CESA greenlights Phuket tourism sandbox from July 1

Under the sandbox scheme, foreign tourists who can verify they have been inoculated against Covid-19 and test negative can fly into Phuket and move around freely without having to quarantine.

After staying in Phuket for 14 days, the tourists can then proceed to travel to other provinces in Thailand.

“The original proposal required the tourists to stay in Phuket for seven days, but the CESA has increased the requirement to 14 days to ensure that they are free of the virus,” said Pipat.

Other requirements under the tourism sandbox scheme are:

▪︎ Eligible candidates must have been vaccinated with the required doses of each vaccine type for more than 14 days but not exceeding a year. 

▪︎ They must also be travelling from a country with low to mid-level risk of infection according to Ministry of Public Health’s announcement.

▪︎ Children aged under six years can enter Phuket along with their vaccinated parents, while those in the group 6-18 years will have to undergo testing upon arrival at Phuket International Airport.

▪︎ Visitors must present a vaccination certificate issued by their government and the vaccine must be one those approved in Thailand or by the World Health Organization.

▪︎ Visitors must download and install the tracing application on their mobile phones.

▪︎ Visitors must stay at hotels or accommodations that are certified under SHA+ standard for 14 nights before they can travel to other areas.

▪︎ Visitors must agree to check in and undergo testing as required by Ministry of Public Health as well as strictly follow disease control measures, such as wearing face masks, washing their hands regularly and maintaining social distance.

Pipat added that other tourist provinces, such as Surat Thani, Krabi and Phang Nga, have also proposed to participate in the sandbox programme. The CESA said it would evaluate the situation after the pilot plan in Phuket for 1-2 months before consider running the scheme in other provinces.