Phuket sandbox

  • Phuket News

    New Covid-19 infections drop, still worrisome for Phuket Sandbox

    Following a concerning spike in Covid-19 cases this weekend, the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office reported that cases dropped today to 11, still worrisomely high. Of the 11 new infections, one was from a Phuket Sandbox international traveller, bringing the total number of Sandboxers infected to 22. The 11 new Covid-19 infections push Phuket past the 900 mark with a…

  • Thailand News

    Domestic flights added to Phuket/Samui, CAAT says be careful

    Yesterday, additional, domestic flights, were added going to and from Phuket. Bangkok Airways also confirmed it was bringing back its Phuket to Samui route. Nok Air resumed its Phuket to U-Tapao route. The announcement comes on the heels of the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand issuing a reminder to airlines/passengers to adhere to all conditions for safe travel. The CAAT…

  • Thailand video news

    Thailand News Today | Sandbox tweak, ‘filthy rich’ visa, Chon Buri restrictions | July 23

    A new rule for the “Phuket Sandbox” was passed allowing visitors under the reopening scheme to travel to specified islands after spending 7 days in Phuket. The governor of Chon Buri has added new restrictions and closures as Covid infections swell in the province and around Thailand. The CESA is pushing departments to settle on a proposed 17% personal income…

  • Phuket News

    18 infections today in Phuket creeps closer to 90/week threshold

    Today saw an infection spike in new local Covid-19 cases in Phuket, crossing the daily average number that threatens the future of the Sandbox scheme. Officials had laid out several factors that could cause the Sandbox to be reconsidered or even cancelled, chief among them was if weekly infections crossed over 90 people a week. Today saw 18 new local…

  • Phuket News

    Phuket company plans to pitch “Diving Sandbox” for liveaboard trips

    A local diving company is working on a project to offer liveaboard dive excursions to travellers entering Thailand through the “Phuket Sandbox” travel scheme. Under the plan in the works by Seafarer Divers, travellers would get picked up directly from the airport after arriving in Thailand and be transferred to a dive tour boat. While on board the boat, the…

  • Phuket News

    “Sandboxers” can travel to specified islands and beaches after 7 days in Phuket

    A new rule for the “Phuket Sandbox” was passed allowing visitors under the reopening scheme to travel to specified islands after spending 7 days in Phuket. The rule goes into effect on August 1. The islands include Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Tao, which are off the coast of Surat Thani in the Gulf of Thailand. The trio…

  • Thailand video news

    Good Morning Thailand | Vaccinologist AP Helen – Part 2, Bodies in BKK streets, alternative flights

    Second part of an interview with Associate Professor Helen Petousis Harris – Vaccinologist and Director of the Vaccine Data Link and Research Group at the University of Auckland. Nok Air come up with a way of getting around the Dark Red Zone flight issue, Chon Buri in virtual lockdown, getting on and off Phuket. Your comments and questions.

  • Covid-19 News

    Yet another update to rules for entering Phuket, new exceptions

    Perhaps feeling restless as it had been a day or two since any changes or additions to the constantly evolving rules to enter the Phuket Sandbox had been made, Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew issued a new provincial order granting special entry exceptions for certain people. The order would allow qualifying people passing through Phuket briefly to only present one of…

  • Thailand video news

    Good Morning Thailand | Interview with vaccinologist, Andaman Sandbox, Covid updates

    Click the link to watch… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYVl2S0zg24 Today Tim and Jay speak with Associate Professor Helen Petousis Harris – Vaccinologist and Director of the Vaccine Data Link and Research Group at the University of Auckland. The Andaman sandbox, Stephanie Update and the latest covid updates. Plus all your comments and questions. https://covid-19.in.th/en

  • Phuket News

    UPDATE: Details from woman who escaped Phuket Sandbox

    In an update to a story that broke yesterday, more details have emerged about the still-unnamed person who escaped from the Phuket Sandbox on Tuesday. Reports now state that it was an 18 year old woman who disappeared from the mandatory 14-day stay upon arrival in Phuket and was picked up Tuesday night in Chonburi after authorities were about to…

  • Phuket News

    New Phuket checkpoint rules see 392 people denied yesterday

    New restrictions for entering Phuket announced Sunday went into effect yesterday, causing a rash of nearly 400 people to be turned away at the entrance checkpoint. While previous rules allowed unvaccinated people meeting certain criteria to enter, now everyone who enters Phuket needs to be fully vaccinated in addition to testing negative for Covid-19. This new strict requirement applies to…

  • Thailand video news

    Thailand News Today | 39 YO dies after AZ vaccine, bus services curbed, Andaman Sandbox | July 21

    On August 1, the Tourism Authority of Thailand hopes to launch the “Andaman Sandbox”, allowing the southern provinces of Phang Nga and Krabi to re-open to foreign tourism. For the next 2 weeks all interprovincial bus services entering and leaving Phuket will be suspended. Muay Thai might soon be an Olympic sport. A 39 year old teacher died the day…

  • Phuket News

    Sandbox traveller escaped to Chon Buri, faces prosecution

    A person who came into Thailand under the Phuket Sandbox plan left the island before completing the 14-day stay and now faces prosecution. A Thai national stayed just 9 days in their SHA Plus hotel before disappearing without checking out, according to Phuket Provincial Public Health Office Chief Dr Kusak Kukiattikoon. The person’s gender was not revealed, but it was…

  • Thailand video news

    Good Morning Thailand | Food Panda controversy, the Billionaire space race, Covid updates

    Today Tim and Able will discuss the food panda controversy as well as the space race between the billionaires of the world. Would you pay quarter of a million dollars to fly into space? Latest Covid update. Plus all your comments and questions. To follow Able, please visit FB, IG or LinkedIn @EmceeAble & her coaching page: Find Your Voice…

  • Phuket News

    All domestic travellers entering Phuket need to be vaccinated against Covid-19

    All domestic travellers entering Phuket must be vaccinated against Covid-19 and also test negative for the virus. The new rules imposed by Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew go into effect today and will be in place until at least August 2. The island province reopened to foreign tourists who are vaccinated against the coronavirus on July 1, amid the most severe…

  • Thailand video news

    Good Morning Thailand | Sandbox report card, Flightus Interruptus, poll results

    (Sorry, internet cut out near the end of the program) Jay and Tim present the Sandbox and Samui Plus report card. Has the Sandbox been a success? Whilst the cases pile up in Thailand’s Dark Red Zones, Samui and Phuket battle on in a parallel Covid world. Jay also presents the poll results about the main issue that should concern…

  • Thailand video news

    Good Morning Thailand | Fortress Bangkok, Samui and Phuket Sandbox update

      Today Tim and Jay talk with Friso and Greg regarding the covid situation in Bangkok working spaces and high density communities. 80,000 people suffering in locked down worker camps, some in desperate situation. Samui and Phuket Sandbox update. Your questions and comments are always welcome. Link to Bangkok Community Help here… https://www.facebook.com/BkkCommunityHelp

  • Phuket News

    Phuket officials concerned over “Sandboxers” who test positive for Covid on arrival

    Out of the so-called “Sandboxers” who tested positive for Covid-19 since the Phuket reopening started on July 1, half of the infections were detected after the first test taken at the airport on arrival. The positive results conflict with the travellers’ negative results issued no more than 72 hours before departure, a requirement under the “Phuket Sandbox” model. Noticing a…

  • Thailand video news

    Thailand News Today | Samui plus, Phuket Sandbox, BKK protests, Pattaya aid | July 19

    Officials in Pattaya have pledged to offer each registered family in the city 2,000 baht in financial aid, as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. 915 international travellers arrived on 6 flights to Phuket yesterday. Police in Bangkok resorted to using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse anti-government protesters yesterday, after thousands of people rallied in the capital. The…

  • Thailand News

    Phuket adds and “clarifies” many restrictions, “no” booze

    Phuket officials announced yesterday that they’re going to kick restrictions up a notch. The Covid protection measures include a new order stipulating all domestic arrivals from anywhere in the country need to provide evidence that they have tested negative for Covid before they are allowed admittance into Phuket. The order came out after 9 pm last night. It will come…

  • Phuket News

    Phuket Sandbox looking ahead to Russian, UK travellers

    While the daily rollercoaster ride of the Phuket Sandbox tourist launch, with the jump from 7 to 14 days, the last-minute approval, the problems getting a Certificate of Entry, and the few cases of Covid-19 infections, it’s easy to overlook the forest for the trees. But if viewed not as a full reopening to the pre-Covid-19 heydays but rather as…

  • Phuket News

    11 new local Covid-19 infections today in Phuket

    While Covid-19 infections are still relatively low in the Phuket Sandbox, especially compared to the rest of Thailand, today’s 11 infections mark the highest number of local daily infections since the Sandbox began. The Phuket Provincial Public Health Office released the figures today the bring the total number of Covid-19 infections found in the last 7 days to 42. While…

  • Thailand video news

    Good Morning Thailand | The Thai time machine, Thai paperwork and red tape, Covid update

    Have you ever experienced Thai time? Thai time seems to tick by at a totally different pace. Some people find it exasperating, others recognise it as part of the Thai ‘sabia sabia’ culture. And then there’s Thai paperwork. When efficiency sometimes takes second place, there’s still mounds of paperwork to fill out where red tape becomes a national sport. Jay,…

  • Covid-19 News

    Bars can reopen in Rawai Phuket.. but not like we hoped

    The moment we have all been waiting for has finally arrived! After mounting pressure and a meeting today with Aroon Solos, the mayor of Rawai, Phuket, bars, pubs and entertainment venues will be allowed to reopen. Just without any of the things that bring customers. The mayor of Rawai met with the Muang District Chief and a select group of…

  • Phuket News

    Meeting reveals Thai vs foreigners in Phuket Sandbox, other stats

    Statistics and data regarding the Phuket Sandbox can be cloudy and conflicting, but at yesterday’s meeting of the Phuket Communicable Disease Committee, some rarely shared figures were discussed. One often questioned detail is how many people in the numbers reported for international traveller arrivals are truly tourists and how many are even foreigners at all. During the meeting, it was…

  • Thailand video news

    Thailand News Today | More travel restrictions, cocktail vaccines, gold price surges | July 15

    Those who aren’t vaccinated against Covid-19, and are travelling from a “dark red” or “red” province, won’t be allowed to enter Phuket. Meanwhile, 3 more visitors to Phuket have turned in positive Covid tests in the past 24 hours. The Chon Buri Governor has announced that 2 more factories and a construction worker camp will be closed after Covid clusters…

  • Tourism News

    With Covid-19, Tourism Ministry mulls new reopening strategy

    The Tourism and Sports Ministry is reevaluating the plans for reopening Thailand and its tourism hubs as Covid-19 infections are rising all over the country. While they admit that the surge in Covid-19 is a major health and safety issue, they insist on the necessity of reopening and restarting the tourism economy and get Bangkok reopened in particular. Minister of…

  • Thailand News

    Man tries to bluff his way through Phuket checkpoint, police unravel ruse

    Early yesterday morning, a man tried to bluff his way through a Phuket checkpoint by using his friend’s vaccination certificate to gain entry to the island and hopeful tourist paradigm. However, the bigger problem wasn’t that man tried to gain entry into Phuket. The bigger problem was that man already had gained entry into Phuket using this bluff. Multiple times. The…

  • Thailand video news

    Good Morning Thailand | What are your rights in Thailand? Sandbox and Samui Plus update

    Today Tim and Sumi talk with Benjamin Hart from Integrity Legal regarding your rights for ASQ and enforced quarantine. Sandbox and Samui Plus Update. Your questions answered. Covid latest and the main headlines from Thailand today.

  • Thailand News

    No foreign tourists to arrive tomorrow, the first day of “Samui Plus” reopening

    No tourists will arrive in Koh Samui tomorrow, the first day of the island’s reopening under the “Samui Plus” travel scheme, similar to the “Phuket Sandbox.” Only 4 foreign tourists are expected on Friday. Tourism officials say it will be a slow start and they expect that an influx of travellers to the trio of islands in the Gulf of…

  • Tourism News

    Officials argue most leaving Sandbox aren’t unhappy

    Nothing shows confidence more than repeatedly shouting “fake news.” But amid growing negative press regarding the Phuket Sandbox, officials find themselves continuously denying rumours that Sandbox arrivals are fleeing the island and going home unhappy. While many have left the Sandbox, more have arrived, and the government’s argument isn’t without merit as those who left the Sandbox have various reasons.…

  • Thailand video news

    Good Morning Thailand | Samui Reopens tomorrow, your responses to the vaccine survey

    Today Tim and Able talk with Khun Chat from Bliss Events Thailand about The Samui re-opening and if they are ready to open under the Samui Plus program. We take a look at your responses to our vaccine survey yesterday. Covid latest and the main headlines from Thailand today. To follow Able visit her @emceeable and @findyourvoiceasia

  • Covid-19 News

    Phuket finds another visitor has Covid, total now stands at 7

    Yesterday, another visitor to Phuket was discovered to be infected with Covid. The discovery brings Phuket’s total infected visitors to 7, says provincial public health chief Kusak Kukiatikoon, today. Dr Kusak revealed that case number 7 comes from a South African woman who is a friend of the South African man who health officials had previously determined to be infected…

  • Koh Samui News

    Slow start for “Samui Plus” reopening, only 33 seats booked for this month

    While the “Samui Plus” reopening plan is set to start tomorrow, it might be more of a “soft” reopening. Only 33 airline seats are booked for this month and tourism officials say it will be a few months before the islands see an influx of international arrivals. Similar to the “Phuket Sandbox,” the scheme allows the trio of islands in…

  • Phuket News

    Government dismisses rumours of Phuket sandbox collapse as “fake news”

    The government says the Phuket sandbox scheme is going “very well”, describing rumours of its imminent demise as, “fake news”. According to a Bangkok Post report, Thanakorn Wangboonkongchan from the Centre for Economic Situation Administration says the only thing threatening the sandbox scheme is false reporting on social media that claims the island has been ordered to close due to…

  • Thailand video news

    Good Morning Thailand | Stefanie the Sandboxer Update, Covid latest, Viewer questions

    Today Jay and Tim talk with Stefanie about her situation in her ASQ hotel and if there have been any developments over the past few days or a possibility of getting out of quarantine. Covid latest and a chance for our viewers to ask Stefanie some questions. You can watch the full video about Stefanie’s story here… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_91SYF456UU For more…

  • Koh Samui News

    Koh Samui opens for bookings from vaccinated foreign tourists

    Koh Samui’s sealed route programme, Samui Plus, has opened for business, with vaccinated tourists now able to apply for a certificate of entry. Ratchaporn Poolsawadee from the Tourism Association of Koh Samui says some details need to be ironed out, including determing the cost of a 7-day stay at an alternative state quarantine facility, to include Covid-19 tests and medical…