Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

phuketrichard · Post by **phuketrichard** » Fri Jun 04, 2021 9:03 pm

well the government shot themselves in the foot again, 7 days on phuket sandbox is NOW 14!!! If u desire to leave Phuket an anywhere else in Country
of course can travel to phuket and stay just a few days an fly home

I guess its still an alternative to booking a ASQL hotel an mandatory room stay if you fly into Bangkok as your allowed to move around the island

A few key questions seem to be clarified in the announcement. This approval appears to state that transit via Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) WILL be permitted on your way to Phuket. This opens up more options for flights into Thailand. Also, travellers arriving in Phuket will need to stay a minimum of 2 weeks before travelling on to other parts of Thailand, doubling the original 7 days that had been expected.

Tourists will not be permitted to take excursions like Koh Phi Phi or Phang Nga Bay day trips. In fact, the only option to leave the island within those 14 days is if they are flying out of Phuket airport.

During your 14 days you can travel anywhere on the island of Phuket, the largest island in Thailand (about the same size as Singapore).

https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/tourism ... 1-approved

yong · Post by **yong** » Fri Jun 04, 2021 10:25 pm

Last resorts? Phuket and Bali chase dream of COVID-free tourism
Plans for ring-fenced 'sandboxes' and 'green zones' to revive economies
MASAYUKI YUDA and SHOTARO TANI, Nikkei staff writersJune 4, 2021 05:00 JST

BANGKOK/JAKARTA -- Clear skies, emerald blue seas and white sandy beaches. Phuket's allure is obvious, as millions of foreign tourists have discovered. But today, the future of this Thai island in the Andaman Sea and the lives of its people are being shaped by the unseen but deadly coronavirus.

Saranya Injan manages Chean Vanich pier located in a small cove on the east coast of Phuket. The tourist boats and ferries that once churned almost ceaselessly through here now lie moored and quietly rocked by the tide.

"Phuket is so desolate right now. It's like a ghost town," said the 51-year-old.

Thailand's best-known resort and others like it across Southeast Asia have been brought to their knees by border control measures to contain the COVID-19 virus, shutting out the foreign tourists who were once the lifeblood of the local economy. Without them, businesses are slowly dying.

But if all goes well, from next month some may again welcome thousands of tourists in unusual -- and, some say, risky -- initiatives that aim to ring-fence island resorts and keep them COVID-free.

From July 1, Thailand is set to conduct a "sandbox experiment," using Phuket as a testing ground to welcome vaccinated foreign visitors with no quarantine period.

Phuket has become a "ghost town," says the manager of a pier where tourist boats are now idle. © Getty Images

Meanwhile, the equally tourist-dependent Indonesian island of Bali -- where visitor numbers have also been decimated by border closures -- plans to designate three popular tourist areas as COVID-19 "green zones," which are able to reopen with strict hygiene protocols.

Coming at a time when the pandemic shows little sign of loosening its grip on the region -- indeed, cases are rising in many areas due to new flare-ups and variants -- some think the initiatives are a step too far. But the chance of making money again is strong.

"Some people are afraid of starving more than contracting the disease," said another Phuket pier operator.

On the face of it, Thailand's requirements to enter the "sandbox" are strict. Tourists must arrive on a direct flight from countries with low to medium infection risks. They must be fully vaccinated for at least 14 days before departure and show a negative test result within 72 hours of boarding their flights.

In return, they will be allowed to move freely in Phuket upon arrival. If a mandatory test on the fifth day of their stay is negative, they will be allowed a daytrip off the island.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand expects 129,000 foreign visitors in the first three months of the sandbox experiment, with long-haul markets the main target. If the experiment succeeds, vaccinated tourists in Phuket will be allowed to travel to places like Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya and Krabi from October and travel freely around Thailand from 2022.

Most businesses are supportive and are getting ready. "We have prepared ourselves since the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Suphajee Suthumpun, CEO of Dusit Thani Group. "Most Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket hotel staff have been vaccinated ... furthermore, we have also asked all of our employees and their families to register for vaccination, to build confidence among customers and staff."

In mid-May, Central Phuket mall, operated by retail giant Central Pattana, became the first mall in Thailand to reach "herd immunity" level by inoculating 85% of staff. The Airline Association of Thailand started vaccinating 15,970 employees working for the country's seven airlines. AAT President and Bangkok Air CEO Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth said having airline employees vaccinated not only builds their confidence but also enhances the image of Thai tourism.

Delivery of COVID-19 vaccines in Phuket: Thailand wants to vaccinate 70% of Phuket residents before July.

Tourism and related businesses used to account for 20% of the Thai economy in pre-COVID times. But for Phuket, the proportion was almost 50%. Tourism will play a key role in reviving Southeast Asia's second-largest economy, which shrank 6.1% in 2020.

The Thai tourism industry has high hopes for the experiment. "The Phuket Tourism Sandbox has received a lot of interest from our international tourism alliances, who are looking forward to their vacations in Thailand again," hospitality operator Minor International told Nikkei.

But in contrast to excitement within the government and tourism industry, locals are voicing concerns.

"Many residents in Phuket not involved in the tourism industry are worried about contracting the virus from foreign visitors," said a 60-year-old working in education. "All who benefit from the reopening say Phuket is ready. I am not confident that Phuket is ready to open to foreigners."

The government aims to inoculate 70% of Phuket residents before July. Deputy Gov. Pichet Panapong asked city chiefs and village heads to make door-to-door visits to encourage people to get shots. But with several clusters emerging nationwide, a third coronavirus wave may make it difficult and contentious for authorities to allocate enough vaccines to the island.

Some businesses on the island survived by serving domestic visitors while foreign tourists were away. They are still skeptical about whether they can rely on the return of foreign tourists.

"Infections may deter domestic visitors from coming to the island," said a local Thai restaurant owner.

But Minor International says: "The revenue derived from Thai tourists alone is not enough for the industry to survive. This is why it is vital that the country reopens to international tourists as soon as possible."

The Thai tourism industry has high hopes that the Phuket "sandbox" experiment will revive the visitor economy. © Reuters

In Bali -- 10 times bigger and more populous than Phuket -- many locals are also desperate for tourists to return.

A 90-minute drive from the island's Ngurah Rai International Airport lies Ubud, an area of deep forests and lush rice terraces that offers tourists a diversion from Bali's nightclubs. But visitors nowadays are few because of the countrywide ban on foreign tourists.

"Right now, Ubud is dead," said Kadek Merhajaya, manager at Hujan Locale, a restaurant there.

Indonesia is less dependent than Thailand on tourism, which contributed 5.7% to gross domestic product in 2019. But Bali is much more reliant on visitors and its economy has been decimated by the pandemic. Its GDP contraction of 9.3% in 2020 was the deepest among Indonesia's 34 provinces. Hotel occupancy rates have hovered around 10%.

Figures from February showed 657,000 workers, or 19% of the island's working-age population affected by the pandemic in some way, including being laid off. Officials have said that at the height of the pandemic, the province was losing 9.7 trillion rupiah ($680 million) each month.

But light may soon be at the end of the tunnel with two big drives to bring people to Bali.

The first is the "Work from Bali" program to send up to 8,000 Jakarta-based civil servants to the island. "This is part of the government's efforts to create demand so that hotels and restaurants in Bali can survive," Odo Manuhutu, deputy for tourism and creative economy at the minister's office, told reporters in late May.

Some workers at the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy have already begun working from Bali, said its minister Sandiaga Uno in early June. "But this is only a trigger and we hope other institutions including the private sector and education can participate so that the hotel occupancy rate can reach 30%."

Then comes foreign tourism. The intent is to designate Ubud and two other popular tourist areas -- Sanur and part of Badung, in the island's south -- as COVID-19 "green zones" able to reopen with stricter hygiene protocols. As part of the plans, the government aims to inoculate 2.8 million Bali residents aged 18 or older -- or over 60% of the island's population -- by the end of June.

As in Thailand, tourists will also likely face strict health requirements, including full vaccination before arrival and five-day self-quarantine at designated hotels, while an app to track each visitor is rumored close to being launched.

Government officials have stressed that any reopening is contingent upon coronavirus cases being suppressed -- something Bali seems close to achieving, with daily new cases on a downward trend after peaking in late January.

The province accounts for around 2.6% of cumulative confirmed cases, but now only accounts for 0.7% of active cases. Bali is also the most vaccinated province in Indonesia: 31% of the population has had at least one dose and almost 15% has had two doses.

Many residents and business owners support the green zone plans. "It makes sense to trial the green zones in Bali," said Christia Permata Dharmawan, director at Kebon Vintage Cars, a museum and entertainment venue in East Denpasar, "so that tourists are not afraid to come here, and that they feel we welcome them with open arms. It's important they can trust Bali."

Bangla Walking Street in Phuket in April: Businesses on the island want to bring back visitors. © Getty Images

But some experts remain skeptical. "There can be no such thing as a 'green zone' in the way it's being touted in Bali," said Dicky Budiman, global health security researcher at Griffith University in Australia. "The moment you open the door to a newcomer, the community is no longer safe because you will introduce a new variant. Bali's green zones are simply not feasible."

Gusti Ngurah Mahardika, a virus expert at Udayana University in Bali, said: "I think it's almost impossible to open only three areas to tourists as a green zone, as populations in these areas are dynamic. People are coming in and out all of the time." What the government should be considering, said Mahardika, "is making all of Bali a green zone ... so we can really open our borders safely. Bali is a small island, why can't they manage it?"

In both Bali and Phuket, businesses that have overcome previous crises -- such as the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and subsequent tsunami, or the 2002 Bali bombing -- hope next month can mark the start of their latest revival.

"We can make a comeback. Our past experiences showed us," said Saranya of Chean Vanich.

Boongyong Nuananong, a 57-year-old who runs a seafood restaurant at Rawai beach at the southern tip of Phuket, said the time was right for the island to move on.

"Even if infections persist, we have to adapt to live with it," he said. "If we are too afraid, we cannot make a living."

Additional reporting by Ian Lloyd Neubauer in Bali

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Busine ... 2&si=44594

phuketrichard · Post by **phuketrichard** » Sat Jun 05, 2021 8:14 am

Young
ur article has some wrong info

"On the face of it, Thailand's requirements to enter the "sandbox" are strict. Tourists must arrive on a direct flight from countries with low to medium infection risks. They must be fully vaccinated for at least 14 days before departure and show a negative test result within 72 hours of boarding their flights.

In return, they will be allowed to move freely in Phuket upon arrival. If a mandatory test on the fifth day of their stay is negative, they will be allowed a daytrip off the island.

They will allow transit flights thru BKK airport in Bangkok to Phuket, they also left out you need Certificate of Entry (COE) issued by Thai Embassy/Consulate and $100,000 in medical insurance

You must stay in a SHA+ accredited hotel in Phuket only (there are 419 hotels)

14 days, cant leave the island, 3 tests, not yet determined who or how much said tests will cost

all this is way to much for ur average tourist

Many residents in Phuket not involved in the tourism industry are worried about contracting the virus from foreign visitors," said a 60-year-old working in education. "All who benefit from the reopening say Phuket is ready. I am not confident that Phuket is ready to open to foreigners."

Most locals /expats are not worried about tourists that have had their shots but the huge numbers of returning local thai's ( and Burmese) coming for work that have NOT been vaccinated

i seriously doubt with thus new 14 day requirement they will see 25,000 "tourists" in 3 months.
Still for returning expats and even Thai's, 14 days on an island free, beats 14 days locked in a room in Bangkok

Cowshed Cowboy · Post by **Cowshed Cowboy** » Sat Jun 05, 2021 9:59 am

^ I'd estimate the foreign guest component of occupancy to be around 30 rooms per night per approved hotel based on TAT's expectation of 129,000 over the first 3 months, and unfortunately one of the few certainties we know is TAT's expectations are always hopelessly over-optimistic. I'd imagine some of the big operations have hundreds of rooms so are again faced with that really tough balancing between opening and running costs with almost certainly low revenue.

Be interesting to see how it goes.

CEOCambodiaNews · Post by **CEOCambodiaNews** » Sat Jun 05, 2021 4:52 pm

Phuket set for July reopening
5 June 2021

Officials at the meeting also approved the tourism reopening of Bangkok, Phetchaburi (Cha-am district), Prachuap Khiri Khan (Hua Hin district), Chiang Mai, Chon Buri (Pattaya) and Buri Ram from Oct 1, he said.

Mr Phiphat previously said the combined tourism income of these 10 provinces in 2019 stood at 1.5 trillion baht, and that was the reason why they were selected to join the reopening pilot programme, which is scheduled to run from Oct 1 until Dec 31.

"Under the sandbox programme, Phuket will also reopen to Thais who have already received two doses of vaccines," he said. "The TAT will sign an agreement with the Board of Trade of Thailand to fly vaccinated members of the board to Phuket to promote the reopening on July 1."

Foreign tourists who plan to visit Phuket on July 7 are from Israel, while visitors from the United States will fly to the resort island on July 9, Mr Phiphat said.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/21 ... -reopening

Dunderhead · Post by **Dunderhead** » Sun Jun 06, 2021 11:24 am

The Thai authorities are delusional if they think there are significant numbers willing to comply with their rules

newkidontheblock · Post by **newkidontheblock** » Sun Jun 06, 2021 8:38 pm

100,000 tourists of previously millions of tourists is less than 10%. These are the disposable income, accruing vacation days tourists. Lots of people haven’t gone on vacation for a long time, have big (unused) vacation funds, and lots of Paid Time Off. Plus the desire to go somewhere and forget about the misery of home.

If there was an integrated website - Book travel ticket, get hotel reservation, get insurance, visa, etc., all at the same time, it would greatly help out tourism.

The initial opening might not be such a bust. For a few months at least. Until the rest of Thailand, foreigners included, are fully vaccinated.

CEOCambodiaNews · Post by **CEOCambodiaNews** » Sun Jun 06, 2021 11:49 pm

Thailand: What Went Wrong ?

Hi-so clubbing, Covid explosion: Krystal clear
published : 6 Jun 2021 at 16:37
When the VVIP customers disembarked from their limousines at the Krystal Exclusive Club, young women in tiaras, angel wings and not much else sometimes greeted them.

The VVIP clientele were whisked to the VVIP rooms, with their padded walls and plush sofas. Thai government bigwigs partied at Krystal — one of its mottos is “the luxury entertainment of night light” — as did diplomats, army officers and business owners. For much of the pandemic, coronavirus restrictions did not stop the fun.

But this spring, as go-go dancers shimmied, Krystal and another neighbourhood nightclub, Emerald, turned into the epicentre of what is now Thailand’s biggest and deadliest coronavirus surge, according to health ministry officials. Scores of people linked to the clubs have tested positive, including an ambassador and a government minister. Police officers and women who worked at the clubs have been infected, too.

For all the mask-wearing rigour and lockdown obedience displayed by many Thais, the abandon of a privileged few catalysed Bangkok’s latest coronavirus outbreak, health officials said. The nightclub cluster also highlights the impunity of the rich in a country with one of the largest wealth gaps among major economies.

Thailand went for months without a confirmed case of local transmission, but the epidemic has now radiated from luxury nightclubs that cater to powerful and wealthy men to the warrens of slums that hug Bangkok’s highways and railroad tracks. In these cramped quarters, social distancing is impossible. Infections have also spread to prisons, construction camps and factories.

“The rich people party and the poor people suffer the consequences,” said Sittichat Angkhasittisiri, a neighbourhood chairman in the capital’s largest slum, Khlong Toey, where the coronavirus has infected hundreds of people.

After recording fewer than 5,000 cases total through November, Thailand racked up more than 5,800 cases on a single day in late May. The total number of infections is now about 175,000. Gone are the days when the World Health Organization praised Thailand for its coronavirus-fighting prowess.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... stal-clear

yong · Post by **yong** » Mon Jun 07, 2021 8:17 am

2419 (community 2328, prison 91)
Dead 33, big increase from yesterday’s 23

atst · Post by **atst** » Mon Jun 07, 2021 9:40 am

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 11:49 pm Thailand: What Went Wrong ?

Hi-so clubbing, Covid explosion: Krystal clear
published : 6 Jun 2021 at 16:37
When the VVIP customers disembarked from their limousines at the Krystal Exclusive Club, young women in tiaras, angel wings and not much else sometimes greeted them.

The VVIP clientele were whisked to the VVIP rooms, with their padded walls and plush sofas. Thai government bigwigs partied at Krystal — one of its mottos is “the luxury entertainment of night light” — as did diplomats, army officers and business owners. For much of the pandemic, coronavirus restrictions did not stop the fun.

But this spring, as go-go dancers shimmied, Krystal and another neighbourhood nightclub, Emerald, turned into the epicentre of what is now Thailand’s biggest and deadliest coronavirus surge, according to health ministry officials. Scores of people linked to the clubs have tested positive, including an ambassador and a government minister. Police officers and women who worked at the clubs have been infected, too.

For all the mask-wearing rigour and lockdown obedience displayed by many Thais, the abandon of a privileged few catalysed Bangkok’s latest coronavirus outbreak, health officials said. The nightclub cluster also highlights the impunity of the rich in a country with one of the largest wealth gaps among major economies.

Thailand went for months without a confirmed case of local transmission, but the epidemic has now radiated from luxury nightclubs that cater to powerful and wealthy men to the warrens of slums that hug Bangkok’s highways and railroad tracks. In these cramped quarters, social distancing is impossible. Infections have also spread to prisons, construction camps and factories.

“The rich people party and the poor people suffer the consequences,” said Sittichat Angkhasittisiri, a neighbourhood chairman in the capital’s largest slum, Khlong Toey, where the coronavirus has infected hundreds of people.

After recording fewer than 5,000 cases total through November, Thailand racked up more than 5,800 cases on a single day in late May. The total number of infections is now about 175,000. Gone are the days when the World Health Organization praised Thailand for its coronavirus-fighting prowess.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... stal-clear

Same can be said about Cambodia's experience.

Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Who is online

Register/Login to CEO with your Social Media Account: