‘Phuket Sandbox’ welcomes 33,000+ arrivals during 1 July – 16 September

[wombat]

33k arrivals?
the patter of their little feet should be able to be heard in Pattaya....listening listening listening ....nope cant hear a thing.

[Caldera]

That isn't very impressive by any sane standard. There was some demand, mostly returnees but also regular tourists, so the start in July wasn't too bad. The arrival numbers in August and September, on the other hand, are abysmal. The lack of entertainment and the shutdown of domestic flights sure didn't help.

[joecoolfrog]

2 hours ago, newnative said:

     So, a tiny number of tourists, and even fewer if you deduct returnees.  Which leads me to believe all the more that Thailand just needs to once and for all settle on a firm date to reopen the whole country without quarantine to fully-vaccinated tourists.  Stick to that date and don't change it.  Maybe Oct. 1 or 15.   As with Phuket, few will likely come the first few months but that will give Thailand time to do more vaccinations.  The firm opening date will allow travelers to plan with more confidence their getaways for the winter season and into early 2022. 

From a tourist perspective , fully opened up means no restrictions in place.

So quarantine , covid insurance and the battery of tests need to go.

Domestic travel unrestricted , bars , restaurants and tourist sites/ attractions all fully open.

Personally I dont think there is the least chance of this happening until 60-70% of the Thai population is adequately vaccinated.

Perhaps early next year but I wouldn't bank on it , im hoping to get over around May.

[Jip99]

10 minutes ago, joecoolfrog said:

From a tourist perspective , fully opened up means no restrictions in place.

So quarantine , covid insurance and the battery of tests need to go.

Domestic travel unrestricted , bars , restaurants and tourist sites/ attractions all fully open.

Personally I dont think there is the least chance of this happening until 60-70% of the Thai population is adequately vaccinated.

Perhaps early next year but I wouldn't bank on it , im hoping to get over around May.

 

Agree with all that.

 

But, given the demographics of Thailand, they could probably start to fully open up a few locations before that. 

 

 

[PETERTHEEATER]

6 hours ago, radjag said:

The flight was quite full, maybe 40 or 50%.

Quite full?....????

[madmitch]

Still using room night to make the figures appear higher than they really are, I see. 

 

I note that room night numbers were nowhere to be found when arrival numbers were climbing due to the influx of Chinese even though western arrival numbers were down. I wonder why?

[madmen]

4 minutes ago, madmitch said:

Still using room night to make the figures appear higher than they really are, I see. 

 

I note that room night numbers were nowhere to be found when arrival numbers were climbing due to the influx of Chinese even though western arrival numbers were down. I wonder why?

Why would they play with the numbers and leave them so small? 

[superal]

7 hours ago, CMBob said:

Agree with Radjag's comments above.  I arrived at the Phuket "sandbox" last Saturday.

I too doubt that many true tourists are using the program.  I'm using it to return as an expat as were the few people I asked who were on my Singapore Air flight.  While quite the ordeal and expense, the sandbox program sure is better in my view than spending 14 days in a hotel room in Bangkok.

Exactly and what other country offers a similar deal ? Plus I stayed in a 4 star hotel with direct pool access from my bedroom , top class bedroom & bathroom , all for just over 9000 baht for 15 nights 

[abrahamzvi]

20 hours ago, fangless said:

I would love to know how many were true tourists and how many used the system to return to Thailand for longer term stays.

I do know of honest people who used the system to return to Thailand, their permanent residence. There was nothing wrong about it. They had the choice of flying to Bangkok and spend 14 days in hotel quarantine, or fly to Phuket, stay there 14 days wandering around and enjoying their time there and then returning home, wherever that is in Thailand. So, what's wrong with this, it’s a win-win solution.

[fangless]

3 minutes ago, abrahamzvi said:

I do know of honest people who used the system to return to Thailand, their permanent residence. There was nothing wrong about it. They had the choice of flying to Bangkok and spend 14 days in hotel quarantine, or fly to Phuket, stay there 14 days wandering around and enjoying their time there and then returning home, wherever that is in Thailand. So, what's wrong with this, it’s a win-win solution.

I never intimated that I thought there was anything wrong in people using this method of long term staying.  I object to TAT calling these people tourists!

[KhaoYai]

23 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The Phuket Sandbox’s visitors survey showed 80% of respondents satisfied with the local people’s hospitality and 85% were happy with the SHA Plus certified hotels. They also rated the top five most satisfaction on: SHA Plus airport shuttle, booking service for SHA Plus airport shuttle, booking service for SHA Plus hotels, the overall quality of service at Phuket International Airport, and the health screening upon arrival in Phuket.

A carefully selected response - were there any questions regarding whether the 'tourists' enjoyed their actual 'holiday'?

 

A person may have been with all the above points but disaappointed by the overall quality of their experience.  It would be good to read that they were very happy but from the reports I've read and heard, the place is dead. You can't even get a drink with your meal (officially).

[KhaoYai]

2 hours ago, abrahamzvi said:

I do know of honest people who used the system to return to Thailand, their permanent residence. There was nothing wrong about it.

I don't think anyone disputes that but the point of the Sandbox was/is to get the tourist industry going again.  I also planned to use the Sandbox to come back over until the UK put Thailand on its Red List but I wouldn't be spending much money in Phuket if I did - that would come when I returned home to Khao Yai.  Its likely that others would do the same.

[mjakob007]

On 9/17/2021 at 6:01 PM, snoop1130 said:

Phuket Sandbox programme has welcomed 33,059 international arrivals in the first two and a half months, from 1 July to 16 September, 2021.

slightly shy of the millions that were announced to arrive..

[Stargeezr]

Now that most expats have used the Phuket sandbox for their return to Thailand, it will be

interesting to see how many real tourists do show up from October until December, which is the

start of the normal High Tourist Season.  Some people in other countries see that the COVID numbers in their

countries are still high, with or without the vaccines, and will likely be wanting to escape the cold Winter, no matter

if there are still risks in the tropical countries.  This is maybe why Thailand and other tropical countries will

try to open up for the tourist dollar, and tourists.  Good Luck everyone, I hope you all get your 2 vaccine shots

soon.

Geezer

[geisha]

23 hours ago, radjag said:

I arrived via Singapore on SQ last Monday. The flight was quite full, maybe 40 or 50%. The document checking and Immigration process was very smooth. Commendable in fact.

 

The C19 swabbing facility at the terminal exit was very professional. Got my negative result at the hotel that evening and was then able to go out and about.

 

The airport transfer was very good. I am at the Resotel in Kamala. Modest, but newly decorated and very comfortable. Only THB800 per night. Excellent. 

 

Overall extremely happy with the Sandbox.

Hi, am very interested in taking Singapore airlines Paris phuket via Singapore , Is this ok as I heard only direct flights to Phuket ? Where did you fly from please  ? Thanks for any info.

[scunner]

They polled 171 people out of 33,059  arrivals, so to geta 95% CI and a 5% Margin of error on the data, you need a sample size of <googles> 371 - so these results are junk.

[Nurseynutcase]

23 hours ago, Espanol said:

Domestic tourism don't bring foreign money to Thailand. Only foreign tourists do it.

Or returning ex-pats like myself

[Espanol]

17 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

A carefully selected response - were there any questions regarding whether the 'tourists' enjoyed their actual 'holiday'?

I assume that they questioned tourists at the airport when arriving to Phuket. 

[Espanol]

5 hours ago, geisha said:

Hi, am very interested in taking Singapore airlines Paris phuket via Singapore , Is this ok as I heard only direct flights to Phuket ? Where did you fly from please  ? Thanks for any info.

No problem if first Thai airport is Phuket and you don't fly via any red labelled country. 

 

I mean you may not fly XXX-BKK-HKT.

 

I flew Málaga-Doha-Phuket. No problem.

 

 

 

Edited September 19, 2021 by Espanol

[kiwikeith]

On 9/17/2021 at 11:15 PM, Mavideol said:

who were they and from where or does it include the international "migrants" as well, the ones you blame d for bringing the virus

I see Israel is on the list, lot’s of vaccinated people from their country, are reinfected.

[Bkk Brian]

1 hour ago, kiwikeith said:

I see Israel is on the list, lot’s of vaccinated people from their country, are reinfected.

However deaths and hospitalizations are on a decline, the important stats once a nation is highly vaccinated. The hospitalizations and death figures never reached the previous peaks before vaccination last year.

[radjag]

On 9/19/2021 at 5:51 AM, geisha said:

Hi, am very interested in taking Singapore airlines Paris phuket via Singapore , Is this ok as I heard only direct flights to Phuket ? Where did you fly from please  ? Thanks for any info.

I did the "normal" ASQ last December at a small hotel in Pattaya, it was OK, balcony with a nice sea view, but obviously gets really boring the second week. The Phuket Sandbox is much, much better. The very nice hotel I'm using in Kamala is great and ridiculously cheap at THB800/night. The three mandatory C19 tests had to be pre-paid for THB8,000 - almost as much as the hotel, but still much cheaper than the cost of (less efficient) tests in USA.

 

I flew SQ from SFO to SIN (on an older A350 with very few passengers and VERY expensive), couple of hours in the almost eerily quiet Changi airport, then SQ to Phuket. As long as you have got all of the paperwork in order and have already loaded MorChana App in your phone the processing at Phuket Airport was remarkably efficient and well organised - no problem. I got the result of my C19 test (swabbed on exit of Airport at about noon) that same evening and was then free to go out and about in Phuket every day since. In the small town of Kamala there are several "restaurants" that are open. The excellent Lillo seafood place on the beach and the Aussie Pub being two notable examples.

 

Had to visit Patong the other day to get my second swab. The whole of Patong area looks like a ghost town with the majority of places along the "golden mile" shuttered and depressing. I would not choose to stay in that area before or now!

 

All of the golf courses are open for business, but generally very quiet. Some are offering very attractive rates, others must have a lot of rich members, or the management are just dumb, possibly both, and have not lowered rates to attract current visitors. Ho hum.

 

Most of the "tourist" attractions are shuttered.