Phuket bars to stay closed for July 1 sandbox

Bars, pubs, and other “entertainment venues” throughout Phuket will remain closed when the province opens for its July 1 reopening, Patong Mayor Chalermsak Maneesri said today. Chalermsak says the entertainment venues will remain closed as a meeting with Phuket officials cited a covid cluster from such an establishment.

He further told Thai media today that the Phuket Governor and the TAT Governor agree on this consensus. His blunt assessment of the Covid situation in Patong is that:

“The economic situation in Patong is very bad right now.”

On the topic of the Phuket sandbox, he says that officials have knocked on people’s doors and “encouraged them to register and get vaccinated in order to complete vaccinations of 70% of the people on the island. I have gone to facilitate the vaccination at Jungceylon shopping mall every day”.

The mayor adds that officials will be sent to hotels and “other places” to see if the establishments in question have their staff vaccinated.

“To ensure that not only that they are kept safe, but also that tourists are kept safe.”

Besides checking the vaccinated status of hotel employees, the mayor promises to help Patong by repairing damaged infrastructure, improving the view of the beach by taking down signs and “cleaning up the beach”, and making a footpath from Seaview Patong Hotel to Tri Trang Beach, converting the area into a botanic garden.

On top of that, he says he will aid vendors and business operators get discounts on rent to keep their business alive.