ENTER THE SANDBOX

Thailand’s ambitious “Phuket Sandbox” programme aims to reboot international tourism without quarantine

WORDS DAVID LUEKENS

Roaring applause met the 23 passengers who strolled off Etihad Airways’ flight EY 430 at Phuket International Airport on July 1, 2021. They weren’t rock stars or Olympic medallists returning home, they were travellers – the first international travellers to enter Thailand without quarantine since March 2020. Even Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was on hand to welcome all four international flights that day. The Phuket Sandbox is an experiment for vaccinated travellers. Those who test negative for Covid-19 before and after arrival can skip quarantine and freely roam Thailand’s largest island. After testing negative on two more swab tests, taken over two weeks, they can also visit other parts of the country. Its early success is making tourism industry observers cautiously optimistic. “The Phuket Sandbox is a work in progress,” says Bill Barnett,…

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Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Edition (Digital) - 1 Issue, September-October 2021

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