“We do not have any problems, and I guarantee that Phuket Sandbox will be open on July 1. I will go there too,” he told the press at Government House yesterday (June 28).
“Every person has to help together. If the prime minister makes an announcement, but people do not give their cooperation, nothing will work,” he said.
“If you do not like this and do not like that, what can we do? We need to find a suitable measure and step forward together,” PM Prayut said.
“I have consulted with doctors and medical staff who confirmed that if there are enough vaccinated people in the area, and the tourists are fully vaccinated with two doses, and the Phuket government can manage the re-opening well, then we can open the Sandbox project on other islands,” he continued.
“After that, we will finally move to mainland areas,” he added.
According to Post Today, the draft schedule of the prime minister’s visit, marked as issued on Saturday (June 26), shows that PM Prayut and his entourage will arrive at Phuket International Airport at 9:30am.
After his visit at the airport, PM Prayut will inspect Phuket Check Point in Tha Chatchai, the site of the only bridge onto the island, before inspecting the ’EOC Command Center’ at Phuket Provincial Police Station in Phuket Town.
At 11:30am, he will meet with Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew and other Phuket officials at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, where he will have lunch.
At 1:45pm, he will preside over what is described as the opening ceremony of “Hug Thai Hug Phuket” campaign, to be hosted by the Thai Chamber of Commerce at the Central Phuket shopping mall.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) to launch the ‘HUG THAIS’ project “to stimulate Thai and foreign tourists’ spending to revive the economy”, the Tourism Authority of Thailand announced Thursday last week (June 24) at an event to officially launch the campaign.
According to the TAT report of the launch, Tourism and SportsMinister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said, “The ‘HUG THAIS’ project is the latest public-private sector initiative of TAT, the Thai government, and partners like the TCC to reinvigorate Thailand’s tourism industry and the wider national economy. Such cooperation is vital as Thailand progresses towards once again enjoying its status as a preferred tourist destination.”
The TAT noted that the use of ‘hug’ in the ‘HUG THAIS’ project’s name and overall campaign “carries special significance, as this word in local northern Thai dialect means ‘love’. It was chosen to symbolize the campaign’s ‘Eat More’, ‘Travel More’ and ‘Shop More’ elements aimed at boosting public spending, in a warm and friendly manner.”
According to the TAT, the ‘HUG THAIS’ project is expected to help generate more than B100 billion for the Thai economy within the next six months.
Following the “HUG THAIS” Phuket launch, for the campaign with the Northern Thailand name, PM Prayut will visit Sirinath National Park on Phuket’s west coast “to inspect the readiness of the facilities and staff of the park”.
At 4:40pm, PM Prayut will arrive back at Phuket International Airport to welcome tourists arriving in Phuket on board a Singapore Airlines flight from Singapore.
At about 5:30pm, PM Prayut and his entourage will fly back to Bangkok.