Thailand will waive quarantine requirements for vaccinated foreign visitors arriving on the resort island of Phuket from July 1, the first key reopening for the tourism-reliant nation.

A panel chaired by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha on Friday approved the proposal by Phuket’s private sector and business groups to inoculate at least 70% of the island’s residents to prepare for the reopening for vaccinated tourists, according to Tourism Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn.

The approval means that Phuket will reopen three months earlier than the rest of the country, which is expected to welcome fully inoculated visitors only in October. Phuket residents will also be prioritized in the vaccine rollout, with more than 930,000 doses expected to be administered before the reopening, Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, president of the island’s tourist association said separately earlier this week.

“The reopening plan will depend largely on vaccine allocation,” said Yuthasak Supasorn, adding that the estimate of visitor numbers was at least 100,000 in the third quarter.

According to the plan, at least 466,587 of Phuket’s population will need to receive two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, meaning a total of 933,174 doses, with the first round beginning on April 15 and the second on May 15.

Foreign tourists coming to Phuket will need to show proof of vaccination, take a Covid-19 screening test at the airport, and activate the tracing application ThailandPlus.

Cowshed Cowboy wrote: ↑Fri Mar 26, 2021 6:22 pm All very well innoculating the residents, but what about all the migrant tourism workers that are more likely to come into direct contact with tourists and are currently residing back in the provinces due to the current closure of the tourism industry. I wonder how their vaccine rollout and reopening plan incorporates them ?