The airport will remain closed until at least April 30 following a formal request by Phuket Governor Phakaphong Tavipatana in the latest move to try to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Airports of Thailand (AoT), which operates Phuket airport, published the official notice of the closure on Monday afternoon (Mar 30). The closure will begin at 00:01am on April 10, the notice confirmed.
It further explained that the purpose of the formal notice was to inform the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) and other tourism-related offices so they could make preparations for the closure.
“If tourists do not leave by April 10, they will likely have to stay here until the closure is lifted,” Mr Thanee told The Phuket News.
However, Mr Thanee did confirm that emergency flights to have tourists airlifted home may be organised by the government at a later date.
“Flights such as these will be allowed during the closure, but permission must first be granted by the government,” he said.
“The only other flights allowed at the airport during the closure will be authorised flights for government and military officials, and flights transporting emergency medical patients,” he added.
Mr Thanee urged tourists to make travel arrangements as quickly as possible. “Many airlines are no longer operating flights to Phuket, and domestic flights are already being suspended,” he said.
No special preparations are being made at the airport ahead of the closure, as Mr Thanee expects only 600 to 1,000 tourists to depart the island by plane by April 10.
“There are nearly no tourists here anyway, and all our standard procedures are in place, so no special preparations are needed,” Mr Thanee said.
For those staying on the island, Mr Thannee urged people to stay indoors at their homes or accommodation as much as possible.
“The best thing to do is to just stay at your home or accommodation to protect yourself from contracting COVID-19,” he said.
The closure of the airport follows Phuket Governor Phakaphong last Sunday closing the bridges onto and off the island to all persons except those operating emergency vehicles and vessels, and vehicles delivering essential consumer goods and medical equipment and supplies, a move that caused panic among those wanting to get home – in Phuket or off-island – before the “lockdown”.
All boats expect those performing essential services or delivering essential goods were likewise banned from arriving in or departing Phuket in the same order.
The closing of the bridges came just one day after Governor Phakaphong ordered all beaches closed in the hope of preventing COVID-19 from spreading.
The order, following the decision of the Phuket Communicable Disease Committee, came after 8pm last Saturday night (Mar 28).
The order became effective immediately, and will remain in effect until at least April 10.
In a separate order, one of several issued last Saturday night, the committee also ordered Bangla Rd in Patong closed to all persons and traffic, except local residents, also effective immediately.
Patong Municipality was designated the authority to work with the Phuket Provincial Health Office to test for the virus in the Bangla area and to clean and sanitise any risk areas in the vicinity.
The move to close the beaches follows Governor Phakaphong earlier issuing an order that “kindly asked and sought the collaboration of local residents and tourists (both Thai and international) in the Province of Phuket to remain in their residence from 8:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m., with the EXCEPTION of urgent errand.”
The order also called for the Provincial Labour Office and DEPA to collaborate and use an app to help with disease control surveillance of workers from Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia who are unable to return home due to travel restrictions
It also repeated the warnings of overcharging for face masks, hand sanitiser and other essentials, and for spreading fake news.
All zoos and other places where all kinds of animal shows are shown were also ordered closed last Saturday. Any person who violates the order is to be punished under the Emergency Decree Act, the orders warned.
People organising any social activities or ceremonies, “such as traditional ceremonies, auspicious ceremonies, charity ceremonies, funerals, Songkran ceremonies or family activities as well as activities or ceremonies organised by the government or in accordance with the official requirements”, were urged to follow the government’s guidelines to ensure such activities were appropriate and in accordance with disease prevention measures as stipulated in Article 11 of the Emergency Decree Act.