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Sandbox: 50% of foreigners cancel plans to visit Phuket


webfact

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16 minutes ago, BestB said:

And they surprised?

 

What did they expect? tourists lining up to spend 14 days in the quarantine even though fully vaccinated paying premium prices and having to jump through hundreds of hoops which change daily.

 

Once again, poor planning, poor execution and  no clear future

Yup, it's fire, ready, aim with our junta.

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15 days or so to go until this tourism effort launches. And yet I read this on the Thaiger news website today:

 

The next complex step in the SHA Plus and Phuket Sandbox reopening plan is how arriving tourist should book these hotels and how government officials will confirm tourists are booked in these hotels. The TAT is working with the Phuket Tourist Association and the local chapter of the Thai Hotels Association to develop a SHA Plus Booking Authentication System to confirm arrivals and their hotel bookings.

The plan is to allow arriving international travellers to book their hotels directly or via travel agents or online booking sites, and then hotel staff will bear the responsibility to transmit their customers’ booking details into this “SHABA” system. The system will then create a custom QR code and confirmation number.

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports already has an “Entry Thailand” platform to handle arriving fully vaccinated international tourists, and many related agencies will be coordinating together to integrate the SHABA system. They have announced a website for the Phuket Sandbox travellers which can be found here.


 

I find it interesting that the ability to book hotels under the scheme is still being developed. And yet it has been in the works for months.

 

also in the article, was a piece about over 300 business being certified as “SHAplus” because 70% of their workforce has been vaccinated with two doses and therefore “Covid safe”.

 

Do they seriously think that the 70% figure, presumably   chosen because it represents so called herd immunity, really makes their business “safe”.

 

I don’t think that real tourists are going to be taken in by these infantile claims, let alone foreign governments.

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What nonsense no way tourism minister would know who showed interest and who didn't.

This is just politics to try and force the deal back to 7 days because that suit his tourism. 

As if 60 k showed any interest 

 

TV members will buy into anything! 

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4 hours ago, webfact said:

Mr Pipat said that among the first people to visit the island in July will be  sailors from the US and British navies. 

A couple of Boatloads of Hairy A@@ed Matelots on a short shore leave, cannot be called Tourists.

I hate to think what will happen if all the Bars are closed when they set foot ashore.

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4 hours ago, dyertribe said:

They are planning to bring navy guys in with no bars or entertainment venues open?  Tell them they're dreaming ...

 

scrabble tournaments !

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34 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

I seriously doubt that number and that near 60,000 people had booked to come in July

 

Indeed.

 

Actually the article says that 29,700 was the target for total arrivals in July (which included "2 countries [sic] which are already confirmed namely USA and English sailors"]. So it seems to be more than 50% of 29,700 ...

 

ส่งผลให้นักท่องเที่ยวต่างชาติที่เตรียมเข้ามาในเดือน ก.ค.นี้ ลดลงกว่า 50% จากเป้าหมาย 29,700 คน ซึ่งในจำนวนนี้มี 2 ประเทศที่ยืนยันมาแล้ว คือสหรัฐอเมริกา และทหารเรืออังกฤษ

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4 hours ago, Excel said:

Well I suspect very few but realistically I would suspect that the vast majority of businesses run with anyone with a modicum of common sense were not planning to open anyway despite the governments rhetoric, as it was obvious to any sane person the whole sandbox thing would be nothing but a disastrous sham.

It did seem a half hearted effort after making the decision which on its own merits of quarantining on an entire island had merit. Problem was/is the preparation. No mass vaccination of Phuket population including the workers, restricting coming and going to Phuket which just never happened. A perfect opportunity to test the waters and allow safe entry to Thailand. I for one and my wife would be quite happy taking a week or two in Phuket before returning to Pattaya when we decide to return from the UK. After both doing the 15 days quarantine back in Nov Dec 2020 on our return to Thailand, we have decided not to do it again under any circumstances and nothing to do with the cost, purely the utter boredom of the whole process. A holiday on Phuket on the other hand with EVERYTHING open was not only good for us but for their economy. In fact why stop there, Koh Samui, Koh Chang, all easy to vaccinate the population and isolate, an opportunity lost....

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Sorry to toot TV's posters horn, but during my reading on here over the last month, 90%+ predicted everything that happened in so many words.

There is a lot of cynicism, and negativity on TV, but if you scrape the real essence of the posts, people know their stuff.  That said, it did not take a crystal ball to predict such an outcome.

 

Also happy on # of cancellations, thats the best way to vote -- with your feet.

 

Good luck Phuket (and Pattaya).

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I've read somewhere that the American sailors are NINE persons who showed interest to enter Phuket, probably because they have been out on the sea for ages and couldn't anchor somewhere else to refill supplies.

And for the British navy personnel, no one knows if they will be allowed to go on land.

So dear tourism minister, time to face reality that the arrivals in July will be in three digit ranges. Not 29.700 or half of that.

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Just now, aussienam said:

Not being one to normally feel sorry for those in the business of ripping off and scamming tourists and expats for decades, what getting gettig filthy rich, I do know there are ome decent Thai business owners (and a few foreign owners) that do deserve some sympathy.  

The planned openings and closings must be creating chaos and lots of costs, pre-ordering food etc, training and employing new staff, advertising etc. all adds up and must be now like throwing money into the garbage bin.  

Rinse and repeat I'd say for another year or more

If I were business owner in Phuket I wouldn't open before October. Anything else is just going to cost you money.

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