Thailand to be first Southeast Asian destination to reopen without quarantine for vaccinated travelers

This is a news article by Southeast Asian Tourism Associate, Alizee Drizet.

- The first country to reopen its provinces in mid-2021.

On July 1, 2021, after vaccinating 70% of the province's population, Phuket was able to welcome back vaccinated international travelers under the "Phuket Sandbox," a program that allows tourists to land on the idyllic island and stay quarantine-free for 14 days in certified* accommodations, before being able to travel anywhere they want in the Kingdom of Siam.

Since then, the program has been successful and other Thai provinces (with vaccination rates above 70%) have been able to follow in Phuket's footsteps, such as: Ko Samui, Krabi and Phang Nga. It is now even possible to combine these programs by staying 7 days in Phuket, then 7 days in Krabi, Samui or Phang Nga.

- What is the way forward for Thailand?

According to a recent communication from the Thai government, on October 1, 2021, 5 other provinces should also reopen: Chiang Mai, Rachuap Khiri Khan (Hua Hin), Chon Buri (Pattaya), Phetchaburi, and Bangkok!

Finally, with the goal of reaching a vaccination rate of 70% by the end of 2021, the government announced that the country should reopen its borders completely without any quarantine for vaccinated travelers in January 2022!

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*Accommodations must be SHA+ certified to open their doors to international travelers, which means that at least 70% of their staff must be vaccinated.

“Phuket Sandbox” program serves as experiment for tourism industry

This blog was written by Trove Associate, Maeve.

Last week, Thailand launched the “Phuket Sandbox” program, allowing fully vaccinated travelers from 63 low to medium-risk countries to visit Phuket and travel freely within the island. Among other minor restrictions, the plan requires travelers to obtain a negative PCR test 72 hours before departure and to stay at a Sandbox Hotel (SHA+ certified with over 70 percent of staff vaccinated.) After these initial 14 days, visitors will also be allowed to travel freely throughout the rest of Thailand. The inauguration of this plan aligned with a surge in Covid cases to a record high for Thailand as a whole. So, while Phuket has managed to vaccinate a high percentage of their island (84 percent of the population have received their first vaccine dose and 67 percent have received both doses as of July 5th) and keep covid numbers low, the Sandbox program serves as somewhat of an experiment in the tourism industry. 

Although flights are currently limited, this is very exciting news for those who have been anxiously awaiting a trip to the beautiful beaches of Phuket. Not to mention, this is great news for the people of the island. Pre-pandemic, the tourism sector accounted for 95 percent of Phuket’s economy, but only 20 percent of Thailand’s as a whole. According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, in the first five days of the launch, the island saw 32 inbound flights and close to 1,900 tourists. In the month of July, it is expected to rise to 426 inbound flights to the island and over 11,800 travelers. By the end of September, Phuket will see around 100,000 tourists. 

Following the reboot of Phuket’s tourism industry, Thai authorities are now looking into the future to hopefully reopen the Surat Thai province by July 15th. This means that the popular tourist spot Samui Island will be accessible to travelers under similar, relatively lenient, circumstances. From September 1st onward, travelers can expect to see the cities of Krabi, Chiang Mai, and Pattaya start opening up - followed by the Thai capital of Bangkok opening on October 1st.

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