The move is hoped to bring economic relief to tourism suffering areas off the island and give potential tourists more reason to come to Thailand via the Phuket Sandbox scheme.
“The Phuket Sandbox scheme to welcome vaccinated foreign tourists is continuing very well, and we want to have the ‘Phuket Sandbox 7+7’, under which tourists can stay in Phuket for seven days and stay in Phang Nga or Krabi for the other seven days,” V/Gov Vikrom explained via video conference with committee members of the Center for COVID Situation Administration (CCSA) in Bangkok.
“The project is to connect the attractions in the Andaman region together under the sealed route. However, officers of the national government and other relevant officials will discuss details for approval later,” Vice Governor Vikrom explained at the meeting.
“From the opening of Phuket Sandbox on July 1 until Aug 14, a total 20,727 arrivals have come to the island. Only 57 arrivals have tested positive during their stay in Phuket, and seven of them have been discharged from care,” he said.
“According to a report on Aug 15 [Sunday], 6,022 arrivals are in Phuket. Other arrivals have returned to their home countries or traveled to other provinces, such as Bangkok, Surat Thani, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chonburi and Phang Nga,” he said.
“From the latest provincial order issued by Phuket Governor on Saturday, the measure to refuse all arrivals from the mainland by land, sea, and air will remain in effect until Aug 31,” V/Gov Vikrom noted.
“However, Phuket Sandbox tourists who travel to other provinces and want to return to Phuket are one of the 16 groups of people exempted from the measure. The tourists must present the negative test result of COVID-19 conducted within 72 hours prior to arrival,” he said.
“They must also register their local travel details www.gophuget.com and present documents to prove that they are tourists under the Sandbox scheme to officers at the checkpoint,” he added.