Phuket sandbox
- Thailand
Thailand News Update | Meeting today about Thailand Pass and local restriction updates
So we start Friday with a focus on this afternoon’s CCSA meeting. Apart from confirming the further postponement of the Test and Go program and a possible sunset date for existing Thailand passes, it looks likely that there will be some new restrictions coming down from the meeting.Here are some of the matters being discussed in the media following quotes…
- Phuket
Phuket governor vows to iron out issues with sandbox requirements
The governor of Phuket has pledged to sort out a number of issues with the island’s sandbox scheme as infection rates continue to rise. According to a Bangkok Post report, Narong Woosiew says the matters identified will lead to improvements, adding that he will soon introduce “Phuket Sandbox Version 2“. “Currently, the local economy is doing well due to the…
- Video
More restrictions in Thailand imminent from today | GMT
The health ministry of Thailand and government officials have proposed stricter restrictions for incoming tourists and people living in Thailand. Phuket is changing and tweaking the sandbox scheme to better fit and add ease to incoming travellers. Big meeting up ahead today where the CCSA will decide on a lot of topics that will have huge impact on Thai Tourism.…
- Thailand
Thailand News Today | Is the tourist high season over already?
In today’s news, Thailand’s public Health Ministry gives its proposed cut off date for travellers that were approved for the Thailand pass, although no official decision has been announced yet. And with the suspension of Test & Go are we bidding an early farewell to the high season? All this coming up in today’s program. You’re watching Thailand News Today,…
- Thailand
Thailand News update | Travellers rushing to get into Thailand & mass tourist cancellations
Cancellations are now starting to mount up for many tourism operators and hotels around the country as the extended suspension of the Test & Go program is starting to frame the situation for the remainder of what’s left for the high season.Pongsakorn Ketprapakorn, the president of the Tourism Council of Phangnga, told the Bangkok Post that around 60% of bookings…
- Phuket
Phuket governor says island will remain open for tourists, despite rise in infections
The governor of Phuket has reassured local businesses that the island remains open for tourists under its sandbox scheme. Narong Wunsiew says that despite a steep rise in Covid-19 case numbers, there are no plans for a lockdown. “As we aim to contain Covid-19 while boosting the economy, we have received pleas for us not to shut down the island…
- Thailand
Thailand News Today | No plans to resume the Test & Go scheme
The government currently has no plans to resume the Test & Go scheme. Thailand’s Health Minister says the re-opening of nightlife venues should be postponed given the number of businesses that failed to implement disease prevention measures. Phuket hotel operators have come up with a solution for asymptomatic guests who test positive for the Omicron variant but refuse to be…
- Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Suspension of Test & Go entry scheme will “definitely” continue, spokesperson says
Suspension of the Test & Go quarantine exemption scheme will “definitely” continue, a spokesperson said during today’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration press briefing. More details and a possible cutoff date for approved travellers will be discussed and finalised on Friday at the general CCSA meeting, which is usually chaired by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha. Registration closed for both the Test…
- Thailand
Thailand News update | Hotel isolation for asymptomatic guests & Re-opening bars
Thailand’s bars were being told that they would have to wait until after January 15 to reopen. But the business owners and staff’s patience is going to be tested again after the health minister is trying to postpone that date as well. The hotel industry in Phuket is preparing to offer a hotel isolation for asymptomatic guests in a major…
- Phuket
Phuket hotels to offer isolation rooms for asymptomatic guests who refuse hospital
Phuket hoteliers have come up with a solution for asymptomatic guests who test positive for the Omicron variant but refuse to be transferred to hospital. Kongsak Khoopongsakorn from the Thai Hotels Association says in order to keep Phuket’s re-opening going, tourists who test positive but have no symptoms should be offered isolation facilities at their hotel instead of having to…
- Thailand
UPDATE: Talk of Test & Go cutoff date, approved travellers can’t reschedule flights
UPDATE: At the conclusion of a Cabinet meeting this morning, a spokesperson for the Thai PM noted that Prayut Chan-o-cha supports extending the current suspension of the Test & Go program. The PM also indicated support for a January 10 sunset date for currently approved Thailand Pass applications – those approved before December 21 and for those applications made before…
- Thailand
Thailand News Update | Proposal to extend T&G postponement & New Chon Buri rules
Public health minister says… in the interests of health and safety, we have decided to delay the Test & Go scheme further. Proposal to go to CCSA. In Phuket, the local Public Health Office is urging tourism and business operators to strictly comply with all disease control measures, in particularly the regular use of rapid antigen test kits. The situation…
- Tourism
Government to discuss delaying resumption of Test & Go until end of January
Following an inevitable rise in cases of the Omicron variant in Thailand, the government will discuss postponing the resumption of the Test & Go entry scheme. Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul says that the scheme was originally suspended due to concern over mounting Omicron infections globally. However, imported Omicron cases have now been detected in people arriving through Test &…
- Phuket
92 Phuket Sandbox, Test & Go travellers positive for Covid, tests to determine variant
Phuket’s Public Health doctor, Kusak Kukieatsak, says the Covid-19 test results for 92 travellers who recently entered the country from overseas are being examined to determine if they are infected with the Omicron variant. The doctor added that he believes most of the results will come back positive for the mutated strain. The travellers tested positive for Covid-19 after entering…
- Tourism
Form must be completed before exiting plane in Phuket now
In case the Thailand Pass and entry process wasn’t complicated enough with enough forms for you, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand has added a public health form required for all international passengers to Phuket to fill out before being allowed to get off the plane. The new rule, a Notice to Pilots, was published in Thai only yesterday afternoon…
- Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Pattaya tourist leaders call for local Sandbox as hotel bookings drop
“The permit to arrive in Thailand is the least of the problems for many potential international tourists as airlines around the world have been cancelling services.” Whilst the southern island of Phuket appears to be a winner in the government’s recent, and selective, alterations to its Thailand Pass options, Thailand’s other main tourist hot spot outside Bangkok, Pattaya, has again…
- Thailand
Thailand News Today | Phuket hotels punished for Covid oversights
Oxford University releases a study on AstraZeneca versus the Omicron variant. Meanwhile, Thailand pushes for Thai cannabis to be registered with UNESCO, and will Bangkok go ahead with its New Year countdown events?
- Phuket
Phuket officials crack down on hotels that let tourists leave before Covid test results
Officials in Phuket are to get tough on SHA Plus hotels that allow foreign tourists to leave before they’ve received their Covid-19 test results. Deputy governor Phichet Panapong says many properties are openly breaking the rules and officials plan to make an example of 2 hotels known to have broken the law. According to an ASEAN NOW report, this has…
- Thailand
Thailand News Update | Omicron Update & Impacts on Thai tourism
Thailand has suspended its Test & Go program that allowed vaccinated travellers to enter the country with only one night of quarantine, Singapore is also putting their quarantine-free travel plans on hold for now. Phuket seems to have emerged as a slight winner in the mess, with the Phuket Sandbox remaining open. A 29 year old Israeli tourist who escaped…
- Phuket
Tourism officials say Test & Go suspension could have knock-on affect for Phuket
The head of the Phuket Tourist Association says the potential knock-on effect of the Test & Go suspension is not yet known. Bhummikitti Raktaengam says the number of foreign tourists arriving on the island via the sandbox scheme could be affected. According to a Bangkok Post report, he says it remains to be seen if overall visitor numbers to Thailand…
- Koh Samui
Koh Samui tourism officials, businesses call on government to open Sandbox registration
The Phuket Sandbox is now the only quarantine substitution programme open for registration, but those on the Gulf of Thailand island Koh Samui are calling on the government to allow the Samui Sandbox scheme to continue as usual. Since the government’s announcement yesterday on closing registration for the Test & Go quarantine exemption scheme and the Sandbox scheme, with the…
- Video
Thailand suspends ‘Test & Go’ program | GMT
GMT Ep.158 Thailand has suspended the Test and Go entry program for tourists into Thailand. Thailand has also suspended the sandbox program except ‘Phuket sandbox’. Bangkok vaccination center in Thailand will be on a 7 day break for the new year holidays and sex workers in Thailand are protesting against the government. All these topics and more coming up on…
