Beginning July 1, foreign visitors to Phuket will be able to enjoy their stay without being subjected to quarantine restrictions. The infectious disease committee approved a plan today to allow foreign tourists to bypass quarantines if local Phuket residents are inoculated first, as part of plans to achieve herd immunity. The plan was supposed to be submitted to the Centre for Economic Situation Administration for approval this Friday, but it was approved earlier than expected.
According to Yuthasak Supasorn, the governor of Thailand's Tourism Authority, the new "Sandbox" scheme, which would allow visitors to skip quarantine, could only succeed if 70% of the local population was vaccinated before tourists were allowed in. Pichet Panapong, the Deputy Governor, claims that over 1 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine are ready to inoculate the local population.
“Phuket has gone 89 days without receiving any new Covid-19 cases... Foreign tourists are desperately needed to help the economy and tourism sector grow. Previously, the average monthly wage for a local was around 40,000 baht. In February, it was around 8,000 baht. This will fall to 1,964 baht in July unless something changes, which is below the poverty line.”
According to Pichet, a survey revealed that foreigners want to visit Phuket without having to go through quarantine. Foreign visitors who do not go through quarantine will be tracked using the Covid-19 tracing mobile app, according to him.
Showing a vaccine certificate, vaccine passport, or IATA travel pass, a PCR test at the airport, and activation of the ThailandPlus tracing application while in Phuket are some of the hurdles that travellers may have to jump through under the Sandbox plan.
Following in the footsteps of Phuket, Koh Samui is pushing for foreign visitors to be exempt from quarantine requirements. Because it has its own airport, the island is expected to be the first area in Surat Thani to test such quarantine-free tourist entry. Ratchaporn Poolsawadee, president of the Koh Samui Tourism Association, is optimistic that the island will join other global destinations in recapturing tourists.
“Koh Samui wants to take advantage of tourist demand because there are many destinations around the world that do not require quarantine.”
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