News Forum - No more sandbox: Phuket private sector calls for full re-opening by December 1

[Thaiger]

The vice-president of the Phuket Tourism Association says businesses on the island need it to fully re-open by December 1 if they are to survive. According to a Bangkok Post report, Nanthida Atiset says fully re-opening the island could generate over 210 billion baht in revenue, adding that the sandbox scheme is simply not enough. “Only over 20,000 tourists have come over the past 2 months since the Phuket Sandbox was launched. We can’t continue this way. Hotels are suffering losses. What we need is ‘Freedom Day’ on December 1.” Under the “Phuket Freedom Day” idea being proposed by local […]

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[Rebel]

Health is no longer an issue.  Only money as usual.  Thailand should look at the rest of the world instead of thinking  they are the navel to mother earth. Very few turist will arrive this year. Planes for holidays are made several months before traveling.  Most who will arrive are the typical winterbirds who silly enough thinks thinks nothing has changed here. They are in for a big surprise 

[DoUKnowWhoIAm]

21 minutes ago, Thaiger said:

‘Freedom Day’ on December 1.”

 What a stupid name to choose for a reopening. It's not gona happen anyway.

[gummy]

27 minutes ago, DoUKnowWhoIAm said:

 What a stupid name to choose for a reopening. It's not gona happen anyway.

Fiefdom Opening day would be more apt I think

[Griff1315]

26 minutes ago, DoUKnowWhoIAm said:

 What a stupid name to choose for a reopening. It's not gona happen anyway.

I agree but don't be surprised when it happens. They have managed the sh##box so well keeping the numbers below 90 a week and attracting so many genuine well satisfied tourists.

Surely you see they deserve a chance to make things much worse sorry I ment better. After all it's the small businesses, the street food venders the tuk tuk drivers, that's who they are thinking about.  

[TheDirtyDurian]

YES PLEASE!!!

[Mike]

I remember when they predicted 1.2 million tourist from July to December 2021.  Well, after 2 months, they’ve had 28,000 tourist — and I suspect a large portion of those were people who were returning to Thailand and using the Sandbox to return home in another province.

Extrapolate that 28,000 out to a 6 month total of… 84,000….  if they are lucky.  That is nowhere near enough to sustain a tourism economy.

[HolyCowCm]

Well now time to ruin CM, HH and CB without mass vaccinations and without the vaccine of the people's choice..

[Rob2010]

Until they offer freedom to those pesky, dirty, irritatiing little bleeders with money to spend ( i.e. tourists, customers) they will continue p£ssing in the wind.

It would not surprise me to see Thailand fully re-open, certainly from a dirty farang as opposed to money-grabbing, xenophobeic Thai authorities perspective, only in low season 2022 - 1st July perhaps, with yet more crass Smiley Happy People promotions straight out of Xi's CCP Customer Relations Manual.

[BIGGLES]

Thailand has many problems to deal with right now, not least,  is one of trust and confidence.

Even if Thailand were to open up completely restriction free, visa on arrival etc, etc, etc, I don't see people willing to take the risk in anything like the numbers they predict.

The trust is lost!

They will have to work very hard to rebuild it. The western traveller by and large is not easily duped, and is capable of doing their due dilligence.

Yes, there will always be a spotty faced youth who believes that they are invincible, but they are the minority of travellers.

There will be no quick fix here, they will be lucky if, and I emphasise if, they are in a better place this time next year.

I believe it will be nearer to a 3 to 5 year time frame.

[Soidog]

1 hour ago, Rob2010 said:

Until they offer freedom to those pesky, dirty, irritatiing little bleeders with money to spend ( i.e. tourists, customers) they will continue p£ssing in the wind.

It would not surprise me to see Thailand fully re-open, certainly from a dirty farang as opposed to money-grabbing, xenophobeic Thai authorities perspective, only in low season 2022 - 1st July perhaps, with yet more crass Smiley Happy People promotions straight out of Xi's CCP Customer Relations Manual.

I’d put a few baht on that date of July 2022. As you indicate, they will claim all kinds of success and quote amounts of money they have made, but even the Thais have to live in the real world when it comes to numbers. 28,000 for the sandbox in two months is pitiful. I don’t blame them at all for trying, as I assume they thought that unless you try then you won’t know. The fact the vast majority of foreigners who know Thailand knew it wouldn’t work doesn’t seem to bother them. The fact they made up the rules, or “Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) as they amusingly like to call them without a single question being asked of their target market speaks volumes. My understanding is that Phuket would normally expect an average of around 28,000 people per day. They have achieved only 28,000 in 62 days and many were returning Thais and expats.

I can handle people doing stupid things, but when there is no learning process from the failure, then they are either stupid people doomed to repeat failures. Or they are incredibly arrogant people who don’t even see it’s a failure and hence nothing to learn. In this instance, it’s possibly both.  

[BIGGLES]

1 hour ago, Soidog said:

I’d put a few baht on that date of July 2022. As you indicate, they will claim all kinds of success and quote amounts of money they have made, but even the Thais have to live in the real world when it comes to numbers. 28,000 for the sandbox in two months is pitiful. I don’t blame them at all for trying, as I assume they thought that unless you try then you won’t know. The fact the vast majority of foreigners who know Thailand knew it wouldn’t work doesn’t seem to bother them. The fact they made up the rules, or “Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) as they amusingly like to call them without a single question being asked of their target market speaks volumes. My understanding is that Phuket would normally expect an average of around 28,000 people per day. They have achieved only 28,000 in 62 days and many were returning Thais and expats.

I can handle people doing stupid things, but when there is no learning process from the failure, then they are either stupid people doomed to repeat failures. Or they are incredibly arrogant people who don’t even see it’s a failure and hence nothing to learn. In this instance, it’s possibly both.  

Very well put.

[MrStretch]

The Phuket Tourism Authority, like the TAT, doesn't give a rat's ass about the people themselves, they only care about the amount of money that can be taken off of visitors. They will happily ignore the real numbers of crimes, infections, rapes, murders or Covid deaths, while spinning their fantastical equations about how successful they have been with one or another of their brain-dead schemes.

Their "demand' for a open and free entry to the country could spell disaster for the population, but it doesn't matter to these tourism "authorities" , because that's not their focus.

They only care about one small segment of the population, that which gains its income from overseas travelers.

 

[BraveNewFahrenheit]

At this point I personally do not care if they open or not, but by December most at risk people who want a vaccine will have had one, those who are scared can stay home and isolate (forever if they wish). And those who want to risk it to travel to Thailand will do so, yes some may get sick and die, so what, lots of farangs die here every year from speed boat deaths to auto accidents and pla raa poisoning...you name it!

At a certain point you need to need to start living again, or many won't have anything to come back to once the "experts" have given the all clear. At the end of the day the people themselves will decide, and judging by the number of people I see in the malls the last few days they are over it and ready to resume whatever normal we may achieve.

[TheDirtyDurian]

Last year when Thailand was going for the zero Covid approach and they were the greatest country in the world, you could see why all the restrictions made sense from their point of view. 

But now Covid is well and truly out there in Thailand, they should just say we're open to all double vaccinated people with a PCR. Anything including 14 days, special hotels blah blah blah isn't going to cut it.

For the Euros they've got the Med, the Yanks have got Mexibbean. Plenty of places that are close, a lot less restrictions, and cheaper than Thailand. 

I'm sure the business owners get it, but the powers that be certainly don't as they still try to persist with all these conditions.

 

[vvdb.fr]

"According to Nanthida, a study carried out in the Netherlands showed that the interdermal method is just as effective as the normal intramuscular injection"

Thank you cite the study so that we can read it !

I saw a study on the flu vaccine in France not COVID 19

I hope the Phuket study will be robust and published for the WHO to pick up on.

 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33711425/

Edited September 6, 2021 by vvdb.fr

[Stonker]

14 hours ago, Thaiger said:

The island hopes to attract 3.5 million tourists between December and March, generating around 210 billion baht. 

So 28,000 in two months will become 3.5 million in four months. .....

.....

[JamesE]

6 hours ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

Mexibbean

I like it!

[Stonker]

6 hours ago, vvdb.fr said:

"According to Nanthida, a study carried out in the Netherlands showed that the interdermal method is just as effective as the normal intramuscular injection"

Thank you cite the study so that we can read it !

I saw a study on the flu vaccine in France not COVID 19

I hope the Phuket study will be robust and published for the WHO to pick up on.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33711425/

Two studies, one of ten people, one of thirty, aged 18-30, using two doses of Moderna (not boosters).

No connection with what's proposed here.

[EdwardV]

14 hours ago, Thaiger said:

need it to fully re-open by December 1 if they are to survive.

How can this be possible? We have been told time and again the Phuket scheme is a smashing success. So much so it’s going to be the blue print for the entire world. 

[Bubbleboy]

Phuket should be closing rather than opening for all on Dec 1st. With the rise in cases and Delta running wild, there is no reason to be opening up wide like this. I hope for the best, but this Covid will not end soon, nor well.

[TheDirtyDurian]

I read that the Hua Hin Recharge plan to test people when they arrive at Soyouwannaboomboom Airport, and then again when they arrive at the hotel in HH, presumably only a few hours later!!

What a joke! At the tourist's expense no doubt. Who on earth thought that one was a winner. ...

 

https://www.huahintoday.com/hua-hin-news/its-actually-happening-hua-hin-to-reopen-to-foreign-tourists-on-october-1/

[Jwd]

Instead of complete freedom, why not simply continue to require proof of double vaccinations and negative PCR tests less than 72 hours after boarding?

And instead of December 1, why not begin October 1 or November ?

A reasonable and safe compromise?

[PapayaBokBok]

1 hour ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

Soyouwannaboomboom Airport,

555  funny.. good old Swampy..

Freedom Day?  So does this mean they are admitting the Sandbox was a sort of "Prison" or denial of freedoms.....the excessive rules?  What exactly are they granting us "freedom" from????....

answer..."you no understand thai people"...adds question to growing list of questions about thais that they will never agree to reveal....when pushed for answer will begrudgingly admit is was a"misunderstanding"

[MelBurn]

No way we come to Thailand without Visa On Arrival. We travel and not going to apply for a formal entry visa ahead of time.