Phuket economy gets THB400 million boost from tourism sandbox programme

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)’s Phuket Office on Wednesday reported that since the launch of the sandbox program on July 1, the province has welcomed 9,358 foreign tourists.

“The top five countries with most tourists visiting Phuket in the past 20 days are United States, United Kingdom, Israel, Germany and France,” added the office.

Under the sandbox programme, tourists who have been inoculated against Covid-19 and test negative can fly into Phuket and move around freely in the province without having to quarantine. After spending 14 days in Phuket, if they still test negative, the tourists can travel to other parts of Thailand.

Meanwhile, staff from Honeymoon Tour Ltd, an operator of boat services in Phuket has said that tourists have been booking the company’s one-day trip almost every day at 1-2 trips per day since the start of the sandbox program. “Most of the tourists are visiting Koh Racha and Koh He,” he said.

“The number of tourists, although not as high as before the Covid-19 outbreak, is still a huge improvement compared to when foreign visitors were not allowed in.

“We hope that the sandbox programme will be a starting step to rehabilitating the province’s economy, which relies heavily on revenue from foreign tourists,” he added.