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Phuket tourism sector calls for island to be “green-listed” for foreign tourists – VIDEO


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The executive chairman of the Banyan Tree Group is calling for Phuket to be given “green” status, promoting the island as a safe haven for foreign tourists. Singaporean KP Ho was addressing the Phuket Sandbox Summit via video-conference when he called on European airlines, business leaders, and officials to differentiate the southern island from the rest of Thailand. According to Ho, Phuket could potentially lead the recovery of global tourism, even while places like Bangkok and another 27 provinces find themselves in the grip of a Covid-19 crisis. TTR Weekly reports that Ho has described the Phuket sandbox programme as […]

The post Phuket tourism sector calls for island to be “green-listed” for foreign tourists – VIDEO appeared first on Thaiger News.

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Makes perfect sense if you just ignore the full hospital beds and the 2 emergency covid wards  just set up. Something about ostriches and sand perhaps ......

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What they want and what other countries want are different things . Why should they give it a green stamp if after 14 days you could travel to any part of the mainland (Red or Amber) then travel back to your country. 

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Phuket sandbox programme as the example that other places can follow.” - hubris at its best. With originally anemic and now plunging numbers, there are not going to be countries lined up to repeat this scheme. 

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Instead of writing about the thousands of people that lost their jobs and struggling to survive all the thaiger is care about is to promote phuket tourism!!!

Send ine of your reporters to the villages of Isan and tell the real story of thailand under the covid 19. 

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“We will never compromise someone’s safety “  
I suppose stupid is as stupid does !

Some vacc Falangs  will  swallow this but the ones that want to party and didn’t plan diligence are in for a shock in Petri Phuket imop

 

 

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4 hours ago, DiggR said:

Makes perfect sense if you just ignore the full hospital beds and the 2 emergency covid wards  just set up. Something about ostriches and sand perhaps ......

If hospitals are full in Phuket with genuinely sick people rather than infected people, then one of two things has happened. Either they have not fully vaccinated 70% of the islands population. Or, the vaccine they have used is Sinovac and not giving protection against serious illness with the Delta variant. 
 

Possibly both of the above have gone wrong. But that can’t be true as authorities have given their assurances ? 

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3 hours ago, Michaelbusnelli said:

Instead of writing about the thousands of people that lost their jobs and struggling to survive all the thaiger is care about is to promote phuket tourism!!!

Send ine of your reporters to the villages of Isan and tell the real story of thailand under the covid 19. 

Or to Pattaya show the people daily fill the beach road for food handouts and all is closed permanent already before the last lockdown. Same devasting Situation like in Bangkok. It is pervers this Phuket madness as long the whole country is down because of the mess of these selfish incompetant who are in power and responsible for the condition of the country.

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3 hours ago, HappyExpat said:

These people at the helm don't really talk to each other, do they?

I think that’s spot on. I also think it’s the famous Asian (especially Thai) obsession with loss of face. One Thai won’t ask difficult questions of another, in case they make them lose face. And so they each go around making unconnected statements. Result? Utter confusion and more problems. 

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3 hours ago, Malc-Thai said:

What they want and what other countries want are different things . Why should they give it a green stamp if after 14 days you could travel to any part of the mainland (Red or Amber) then travel back to your country. 

Agreed. But the way out of that is to say Phuket is green. Rest of Thailand Amber/red. If you have been out of Phuket then you are not coming back from a Green country. Creates massive problems however, as there is no audit trail on your passport to prove you stayed in Phuket. Perhaps they need to set up a border around Phuket. Now that would be interesting !

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As a foreigner working in BKK I  see a point of view coming from a single focus group. (Fill up my 5 star hotels crowd)

I think the sandbox had some merit but not at the disadvantage of the Thai people generally, which for a vaccine rollout point of view it has.

From a financial benefit to the Thailand as a nation, I would question any real tangible net benefit, How many of the sandboxes would have returned to Thailand though the ASQ system anyway?     How many domestic tourist had to or were forced to cancel a Phuket holiday? (I did for one and I have had my AV vaccine jab).

 

.

 

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Disappointing for KP Ho, who normally talks more sense.

 

Maybe someone forgot to tell him Phuket's just gone from yellow to orange, so green isn't really on the cards.

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57 minutes ago, Stardust said:

Or to Pattaya show the people daily fill the beach road for food handouts and all is closed permanent already before the last lockdown. Same devasting Situation like in Bangkok. It is pervers this Phuket madness as long the whole country is down because of the mess of these selfish incompetant who are in power and responsible for the condition of the country.

Over the past week or so, hundreds of Thais have died after becoming infected with covid 19, over the same time frame, how many are you suggesting have actually died of starvation?

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5 hours ago, DiggR said:

Makes perfect sense if you just ignore the full hospital beds and the 2 emergency covid wards  just set up. Something about ostriches and sand perhaps ......

Or perhaps he is just being generous and want more tourists to come in so that they can become infected with the Delta strain that by accounts of many was brought into Phuket by Thais domestically.

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1 hour ago, Rasputin said:

Over the past week or so, hundreds of Thais have died after becoming infected with covid 19, over the same time frame, how many are you suggesting have actually died of starvation?

I hope the food hands out kept and keep them alive

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4 hours ago, Michaelbusnelli said:

Instead of writing about the thousands of people that lost their jobs and struggling to survive all the thaiger is care about is to promote phuket tourism!!!

That does seem to be their priority!

5 hours ago, Michaelbusnelli said:

Send ine of your reporters to the villages of Isan and tell the real story of thailand under the covid 19. 

To be fair, I'm far from sure that the villages of Isan are as badly affected by Covid-19 as the cities, and in particular Bangkok - and I live in rural Isan, in an area which is usually very popular with thousands of Thai tourists every day, but which the locals themselves decided to close to all tourists months ago.

 

Hardest hit locally are the lottery ticket sellers, who instead of selling tickets in other provinces week on / week off, coming back home for the week off, now have the choice of either staying in the other provinces indefinitely or coming back then being quarantined in a hut in the fields outside the village.

 

For most, though, they're making a good job of "surviving", growing maybe half as much more rice than before for themselves, sacrificing fields of sugar cane that they would have sold before to ensure they at least have enough rice to eat.

 

The markets are emptier, and many of the smaller restaurants closed, as people are spending less.  Mushrooming has boomed, with the forests packed from well before dawn as locals go up into the hills to pick wild mushrooms either for themselves or for sale - on a good day they can make 500 to even 1,000 baht.

 

The biggest difference I've seen is that the flow of money from those on the construction sites and factories back to their families in Isan hasn't just dried up but it's reversed as those in Isan are instead sending fruit and rice to them so that they can at least eat every day rather than starve.

 

For those criticising the vaccine roll out, the support given to those needing it most is far worse.  It's not  just that they can't keep up payments on bikes and pick ups any more, but that some can barely survive and those getting the least help from the government are the poorest.

While the first financial support was a straightforward monthly payout, now it's "50:50", up to 150 baht a day to match 150 baht spent.  What possible good is that to someone who doesn't have 150 baht everyday?

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1. I disagree with the Sandbox critics. Phuket is an ISLAND. And it is dependent on tourism. So close the bridge totally for the rest of 2021 at least. And continue to allow only vaccinated people with recent PCR tests in only. If COVID's delta (and future variants) still take over, then we might as well all just kill ourselves now.

2. Trying to reason with European (or any) politicians is pointless. They are focused on covering their asses as per the Political Manual ("The
Prince" by Machiavelli). All politicians are narcissists focused on themselves (watch the doc about NYC mayor hopeful "Anthony Weiner" or "Primary Colors" or "anything' from that Trump idiot). They usually have law degrees with no background in business (or failed miserably as in Trump's case). They all have access to diplomatic passports which means they can go anywhere they want (Florida and Caribbean is full of them on family vacations). They and gov't workers are still getting full pay. And reasoning with airline execs? That is really ridiculous -only the bottom of the barrel MBA grads accept jobs in that industry (read what Nicky Lauda has to say about the airline industry). Almost every airline ever started has failed!

3. MOST FASCINATING....I don't understand why the world has learned nothing from New York City. I was there from March '20 until April '21. I witnessed the worlds most severe and persistent lockdowns. Yet, it still led the USA in COVID levels CONTINUOUSLY! One glaring recent example was how the Thai's signaled the Bangkok lockdown. NY governor Cuomo did the same thing in April '20 -every single person I knew (including me)  packed up their stuff and left NYC for their summer home or relative (depending on income). We took covid with us and spread it to surrounding communities. Same thing just happened in Thailand.

4.But the above and the rest of the comments are irrelevant. We are powerless. Plus, our comments say more about ourselves than the issue itself. Like me: I love to travel, enjoy socializing and that's why I post comments about these restrictions.  Others who suffer from OCD and Anxiety disorder feel the opposite and love the restrictions. A

5. And another thing...oops-gotta go "Sanford & Son" is on TV. Hang in there.

 

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Since when is one hotel owner the "Phuket tourism sector"? @Thaiger, you should really reconsider amplifying the voices of industry outside of the context that the entire world is in a state of weird that most people have never experienced before. The humanitarian crisis in the tourist and general economies in Thailand - and around the world - is borderline unimaginable as it is happening (mostly) out of view. Rich countries have been largely able to stanch the bleeding but even in the US, as the safety net programs expire, we're looking at an impending crisis of homelessness as people who couldn't pay the rent are getting kicked out onto the street.

In Thailand it's worse. And it's worse because people like KP Ho took advantage of Thailand's endemic poverty and used low-paying jobs to funnel foreign currency to themselves and their companies. When the frog hit the blender last year those jobs vanished and the people were left holding the bag. But the bag was empty.

The Sandbox is a good idea. But given the constraints of Thailand's ability to operate complex systems and the (apparent) lack of awareness of what's going on in the rest of the world, its startup was going to have some bumps in the road.

So, please stop focusing on what's going wrong and how the hotel owners are suffering so. Start talking to people in the actual Sandbox program. There are a few thousand of them and the vast majority - Thais, Expats, and tourists alike - think that it's not so bad.

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Don't have any problem with Phuket and Samui sandboxes, in the form they are, at the moment. That is, providing that REAL tourists (not Thais returning home, or expats returning) don't mind the restrictions, e.g. in Phuket, night curfew, no bars, restaurants can't sell alcohol, and you can't fly in or out, except on a plane returning to your point of origin.

Nevertheless, KP Ho wants authorities to turn Phuket "green", and completely ignore that a third of the rest of the country is blood red. Phuket is part of Thailand, not a separate enclave for him to milk for profit.

If the Banyan executives want to help Thailand recover, then maybe they should consider a redistribution of wealth: Ho Kwon Ping (their executive chairman) has a net worth estimated at US$345 million.... -that's quite a few doses of Pfizer.

Edited by voyager
added restriction in Phuket
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A huge government failure! Sandbox project is driven by an expensive arduous website to gain a certificate of entry. It’s taken me over two weeks. Plan on $85-90 swab testing, tracking app, 100k Covid insurance, to mention to a few requirements that all need to be processed on this website. Prepare for hotels not responding because they are closed or barely open. Must stay at approved lodging only. I won’t do this process again!  If this is the new normal for Thailand their tourist industry goes elsewhere. Philippines & Indonesia have great beaches too. Yet the sad truth is after 19 months of Covid outbreak there is only 3% vaccinated I’m Thailand. The Thai government has chose to spend huge amount on the Sandbox program while letting the Thai people die. Thailand is ranked the worst Covid response in Asia & third worst in the world. If nothing changes Thailand’s economy & its people will continue to suffer.  So, ask yourself do you really want to play in a dirty sandbox?  

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