Phuket – Page 3 – आवारा मुसाफिर

Eerily empty, Thai tourist island Phuket desperate to reopen

April 25, 2021357 Views

A year after one of Southeast Asia's most popular fun-and-sun destinations became an eerily quiet shell of empty resorts, shops and nightclubs, residents of the Thai island of Phuket are hoping to save their economy with an inoculation programme. For now, beach umbrellas rest rolled up on vacant hotel verandas, overlooking empty stretches of sand, while mannequins languish in dust-covered windows of shuttered shops. The entrance of a closed hotel is seen at Kata beach in Karon, Phuket Island, Thailand March 31, 2021. REUTERS/Jorge Silva "We are taking the opportunity to put our system to a test", said vice governor of Phuket province, Piyapong Choowong, adding that more than 70% of Phuket's population of about 650,000 would be vaccinated by July 1, when foreign vaccinated visitor...

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Thailand plans to allow foreign tourists to quarantine in resorts

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March 4, 2021955 Views

Thailand’s tourism minister said on Thursday he will propose a plan for foreigners to undertake COVID-19 quarantine in popular tourist areas, including beach resorts, in a bid to help revive the country’s struggling tourism sector. The economy suffered its biggest contraction in over two decades last year as tourism slumped due to the coronavirus pandemic. A man walks on an almost empty beach which usually crowed with tourists following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Pattaya, Thailand. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun/File Photo The hotel quarantine plan is expected to start in April or May in the provinces of Phuket, Krabi, Surat Thani, Chonburi and Chiang Mai, Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn told reporters after meeting with tourism operators and health officials. “Why...

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Phuket plans private vaccination drive, aims October reopening for tourists

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February 3, 2021898 Views

Thailand’s resort island of Phuket is planning private coronavirus vaccinations for 250,000 residents in the hope the government will allow it to fully reopen to foreign tourists by October and save its battered economy, industry officials said. “The people of Phuket are losing hope,” Phuket Tourism Association President, Bhummikitti Ruktaengam said, adding that the island’s economy was at its lowest point in recent history. About 10.5 million of the nearly 40 million foreign visitors to Thailand in 2019 visited Phuket. The Southeast Asian nation had only 6.7 million arrivals nationwide last year due to its coronavirus border closures. Foreign tourism revenue in Phuket dropped 78% to 87.5 million baht ($2.92 million) in 2020 with 2.1 million arrivals. !function(e...

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Thailand to allow long-stay tourists in island of Phuket from October

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

August 23, 2020652 Views

Thailand will allow foreign tourists to visit for longer stays from October, a senior official said on Friday, as the government tries to revive a key economic sector that has been devasted by the coronavirus pandemic. Tourists will have to stay for at least 30 days, with the first 14 days in quarantine in a limited vicinity of their hotel, before they can visit other areas, Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Yuthasak Supasorn told Reuters. The announcement comes after authorities suspended plans to create ‘travel bubbles’ with partner countries as the number of coronavirus cases in Asia rose. “On Oct. 1 we will start in Phuket,” Yuthasak said. Visitors will have to take two coronavirus tests during quarantine before they are able to travel to the rest of the island, M...