Phuket will be reopened to fully vaccinated international travellers from 1 July, 2021, but ‘final’ official details are under review by the Royal Thai Government.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has confirmed however that there will be no quarantine for foreign visitors under the Phuket “sandbox” scheme.
But significant hurdles remain: besides the number of documents that tourists have to prepare beforehand — vaccine certificates, Covid-19 certificates and health insurance — they must book hotels with SHA Plus certification (Thailand Safety and Health Administration) which has over 300 properties already enrolled in the programme.
TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn said the TAT will support Phuket’s efforts to restore its tourism industry and is stepping up plans to improve Phuket’s reputation, emphasizing safety during the period approaching high season.
He assured that, when the reopening takes place, tourists will be impressed with the measures put in place, from the airport to their hotels. That journey will involve three screenings, in addition to tracing measures and the mandatory use of phone tracking apps by the first rounds of foreign arrivals.
No sandbox for Thais and local residents
But a new regulation introduced this week has sparked another controversy as the CCSA has decided to make the “sandbox”…
