More than 2 million tourism workers have lost their jobs since the pandemic, Tourism Council of Thailand president Chamnan Srisawat said on Tuesday, with more than one-third of tourism businesses temporarily closed.

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

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

But even with Phuket being the first holiday destination in the region to resume business under a “sandbox” scheme that will be a test case for other popular tourist spots, tourism industry observers and local business owners say it will take a long time to return to a pre-pandemic situation.

Phiphat, the tourism minister, told Bloomberg that 100,000 tourists were expected to visit Phuket in the next three months. Travelling during this time would come with a higher price tag, due to requirements such as Covid-19 insurance cover and multiple tests.

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“During pre-pandemic times, travel costs here may be 50,000 baht (US$1,560) per week, but now it will have increased to at least 70,000 baht a week,” he said.

Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, president of the Phuket Tourist Association, said some 300 visitors on Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways flights were to arrive in Phuket on Thursday, though he could not confirm their countries of origin.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said the likes of British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates and Israel’s El Al had also announced flights to the island – where, as of June 26, there would be more than 1,300 places of accommodation, restaurants, and tour agencies ready to open their doors to visitors.

However, this is a fraction of what Phuket used to offer. “Before Covid-19, Phuket offered 120,000 hotel rooms, but from July [only] about 30 per cent of those will reopen,” Bhummikitti said.

Phuket Hotels Association president Anthony Lark in a recent seminar said he expected occupancy rates to be around 10 per cent to 20 per cent between July and October, up from less than 10 per cent since the pandemic hit last year. Occupancy could pick up after October, when the island entered its high season, he said.

Wari, who owns a 30-room hotel on the popular Patong beach, said there was no point reopening his establishment this week as Thailand – and the World Health Organization (WHO) – had yet to approve the Russian-made Sputnik vaccine.

“I catered mostly to Russian visitors for the past 20 years,” said Wari, who asked for his name to be changed for this story. The sandbox programme is only open to tourists who have received vaccinations approved by the Thai authorities and the WHO, something Bhummikitti from the Phuket Tourist Association said represented “lost opportunities”. On top of this, visitors to Phuket must stay in venues with a Safety and Health Administration Plus (SHA Plus) certificate for at least 14 days before being allowed to travel to the rest of the country. To get certified, 70 per cent of the establishments’ employees must be fully vaccinated.

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However, some business owners did not apply for SHA Plus because they found some regulations difficult to follow.

Khemmanun Khankhew, a member of the Massage and Spa Promotion Association who owns two massage shops on the island, said a separate SHA Plus requirement for all employees to register in the national social security system was not viable for smaller businesses that relied on part-time masseuses who often rotated between shops and were required to work only when customers had made bookings.

“SHA Plus makes Phuket look as if those [businesses] with the certificates are safe, while other places are not,” she said, adding that its implementation meant benefits from the sandbox project were concentrated among larger businesses.

Businesses on the island also face staffing shortages since more than 80 per cent of its tourism workers come from other parts of Thailand, according to hotel owner Wari. He said as most Thais had not been fully vaccinated, they were unlikely to return to the island.

Bhummikitti said Thais who have not been given a jab or have not had a Covid-19 test would not be allowed to enter Phuket.

“[This would mean] that small businesses like guest houses will not be able to get the SHA Plus certificate, and since bars remain closed and restaurants are allowed to open until 11pm, visitors will stay mostly in hotels and on the beach,” Wari said.

The Phuket reopening comes in the same week that the Thai capital of Bangkok is going through another lockdown amid a surge in Covid-19 cases. Thailand had reported close to 255,000 cases as of Tuesday, more than 220,000 of which were tallied between April and June this year. Analysts have warned this could affect the country’s image at a time when tourists need to feel confident about visiting, especially as its vaccination efforts lag. As of Monday, 9.4 million doses had been administered in Thailand, with 2.6 million people having been fully vaccinated.

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In order to inoculate 50 million people by the end of December to achieve herd immunity, the government needs to ensure close to 485,000 people receive a jab every day, but numbers are well below that. On Monday, only about 269,000 doses were given. Phuket, where vaccinations have been given a push ahead of the planned reopening, has been able to keep the daily caseload low. Nearly 700 new cases have been reported since April, compared with more than 60,000 in Bangkok over the same period.

Still, Bill Barnett, managing director of hospitality consulting group C9 Hotelworks, said Phuket had yet to feel the full impact of the pandemic.

“The worst is likely to come in the remaining part of this year, given the market has shifted focus to international arrivals and restricted domestic movement, but for now it’s a long-haul story,” he said.

“It’s not ideal and it’s just baby steps. This takes time, we have to learn to travel again. There is no handbook or manual that has prepared the travel industry for Covid-19.”

Additional reporting by Bloomberg and Reuters