Phuket

Officials brainstorm ideas to revive Phuket tourism

Published

Tuesday, February 9, 2021 10:59

PHOTO: Syed Ahmad on Unsplash

Government officials and business representatives on the resort island of Phuket have been busy brainstorming various proposals to revive tourism, with many calling for quarantine requirements to be waived for vaccinated foreigners. The Bangkok Post reports that Bhummikitti Raktaengam from the Phuket Tourism Association says foreign tourists who can prove they’ve been vaccinated against Covid-19 should be allowed to enter without having to undergo mandatory quarantine. He adds that vaccinating 70% of Phuket’s population should also help the island achieve herd immunity.

Bhummikitti has also suggested launching a roadshow to promote Phuket in other parts of the country, including in Bangkok, in the north-eastern province of Udon Thani, and in southern provinces such as Songkhla, Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Udon Thani.

Meanwhile, Thanusak Phungdet from the Phuket Chamber of Commerce thinks local restaurants could entice visitors to the island by coming up with some tantalising new dishes, while Chernporn Karnjanasaya from the Federation of Phuket Industries says more halal food should be on offer, to lure Muslim tourists from the south of the country.

Thanusak has called for public transport fares to be kept reasonable and is also suggesting that the private sector and local administration help accommodation providers on the island to offer rooms and other services at the same price.

At the meeting, Deputy Phuket governor, Pichet Panapong, acknowledged all suggestions, saying the implementation of any would have to be done effectively, including the lifting of quarantine.

“Phuket has already allowed people from other provinces in without quarantine to keep the local economy afloat, except Samut Sakhon.”

SOURCE: Bangkok Post

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27 Comments

B J

Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 11:31 am

I hope not everything is going to be halal.
Here it is almost impossible to find cookies, biscuit, drinking water, or soft drink that is not halal.
It means, when my wife want to serve any of this to Buddha, it is all halal.

Praise Buddha, that He is not so intolerant like some others are

Reply
Joe

Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 12:09 pm

Before lowering the public transport fares maybe you should have some right?, most areas don’t have any public transportation or it’s a converted hot open air truck with a very low roof and uncomfortable bench. Is that all they can provide after 30 years of a booming economy with many billions of dollars earned every year?

Reply
- J West
  
  Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 12:40 pm
  
  I think Phuket would be a lot more attractive to locals for In-country tourism if they got rid of all the beach mafia influences. If it was a holiday destination without the obvious issues I think more families would come. Drunks falling out of bars and vomiting isn’t a good look. How about shuttle busses to and from the airport to get rid of mafia prices? The scum – drivers are gone now anyway….keep them out. Penang is a good example, free clean air con tourist busses. Clean it up and they will come. I love Phuket, I’d like to go back. I thought about going back recently only to find out about the travel subsidy scam by hotels and tourist operators. This attitude that corruption is part of the culture in the tourist business also has to stop. My 2 cents.
  
  Reply
  - Joe
    
    Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 12:47 pm
    
    Yes Penang is a good example, it has good public transportation and it makes such a difference when you can go around the island easily and cheaply.
    
    Reply
    - Joe
      
      Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 12:56 pm
      
      A lot of Singapore’s taxi drivers are well educated and are like guides, the government there knows that the first people tourists are likely to meet are taxi drivers and that that will be their first impression of Singapore. That’s something very different from the taxi mafia and bad public transportation in Phuket.
      
      Reply
Bobby B

Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 12:57 pm

Thai officials brainstorming, that’s either dangerous or entertaining. What will come out of this? I know, the first beach ? on planet Mars year 2030 ??

Reply
- Joe
  
  Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 1:12 pm
  
  New dishes at restaurants.
  
  Reply
Paul

Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 12:59 pm

Remove quarantine and all the quality visitors will come back to enjoy inflated priced Mafia transport to and from the airport; meanwhile I don’t hear many wildlife species complaining.

Reply
- Nipral
  
  Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 3:32 pm
  
  “Quality” visitors don’t need taxis. Either the have their own car & driver or they
  get transfers from their hotel.
  
  Reply
  - Karena
    
    Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 12:07 am
    
    We are quality tourists as we usually stay in a Bangkok Hotel for 3 or 4 months and the transport you talk about that the Hotel orders is usually A TAXI anyway !!
    
    Reply
Ynwaps

Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 1:30 pm

Muslim tourists from the south to make up for the lost $$$$ from Chinese tourists ??

Reply
- Bryan Morris
  
  Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 7:01 pm
  
  Let the bombings begin
  
  Reply
gigi

Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 3:11 pm

Of course, it is a unique opportunity for Thailand to renew itself, with the cleaning occurring due to Covid. The list would be long on what you should do to get the best out of it
But I think it’s impossible.

Reply
Rory Scott Dalziel

Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 3:12 pm

The charge for quarantine could be credited back to the tourist based on their spending could be receipts or bank withdrawal copies.15% would fair.

Reply
JJ

Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 3:14 pm

It would be good start to allow airlines to bring tourists to Phuket.
Government should make LAQS:s as cheap as possible with support.
LASQ:s should be more attractive. Phuket has LOT empty villas..

Reply
Dreamon

Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 3:15 pm

it’s a shitstorm, I see no brains here.

Reply
- Nipral
  
  Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 3:34 pm
  
  Right ! As long as you entrust military… !
  
  Reply
Issan John

Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 3:58 pm

Reading what Khun Bhumikitti actually said, he did NOT say that “…foreign tourists who can prove they’ve been vaccinated against Covid-19 should be allowed to enter without having to undergo mandatory quarantine. He adds that vaccinating 70% of Phuket’s population should also help the island achieve herd immunity.”

What he ACTUALLY said, very clearly, was that foreign tourists who can prove they’ve been vaccinated against Covid-19 should be allowed to enter without having to undergo mandatory quarantine SUBJECT TO vaccinating 70% of Phuket’s population which should also help the island achieve herd immunity.

Very, very different.

Reply
- EdwardV
  
  Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 7:46 pm
  
  A distinction without a difference. Since the tourist has to wait until Thailand is ready to open either way. They only care about whether or not there is a quarantine. After all there is no timeline mentioned and the 70% mark is talked about in the same paragraph. Most would assume they are linked as has been the case in prior articles.
  
  Reply
  - Issan John
    
    Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 12:00 am
    
    There’s a massive difference.
    
    What he said was that it was should be a mandatory condition – that unless it was met there should be no relaxation of quarantine.
    
    What was reported in the BP was that it would be nice if it happened.
    
    If you can’t see the difference maybe a three year old could explain it to you.
    
    Reply
    - EdwardV
      
      Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 3:07 am
      
      No doubt you would miss my point and twist what I wrote John. As for a three year old explanation, I think I just got it.
      
      Reply
      - Issan John
        
        Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 10:41 am
        
        There was no “point” to miss, Ed V.
- James R
  
  Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 2:42 am
  
  Issan John
  
  It does not matter what anyone says re plans to open up.
  
  Thailand including Phuket will not get to a 70% level for a year or two, in that period we in the West will have been vaccinated and by choice we will not want to go to Places like Thailand as due to your inefficient ways re vaccination there is a chance the version of the virus there will have mutated meaning we are not protected against it.
  
  So the only plan Thailand should make is to vaccinate its own people but as it does not have any vaccines and is not going to get any substantial amounts soon then forget all the silly tourists plans, you have no choice in any plan which will attract tourists.
  
  Reply
  - Issan John
    
    Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 12:25 pm
    
    I agree, James R, agree 100%, but “so what”?
    
    The only problem here is the recession, and that’s for others to address.
    
    While Thailand’s closed to tourists they’ll have to find somewhere else to go, but few will – either because of ongoing reticence to travel or because of the global recession.
    
    The numbers going elsewhere now make that pretty clear.
    
    When Thailand re-opens they’ll return, as the “culture, people and natural beauty of the country” will be unchanged, as will the infrastructure, and while some bars and restaurants will have closed others will replace them.
    
    This is all about the “old guard” justifying themselves.
    
    Tourism won’t need jump starting – that isn’t the issue, it’s a solution looking for a problem that doesn’t exist.
    
    Instead of trying to find ways to go back to “the old days” to justify themselves these people should be looking at how to improve things – infrastructure, transport, boat safety, life guards, guides, tourist information – they should make it an opportunity to improve, to move on, not a time to hibernate and move backwards.
    
    Reply
    - James R
      
      Friday, February 12, 2021 at 12:34 am
      
      Issan John
      
      Thailand does not have the money to do what you say, not immediately anyway.
      
      If people are not willing to travel to an unvaccinated country then there will be very few foreign tourists.
      
      Many people have lost someone to the virus in the West, they will not be willing to risk themselves or their families by going to countries which are not vaccinated due to the possibility of a virus mutation which they could catch even if they have been vaccinated.
      
      As we can see Thailand is far behind in the race for the vaccine, it will not be solved for at least a year or more.
      
      Reply
Jim kelly

Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 9:45 pm

YAWWWwwwwwwwnnnnnn! ZZZzzzzzzzzzz! wake me up in a few year’s time when these imbeciles stop believing these’s a Magic Lamp with a Genie in it!!

Reply
Social Observer

Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 9:17 am

How about making the bar girls and go-go dancers wear full bio-hazard suits. This will put the tourists at ease about getting infected. Hee hee hee….

Reply

Maya Taylor

A seasoned writer, with a degree in Creative Writing. Over ten years' experience in producing blog and magazine articles, news reports and website content.

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