Phuket Sandbox arrivals well short of TAT target

[webfact]

 

The Tourism Authority of Thailand has been obliged to admit that once again their targets for the return of foreign tourism have been way off.

 

The TAT reckoned that at least 100,000 would take part in the much vaunted Phuket Sandbox scheme.

 

But all its restrictions and paperwork has put off many and there might just not be an appetite for long distance travel.

 

The TAT have announced with 92 days gone over 3 months they have not achieved even half their prediction, reported Manager.

 

The total for foreign visitors so far has been 38,699.

 

116 of these tested positive for Covid-19 while in Phuket. 

 

 

The sandbox reported 716,898 room nights have been booked. Of that number 541,957 were from July to September with 141,787 nights booked this month and 31,863 for November to December. 

 

Manager said that the TAT were now looking to the high season for better numbers with more foreigners expected from now until the end of the year.

 

TAT chief Yutthasak Suphasorn has already said he expects A MILLION foreign tourists to come in the high season from now until March. 

 

This has already been widely ridiculed on ASEAN NOW and other forums as unachievable. 

 

Even with the TAT actively chasing more Russian tourists and Europeans "escaping the northern hemisphere winter", as the TAT hope.

 

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[smedly]

16 minutes ago, webfact said:

116 of these tested positive for Covid-19 while in Phuket. 

they caught covid from a local who went undetected because the only people being vigorously screened on Phuket were the foreign (so called) tourists who were then penalized with expensive quarantine, they got it all the wrong way round, the people being vigorously tested should have been the locals who were likely to infect foreign guests

 

many on here doomed it to failure before it even started listing all the reasons why and you still went ahead, it has been an epic failure and still is, now you propose to open up Hua Hin and Pattaya with the same failed format, this is just shocking stupidity.

 

Either open the country up or don't - if you cannot open to locals how on earth can you open to foreigners, and your anti alcohol CCSA dinosaurs along with anti drink Prayuth should all resign

[pagallim]

14 minutes ago, smedly said:

they caught covid from a local who went undetected because the only people being vigorously screened on Phuket were the foreign (so called) tourists who were then penalized with expensive quarantine, they got it all the wrong way round, the people being vigorously tested should have been the locals who were likely to infect foreign guests

Not strictly true.   The typical incubation period for testing positive for Covid 19 after being is exposed is 5 or 6 days, though can be up to 14 days, and they will have arrived with the disease already.   Very, very few of the 116 international arrivals will have actually caught the disease from locals.   Extensive testing amongst locals is being carried out daily, focusing on the clusters of known outbreaks.   Hence the reason Phuket's positive case numbers remain high pro rate to its population.

[smedly]

4 minutes ago, pagallim said:

Very, very few of the 116 international arrivals will have actually caught the disease from locals. 

sorry but that is utter rubbish

[WhiteBuffaloATM]

surely thats true ? fully western vaxxed sandboxxer tourists CAN catch it here and transmit it BUT

only with Highly reduced numbers / viral load / symptoms AND they wont have any serious symptoms ….or die. So there is little or nothing to fear here…..

[pagallim]

5 minutes ago, smedly said:

sorry but that is utter rubbish

Check out the figures, oh, and note the 702 arrivals yesterday.   You're obviously very upset at the Phuket Sandbox, I think more because of it being singled out for special treatment compared to the rest of Thailand.   You have a point, and I for one think it grossly unfair that so much vaccination effort has been direct to Phuket at the expense of those areas with greater positive case numbers.

 

However, Phuket remains the only complete Province (not a city or an island that's part of a greater province) where entrance both internationally and domestically can be controlled, and hence was in reality the only candidate for this experiment.

[smedly]

17 minutes ago, pagallim said:

You're obviously very upset at the Phuket Sandbox

welcome to my ignore list, I really have no time for foolish nonsense 

Edited October 2, 2021 by smedly

[beano2274]

what promises did the Government give the Airlines that are involved in the Sandbox? If you work it out it is around 420 passengers per day, how many flights per day? Lets just 5 international flights per day, is then around 84 passengers per flight, is this working out for the airlines, I don't think so, so what have the government promised the airlines, better parking at Swampy in the future, cheaper fees?

[brommers]

TAT is flailing around creating all kinds of incomprehensible slogans, idiotic strategies and ludicrous forecasts. The inmates have taken over the asylum and are having a field day. But sadly the tourism industry will continue to be totally decimated and bankruptcies will increase. 2021 will go down as a year of utter confusion and rank bad performance by all government agencies. TAT has no credibilty and no one in the tourism industry pays the skightest heed to their nonsensical ramblings.

[sammieuk1]

What started off as being a very good idea descended into a baht grabbing exercise mired in regulations addons and officialdom and then wonder why little success but it was never going to be anything different was it ???? 

[nobodysfriend]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

TAT chief Yutthasak Suphasorn has already said he expects A MILLION foreign tourists to come in the high season from now until March. 

 

This has already been widely ridiculed on ASEAN NOW and other forums as unachievable. 

Please Khun Yutthasak , give me some of the drugs you regularly take , makes one lose all contact to reality , does it ?  Could be good some times , but enough by now ! Please stop that BS .

If you do not stop , Khun Yutthasak , you will end up behind bars ... of a mental facility ...

[canopus1969]

Of those 38,699 how many are real tourists and how many are returning expats ?

[gamini]

1 hour ago, pagallim said:

Check out the figures, oh, and note the 702 arrivals yesterday.   You're obviously very upset at the Phuket Sandbox, I think more because of it being singled out for special treatment compared to the rest of Thailand.   You have a point, and I for one think it grossly unfair that so much vaccination effort has been direct to Phuket at the expense of those areas with greater positive case numbers.

 

However, Phuket remains the only complete Province (not a city or an island that's part of a greater province) where entrance both internationally and domestically can be controlled, and hence was in reality the only candidate for this experiment.

The TAT had to do something to justify its existance. 

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

The TAT have announced with 92 days gone over 3 months they have not achieved even half their prediction, reported Manager.

 

The total for foreign visitors so far has been 38,699.

If Phipat had any sense of responsibility he'd walk.

[beano2274]

21 minutes ago, canopus1969 said:

Of those 38,699 how many are real tourists and how many are returning expats ?

and returning Thais? Would be easy for the Government to know this, as each foreigner fills out an arrival form.

[pagallim]

35 minutes ago, gamini said:

The TAT had to do something to justify its existance. 

We all know that TAT is based on public relations and sales.   The really sad thing by grossly exagerating numbers is the false hope they engender amongst locals in the tourist industry, prompting them to potentially get further in debt to sustain themselves and their families in the belief that 'normality' is just around the corner.

[club]

2 hours ago, smedly said:

sorry but that is utter rubbish

Even if your right about that. That is only 0.30% out of 38,000 incoming tourist . So that's justification to Quarantine fully vaccinated tourist? Its money scams like this and the stupid sandbox where everything is closed and no alcohol  that will destroy the tourism industry in Thailand. 

[Cake Monster]

16 minutes ago, pagallim said:

We all know that TAT is based on public relations and sales.   The really sad thing by grossly exagerating numbers is the false hope they engender amongst locals in the tourist industry, prompting them to potentially get further in debt to sustain themselves and their families in the belief that 'normality' is just around the corner.

This is a really good post from you highlighting the plight of those people sucked into all the crud released by TAT.

It is one of the main reasons that TAT has lost so much credibility among the posters, and around the Globe at their various offices.

The Thai people do not need this constant stream of BS from TAT, giving false hope .

What they need is an Organisation that is true, honest and above board, and most of all open about the reality instead of painting over the facts on a daily basis.

And the facts are that the Phuket Sandbox is rubbish.

If it was a Race Horse it would be shot to put it out of its misery.

[Khun Yogi]

3 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

Please Khun Yutthasak , give me some of the drugs you regularly take , makes one lose all contact to reality , does it ?  Could be good some times , but enough by now ! Please stop that BS .

If you do not stop , Khun Yutthasak , you will end up behind bars ... of a mental facility ...

Yutthasak has been spreading fake news about this for months. Should be arrested for spreading fake news.

[DaveC]

4 hours ago, pagallim said:

We all know that TAT is based on public relations and sales.   The really sad thing by grossly exagerating numbers is the false hope they engender amongst locals in the tourist industry, prompting them to potentially get further in debt to sustain themselves and their families in the belief that 'normality' is just around the corner.

Do you always change your posts to fit the narrative?

[Kwaibill]

I really never thought this would work as "planned."

Far too many rules and uncertainties to make it worthwhile, at least for me.

I might have a different opinion if I were not already here with my wife. It might be worth the hassle in that case. I did skate through on the last day before everything tightened up. 

.

[pagallim]

20 minutes ago, DaveC said:

Do you always change your posts to fit the narrative?

Not quite sure what you mean, be specific.  I think if you read my posts in various threads, hopefully I'm consistent.   As a concept, the Phuket Sandbox was a reasonable idea, albeit totally unrealistic expected numbers from TAT (amongst others).  I think most who are commenting here for whatever reason believed that it was an attempt to get back to circa 2019 normality at a stroke.   The reality, a deviation from hotel quarantine in Bangkok and a few other locations, which gave local freedom of movement and at (what appears) substantially reduced cost.    Not without irony that those who chose to do ASQ in Bangkok are having to do the same testing as those in Phuket, but can't move outside their rooms for two weeks with limited choice of food, strictly no alcohol, and a change of bedding once a week.   

 

A fine line between giving reassurance of virus protection to the greater Thai population, and trying to sustain some form of economy for what is a small area, be it those who work in the airport, some of the hotels, and other ancillary facilites that have been used.

 

A poster ridiculed my comment that the Sandbox appeared to be attracting circa 400 people a day on international flights.   It's a small number, but for those who are doing it, the feedback that I've read on social media are glad to have done it.

 

It's a great pity that some of the local/district organisations haven't shown the same degree of hospitality and willingness to accommodate and welcome visitors, instead treating them almost as targets.

 

 

[pagallim]

43 minutes ago, DaveC said:

Do you always change your posts to fit the narrative?

If you live in Phuket, you'll be aware of the circumstances of my comment.   I see it daily, people scraping together enough for them and their families to survive the day, selling what they can in the hope that soon things will be better.

[MrJ2U]

16 hours ago, beano2274 said:

what promises did the Government give the Airlines that are involved in the Sandbox? If you work it out it is around 420 passengers per day, how many flights per day? Lets just 5 international flights per day, is then around 84 passengers per flight, is this working out for the airlines, I don't think so, so what have the government promised the airlines, better parking at Swampy in the future, cheaper fees?

Thailand's not going to offer anything.

 

It's a crapshoot for the airlines.

 

I think there realizing that there isn't much of an appetite for travel to Phuket.

 

Be interesting to know how many internal flights there are a day to Phuket, I'm sure less than 10.

 

[Uroller]

Oh what a surprise???????????? Just couldn’t find enough people to jump through ridiculous hoops to go for a holiday where everything is locked down and couldn’t even get a cold beer????

[head bender]

yesterdays news

[ncc1701d]

They need to talk with other countries that have 3 weeks quarantine on arrival back in their home country reduced.

[DonniePeverley]

1 ) Stop the endless testing of VACCINATED tourists. If you are vaccinated, then you can do a test on arrival. If negative then you can be free to enjoy your holiday. DO NOT hover a cloud over them that they will endure more tests. The fact locals struggle to get testing (when covid rates are high in Thailand) is even more a puzzle why tourists should be targetted. 

 

2) STOP the mandatory hospitalisation for vaccinated tourists who test positive. You may not be ill, and could isolate at home - but to drag you to a hospital is simply putting you in a prison to keep you away from society. You cannot come to Thailand under these circumstances for a holiday with a family. How can you bring children under this cloud?

 

Seems to me tourism is needed, but they cannot lock themselves out of the malaise that tourists are somehow the enemy and will bring covid with them. 

 

 

Edited October 3, 2021 by DonniePeverley