Photographer: Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP via Getty Images
Photographer: Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP via Getty Images
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A Thai tourist island famous for its beaches is making plans to fully reopen to vaccinated visitors in October, to revive its destroyed tourism industry.
More than a dozen business groups, including the Phuket Chamber of Commerce and the Phuket Tourist Association, are planning to raise funds to vaccinate 70% of the island’s population over 18, without waiting for government implementation. They bet it will be safe to open the region to foreign tourists as soon as the local population reaches herd immunity.
The plan, which will need government approval, also seeks to dispense with the mandatory 14-day quarantine requirement, a major obstacle for many potential travelers. This will allow thousands of vaccinated Europeans, who usually spend the winter months in Phuket, to pay a visit, according to Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, president of the tourist association.
The plan is the latest attempt to revive Thailand’s tourism-based economy. An earlier initiative to reopen Phuket to international visitors faced several delays before they took place in October, but the response was lukewarm, as few travelers wanted to be quarantined. A second wave of Covid-19 infections also came as another setback, leading to a new round of economic stimulus to support companies and individuals.
Closed companies
At least 931 companies registered in the Thai tourism sector closed in 2020
Sources: Department of Business Development, Bloomberg
“We cannot wait any longer. If we have to wait, we will not survive, ”said Bhummikitti, whose association represents about 300 members, including luxury resort operators and five-star hotels. “If we miss this high winter season, we will have to wait another year.”
Thailand has sold itself as a Covid haven haven. Nobody came
According to the plan, called “Phuket First of October”, the tourism industry will import vaccines through private companies and will be able to purchase vaccines from Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a Chinese manufacturer whose vaccine is expected to be approved by the Thai regulator this month. The government’s vaccine launch is expected to achieve collective immunity only by 2022, according to health ministry officials.
A deserted road from Bangla in Patong, Phuket, on December 19, 2020.
Photographer: Taylor Weidman / Bloomberg
With the Thai tourism industry booming losses and hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk, William Heinecke, President of the Minor International Pcl, which manages more than 500 hotels in 55 countries, last week asked Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha to prioritize tourism workers along with the front line and health care inoculation staff. The move could make travel without quarantine easier for people with ‘vaccination passports’, Heinecke said in a letter to the prime minister.
Thai beaches will not fully reopen until vaccines are available
Phuket could be a pilot site for Thailand and, once successful, the model can be implemented in other destinations, said Heinecke, citing the example of Seychelles, which last month announced quarantine exemption for vaccinated visitors.
“Phuket has always been a major contributor to the Thai economy,” said Bhummikitti. “Today, we are standing up until take control of the situation. We don’t have much money right now, but we’re giving it a last push, hoping it will save us. “