Lessons to be learned about Thailand's reopening - targets were not met in Phuket and Samui

[webfact]

Picture: Bangkok Business News

 

Thailand's business media rounded up what they said were lessons to be learned from Thailand's reopening to foreign tourism. 

 

But they had little to offer in what they might have done differently.

 

One thing they were sure about - the numbers predicted for the Phuket Sandbox  and Samui Plus Model did not materialize.

 

They said the ministry of tourism and sports and Tourism Authority of Thailand predicted 100,000 foreign visitors to the Phuket Sandbox in its first three months.

 

Figures from 26th September say only 37,000 have come - less than half the target Bangkok Business News pointed out.

 

They called it a fair start but the Samui Plus Model had also fallen short on numbers. 

 

It started on July 15th two weeks after Phuket with a different strategy based around sealed routes rather than sealed areas.

 

Still foreign visitors didn't bite with less than 900 tourists in about six weeks - well short of the 1,000 monthly prediction of the local tourist board.

 

Now Samui has put in to the CCSA to be called Samui Plus Sandbox with a change in the rules for tourists from October 1st.

 

So why did the pilots have such low numbers?

 

BBN placed this squarely at the door of the resurgence in the pandemic in Thailand from June that saw 20,000 cases a day.

 

Meanwhile Phuket and Samui were insisting on onerous and expensive testing and each place seemed to have it's own rules and quirks.

 

This added to tourism confusion.

 

The slow vaccine rollout was itemized as a main factor. 

 

This prompted US and then UK authorities to step up their travel advisories and quarantine penalties for visiting a place like Thailand. 

 

These factors led to the postponement of the Moto GP in Buriram (scheduled for next month) and the abandoning of tourism there.

 

Premier Prayuth Chan-ocha put the pressure on for a 120 day opening in mid June but this will only be partially achieved.

 

The slow state of vaccination under required 70% "herd immunity" levels means that the next phase of the reopening will be further delayed to November 1st in the capital Bangkok and other areas.

 

One place where this has been challenged is Hua Hin where local leaders pointed out that the vax target would be met by today (Wednesday) and they should push forward their opening to October 15th, that has now been agreed. 

 

Other problems encountered were the expense and availability of testing kits and the difficulties getting documentation like Certificate of Entry for tourists.

 

The media wanted to see the document gathering simplified so that tourists were encouraged rather than put off coming to Thailand. 

 

They said there was still time in the upcoming high season to get things right. 

 

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[ezzra]

They say that anyone who doesn't learn from their mistakes is dooms to repeat them over and over again...Anyone who's willing to learn from mistake is a good person as all of us learning, as we go through life, from mistakes we did, and i welcome the leaders of this country be in in politics or in business to heed the mistakes and oversights that were made and move forward what what they/we all learned...

[ThomasThBKK]

10 minutes ago, webfact said:

They said there was still time in the upcoming high season to get things right. 

How do they not even get the basics of tourism, jeeez...

 

People don't book last minute and fly to thailand, most people plan their holiday way in advance and have already booked elsewhere, there is no pent up demand for people going to Thailand - they just go to places that are easier to enter and have already booked their stays there most likely.

 

The time to have a plan was last year not 1 month before high season. 

[Scrotobike]

Bars

Alcohol

Entertainment venues

 

Oops - forgot most tourists like these!

[Cherrytreeview]

@Kadilo

Read, learn and digest.

900 arrived in Koh Samui.

100,000 expected in Phuket, 37,000 arrived.

Official.

Booked your ticket yet?

[FritsSikkink]

Curfew

No bars

No entertainment

No alcohol in restaurants

 

That will stop a lot of people to come for a holiday. How many of the 37000 foreigners where not tourists?

[Tropicalevo]

45 minutes ago, webfact said:

BBN placed this squarely at the door of the resurgence in the pandemic in Thailand from June that saw 20,000 cases a day.

Rubbish. Stop following the script and open your eyes.

COE

Cost of tests

Fear of quarantine

Cost of Hotels (Samui)

No entertainment

No drinking alcohol

Tourist areas are dead

Oh - nearly forgot. Thailand is on the red list in many countries and so 10 days - 14 days quarantine on returning home.

Edited September 29, 2021 by Tropicalevo

[ThailandRyan]

Life is like a box of Chocolates, you just never know which kind you'll get.  With the restrictions in place and hoops to jump through tourism is like a box of melted chocolates, just a big old mess.

[finnsk]

The focus is wrong.

The turists is generally well vaccinated and free of covid, they are not the problem.

The problem is the covid in Thailand and all the sick local people, an epedemi not under control.

Basicly sandbox is an good idea, but only if you are able to keep the local people in good health and free of covid.

And do not forget tourist want holidays with fun and freedom.

Edited September 29, 2021 by finnsk

[smedly]

All Thailand has to do is look at the Green list requirements in the UK - simple

 

If you want to invite people to your country then copy the UK and many others "GREEN" what is so hard about that, it was already defined for you across the world - Green are welcome take one test ....................enjoy your stay 

 

Either open or don't bother and if you can't even open to your own population then you obviously are NOT ready for Foreign Tourists 

[JonnyF]

What do you expect with headlines like this?

 

 

[Laughing Gravy]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

One thing they were sure about - the numbers predicted for the Phuket Sandbox  and Samui Plus Model did not materialize.

I have said this many times that most people evolve and learn from their mistakes. It would seem that this government do not, especially the TAT.

 

How about holding those accountable for the ridiculous numbers sprouted and those who are way down, are fired.  Having a media that questions and critiques stories and the magic claims that have been forced upon the public without any form of fact based evidence other than hopium.

 

Yes I know TIT, and I want to see it prosper. But with people running this show, it just shows that they have not gone forward at all and could even be considered that the country has moved backwards.

 

 

[The Hammer2021]

People did not come here  and will not come here because the prospect looks joyless and lacking in the free for all fun that Thailand used to be known for. It's over for Thailand..

[DrJack54]

7 minutes ago, The Hammer2021 said:

People did not come here  and will not come here because the prospect looks joyless and lacking in the free for all fun that Thailand used to be known for. It's over for Thailand..

Agree ....for quite some time.

I have been posting few pics of things in Bangkok that I would perhaps take visiting friends to.

Obvious example is JayJay market on a Sunday. It's now a ghost town. 

One that makes me sad is Ratchada Night Train Market. Live just nearby. 

An institution in Bangkok with it's stalls, food, and bars with live music. See stock pic below pre covid. It has been closed and now bulldozed. 

Why even talk about tourism.

 

 

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

One thing they were sure about - the numbers predicted for the Phuket Sandbox  and Samui Plus Model did not materialize.

Because the master of TAT Khun Phipat had to convince everyone that opening Phuket was the way to save struggling Thailands economy.

So he basically straight out lied about the numbers of tourists that would come, to give the impression that it was worth the risk.

 

[Pedrogaz]

Mein Gott. Some truth about TAT targets AND LACK OF SUCCESS. Where will this all end? Will the PM and evil toad start telling the truth? How about the BIB? Or hi-sos who are trained from north to lie and cheat.

[Scott Savage]

I really want to come back. But no one will until the quarantine is lifted. Am not prepared to loss 7 days of a three week holiday and pay over the odds for a hotel because I have to quarantine. 
This is why tourists are not coming back!

[ikke1959]

Before it started it was already doomed to death. To many rules, restrictions, costs and no freedom for enjoying a holiday. Curfew , no alcohol with your meal and above all Thailand on the red list by many countries. But cared? It should be open and now complaining???

[newnative]

Pretty simple lessons to be learned.  There will be no tourists until there is no quarantine anywhere and all those 3 letter hoops are canned--starting with COE and SHA.  

[Sydebolle]

Shoot those dirty farang - because of them the target was not met - how dare they misbehave like that? 

[chaihot]

11 hours ago, Scrotobike said:

Bars

Alcohol

Entertainment venues

 

Oops - forgot most tourists like these!

That acronym is BAE ... and who is going to travel if they aren't going to get any BAE.   LOL

[zzaa09]

Lessons learned.

Nothing.

And still struggling to comprehend most everything.

[3NUMBAS]

way way too optimistic

[gk10012001]

11 hours ago, ThomasThBKK said:

How do they not even get the basics of tourism, jeeez...

 

People don't book last minute and fly to thailand, most people plan their holiday way in advance and have already booked elsewhere, there is no pent up demand for people going to Thailand - they just go to places that are easier to enter and have already booked their stays there most likely.

 

The time to have a plan was last year not 1 month before high season. 

Actually, the reason I first went to Thailand in 2004 and subsequently 15 more times was because I could not plan my vacations in advance and going to Thailand did not require any advance booking, visas, etc.  I could just get on a plane and go.  As a contract engineer, often my gigs would end on no notice or short notice.  And I work all over the USA so often, I was in a state where I was not returning to so booking flights in advance were risky or impossbile at best.   Sometimes I would drive back to Florida, sometimes I was in California, so I would park my car someplace and fly out of LAX.  Sometimes I was in Seattle, etc.

[Pravda]

3 minutes ago, gk10012001 said:

Actually, the reason I first went to Thailand in 2004 and subsequently 15 more times was because I could not plan my vacations in advance and going to Thailand did not require any advance booking, visas, etc.  I could just get on a plane and go.  As a contract engineer, often my gigs would end on no notice or short notice.  And I work all over the USA so often, I was in a state where I was not returning to so booking flights in advance were risky or impossbile at best.   Sometimes I would drive back to Florida, sometimes I was in California, so I would park my car someplace and fly out of LAX.  Sometimes I was in Seattle, etc.

 

You could have just gone to Canada.

[gk10012001]

26 minutes ago, Pravda said:

 

You could have just gone to Canada.

Eh?  Nothing there like Thailand. Silly comment

[Albert Zweistein]

2 hours ago, gk10012001 said:

Eh?  Nothing there like Thailand. Silly comment

I think so too, glasnost !

[Soikhaonoiken]

Hmmmm, well no surprise there then, when you give travellers so many hoops to jump through.. 

[mbenson]

1. Refusal by Thai authorities to admit that while many people come for culture and shopping, perhaps a majority come for parties, food, and "fun." This results in believing people will come despite all the closures and arrests of foreigners.
2. Risks that accompany the COE and the possibility of losing money, or your entire annual holiday, because something falls through. This is accompanied by the red tape and ambiguities in the process, which are daunting and add an extra layer of hassle and toil to the process coming to relax.
3. General distaste at the idea of paying exorbitant prices for multiple PCR tests.
4. Resentment at being treated like disease vectors, similar to rats, ticks, and mosquitos. Really, being greeted at the airport by people in Hazmat suits? Accompanying this is the awareness that foreigners are treated like carriers while the disease is far more prevalent in the local population than it is with visitors.
5. Among some people will be the awareness that your entire holiday turns into incarceration if you fail one of the PCR tests. Not only that, but you lose your cheap hotel and are shuffled off to an expensive hospital or "special" ASQ hotel that is more expensive than your four-star accommodation but does not allow the air conditioning to be turned on.

 

[Niteowl45]

7 hours ago, gk10012001 said:

Actually, the reason I first went to Thailand in 2004 and subsequently 15 more times was because I could not plan my vacations in advance and going to Thailand did not require any advance booking, visas, etc.  I could just get on a plane and go.  As a contract engineer, often my gigs would end on no notice or short notice.  And I work all over the USA so often, I was in a state where I was not returning to so booking flights in advance were risky or impossbile at best.   Sometimes I would drive back to Florida, sometimes I was in California, so I would park my car someplace and fly out of LAX.  Sometimes I was in Seattle, etc.

You're right, but at the moment, considering their draconian (and ever-changing) requirements it is utterly impossible. Now it requires planning for sure, and yet they keep making sudden changes and making it impossible to actually plan anything.

 

Not to mention the constant lack of clarity about what exactly will be required from November first

 

It's all moot anyways... why would anybody go there now for tourism? Everything's closed, no freedom, expensive testing needed etc.

 

Right now only people with family or interests really want to go there. Tourists have many better options.