"Phuket Sandbox"

With the success of the Phuket Sandbox pilot project, the Thai government is now aiming to turn the resort island into a world-class “medical plaza” with integrated healthcare services for tourists from around the world, Government Spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said on Friday.

In a bid to tackle a drop in tourist arrivals after the temporary suspension of the Test & Go scheme, the Tourism and Sports Ministry will this Friday propose that other islands be reopened under the sandbox scheme.

Tanee Sangrat, Director-General of the Department of Information and spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, shared the following important updates on entry into Thailand, due to the evolving situation of the Omicron variant.

Foreign visitors can still gain entry into Thailand under the Phuket Sandbox programme and by using AQ (alternate quarantine) services after suspension of the Thailand Pass, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Tuesday.

Three Thai nationals tested positive for the Omicron variant on Friday after returning home via the Phuket sandbox scheme from their annual “Umrah” pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

Air Astana’s first flight to Phuket from Almaty city in Kazakhstan landed on the island with 106 tourists arriving under the sandbox scheme.

The government’s tourism sandbox programme that has started since July in Phuket has attracted several foreign and domestic visitors to the province and help revives its tourism industry, which is the main source of income of Phuket, said government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana on Sunday.

Demand for labour in Phuket is expected to jump now that the province has eased travel restrictions to draw more tourists during the high season, the Labour Ministry said on Sunday.

Phuket’s local authorities and marine department have now announced sandbox visitors are no longer restricted to the use of public piers for their tour departures.

Thailand’s tourism sandbox schemes have attracted 38,699 foreign tourists as of September 30 – three months since the first scheme was launched on July 1 in Phuket, government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said on Saturday.

From tomorrow (October 1), foreign tourists in the “Phuket sandbox” will only have to spend one week on the island before they can travel to other provinces in Thailand. The sandbox period was reduced from 14 days in a bid to lure more tourists after a lukewarm response in the first three months.

Nearly three months ago, Thailand launched its pilot programme to reopen selected destinations to vaccinated foreign tourists without quarantine.