Starting July 1, travellers can visit Phuket without quarantining for the first time since March 2020.

In Thailand’s much-talked over “sandbox” pilot plan, its major island has reopened to vaccinated tourists who are keen to abide by a laundry list of principles made to properly restart tourism amid the pandemic.     

The strategy hinges on a concerted vaccination push to immunize 70% of Phuket’s population, a purpose which area authorities said they met previously this month with 74% of residents having been vaccinated.

Nearby media have questioned this figure, which stands in stark distinction to Thailand’s nationwide vaccination amount of all over 4%. But confirmed Covid scenarios have dramatically fallen in Phuket. The island recorded one-digit every day situations this 7 days, even though Thailand as a full claimed its third-highest daily situation overall — 5,406 infections — on June 27.

The “sandbox” prepare turns Phuket into a screening floor