Three resort islands in Thailand’s Surat Thani province – Samui, Phangan and Tao – will reopen for foreign tourists from July 15 under the “Samui Plus Model” scheme, authorities confirmed.

Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, Secretary-General of the Prime Minister’s Office, said on July 6 that international tourism was ready to resume on the islands as 71.4 percent of residents (89,000 people) had been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Conditions for entry are similar to those imposed by the Phuket Sandbox scheme, which launched on July 1. During the first seven days, all foreign visitors stay on Samui, though they will be permitted to travel around the island on sealed routes.

After their first week, tourists can travel freely around Samui and also to Koh Phangan and Koh Tao.

They will be tested for COVID-19 three times: on their day of arrival, on day six or seven, and on day 12 or 13.

After a complete two week stay in designated areas, tourists with a negative result will be free to travel to other provinces nationwide.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor Yuthasak Supasorn said the number of tourists expected to arrive is estimated at 1,000 in the first 30 days, generating at least 100 million THB (over 3 million USD) for the provincial economy.

He added that there's a possibility that Phuket will reduce its policy of a two-week mandatory stay on the island but on the condition that all tourists are free of COVID-19 in the first 14 days of reopening.

As of July 5, 1,755 tourists had stayed in almost 300 hotels across the island.

The government expects about 100,000 foreign tourists to visit Phuket in the third quarter of this year and generate 8.9 billion THB (278 million USD) in revenue.

Source: VNA