(30 Jun 2021) Somsak Betlao covered the outboard motor on his traditional Thai wooden longtail boat, wrapping up another day on Phuket's Patong beach where not a single tourist needed his services shuttling them to nearby islands.
In better times, Somsak was earning more than $100 a day, but this month the 42-year-old has taken home only $40 from a single customer.
Like many others on the Thai resort island, he's pinning his hopes on a government scheme to bring the tourists back starting July 1 known as the Phuket Sandbox.
Since Thailand's pandemic quarantine restrictions on travel in early 2020, tourism has fallen off a cliff. Nowhere has it been more felt than the resort island off the southern tip of the country, where nearly 95% of the economy is related to the industry.
So even though coronavirus numbers are again rising around the rest of Thailand, prompting new lockdown measures, officials say there's too much at stake not to forge ahead with the plan reopen the island to fully-vaccinated travelers.
Under the sandbox plan Phuket visitors will be restricted to Thailand's largest island, where they can lounge on the white beaches, jet ski off the coast, and enjoy evenings eating out in restaurants.
Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, president of Phuket Tourism Association who helped spearhead the program, said the reopening is necessary for the island.
"For Phuket, Sandbox is representing hope," said Bhummikitti.
In preparation, some 70% of the island's approximately 450,000 residents have had at least one vaccine, and the hospitality industry reports that all frontline workers in restaurants, hotels and elsewhere have been fully vaccinated.
At the Phuket Simon Cabaret, a 600-seat venue that has been closed for more than a year, some crew returned this week to start checking lighting and other systems, while workers spruced up the dresses worn by its transgender dancers, sewing on new glitter and colorful feathers.
"We are entering into this fight wanting to win," owner Pornthep Rouyrin said defiantly, adding that the cabaret would not open immediately, and that its dancers might start with smaller shows in hotels and restaurants until larger number of tourists start to arrive.
While other business prepare for a comeback, Bangla walking street near a popular Patong beach remains quiet.
Bars and clubs are not allowed to open yet as authorities fear social distancing rules will be difficult to implement.
Weerakit Krueasombat, head of Patong Entertainment Business Association, is pleading for the government for help as it is now clear that nightlife workers who have been out of work for more than a year are excluded from this reopening scheme.
The Phuket sandbox is broadly part of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha's plan announced earlier this month to have Thailand completely reopened within 120 days.
For the opening day on July 1, there will be flights arriving from Qatar, followed by one from Israel and then Singapore.
Despite some restrictions and kinks of reopening, some said the upside is that visitors will be greeted by a Phuket not seen for decades, thanks to the lack of people over the past year.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
