In Phuket and Koh Samui, the Public Health Ministry is speeding up vaccinations in preparation for the expected return of international tourists in July.
The Phuket private sector requested 900,000 AstraZeneca doses on Monday, and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the proposal would likely be accepted because the government had secured five million doses for June and ten million more per month after that.
Mr Anutin insisted that there would be enough Covid-19 doses in the world and that if more doses could be obtained next month, Thailand would have over one million doses.
The new batch of 800,000 Sinovac vaccine doses has been allocated to at-risk provinces such as Samut Sakhon and other tourist towns, according to the minister, but Phuket will receive 100,000 doses and Koh Samui 50,000.
Mr Anutin added that one million doses would be distributed to the military, but he could not confirm the July 1 reopening date for international visitors.
The Minister stated that the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) had not yet finalized the Covid-19 steps for the Songkran festival.
Despite new clusters being discovered in Bangkok and Samut Prakan, Mr Anutin said the situation was still under control.
On Koh Samui, district chief Theerapong Chuaychu, who is also in charge of the district's disease control centre, said international visitors will be quarantined according to the Samui Sealed Route Model:
Tourists will be moved from the airport to hotels in a closed system once they arrive.
On the second or third day after arrival, they will be given a swab examination, with results anticipated in three hours, during which time tourists must remain in their quarantine hotel room.
Tourists would be able to fly in areas designated by the Samui district disease control centre if they test negative, he said.
Tourists will be given another swab test on their seventh day on the island, and if their results are negative, they will be able to change hotels and fly around Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, and Koh Tao.
Tourists will be able to fly to other provinces as usual after 14 days.
In theory, Samui has been accepted as the first place in the country to reopen to international tourists.
According to the Tourism Association of Koh Samui, visitors from Singapore will be able to fly to the island on July 1.
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