Phuket’s hopes were gradually fading

Launching the Covid-19 vaccination program and a plan to welcome international tourists, hoping to revive Phuket’s ever more fragile tourism industry due to a resurgence of the epidemic.
Like many businesses on Patong Beach in Phuket, the crowded, bustling Hooters bar today dissipates, rusted furniture, almost no longer working.

This scene seems to clearly illustrate the devastation of the Covid-19 epidemic on the tourism industry of the Golden Temple, especially on an island famous for its never-sleeping nightlife, which once attracted about 15 million. visitors per year, according to New York Times. Just a few weeks ago, Phuket seemed ready for a comeback. After a year away from foreign tourists, the Thai government decided to allow vaccinated visitors to Phuket in July without going through quarantine. This is part of a project called the Phuket Sandbox. However, the land of the Golden Temple is facing the worst outbreak of Covid-19 since the pandemic began, partly due to the rich people coming to Phuket, Bangkok to party without adhering to the social gap. Due to the epidemic, Phuket’s beaches are deserted even at the time of year attracting tourists. The number of new daily reported infections increased from 26 on 1 April to more than 2,000 just three weeks later. In early December 2020, Thailand had only 4,000 cases of Covid-19. For months, Thailand’s strict quarantine, blockade and mandatory masking measures have helped limit the spread of the epidemic despite having a significant impact on the economy. But in the latest outbreak, the country’s government responded slowly. In Phuket alone, it was not until April 22, when cases of SARS-CoV-2 were recorded at a record high, did the local government begin to request Covid-19 screening for those arriving on the island. On April 18, the Thai tourism minister admitted that Phuket reopening on July 1 seems unlikely because it will depend on the anti-epidemic situation in Thailand. Bleak In preparation for Phuket Sandbox, the Thai government has provided a variety of vaccines to the island, in hopes of gaining public immunity by the summer. As of mid-April, more than 20% of Phuket’s residents have been vaccinated. However, the picture is still very bleak. Usually at this time of year, the golden sands of Patong Beach will be overflowing with foreign tourists. But now, they are almost abandoned, where some local residents line up for Covid-19 tests. On the way, reptiles can freely move around without fear of being hit by traffic. The absence of international tourists makes life difficult for local residents in Phuket. In mid-April, the Songkran festival is seen as a rehearsal for Phuket’s revival. Instead of foreign visitors, hotels try to attract wealthy locals who, if not for the pandemic, would have gone to Hokkaido (Japan) for a vacation or to shop in Paris (France). However, rather than preparing for a comeback as a tourist paradise, the Songkran festival seems to have spoiled the island’s chances of reopening in July. At the festival in Patong and other beaches in April, thousands of wealthy Thais party, wear bikinis more than masks. To them, Covid-19 is just a virus that can infect vegetable vendors or manual labor, not the upper class. However, subsequent viral test results showed how wrong their thinking was. Many local workers had to line up to receive food assistance due to loss of jobs during the epidemic. The outbreak of the epidemic after months of economic difficulties is also causing the majority of Phuket’s residents to suffer. Just watching a 3-year-old elephant nibble on a cane nearby, Jaturaphit Jandarot lay slowly swinging in a hammock, with nothing else to do. Before the pandemic, he and other elephant managers on the outskirts of Patong used to bring in more than 100 tourists a day, mostly from China. “I am delighted to know they will open Phuket to foreign tourists. Thais do not ride elephants, “Jandarot said. But no matter what the tourism situation, the elephants still need to be fed. . “Of course, we want to welcome people to Phuket, but when they do not defend themselves and bring Covid-19 here, I am somewhat angry,” said Huda Panan, a primary school teacher. Being a taxi driver, unemployed for a year. At one point, mosques in Phuket distributed food to the local people. The long line of people quickly ran out of food. “We can wait a little longer to improve Phuket situation, but not too long,” said Panan.