Photographer: Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP via Getty Images
Photographer: Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP via Getty Images
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A popular Thai tourist island for its beaches is drawing up plans to fully reopen vaccinated visitors before October to revive its shattered tourism industry.
More than a dozen business groups, including the Phuket Chamber of Commerce and the Phuket Tourism Association, plan to raise funds to vaccinate 70% of the island’s population over the age of 18 without waiting for the government implementation. They bet it will be safe to open the region to foreign tourists once the local population achieves herd immunity.
The plan, which will need government approval, also seeks to waive a mandatory 14-day quarantine requirement, in important obstacle for many potential travelers. This will allow thousands of vaccinated Europeans who habitually spend the winter months in Phuket, according to Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, president of the tourism association.
He plan is the latest attempt to revive Thailand’s tourism-based economy. There have been several previous initiatives to reopen Phuket to international visitors delays before taking place in October, but the response has been lukewarm as few travelers wanted to undergo quarantine. A second wave of Covid-19 infections has also caused another setback, prompting a new round of economic stimulus to support businesses and individuals.
Closed companies
At least 931 registered companies in the Thai tourism sector closed in 2020
Sources: Department of Business Development, Bloomberg
“We can’t wait any longer. If we have to wait, we will not survive, ”said Bhummikitti, whose association represents about 300 members, including operators of five-star and luxury hotels. “If we miss this high winter season, we should wait another year.”
Thailand was sold as a paradise and covid refuge. No one came
According to the plan, called “Phuket on October 1”, the tourism industry will import vaccines through private companies and will be able to purchase Sinovac Biotech Ltd., the Chinese manufacturer whose vaccine is expected to be approved by the Thai regulator this month. The government’s deployment of vaccines is expected to achieve herd immunity only in 2022, according to health ministry officials.
A deserted road from Bangla to Patong, Phuket, on December 19, 2020.
Photographer: Taylor Weidman / Bloomberg
With the Thai tourism industry recovering losses and hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk, William Heinecke, president of Minor International Pcl, which manages more than 500 hotels in 55 countries, last week urged Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha to prioritize tourism workers along with the front line and health care employees for inoculation. The move could facilitate quarantined travel for people with “vaccination passports,” Heinecke said in a letter to the prime minister.
Thai beaches will not reopen completely until vaccines are available
Phuket could be a pilot site in Thailand and, once successful, the model could be rolled out to other destinations, Heinecke said, citing the example of Seychelles which last month announced quarantine exemptions for vaccinated visitors.
“Phuket has always been a major contributor to the Thai economy,” Bhummikitti said. “It simply came to our notice then Until take control of the situation. We don’t have a lot of money now, but we are giving it one last push, hoping that will save us. “