Sandbox: 6000 registered, No Covid-19 yet, new land restrictions

[Thaiger]

Now that the Phuket Sandbox has gotten off the ground, international travellers are trickling back in to enjoy the Thai tropical island. More than 6000 people have registered for the Phuket Sandbox so far, no arrivals have tested positive for Covid-19 yet, and officials are tightening up the land entry borders to the island. The Director-General of the Department of Information and Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokesperson announced on his Twitter account that 6,020 people have signed up for the Phuket Sandbox programme. At least 1,379 Certificates of Entry have been approved for the Sandbox and issued by July 1, and […]

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[Sambuka]

When these travelers have finished there two weeks in the  Pucket Sandbox

They could travel to Bangkok and mabe pick up the inflection  then travel on to Pattaya or any city or village spreading the disease is this true

Eddie.

[Guevara]

17 minutes ago, Sambuka said:

When these travelers have finished there two weeks in the  Pucket Sandbox

They could travel to Bangkok and mabe pick up the inflection  then travel on to Pattaya or any city or village spreading the disease is this true

Eddie.

I don't know if this is true, but it's my interpretation of hypothetically could happen. Once you have 'served your time'  in the Phuket sandbox, the world (or Thailand) is your oyster.

[HRPuckinfutz]

24 minutes ago, Sambuka said:

They could travel to Bangkok and mabe pick up the inflection  then travel on to Pattaya or any city or village spreading the disease is this true

What is more likely to happen is that travelers from Bangkok who have not been vaccinated will bring in COVID-19 to Phuket.  They need to apply the same stringent restrictions on domestic travelers that they do on the international travelers in order for the sandbox to be successful.

[HRPuckinfutz]

5 minutes ago, Guevara said:

I don't know if this is true, but it's my interpretation of hypothetically could happen.

It could happen as a low percentage of vaccinated people have tested positive for COVID-19 and gotten ill from it, mostly those who received the SINOVAC jabs, the most commonly used vaccine in Thailand.  None of the vaccines are 100% effective, and vaccinated people who are exposed to COVID-19 can be contagious for a short period of time while their immune systems defend against the virus.

[Luigi]

Were the ministries that arrived in Phuket also quarantined?

[HolyCowCm]

1 hour ago, HRPuckinfutz said:

What is more likely to happen is that travelers from Bangkok who have not been vaccinated will bring in COVID-19 to Phuket.  They need to apply the same stringent restrictions on domestic travelers that they do on the international travelers in order for the sandbox to be successful.

I think you have to prove you were vaccinated to go to Phuket. Problem will be if they have been infected with the Indian Delta variant and upon arrival test negative then it blooms into full infection

[HolyCowCm]

26 minutes ago, Luigi said:

Were the ministries that arrived in Phuket also quarantined?

Probably not, but would be more fitting if they were put behind bars.

[papachango]

> Deleted content: English language please <

Edited July 3, 2021 by KaptainRob
Not English language

[papachango]

Opening of the Phuket Sandbox
1 picture 1000 words
(picture by Wochenblitz)

[kmc]

what joy it must be to go on vacation and strap a muzzle to your face

[EdwardV]

I’m guessing just the fact the tourists are not testing positive will be considered the bar to be jumped to declare a success. If it means opening more places in October I’m all for that. However the fact the embassies can’t seem to process more than 300 applications per day needs to be fixed going forward. I don’t think the Phuket numbers will get to that mythical 1,500 per day projected, but in the big picture that doesn’t really matter. 

[satpete]

all arrivals has a negative pcr test,

if one get infected on travel,
new pcr test will not detect infections before 2 or 3 days later,
so test at airport is about not to trust foreigners tests

[Martin]

You can't help but fear for Thailand in the months ahead. It seems to be heading into dangerous waters. 

With covid spreading across the country, health services under great strain, large sections of society losing or having lost their livelihoods and discontent growing it really isn't looking good. 

As far as tourism is concerned Thailand's heavy dependence on it means it needs very large numbers of tourists - millions. There's no way they can get more than a few thousands as their embassies simply are not set up to process millions of COE's. You don't get the impression the authorities are about to relax the entry rules soon, if at all.  A sustainable tourism industry seems a very, very long way away.

One wonders if there's a plan B if this sandbox initiative doesn't work. It may have been better to forget about tourism for now and focus every effort on testing, vaccinating and supporting all those who live in Thailand, be they Thai citizens, migrant workers or expats.

[Soidog]

1 hour ago, satpete said:

all arrivals has a negative pcr test,

if one get infected on travel,
new pcr test will not detect infections before 2 or 3 days later,
so test at airport is about not to trust foreigners tests

That’s a fair point about the PCR on arrival. As you say, it takes 3 to 4 days following an exposure event for it to show as a positive. 
 

However, consider this scenario. You don’t know it, but you have been subjected to the virus in the taxi on the way to get your PCR test. The result of that test then is of course negative. You get your COE and head off on a 12 hour flight to Phuket some 3 days later. On arrival you have a PCR test and it shows positive. 
 

Hence with many things associated with this virus, it’s a probability game. A game of percentage chance. The Thai authorities will consider the PCR test of use even if it detects one infected person. I suspect that’s why the wish another test after a few days, in case you were infected on the flight over. The more you test, the more you find…

[Mr.Ed]

2 hours ago, EdwardV said:

I’m guessing just the fact the tourists are not testing positive will be considered the bar to be jumped to declare a success. If it means opening more places in October I’m all for that. However the fact the embassies can’t seem to process more than 300 applications per day needs to be fixed going forward. I don’t think the Phuket numbers will get to that mythical 1,500 per day projected, but in the big picture that doesn’t really matter. 

As for the 300 applications per day - I agree that the process will need to speed-up and readjusted for higher incoming applications. Also, they need to 'cut down' on the "cross checking" of paperwork for every step of the Sandbox.

Example > I am trying to get health insurance for my trip and the company selling the policy wants to know the SHA+ hotel that I have booked. My reply was = "Thats odd to ask that ?" "It should be the other way around, the hotel can ask for the insurance information, be why the insurance company needs the hotel details ?". You would think that a policy and my details for getting the policy is all they need for their paperwork . . . . 

As they use to say back in the 1990's "Give me a break"

Ed N. 

 

[JamesE]

2 hours ago, satpete said:

all arrivals has a negative pcr test,

if one get infected on travel,
new pcr test will not detect infections before 2 or 3 days later,
so test at airport is about not to trust foreigners tests

Adobe Acrobat + an old Negative PCR test + 5 minutes = a NEW negative PCR test. That's why test on arrival.

28 minutes ago, Mr.Ed said:

As for the 300 applications per day - I agree that the process will need to speed-up and readjusted for higher incoming applications. Also, they need to 'cut down' on the "cross checking" of paperwork for every step of the Sandbox.

Example > I am trying to get health insurance for my trip and the company selling the policy wants to know the SHA+ hotel that I have booked. My reply was = "Thats odd to ask that ?" "It should be the other way around, the hotel can ask for the insurance information, be why the insurance company needs the hotel details ?". You would think that a policy and my details for getting the policy is all they need for their paperwork . . . . 

As they use to say back in the 1990's "Give me a break"

Ed N. 

Anytime there is a requirement for insurance there is the potential for insurance fraud. If a particular hotel or destination starts coming up with an abnormally high number of guests going into hospitels or hospitals then the insurance company wants to know that so they can protect themselves. Remember, insurance isn't about protecting you. It's about taking your money and giving it to somebody who doesn't need it as much as you do.

[BIGGLES]

Lol!

They must have forgotten the covid 19 positive passenger who arrived on ThaiViejet, or was that passenger in transit?

Oh dear.

[Claymore]

8 hours ago, Martin said:

You can't help but fear for Thailand in the months ahead. It seems to be heading into dangerous waters. 

With covid spreading across the country, health services under great strain, large sections of society losing or having lost their livelihoods and discontent growing it really isn't looking good. 

As far as tourism is concerned Thailand's heavy dependence on it means it needs very large numbers of tourists - millions. There's no way they can get more than a few thousands as their embassies simply are not set up to process millions of COE's. You don't get the impression the authorities are about to relax the entry rules soon, if at all.  A sustainable tourism industry seems a very, very long way away.

One wonders if there's a plan B if this sandbox initiative doesn't work. It may have been better to forget about tourism for now and focus every effort on testing, vaccinating and supporting all those who live in Thailand, be they Thai citizens, migrant workers or expats.

I agree, the whole Country feels  like it’s going to implode, with hospitals overflowing, no proactive testing, major delays in vaccine roll outs, (reported) numbers  of new infections around 5000 Per day, and deaths around 50 Per day and no lockdown. Imagine the daily newinfection numbers if proactive testing was implemented 

[Soidog]

28 minutes ago, Claymore said:

I agree, the whole Country feels  like it’s going to implode, with hospitals overflowing, no proactive testing, major delays in vaccine roll outs, (reported) numbers  of new infections around 5000 Per day, and deaths around 50 Per day and no lockdown. Imagine the daily newinfection numbers if proactive testing was implemented 

It would be good to know how many tests per day are being carried out. If its 600,000 and only 6,000 are positive then that’s a low rate. On the other hand, what if it’s only 60,000 tests a day and they are finding 6,000 positive tests. I have no feel for how many tests a typical day consists of. Not sure if anyone has the numbers? 

[bushav8r]

I have read t hat some hospitals have stopped doing tests so they don't have to admit new patients. I have no idea  if it is true or not.  I do know that my friend in Thailand has spent an entire day on the phone trying to arrange Covid tests for her parents.  They have been exposed to confirmed Covid patients but still cant get tested.

[AussieBob]

9 hours ago, Martin said:

You can't help but fear for Thailand in the months ahead. It seems to be heading into dangerous waters. 

With covid spreading across the country, health services under great strain, large sections of society losing or having lost their livelihoods and discontent growing it really isn't looking good. 

As far as tourism is concerned Thailand's heavy dependence on it means it needs very large numbers of tourists - millions. There's no way they can get more than a few thousands as their embassies simply are not set up to process millions of COE's. You don't get the impression the authorities are about to relax the entry rules soon, if at all.  A sustainable tourism industry seems a very, very long way away.

One wonders if there's a plan B if this sandbox initiative doesn't work. It may have been better to forget about tourism for now and focus every effort on testing, vaccinating and supporting all those who live in Thailand, be they Thai citizens, migrant workers or expats.

One thing I think should be pointed out here, and that is that Thailand's overall economy is not that dependent on tourism. The Thailand economy is dominated by exports of manufactured products, especially associated with the motor vehicles industry. At the last count Thailand was 12th country in the world with net foreign reserves in April/May 2021 - 280+ Billion USD and it has only been dropping a little since March 2020.  Germany is 13th with 254B USD, UK is 14th with 209B USD. 

A very large part of the 'poorer economy' in Thailand, especially in Provinces like Phuket, are almost totally reliant on tourism, and the money that is sent 'home' from those who work in the tourism dominated Provinces.  The Phuket sandbox is purely for this poorer part of the Thailand economy, and hopefully it will succeed - a large number of Thai people need it to succeed. 

[Max]

Hopefully if you get covid here....

You extra useless health insurance will cover it!!

[JamesE]

1 hour ago, Soidog said:

It would be good to know how many tests per day are being carried out. If its 600,000 and only 6,000 are positive then that’s a low rate. On the other hand, what if it’s only 60,000 tests a day and they are finding 6,000 positive tests. I have no feel for how many tests a typical day consists of. Not sure if anyone has the numbers? 

Worldometer.com has some of the best data. For testing, though, it's cumulative so if you want dailies you have to spend some time on the site and do yourown arithmetic. Latest report shows: 8,129,670 total tests (a very low number), 116,179 tests/M but no updates in the past two days.

[Leo]

5 hours ago, Soidog said:

It would be good to know how many tests per day are being carried out. If its 600,000 and only 6,000 are positive then that’s a low rate. On the other hand, what if it’s only 60,000 tests a day and they are finding 6,000 positive tests. I have no feel for how many tests a typical day consists of. Not sure if anyone has the numbers? 

Good point. Thailand is testing only 50,000-60,000 a day for the last few weeks (it was even fewer than that before, about 30,000). Now, by comparison, Malaysia has been testing at 90,000-100,000 a day.

Bottom line, if Thailand was testing as they should have been, the infected cases would be multiples of what they show. That would not look good on the ....chart.