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Quarantine-free: Phuket’s COVID travel experiment

The island has trialled quarantine-free travel for vaccinated visitors since July.

Phuket has welcomed vaccinated travellers back to island holiday destinations and tourism venues.

Despite recording over 6,500 deaths as a result of COVID-19 and over 769,000 cases of the virus, Phuket has trialled quarantine-free travel for vaccinated travellers from low- and medium-risk locations. The “Phuket sandbox plan” intended to bring tourists back to hard-hit accommodation and hospitality businesses.

“We know that there is a risk, but we have to accept the risk so Thai people can make a living,” Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said of the decision.

The scheme recognised the significance of tourism and hospitality in the broader Thai economy, aiming to the provide businesses with opportunities to recover COVID-related losses.

Soon after the quarantine-free travel trial began in Phuket on July 1, similar schemes were rolled out on Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Tao, with this dubbed the “Samui Plus scheme.” Early indications have been positive.

Supported by a vaccination rate of close to 70 percent, Phuket has welcomed guests back to holiday destinations, with average hotel occupancy rates rising from 5 percent when the scheme began to almost 20 percent at the end of July. 

While visitors from many country’s have been kept from travel by paperwork requirements and virus regulations in their own jurisdictions, Thailand tourism has seen a significant upswing since easing quarantine rules. 

Thailand is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases, with virus numbers rising in many cities and quarantine requirements still applicable for destinations outside of the sandbox-scheme participants.

Still, restrictions are easing. For those travelling from Phuket to “sealed-route” locations, only 7 days of quarantine in Phuket will be required from August 22. This is down from 14 days and will be part of the “Krabi even more amazing” program.  

According to the Bangkok Post, Charintip Tiyaphorn from the Tourism Council of Krabi is hopeful that Thailand travel bookings will pick up from October, aligning with traditional tourist seasons in the region.

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