Over 14,000 foreign tourists avail of Phuket sandbox scheme during first month

[Thaiger]

The Tourism Authority of Thailand reports that Phuket welcomed over 14,000 foreign tourists, generating an estimated 829 million baht, during the first month of the island’s sandbox scheme. The Phuket sandbox was launched on July 1, allowing vaccinated foreign tourists from low-risk countries to visit the island without quarantine. Participants are required to stay in approved hotels and remain on the island for 14 days (unless taking an international flight off the island), during which time they take 3 Covid-19 PCR tests. Once their 14 days are up and they remain negative for Covid-19, they are free to travel elsewhere […]

The post Over 14,000 foreign tourists avail of Phuket sandbox scheme during first month appeared first on Thaiger News.

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[ozz1]

they have your money you can go home now 

[AussieBob]

TAT counts all people who enter Thailand as a Tourist, when the reality is that the vast majority of those who used the sandbox  were not 'real' tourists.  They have always done the same - they used to count all the people who entered the border form Laos, Myanmar and Malaysia as tourists - when the reality is that the vast majority are family members or workers. Some people come into Thailand several times a year for work and/or to visit family/friends - and each time they do, TAT counts them as a tourist. 

[AlexPTY]

looking at numbers, it's less than 60K per tourist. when i used to come to Thailand as a tourist for 2 weeks, i used to blow 150K. i don't think this would help to recover a s@#t, just imagine how much money spent on this program already. they would be happy to break even

[Poolie]

18 minutes ago, AussieBob said:

TAT counts all people who enter Thailand as a Tourist, when the reality is that the vast majority of those who used the sandbox  were not 'real' tourists.  They have always done the same - they used to count all the people who entered the border form Laos, Myanmar and Malaysia as tourists - when the reality is that the vast majority are family members or workers. Some people come into Thailand several times a year for work and/or to visit family/friends - and each time they do, TAT counts them as a tourist. 

Its people who flew in on international flights mainly. So I believe. During the month of July, this year. 

[Guevara]

55 minutes ago, AussieBob said:

TAT counts all people who enter Thailand as a Tourist, when the reality is that the vast majority of those who used the sandbox  were not 'real' tourists.  They have always done the same - they used to count all the people who entered the border form Laos, Myanmar and Malaysia as tourists - when the reality is that the vast majority are family members or workers. Some people come into Thailand several times a year for work and/or to visit family/friends - and each time they do, TAT counts them as a tourist. 

But it does help the bean counters when they massage the figures.

[BIGGLES]

It's the 10th of August!

We knew the figures for July 14,055. They have managed to increase this to 14,077. That's 22 more.

We're 10 days into the new month, how many have come this month?

[Soidog]

1 hour ago, AussieBob said:

Some people come into Thailand several times a year for work and/or to visit family/friends - and each time they do, TAT counts them as a tourist.

Yes I’ve always thought the section of the TM6 arrival card which asks “Purpose of visit” is interesting. It’s a free format section which makes it virtually impossible to collect data from. Three Tick boxes with “Tourism, Business and Other” would allow the data to be collected. But as you say, they count all as tourists and so aren’t really bothered. I think that section is only used to allow immigration to catch the odd nutter who says “Business” and tries to enter with a Tourist visa. I’ve always thought every TM6 is counted as a tourist. 

[Fundok]

I have been to Thailand many times and planned to visit LOS in November. But neither is the 'sandbox'-pilot attractive, nor do I have any confidence in its reliability should the infection rate worsen. Obviously Thailand has massive problems to keep the further spreading of the virus at bay. Instead of trying to get the tourism up and running again they should address the most  pressing problem first: get the population vaccinated, control the sources where virus is either imported from abroad or spread from within domestically.

TAT should be happy that only a fraction of the predicted number of  foreign visitors came in July (and seemingly in August too). Not good for the reputation as a holiday destination when most of the attractions, restaurants etc are closed or have limited services due to the spreading of the virus.

[Guevara]

1 hour ago, Fundok said:

I have been to Thailand many times and planned to visit LOS in November. But neither is the 'sandbox'-pilot attractive, nor do I have any confidence in its reliability should the infection rate worsen. Obviously Thailand has massive problems to keep the further spreading of the virus at bay. Instead of trying to get the tourism up and running again they should address the most  pressing problem first: get the population vaccinated, control the sources where virus is either imported from abroad or spread from within domestically.

TAT should be happy that only a fraction of the predicted number of  foreign visitors came in July (and seemingly in August too). Not good for the reputation as a holiday destination when most of the attractions, restaurants etc are closed or have limited services due to the spreading of the virus.

Just put some blinkers on , ear plugs and pretend there is nothing wrong.

[JamesE]

One thing absent in the (mostly negative) comments is that the 14,077 international arrivals (and their accompanying 829 million baht) in July is roughly 14,077 more than flew in during June. Had the Sandbox not proceeded, the shutdown in domestic travel would have left Phuket with... <checks notes>... exactly zero tourists.

I'm not defending the shoddy rollout or the absurd conditions of entry - if vaccines are good, then they're good - but when you used to eat steak and now your choice is between a can of Spam or nothing, you eat the frigging Spam.

I think what you'll see is that the Sandbox will continue regardless of Phuket's case load. Any revenue stream at all is better than none.

Edited August 10, 2021 by JamesE
clarification