Thailand hopes to attract visitors to ‘Phuket Sandbox’

In the center of Phuket’s Patong Beach, once located a guesthouse with outdoor visitors, restaurants and bars are closed and blue running water is empty, with the exception of a few Thai readers.

Covid-19 has taken over Thailand’s largest tourist island, which has welcomed 10m tourists from 2019, on the move, and has turned a commercial fleet into a passenger ship.

But as of Thursday, the island is starting to receive foreign visitors for the first time in more than a year, led by “Phuket Sandbox”.

Visitors who will be fully vaccinated will be allowed to enter Phuket within two weeks, as long as they submit a Covid-19 test before and after two. They should also lower their tracking system and avoid going to Thailand for 14 days.

While the whole of Thailand is suffering vaccination is delayed, Phuket has been given the opportunity to be found in the jabs. Officials say they expect 70% of Phuket’s population of about 500,000 to be fully vaccinated by starting a sandbox program.

“This important message should be a safe haven and there will be no divisions,” said Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, President of the Phuket Tourism Association. “The aim is to try to create new approaches between disease reduction and economic recovery.”

The Sandbox system, if it will work, will serve as the starting point for the opening of other Thai islands and foreign tourist beaches, and the full opening of the empire, by October. Tourism activities makes up about one-fifth of Thailand ‘domestic yields.

The trial was overseen by tourism officials in Asian countries who sealed their borders to foreign tourists during the epidemic, from Bali from Indonesia to Phu Quoc of Vietnam.

“This is a very important time in Asia,” said Ho Kwon Ping, chief executive of Banyan Tree Group. “The idea of ​​opening up private borders is not uncommon in Europe,” he said, but it is not found in Asia, where barriers to travel are common.

Sandbox hugs in Thailand became very popular change of circumstances in its epidemic management. In the first year of the eruption, it sealed its borders for many visitors and tried to reduce the area’s disease to zero.

The system appears to be working in the second half of 2020 as a restaurant, nightclub and retail outlet He resumed his normal business, even for Thais and foreigners alike.

Since April, however, the virus has grown, just as the Prayuth Chan-ocha government has been falling increasing stress from business to reopening.

“I know the election is coming with some risks because if we open the country, there will be more diseases, no matter how good our goals,” the Thai Prime Minister said in a recent statement promising to reopen the country within 120 days.

Hospitality groups said Sandbox’s idea was a plan to address the risks of reopening while promoting local funding and adopting Covid-19 as a living thing. “If we don’t open it soon, forget about Covid – we’re starving,” said Frederic Varnier, head of Anantara Hotels in Phuket.

Officials believe Phuket is committed to the Sandbox because it can be reached by bridge, boat or plane. Emirates and other airlines in the Middle East are resuming flights with Thai Airways, an international airline now in power, is planning flights from five European cities.

“There is a need for people who want to travel,” said Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya, deputy director of Asia Pacific and Tourism Authority of Thailand. “Being an island, it’s easy to adjust, monitor and have explosives if they exist.”

However, the Eurasia Group, which investigates the risk, predicted that the plot “would not really affect”. He said the newcomers will be working this year but will arrive “just before the epidemics”.

Officials say only 100,000 visitors can travel to Phuket in the third quarter, with a slow arrival by the end of this year. For example, British tourists can go to Spain, Greece or other coastal areas without isolation.

The launch of the Sandbox coincides with the Thai rainy season, the longest period of Phuket. Public beer sale is prohibited under Thai Covid laws, meaning guests will be required to drink in their rooms.

Traders in Thailand described the ban as “difficult”, as well as valid documents for a certificate of entry to the Thai embassy.

“If they really want to see the numbers go up, they have to get rid of the CoE,” said William Heinecke, chief of Minor International, whose name is Anantara.

The outbreak has recently risen to 4,000-5,000 cases a day, sparking outrage in the Prayuth government which could start in public if the explosion reaches tourists in Phuket.

Accommodation owners have now already dashed their hopes.

“I would not expect much of [rainy] season, ”said Krystal Prakaikaew Na-Ranong, co-founder and owner of The Slate Hotel, Phuket. However, he adds: “We are well on our way to preparing for the fourth quarter and the big season.”