Phuket
- Tourism News
Phuket Sandbox to be approved by Cabinet on Monday
It’s official, sort of. After months of kicking sand around, debating if it will really happen, the Centre for Economic Situation Administration officially approved the Phuket Sandbox plan, an important step forward. The announcement, made on Friday afternoon, appears to answer the often-posed question if the sandbox plan would ever happen as the much more intense and deadly third wave…
- Phuket News
TAT and Tourism Ministry push for domestic tourism in Phuket
The Tourism Authority of Thailand is partnering with the Tourism and Sports Ministry to build confidence and boost domestic travel to Phuket as it reopens to international tourism next month. They hope to give Phuket a much-needed boom by attracting local travellers as well as fully vaccinated international passengers. Aiming to get domestic travel up and running in August, the…
- Visa Information
UPDATE: Phuket Sandbox – Changes to travelling back to Thailand
Yes, there are some more details, about the Phuket ‘sandbox’ and there will certainly be some more changes in the next few weeks as we lead up to July 1. Getting back to Thailand, via Phuket, is now much easier from the start of July but there are still a few conditions and restrictions you need to be aware of.…
- Covid-19 News
Foreign workers get jabs in 2-day Phuket mass vaccination drive
In 2 days, yesterday and today, Phuket has set out to vaccinate 22,613 migrant workers and 5,758 foreign workers who are legal with a work permit. Vachira Phuket Hospital has teamed up with Angsana Laguna Phuket resort in the north of Phuket and Central shopping centre in the middle of the island for the foreign worker mass vaccination drive. The…
- Chiang Mai News
Chiang Mai launches website for expats to register for Covid-19 vaccination
The northern province of Chiang Mai has launched a website where foreign residents can register to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Provincial permanent secretary Kanok Sriwichainan says foreigners who have not registered through the Mor Prom app can now do so at the Kampang Wiang website. They will need to provide their passport number and vaccination will be carried out with…
- Thailand News
Emirates and Etihad announce July Phuket flights
Joining in support of reopening Phuket, Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways have both announced flights resuming in July. Etihad Airways will start back up flights from the United Arab Emirates capital of Abu Dhabi on July 1, while Emirates Airlines will resume flights from Dubai on July 2. Qatar Airways had announced yesterday that they will be resuming flights to…
- Thailand News
Phuket bust nabs 2 men with drugs valued at 5.3 million baht
2 men in Phuket town were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly possessing methamphetamines and crystal valued at around 5.3 million baht. The men allegedly had 14,000 methamphetamine pills (also known as yaba, which roughly translates to “crazy drug”) and about 3 kilograms of crystal meth (also known as ice, tina, or speed). The news of their arrest was announced at…
- Thailand News
Patong Thieves cite unemployment for theft
Yesterday morning in Patong, a town in Phuket, 2 men, 42 year old Samran Luiprasert and 34 year old Amphon Boonchuaynamphon, were arrested by Patong police for stealing a coffee machine and 2 televisions from a restaurant. The men said they needed money to survive. In the police report, it was said the alleged criminals were found after the owner…
- Tourism News
Thailand’s quarantine hotels consider move to hybrid model
Hotels currently operating as alternative state quarantine facilities are considering moving to a hybrid model, as bookings drop ahead of Phuket’s re-opening. ASQ hotels say reduced demand means they may adopt a model whereby they accept both quarantining guests and regular guests from the second half of the year. Prin Pathanatham from the ASQ-ALQ Club Thailand says bookings have started…
- Tourism News
Thailand’s Civil Aviation Authority details international flight rules
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand has announced some specific flight rules on the procedure for international travellers flying into Phuket after July 1. This comes just after the Tourism Authority of Thailand laid out more general rules for travel within Thailand for international tourists. Tourism officials from TAT and the island have been steadfastly determined to reopen under its…
- Tourism News
KLM to introduce Amsterdam – Phuket flights from October
KLM has announced an expansion to its network from this coming winter, including flights from Amsterdam to Phuket, with a touchdown in Kuala Lumpur. The southern Thai island is one of 6 new destinations being introduced, the others being Mombasa in Kenya, Orlando in the US, Cancun in Mexico, Bridgetown in Barbados, and Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago.…
- Phuket News
TAT outlines rules for Phuket re-opening | VIDEO
So, here they are, the dos and don’ts for all those vaccinated tourists planning trips to the southern island of Phuket from July 1. The Tourism Authority of Thailand has laid out the rules governing the Phuket Sandbox model that will see the island re-open to international visitors in just a few weeks’ time. While fully vaccinated tourists will no…
- Covid-19 News
UPDATE: Phuket extends current Covid restrictions from June 1 “until further notice”
UPDATE: Today’s planned vaccination of foreign staff and teachers at Phuket Headstart International School was cancelled last night at 9pm without explanation. Also information about kids travelling to Phuket with parent from July 1 HERE. ORIGINAL STORY: On one hand Phuket officials are extending restrictions to control the Covid situation, and on the other hand the TAT is talking up the…
- Thailand News
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…
- Phuket News
TAT re-confirms Phuket’s reopening date of July 1
The Thai PM, and the CCSA, have confirmed that Phuket’s re-opening WILL happen on July 1. This confirms months of insistence that the plan will go ahead. The confirmation comes against a background of daily new infections in the country of over 2,000 and ongoing confusion about the country’s vaccine roll out. Saturday’s Thailand Covid report HERE. According to the…
- Phuket News
Tourism officials push for “One Night, One Dollar” campaign in Phuket
“…have been suffering from the pandemic for 15 months now. Only mass tourism will save us.” A night at a Phuket resort could drop down to just $1 USD. Tourism officials are pushing for a proposed campaign they call “One Night, One Dollar” to help draw travellers back to the popular tourist island as locals prepare for its July 1…
- Phuket News
Phuket study confirms Sinovac vaccine offers 80% protection
A study on the southern island of Phuket indicates that inoculation with the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine reduces the chance of contracting the virus by more than 83%. Dr Kiattiphum Wongrajit from the Public Health Ministry says around 22% of the island’s population has now received both doses of the Sinovac vaccine, with 45% having received the first dose. According to…
- Tourism News
Thai Airways introducing limited direct flights between Europe and Phuket
Thai Airways is testing the waters (so to speak) by introducing a limited number of direct flights from Europe to Phuket, ahead of the southern island’s July 1 re-opening. The national carrier, currently in the throes of restructuring after teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, has started selling direct flights from 4 European cities to Phuket. According to a Bangkok…
- Phuket News
Man dies after receiving Sinovac vaccine in Phuket
A man died the day after he received his first dose of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine. Health officials say the cause of death was a heart attack and the man had “fatal medical conditions”. But the man’s wife claims the death was due to the vaccine. 43 year old Winai Hemin from Phang Nga, just a north of Phuket, was…
- Thailand News
6 people arrested for allegedly running 200 million baht “romance scam”
Police arrested 6 people allegedly involved in a 200 million baht so-called romance scam, setting up fake profiles online and, after some sweet-talking, persuading their “lovers to transfer money to their account. A victim who came forward to police says she transferred hundreds of thousands of baht to whom she thought was an American businessman in Malaysia who needed money…
- Covid-19 News
Covid UPDATE Tuesday: 3,226 new infections, 26 deaths
Thailand’s public health ministry has reported 26 new Covid-related deaths and 3,226 new infections for today. 882 of the new infections were from prisons. • The Thai government has rescheduled the second dose of AstraZeneca vaccines “16 weeks after the first dose”. This is instead of the previously announced 10 weeks. But they’re insisting the delay to the second vaccine…
- Thailand News
Rawai residents who register for a vaccine have a chance to win gold, cash
Rawai residents who register for a Covid-19 vaccine have a chance to win gold. In an incentive to get people vaccinated, Phuket’s Rawai municipality is starting a lucky draw with 10 gold necklaces as well as cash prizes up for grabs. Many governments and businesses in Thailand and overseas have started incentives to entice people to get vaccinated. A town…
- Covid-19 News
Rawai bar charged for Covid-19 violation, serving alcohol
The Honey Pot, a popular bar in Rawai, Phuket, was raided last night, with the manager being charged for serving alcohol in violation of Covid-19 restrictions. The Chalong Police arrived around 10:20 pm after receiving a tip about a local bar selling alcohol the foreigners. The bar manager was taken into custody and brought to the Chalong Police Station. The…
- Covid-19 News
Phuket pushes for proactive vaccination to reach 70% goal
A push is underway to get people registered for mass vaccination in Phuket in an effort to still reach the 70% threshold to reopen to international tourists on July 1. In a meeting on the Phuket Tourism Sandbox plan at the provincial hall on Thursday, a new proactive scheme was hatched to get people registered and vaccinated. Phuket has set…
- Covid-19 News
Miscommunication over rules sees Thai man angrily footing bill for Covid test in Phuket
After a Thai man’s angry video went viral over allegedly having to pay for a Covid-19 test in order to enter Phuket, the provincial Vice Governor has responded. Piyapong Choowong admitted that the rule for those entering Phuket had recently changed, nixing the requirement of those arriving to undergo a Covid rapid antigen test. The man says he paid 450…
- Covid-19 News
Phuket marks first day of no new infections since the latest wave of Covid-19
For the first day in the latest wave of Covid-19, no new infections were reported in Phuket yesterday. Phuket Provincial Public Health Office made a celebratory Facebook post for the decline in daily cases, a significant mark for the island province as local officials enforce tight restrictions and accelerate vaccinations to prepare for its reopening to foreign tourists in July.…
- Phuket News
Phuket police officer who shot noodle vendor denied bail.
A Phuket Provincial Police officer was denied bail today after drunkenly shooting a noodle vendor on Patong’s Bangla Road while off-duty. Pornthep Channarong, the officer involved in the incident, was off-duty and said to be out drinking all night before shooting Aroon Thongplab in the stomach in the early hours of February 23. The Phuket Provincial Court made the decision…
- Tourism News
Tourism officials focus on safety to differentiate Phuket from rest of Thailand
As the clock ticks down to the much-anticipated re-opening of Phuket on July 1, tourism officials are anxious to separate the southern island from parts of the country currently experiencing higher Covid-19 infection rates. The Tourism Authority of Thailand is emphasising the safety element of Phuket and the other areas that will follow the “sandbox” model of re-opening. In a…
- Covid-19 News
Phuket reopens mass-vaccination campaign with goal of 14,000 jabs a day
Phuket’s mass Covid-19 vaccination program has kicked off again, with the goal of administering 14,000 shots a day to see 70% of the province’s population vaccinated by July 1. The Vachira Phuket Hospital Director says 85,000 of the 200,000 Sinovac vaccine doses for May have already arrived, with 115,000 doses more scheduled to arrive today. Up to last weekend only…
- Thailand News
Despite a better performance in first quarter, Thailand’s GDP may not impress in second
Despite performing better than predicted in the first quarter, Thailand’s gross domestic product may not be as impressive in the second quarter. As the first quarter saw a contraction of 2.6% year on year, analysts say the contraction was better than predicted. Now, an Oxford Economics report says the recent third wave in Covid-19 may prevent the GDP from seeing…
