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Thailand welcomes first international tourists as Phuket reopens Blog 
Phuket reopens to fully vaccinated international tourists.
The Thai island of Phuket has reopened to foreign tourists for the first time in more than a year, under a pilot scheme called “Phuket Sandbox”.
Fully vaccinated visitors will be allowed onto the island without having to endure a 14-day quarantine, however, they are required to comply with a number of measures.
Wearing a mask at all times when outdoors and staying in special, certified hotels are examples of the conditions visitors must adhere to.
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Approximately 400 international tourists were expected to arrive in Phuket on Thursday, who must all download a location-tracking app and refrain from travelling to the Thai mainland for at least two-weeks.
The Thai government has prioritised Phuket ahead of other regions in the country for vaccinations, where at least 70% of the island’s population have received one dose of either Sinovac or AstraZeneca.
“It’s not just about the number of first-day arrivals but it’s about how we get the confidence of tourists, people and government to extend to another area,” Siripakorn Cheawsamoot, the deputy governor for international marketing at the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said.
Many residents of Phuket have seen their livelihoods disappear overnight due to the collapse of international travel as the pandemic spread around the world.
The island’s economy is heavily reliant on foreign travellers and the impact has been felt by almost all businesses.
