"Samui Bubble" latest plan to rescue foreign tourism on devastated holiday island

[webfact]

"Samui Bubble" latest plan to rescue foreign tourism on devastated holiday island

 

 

Channel 3 reported that a tourism promotion leader on Koh Samui is planning a third attempt to convince the CCSA (Thailand's Covid-19 response centre) to open the holiday island up to foreign tourism.

 

Worasit Phongkhamphan plans to meet the CCSA on September 30th.

 

He claimed that 90% of the public want foreign tourists back after two public hearings. He accepted that this would be tourists who would have to fulfil all the health regulations.

 

There are 24 hotels ready to accept foreign tourists and if his plans are passed at the end of this month he thinks that foreign tourism could resume mid-November under the plan. 

 

The tourists would arrive on direct charter flights.

 

He said he was working with Thailand Longstay (Management) Company Ltd that has offices in Bangkok and companies affiliated to the Tourism Authority of Thailand to make the "Samui Bubble" a reality. 

 

Soure: Channel 3

 

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[steven100]

11 minutes ago, webfact said:

is planning a third attempt to convince the CCSA (Thailand's Covid-19 response centre)

you'd think he'd get the message already    !

[thaibeachlovers]

Samui, the Island of Dreams.

[Tropicalevo]

30 minutes ago, webfact said:

The tourists would arrive on direct charter flights.

I can just see Bangkok Airways allowing that one. Not.

[Poet]

43 minutes ago, webfact said:

He claimed that 90% of the public want foreign tourists back after two public hearings. He accepted that this would be tourists who would have to fulfil all the health regulations.

 

There are 24 hotels ready to accept foreign tourists and if his plans are passed at the end of this month he thinks that foreign tourism could resume mid-November under the plan. 

No possibility that 90% of the public want foreign tourists back. Most have zero understanding of how the knock-on effect of a quarter of the economy disappearing is going to eventually have on their own income, and the junta has convinced them that the rest of the world is a zombie apocalypse.

No possibility that actual tourists will be happy to spend 14 days in quarantine and jump through the various other hoops. What they are going to get are people desperate to get back into Thailand to reunite with their loved ones.

No possibility that any of this will be happening by mid-November or anytime this year.

No possibility that tourist numbers will get anywhere close to 2019 levels at any point this decade.

 

Edited September 16, 2020 by Poet

[rasmus5150]

Make it quarantine Island for Chinese tourists, and westerners go to Phuket or vice versa ...

[DouglasTsui]

wasn't this addressed yesterday?/  Unless there is a cynical twist 24hrs later......

 

Deputy government spokesperson Traisuree Taisaranakul said on Tuesday (September 15) that the Cabinet has agreed to allow foreigners to live in Thailand for up to nine months per trip, provided they can prove they have spent 14 days in quarantine.

The first visit will allow 90 days of stay, which can then be extended twice totalling nine months.

This measure will start from next month, and up to 1,200 tourists per month will be granted this extended visa.      

 

Source: Thaivisa.com news The Nation.

[steven100]

and the wheels just turning round and round .....  round and round .....  up and down we go ... lol

[Oldie]

Perhaps people from Samui could visit Phuket and people from Phuket could visit Samui. This would be a Samui Phuket only bubble. Have to send my great idea to our minister for tourism. No need for foreigners. 

[RichardColeman]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

There are 24 hotels ready to accept foreign tourists and if his plans are passed at the end of this month he thinks that foreign tourism could resume mid-November under the plan. 

about as much chance as Louis Armstrong  being a founding member of the sex pistols

[Katipo]

So many plans. So little action.

[yellowboat]

"Bubble hub", there I said it first. 

 

The Chinese are not coming.  The Chinese government said so.   Many westerners are worried about their country's economy.  The super rich can go anywhere.  Why would they choose Thailand? 

[JusticeGB]

Easier to get pigs flying over the moon than to get a viable plan for Western tourists to want to go through the hurdles to visit Thailand. Dream on Thailand in 1980 was a dream holiday place open 24 hours a day. Now in tourist resorts half the shops, bars and restaurants are closed some probably forever. 

[DPKANKAN]

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Samui, the Island of Dreams.

Not a 'Samui Bubble' more a 'Samui Cocoon'!!!!5555????????????????

[robertson468]

4 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

I can just see Bangkok Airways allowing that one. Not.

Samui already has non-Bangkok Airways Flights coming in.  All that Bangkok Airways does is charge them a fee for landing at their Airport.  Not a big problem.

[ronaldo0]

24 minutes ago, robertson468 said:

Samui already has non-Bangkok Airways Flights coming in.  All that Bangkok Airways does is charge them a fee for landing at their Airport.  Not a big problem.

And it’s not a cheap fee which is why Thai airways stopped their flights there .

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

"Samui Bubble" latest plan to rescue foreign tourism on devastated holiday island

Not the bubble again.. pleaseeeeee !

[digger70]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Samui Bubble" latest plan to rescue foreign tourism on devastated holiday island

Normal run of the mill Tourist ain't going to go in 14 day self pay Quarantine and getting Ripped of for an Stupid Extra Covid Insurance what Should be Covered in a Proper Travel Insurance and Jump through all the Hoops that come with the Drama.

The only People that Will come to Los are the Well connected Hi So Rich and Well of Business People/Traveling for the Job

[mrfill]

Two things I know about bubbles...

 

1 - they don't last very long

2 - they go pop

[dirtybirty]

Direct international flights from Europe ect don't think so. Some how.  But i bet Bangkok airways rubbing their greedy little hands together 

[spidermike007]

The Inane nonsense continues. The administration ministers are simply not smart enough, nor humble enough to realize that Thailand and it's people need foreigners infinitely more than foreigners need them. Thailand will soon be a tourism footnote, at this rate. And the trillions of baht spent on hotels and other tourist related facilities will become a historically huge investment failure. 

 

Note to the Thai army. Your people are counting on you, and you are letting them down. Do something. Do anything. Do not continue doing nothing. Your people are starving for tourism income. 

 

Lethargy and extreme incompetence can be very ugly qualities.

 

These images were taken in Chaweng on Samui, this week. Utter devastation. And the baht billionaires continue to diddle daddle and propose this and that. Such ugly indifference. Such a sad failure. 

Edited September 16, 2020 by spidermike007

[khunPer]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

...he thinks that foreign tourism could resume mid-November under the plan.

Mid-November is monsoon high season and tourist extremely low season. In older times the resorts on Samui closed from November 1st till just before Christmas, not because the weather changed by Christmas, but because visitors came to celebrate Christmas and New Year.

 

There might be great weather in November-December, and there might be two weeks – and some years even more the two weeks – of very stormy weather from the north-eastern monsoon. The problem is that we don't know in advance which weeks will be good, and which weeks will be awful.

[khunPer]

31 minutes ago, dirtybirty said:

Direct international flights from Europe ect don't think so. Some how.  But i bet Bangkok airways rubbing their greedy little hands together 

The runway of Samui Airport (USM) is 2100 meters long.

 

A long range airplane, like B777 would need from 2,440 meter to 3,380 meter take off run at sea-level with MTOW (Max Take Off Weight). A B787 from 2,600 meter and an Airbus 330 needs 2,770 meter.

 

I can imagine that the length of the runway – and perhaps also weight – would limit a number of long-range destinations for direct charter flights.

[thaibeachlovers]

8 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Your people are starving for tourism income. 

There are not enough foreigners going to go to Thailand to make any difference. They could open the borders without restrictions and tourists are just not going to arrive to welcome anyway. It's not just quarantine in LOS, it's also quarantine on return home.

 

If they really want foreigners, issue a one year visa, renewable for ever, without the idiocy that is in force at present, at a reasonable cost like Cambodia and other SEA countries do. I have zero confidence they would do that, no matter how bad things are.

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

There are not enough foreigners going to go to Thailand to make any difference. They could open the borders without restrictions and tourists are just not going to arrive to welcome anyway. It's not just quarantine in LOS, it's also quarantine on return home.

 

If they really want foreigners, issue a one year visa, renewable for ever, without the idiocy that is in force at present, at a reasonable cost like Cambodia and other SEA countries do. I have zero confidence they would do that, no matter how bad things are.

They should not only issue free one year visas, they should pay for half of quarantine costs. If they were serious. 

[androokery]

19 hours ago, ronaldo0 said:

And it’s not a cheap fee which is why Thai airways stopped their flights there .

Sea planes - there should be sea plane flights to Koh Samui from Bangkok/Samut Prakan. Not entirely relevant to this thread, but a fun way to bypass the airport issue. Also: "Samui, the Maldives of the Bay of Siam"????

[khunPer]

1 hour ago, androokery said:

Sea planes - there should be sea plane flights to Koh Samui from Bangkok/Samut Prakan. Not entirely relevant to this thread, but a fun way to bypass the airport issue. Also: "Samui, the Maldives of the Bay of Siam"????

I have also been seriously considering the possibility.

 

I don't think people would fly slow small Twin Otter planes from Bangkok today – that's how the air traffic to Samui originally started – but from Nakhon Si Thammarat or Surat Thani, to Phangan and even Tao, could be a possibility. The shorter range could also increase the passenger payload to it's maximum; i.e. up to 19 passengers. The runway need is only 400 meters, which might be of more interest than sea plane to for example Phangan.

 

However, it's quite costly per seat to fly with these planes compared to modern jets. Perhaps people that could afford to use them, would prefer a Bangkok Airways flight to Samui, and instead more comfortably commute the 10-11 kilometers sea-ride by boat...????

[Tropicalevo]

1 hour ago, khunPer said:

3 hours ago, androokery said:

Sea planes - there should be sea plane flights to Koh Samui from Bangkok/Samut Prakan. Not entirely relevant to this thread, but a fun way to bypass the airport issue. Also: "Samui, the Maldives of the Bay of Siam"????

I have also been seriously considering the possibility.

Ahh the good old days of visa trips to the Andaman Club in Burma with Alan Sadd and his sea plane.

Edited September 17, 2020 by Tropicalevo

[GeorgeCross]

On 9/17/2020 at 7:49 AM, spidermike007 said:

They should not only issue free one year visas, they should pay for half of quarantine costs. If they were serious. 

not going to happen - even if quarantine is 100% free "real" tourists are not going to arrive in any numbers if they face time in quarantine hotels.

 

i base this on what has recently happened in europe - even faced with quarantine at their own homes on return it was a no-no, the tap immediately ran dry. maybe the chinese are more tolerant, i don't know, but westerners? forget about it.

 

and take quarantine away? well we can now see how that pans out: france, spain, uk, italy, germany

 

second wave.

 

there will be no saviour for the foreseeable future - best case would be a full return of expats and retirees, otherwise known as low season.

 

[spidermike007]

All people from all nations should be welcome starting tomorrow. If you are willing to endure quarantine, no restrictions whatsoever. No begging of a consulate for permission to visit. That is nonsensical stupidity. And no limitations on the number of people who can visit.

 

More than likely, no matter how many they let arrive, this will fall flat on it's face. Few will be willing to endure quarantine, and the myriad of restrictions and requirements. The tourism industry is likely to collapse long term. It means millions will remain out of work long term. 

 

This hapless administration needs to develop some courage and initiative. They can't hide from the world forever. Extreme timidity from supposedly tough men is an amusing thing to witness. However, the pain they are inflicting on millions is not. The Thai army. Dumb and dumber.