Tourism authorities count on 600,000 vacationers from Phuket Sandbox

PHUKET: The Thai Tourism Authority (TAT) expects the reopening of the Phuket Tourism Sandbox planned for July 1st to attract more than 600,000 foreign and local tourists to Phuket and generate a cash flow of around 15 billion BRD in the next three months.

Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew said TAT predicted that around 129,000 foreign tourists will arrive and 500,000 Thais will visit Phuket between July and September, according to a report by state-run NNT news agency.

“As of July 1st, Phuket will waive quarantine requirements for foreign tourists who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 under the ‘Phuket Tourism Sandbox’ model. The main goal is to be able to revive the local economy while preventing the spread of the pandemic. The model is touted as a model for reopening the tourism industry, ”the report said.

“Governor Narong added that all parties are accelerating preparations to ensure the reopening goes smoothly as planned and stressed the need to maintain strict disease control measures so that the province is not re-locked,” the report said further.

Governor Narong also reiterated the main criteria for foreign tourists entering Phuket yesterday, according to a report from the Phuket Office of the Public Relations Department (PR Phuket).

According to the report from PR Phuket, Governor Narong joined Phuket Lieutenant Governors Pichet Panapong and Piyapong Choowong in the announcement.

The report highlighted nine criteria for welcoming foreign tourists that Governor Narong had previously announced on Friday, and have already been reported and have already been reported by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), which now appears to be the competent authority for announcing entry criteria for foreign tourists in English. (See the full list Here.)

GAPS IN CHECKING DOMESTIC TRAVEL

While officials focused on entry requirements for foreign tourists yesterday after July 1, it failed to explain how a student returned from Yala to Phuket, where he attended a school that was closed due to a COVID cluster outbreak.

With the TAT now expecting 500,000 domestic tourists to Phuket from July to September, controls on domestic travelers entering the province are becoming increasingly important

Issued under a provincial ordinance on June 1stIn order to revise the long-term domestic arrival requirements, all domestic travelers except children under 5 entering through a port of entry on Phuket must be fully vaccinated with a Royal Thai Government approved COVID-19 vaccine or have documents who prove this have tested negative for the virus via an RT-PCR or rapid antigen test no more than seven days before departure from the province in which the domestic traveler started his trip to Phuket

Those who have not recovered from COVID-19 more than 90 days prior to arrival are also allowed to enter Phuket.

If the above requirements cannot be met, travelers must quarantine themselves for a period of 14 days. If the disease control officer has issued an order to quarantine the property (home quarantine for Phuket residents or hotel quarantine for domestic visitors), the traveler will be held by officials from the sub-district center (EOC, sub-district, municipality, sub-district administrative organization) throughout the quarantine period, according to the Arrangement.

According to the student’s movement timeline released by Phuket Health Authorities on Friday, the student had returned from Yala on June 13 but then presented for no apparent reason at Thalang Hospital for a rapid antigen test the next day.

According to the schedule of Case 689, the 19-year-old student who lives with his family in Tambon Thepkrasattri, Phuket, received his first injection on May 22nd.

From May 23rd to May 26th he stayed at home in Tambon Thepkrasattri. On May 27th, he traveled to the Tahfisul Koran Margkas Yala School in Yala Province and stayed one night in Hat Yai on the way.

From May 28 to June 12, the student attended classes at Tahfisul Quran Margkas Yala School in Yala Province, the schedule said but noted that the school closed on June 10 after the students confirmed positive for COVID had been.

On June 13th, the student traveled back to Phuket. He was sitting next to the driver. There were also four fellow students in the van, three of whom got out of the van in Krabi and one of whom got out in Phang Nga.

The student lived in a house in Thepkrasattri organized by the student’s father. The accommodation was separate from the student’s family home, the timeline reported.

On June 14, the student went to Thalang Hospital for a rapid antigen test, but rapid tests were not available, so he returned home, the report said. The student did not give a reason why he wanted a test, added the timeline.

On the same day, the student began to feel uncomfortable, with headaches and pain, and learned that his friend, who was traveling in the same van as him but got off the van in Phang Nga, had now been confirmed as COVID positive in Phang Nga . The father came to stay with the student but stayed in a separate room, the timeline says.

The next day, June 15, the student went back to Thalang Hospital and informed medical staff that he had been in close contact with people who had been confirmed positive for COVID. He received a rapid antigen test and tested positive, so medical staff took a swab sample for an RT-PCR test.

On June 16, hospital staff confirmed the student was COVID positive, according to the timeline published three days later.

Noteworthy, also on Friday, Phuket health authorities issued a warning Requesting all persons who may have had contact with the student to present themselves at the nearest hospital for an examination.

The message was marked “Urgent !!”.

People have been advised to call 094-5855321 for more information.