Bangkok, 13 June, 2021 – Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has confirmed that Phuket will be the first destination in Thailand to reopen to vaccinated foreign tourists without quarantine requirements from 1 July, 2021, under the ‘Phuket Sandbox’ project.
In his Facebook post last night, General Prayut stressed that the ‘Phuket Sandbox’ project was initiated in line with his guidelines to slowly reopen the country to vaccinated foreign tourists to revive tourism.
The ‘Phuket Sandbox’ project was already approved by the Centre for Economic Situation Administration (CESA) and was acknowledged by the Cabinet.
Full details of the project are currently under another review by the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) and the Cabinet for final official endorsement in time for the scheduled start date on 1 July, 2021.
General Prayut noted that preparations to reopen Phuket include the local vaccination drive. To date, more than 70% of Phuket’s population have been vaccinated.
The target is to inoculate 100% of those in the tourism sector before the scheduled reopening date.
The ‘Phuket Sandbox’ is applicable for international travellers who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and who are from countries/regions with a low to medium risk of SAR-CoV-2 virus. They must stay in Phuket at least 14 nights before being able to continue their journey to other Thai destinations.
‘Phuket Sandbox’ will be a model to reopen other tourist destinations in Thailand, said General Prayut.
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