Chairman of the Corporation Chamnan Srisawat told the page ttgasia : “The current wave of Covid-19 infections may affect the final decision. But when we have been suffering from a pandemic for 15 months now, only mass tourism can save us.” Officials in Phuket have placed tight restrictions to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and are speeding up vaccinations to achieve herd immunity by the end of next month. Phuket is now close to the goal of vaccination against Covid-19 for 70% of its residents so that it can open its doors to foreign tourists. Locals say they are ready to welcome tourists on July 1 as planned. In 2019, Thailand welcomed nearly 40 million visitors, generating about $60 billion in revenue. Photo: livingnomads.com The tourist island of Phuket is expected to reopen and welcome international visitors from July. Thus, Phuket will be the first locality of Thailand to reopen, followed by 10 other destinations in October. Under this plan, travelers in low-risk countries who are fully vaccinated will be allowed to fly directly to Phuket without the need for a 14-day quarantine. It is forecasted that in 2021, Phuket will only welcome about 500,000 visitors, much less than the 6.7 million arrivals in the first months of 2020. Before the Covid-19 epidemic, 2019, Thailand welcomed nearly 40 million. visitors, generating about 60 billion USD in revenue. Currently in Phuket there are about 70,000 accommodation rooms. Mr. Chamnan Srisawat expects about 1 million room nights sold in July, bringing in about 40 billion baht ($1.28 billion) to the hotel and service industry. Mr. Chamnan Srisawat added: “In preparation for the reopening of Phuket, we have discussed with major suppliers and travel agents. They are all ready to help.” Phuket is an attractive destination of the Thai tourism industry. Photo: The Thaiger TCT’s proposal has been submitted to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the Ministry of Tourism & Sports of Thailand, then submitted to the Government of this country for approval in June. If the campaign is “one USD, one night” As a result of Phuket’s success, the Thai government and private sector could expand the program to other destinations such as Koh Samui, Pattaya and Bangkok.

Thai people get vaccinated against Covid-19 at Bang Sue Station in Bangkok. (Photo by Bangkok Post Office) On June 15, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha apologized to the people for delays in the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination program and said there were many reasons for the delay. this late. The Bangkok Post quoted Prayut as saying that the Thai government only received small batches of vaccines, not large batches at the same time. At the same time, vaccine shortages and delay in vaccination schedules only occur at vaccination sites with high vaccination capacity and have used up allotted vaccines. According to Prayut, the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines cannot be done quickly, and the production and quality control of vaccines are very time consuming. Many other countries in the world also have this problem. In addition, Thailand’s vaccination program was also adjusted to speed up the vaccination of high-risk groups in epidemic areas, thereby controlling the epidemic and protecting the activities of health workers. machine. This also affects some people who have previously registered for the Covid-19 vaccine. In addition, the vaccination process also involves many agencies and organizations, and misunderstandings can occur in the immunization coordination process. Prayut said those who had already registered for the vaccine but had their appointment rescheduled would not have to re-register and their registration would remain valid. He said: “As the Prime Minister and Director of the Thai Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), I am the commander-in-chief of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic in Thailand. I apologize for the problems that have occurred and I will take full responsibility.” Prayut said the government has distributed 7 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to provinces across the country and so far 6.5 million doses have been administered to people. He affirmed that he also closely follows information about vaccinations and does his best to solve problems that arise. “We will find ways to solve the problems to ensure the maximum benefit for the people and reduce their anxiety,” he said. The Thai government has now ordered 100 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to immunize about 50 million people, or 70% of the country’s population, this year. Prayut confirmed that Thailand will order more vaccines to be able to increase the number of people vaccinated to 80 to 90% of the population next year.

The apology was made by Prime Minister Prayuth after the Thai public expressed displeasure over the slow implementation of the vaccination campaign. Prime Minister Prayuth said that despite ordering a large number of vaccines, the Thai government has only received a small amount of the vaccine. Vaccines are now concentrated in large vaccination points, with faster vaccination rates, where almost all of the vaccines they are distributed are used up. Although Thailand has been transferred technology, the production of a vaccine takes a long time, not to mention the quality control procedures, which every country has to face, Prime Minister Prayuth said. Prime Minister Prayuth Chanocha. Photo: Khaosad. In addition, vaccination is currently focused on the most vulnerable populations in high-risk outbreak areas in the Thai capital, in order to prevent the disease from spreading, as well as to maintain the operation of health facilities. factory. This affects those who have already signed up for vaccinations, Prime Minister Prayuth acknowledged. In addition, Prayuth also said that the vaccination campaign involved many organizations, and the lack of harmony in the coordination process also affected the speed of vaccination deployment. The Thai government has ordered 100 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, with plans to vaccinate 50 million people, or 70% of the population, this year. Prime Minister Prayuth said Thailand’s goal is to buy enough vaccines to raise vaccination rates to 80-90%.

Phuket province is rushing to vaccinate against Covid-19 to prepare to open tourism on July 1. (Photo: Phuket News) The Thai government has officially given the green light to the plan to reopen the tourist island of Phuket to foreign tourists who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 from July 1. However, visitors to Phuket will have to stay on the island for at least 14 days before they can leave for other provinces. Under the chairmanship of Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the meeting of the Center for Handling the Thai Economic Situation (Cesa) on June 4 reviewed and officially approved the reopening plan. Phuket tourism is submitted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the Ministry of Sports and Tourism of Thailand. Accordingly, from July 1, Phuket will become the first province in Thailand to welcome back foreign tourists and exempt those who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. According to Thailand’s Minister of Sports and Tourism Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, this tourism opening program called “Phuket Tourism Sandbox” will be seen as a model for the opening up of Thailand’s entire tourism industry. However, in the approved plan, foreign tourists coming to Phuket will have to stay on the island for 14 days, a week longer than previously planned, before they can continue their journey to other destinations. in Thailand. Mr. Phiphat said officials attending the meeting also agreed to reopen to tourism for Bangkok, Cha-am district of Phetchaburi province, Hua Hin district of Prachuap Khiri Khan province, Pattaya city of Chon Buri province. , Chiang Mai and Buri Ram provinces from October 1. However, at this meeting, CESA has not approved the plan to reopen Krabi and Koh Samui to international visitors from July because the agency wants to evaluate the results of the reopening of Phuket within the next two months. According to Mr. Phiphat, the main reason why these 10 provinces were selected to participate in the pilot tourism opening program in the fourth quarter of this year is because these provinces bring a huge source of income from tourism. In 2019, the total tourism income of these provinces reached 1.5 trillion baht (equivalent to 48 billion USD). There are already a number of Israeli tourists scheduled to arrive in Phuket on July 7, while visitors from the US will fly to the tourist island two days later. Mr. Phiphat also expressed confidence that at least 70% of Phuket residents and 100% of local tourism staff will be fully vaccinated before the time the island opens. As of June 2, about 60% of the 466,587 residents of Phuket have been vaccinated with at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, of which 98,795 have been fully vaccinated.

A taxi with an icon of Grab online ride-hailing application circulating in Thailand (Photo Bloomberg) On May 26, the Thai government approved a draft allowing the use of personal cars to register for taxi booking services through the application, a move that benefits technology drivers who already provide the service. without legal status for many years. While taxi-hailing apps are becoming more and more popular, Thai law still does not recognize car owners using their personal vehicles to pick up passengers, nor register the vehicle as a taxi. Thai Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob said that the agency is currently studying regulations to legalize technology taxi services and is expected to publish at the end of June 2021 in the Royal Gazette. According to Mr. Saksayam, after the new regulation is issued, companies that own technology taxi-hailing applications will be allowed to apply for a license to operate the service. In addition, drivers who register to use the service need to meet conditions such as having a license to drive a public transport vehicle, passing a criminal background check by the Royal Thai Police and Only taxi-hailing apps approved by the Thai Ministry of Transport are allowed. Traisuree Taisaranakul, deputy spokeswoman for the government, said the move helped drivers legally use their private vehicles to provide services. According to Ms. Traisuree, vehicles used as technology taxis must not be more than 9 years old, in addition, these vehicles must be equipped with communication equipment approved by the Department of Transport and have a logo showing provision of taxi services through an electronic system. Regarding the service fee, for small and medium-sized vehicles, the service fee should not exceed 50 Baht (about 1.6 USD) for the first 2 km. After the first 2 km, the fare must not exceed 12 Baht/km. For large vehicles, the service fee is capped at 200 Baht for the first 2 km, then no more than 50 Baht for every kilometer thereafter. In another development, the Thai government is urging online food ordering platforms to reduce their gross profit (GP), or commission fees collected from food vendors, from around 30% to around 30%. 15%, to support food businesses that are heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Accordingly, online food ordering platforms such as Gojek or Line Man have now reduced their GP rates by 25%. Meanwhile, Grab does not charge a commission to its selling partners between May 12 and August 1, 2021. In addition, the above platforms also commit to holding promotional campaigns with free shipping fees for specified distances to support costs for consumers.