Thailand tourism situation

[buksida]

Phuket sandbox bookings ease amid uptick
Forward bookings for the Phuket sandbox in August are decelerating as cases of Covid-19 mount on the southern island province.

Siripakorn Cheawsamoot, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) deputy governor for Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas, said hotel reservations for August over the last few days had grown 10%, down from more than 15% per day prior to the latest outbreak.

As of July 29, 12,599 international travellers entered the Phuket sandbox scheme, with 30 visitors testing positive for Covid-19.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/21 ... mid-uptick

What that means is those that wanted to return to Thailand without being imprisoned in Bangkok have already done so, and nobody else will bother.

[STEVE G]

Yes, apart from those with family or business reasons, going to Thailand for a vacation doesn't make much sense when you can go pretty much anywhere in Europe with a vaccine certificate where everything is opening up now.

[buksida]

Flights canceled, Phuket Sandboxers? How about an expensive, 16-hour ride to Bangkok?
With domestic flights grounded and Phuket island sealed off until at least mid-August, the authorities have come up with a marvelous idea: packing travelers aboard a bus to breathe the same air all 16 hours to Bangkok.

After Phuket authorities announced Monday that they’d dreamed up a “Sandbox Express Bus” to Suvarnabhumi Airport, it was quickly taken apart for being expensive, slow and impractical.

For over twice what such a trip would normally cost, passengers can pay THB1,500 (US$45) for a journey that sets out before dawn and arrives when curfew begins, effectively stranding those who aren’t flying out of the country at the airport.

https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/flight ... o-bangkok/

Amazing Thailand

[migrant]

Saw this article

https://www.huahintoday.com/thailand-ne ... zV_OEivB10

It said 17,000 tourists but Buksida quoted from a Thai official above 12,599

Being a bean counter I did some simple math

335,000 hotel stays / 17,000 tourists = ~ 20 nights stay per tourist. When you factor in that some must be families it works out even higher. Possible? Maybe

1,000,000 spent / 17,000 tourists = 58,824 baht spent per tourist.

I call bullsh*t.

[joelle]

Saw this article

https://www.huahintoday.com/thailand-ne ... zV_OEivB10

It said 17,000 tourists but Buksida quoted from a Thai official above 12,599

Being a bean counter I did some simple math

335,000 hotel stays / 17,000 tourists = ~ 20 nights stay per tourist. When you factor in that some must be families it works out even higher. Possible? Maybe

1,000,000 spent / 17,000 tourists = 58,824 baht spent per tourist.

I call bullsh*t.

Too much or not enough?
Because I think it's not excessive for 2/4 weeks hotel/food/tests all included

[PeteC]

The article says 1 Billion spent?

[buksida]

I'd call bullshit on any stats that the regime or pandering papers are spouting.

[joelle]

The article says 1 Billion spent?

1 Billion that's BS

[Big Boy]

I haven't done the maths this time, but a friend was recently making criticism of a similar report. I did the maths that time, and it translated to about £600/head - over 10 years ago as a family we used to blow around £2,000/head in our first week, and then slow down. Has anybody done the maths on this one yet?

[Robinhood]

Knun Schadenfreude,

Stop knocking the Phuket sandbox , I've been in it for 4 days now and it's working fine!
It's not compulsory, it gives an option of not being confined to a hotel room for 14 days and it's helping some Thai people and businesses.
No full lockdown here

[Dannie Boy]

I haven't done the maths this time, but a friend was recently making criticism of a similar report. I did the maths that time, and it translated to about £600/head - over 10 years ago as a family we used to blow around £2,000/head in our first week, and then slow down. Has anybody done the maths on this one yet?

Using the figures above, 1 B Baht between 17k tourists is about 58,000 Baht/person = £1,250, so definitely not a huge amount!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Big Boy]

Yes, that's more than when I checked it a few weeks back, but not a silly amount to have spent, especially if it includes hotels.

[buksida]

US CDC urges avoiding travel to Thailand, other countries over Covid-19
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned on Monday against travel to Israel, France, Thailand, Iceland and several other countries because of a rising number of Covid-19 cases in those nations.

The CDC has been adding to its highest "Level 4: Very High" Covid-19 level as cases spread around the globe. The United States added Thailand, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, along with other places, including Aruba and French Polynesia.

"Because of the current situation in Thailand, even fully vaccinated travellers may be at risk for getting and spreading Covid-19 variants," the CDC said on its website.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... r-covid-19

China also has travel restrictions I think so you gotta wonder where all these "tens of thousands" of sandboxers are coming from. My guess is that the number is a fraction of what is reported with the majority of those long-termers avoiding Bangkok, not tourists.

[handdrummer]

Is the US on it's own list?

[PeteC]

Tomorrow is a holiday. I would expect many will take Friday as well. I'm sure the BMW and Benz march to the south will be significant, perhaps even starting this evening.