Thailand’s Phuket island reopens for vaccinated tourists under quarantine-free ‘sandbox’ scheme

More than 200 tourists have arrived on the first day of Thailand’s quarantine-free tourism pilot programme for the resort island of Phuket. The island, which was hit hard by economic losses during the pandemic, started welcoming fully-vaccinated tourists on July 1, 2021. The arrivals are under the “Phuket sandbox” programme to restart Thailand’s ailing tourism industry that has been reeling from pandemic losses for more than a year.