Thailand is to allow vaccinated travellers from South Africa into its ‘sandbox scheme’.
The scheme was first announced in July. It’s an innovative idea in which vaccinated foreign visitors may fly direct to Phuket and then stay on certain islands – but they may not leave their island for seven days. After the initial seven days, the travellers may continue their journey to the other parts of Thailand, quarantine-free.
According to the website of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the islands in the sandbox scheme are Phuket, Surat Thani (Ko Samui, Ko Pha-ngan, and Ko Tao), Phang-Nga (Khao Lak and Ko Yao), and Krabi (Ko Phi Phi, Ko Ngai and Railay Beach).
Fully vaccinated tourists can now land in Phuket and immediately travel straight to the designated areas of Phang-Nga and Krabi for their seven days.
Thailand is looking to rebuild its decimated tourism industry after COVID travel restrictions reduced it from its accustomed 40 million visitors a year in 2019, to a trickle.
When the ‘sandbox scheme’ first opened three months ago, residents of South Africa were excluded – there was a ‘green’ list of welcome countries in the scheme. But on October 1, Thailand lifted the listing of countries (by the level of COVID-19 transmission risks) for the sandbox tourists. This means travellers from any country in the world are welcome to the sandbox programme, according to the TAT website.
It is believed that three PCR tests will be required, on days one and five and the final day of the guest’s stay, but this is to be confirmed.
