Vice Governor Pichet confirmed the all-day, all-night reopening of the checkpoint at a meeting held at Provincial Hall yesterday (Sept 29) to clarify for officials the reopening conditions in effect for reopening the island to domestic visitors.
V/Gov Pichet repeated that all people will be allowed onto the island as long as they have been fully vaccinated and can prove testing negative for COVID-19 by RT-PCR test or antigen test kit (ATK) no more than seven days before arrival.
Also allowed back into Phuket are people who have recovered from COVID-19 within the previous six months.
People whose are registered on a house registration document (tabien baan) in Phuket may bring their own ATK that has been approved by the FDA and conduct the test at the checkpoint, V/Gov Pichet noted.
Officials will issue a document confirming the negative test result that can be used for seven days, he said.
“This will help reduce congestion at the checkpoint,” he added.
Children under 6 years old are exempt from the vaccination and test requirements, as are emergency medical staff and rescue workers, and patients travelling in ambulances, V/Gov Pichet noted.
Children from 6-18 years of age who are not eligible for vaccination must be tested for COVID-19 by RT-PCR or antigen test method up to seven days prior to arrival, V/Gov Pichet said.
The same rules apply to those arriving in Phuket by sea transport, he added.
All arrivals must download and install the ’Mor Chana’ app on their phones and have location sharing enabled at all times while on the island, V/Gov Pichet said.
All arrivals must also register their travel details through the gophuget.com web platform and be issued a QR code that they can show officials at the checkpoint on arrival, he said.
Phuket officials have also released a public notice online featuring all the main requirements in Thai both before and after Oct 1 to help people understand the changes, he noted.
The meeting was reminded that the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (PPAO, or OrBorJor) has approved a list of target groups for vaccination against COVID-19 by use of 5,060 doses of the Moderna vaccine provided by the Thai Red Cross Society.
So far there are approximately 3,000 registered applicants under the five target groups specified for receiving the Moderna shots, including people with disabilities, bedridden patients, and pregnant women who have not received the COVID-19 vaccine before.
Of those, 2,938 applicants have been approved.
“The PPAO has submitted the list to the Thai Red Cross Society for review. Once the Thai Red Cross Society has finished reviewing the list, the vaccinations will be allocated to Phuket Province to continue inoculation to those on the list,” V/Gov Pichet said.
“The Phuket Provincial Public Health Office [PPHO] has also asked for approval for the PPAO to purchase 12,000 ATK test kits to be used during the Phuket Vegetarian Festival and the Duen Sip festival [“festival of the tenth month”] Phuket as well,” he added.