A widespread outbreak could not only jeopardise the July 16 “Samui Plus” reopening scheme for Koh Samui, diving hotspot Koh Tao, and the full moon party island of Koh Phangan, but also prematurely shut the sandbox initiative.

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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

Health officials expect nationally recorded coronavirus deaths this week to exceed 100 a day, with 10,000 daily infections.

In Bangkok, grim images of queues of sick people lying unattended outside hospitals and testing centres are driving fears of a health system on the verge of being overwhelmed.

The capital is under a virtual lockdown, with authorities imposing an overnight curfew, shutting restaurants and spas, and restricting travel – shredding Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha’s vow made just 20 days ago that the country would open fully by mid-October.

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The outbreak is badly timed for Phuket’s reopening party despite the island having low infection rates and the vaccine uptake of its 420,000 people approaching 70 per cent – well over the 5 per cent inoculated nationally.

“The concern right now is another spread of virus, but let’s test out the vaccines,” said Vorasit Issara, managing director of the five-star Sri Panwa hotel and residences.

He anticipates a late July opening for most of his 130 luxury villas, perched on a cape whose sunsets are beloved by Instagrammers and international celebrities, from Rihanna to Snoop Dogg and Rita Ora.

“We get enquiries every day from everywhere … but Europeans and Americans will realistically return in December as everyone knows it’s now the rainy season,” he told This Week in Asia.

But there was one ingredient likely to remain absent from the island’s recipe for a real rebound for many months yet. “We’re missing the Chinese … this is the season for them to come,” Vorasit said.

China is maintaining a strict quarantine for its residents returning from overseas and Thailand’s virus surge is likely to play badly to authorities in its largest market for visitors.

Meanwhile, although the “Samui Plus” programme still carries a seven-day quarantine before allowing vaccinated tourists to hop between the islands, the optics of a deadly virus surge in the country are not good, hoteliers say.

“We have zero-to-low cases on Samui, but now international travellers will be scared to come because of the overall numbers in Thailand,” Kamin Tangknont, owner of Darasamui Beach Resort, a four-star hotel on Samui. “We haven’t had any income for almost a year now. It’s been hard. We haven’t had any help from the government.”

For now, those who have made it to Phuket – a mix of investors, returning expats and tourists – have been positive about the island’s reopening despite the inconvenience of strict entry requirements and tests during the first days of their stay.

“The sand is white, the water is blue and the people have a nice vibe,” said Charles Chevalier, a missionary from the US who arrived in Phuket on July 1. “My friends back home are seeing all the nice photos … and they’re hating me right now.”

Phuket’s reopening marks baby steps for Thailand’s pandemic exit

Shortly after the reopening, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) released upbeat videos on Phuket’s success, while top hotels flooded their social media accounts with the first arrivals enjoying glorious sunset views.

A TAT official said some 170,000 nights had been booked at the island’s hotels until September.

But as the fireworks and fanfare which greeted the reopening of Phuket died down, issues almost immediately emerged showing the complexity of any tourism during a pandemic.

As of Monday, Phuket has recorded 11 coronavirus cases among the 4,000 arrivals, according to the TAT.

Positive Covid-19 tests were found among an Emirati family and two young Myanmar nationals, who were all sent into a mandatory two-week hotel quarantine at their own cost.

Premier Prayuth was last week himself forced into self-isolation after posing for a selfie at the “sandbox” launch party with a government official who later tested positive for the virus.

In a further sign of nervousness of Phuket’s authorities, on Friday all schools and universities were ordered to close for two weeks.

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As the death toll multiplies ominously, Thais fear their country could be poised to be consumed by the virus in a similar manner to Indonesia, which has Southeast Asia’s highest caseload of 2.56 million.

Anger is also building against the Thai government, which is accused of fumbling the vaccine roll-out while failing to compensate workers for months-long closures of restaurants and other businesses.

But officials have warned a spike in cases could see it suspended.

Kamin, the Samui hotelier, praised the “sandbox” for carving out a path back to reopening. “But it should have been done sooner when we were able to manage the pandemic better,” he said. “Now there are just too many variables … high cases and new variants.”

Additional reporting by AFP