Phuket reopens: Parents must be vaccinated, children can come too

Good news for parents of international travellers… if you got vaccinated but opted out of vaccinating your (age 17 and under) children, you can still visit Phuket starting July 1, as reported yesterday in the Phuket Info Centre’s Facebook page. With a month to go before the much-publicised re-opening of Thailand to international travellers, without quarantine, starting with Phuket, the details are starting to emerge.

The infographic stipulated, as part of Phuket’s pilot sandbox guidelines, that those under 17 do not need to be vaccinated, but they do need to take the rapid antigen test at the airport (under 12, no test is required if they travel with their parents).

In addition to the rapid antigen test, and the vaccination for the parents, international tourists must also install the “Thailand Plus application”, show an itinerary, or “visiting plan”, for their time in Thailand, and have an RT-PCR test that shows a negative result within 72 hours of visiting the country. The tourists will have to re-take the test every 5 days while they are in the country.

After Day 5 in Phuket, travellers would be allowed to head offshore to some of the islands (Koh Phi Phi is in Krabi province, James Bond Island is in Phang Nga province, for example).

The notice said that if the tourists stay in the Land of Smiles for less than 7 days, they must fly out of Phuket. If the tourists wish to stay more than 7 days, they “may opt” to fly out of Bangkok. The notice also reminded would-be-tourists that every facility that is booked must be “accredited by the Tourism Authority of Thailand”.

The Thaiger reported earlier today that Phuket’s Covid-19 restrictions will continue “until further notice”. But there is a list of some restrictions easing from June 1 (in the article).

SOURCE: The Phuket News