figures for Thais were lower than for non Thais then the reason might be easier to see.