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Published on : Tuesday, September 8, 2020
Over Saturday and Sunday, all the famous names of Thai tourism travelled all over Phuket, speaking to all the local tourism players and officials in regards to the situation on the island and collected information about the so-called “Phuket model” which had been recommended to open the island to limited tourism from October 1st, 2020. The delegation rolled into one when the island was going through its busiest seasons as the international airport of the island remained closed in April, due to the 4 day long weekend.
The head of the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Tourism and sports minister on the very onset made it crystal clear that the October 1 starting date for any final model to re-introduce tourism to Phuket, was improbable to be met.
The deputy ministers, MPs and officials traveled the island, speaking to tourism operators, leaders and residents. The TAT Governor, Yuthasak Supasorn two days back mentioned that the launch of the “Phuket model” was most probably to be pushed back.
While highlighting perceived anxieties about reopening Phuket to tourism, Deputy PM and Public Health Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul urged locals to be “confident as the province aims to navigate and overcome the challenges posed by the global Covid-19 pandemic”.
As they toured various communities in Phuket, they stated that they’d been dispatched on Thai PM’s direct instructions to get together information and speak to tourism players to evaluate the way to move forward on re-opening the island. Maximum time was spent in the Phuket Town and Patong communities, the 2 main business hubs in Phuket.
The cavalcade observed that Phuket Town was still crowded with local traffic and business doing pretty nice but that Patong was a shadow of its former self with a minute proportion of businesses open and the streets empty.
At the Baan Kamnan Restaurant, a formal meeting was arranged which was also attended by the Patong Mayor Chalermluck Kebsup, President of the Patong Entertainment Business Association, Weerawit Kreuasombat and Patong business entrepreneur Prab Keesin. There were almost 100 people taking part in the meeting.
To quote the Tourism Minister Phiphat, “We will draft a summary of this information and report it to the Prime Minister”.
“I believe that the Phuket Model is likely to not start on October 1, mainly due to fear among Phuket people.”
Tags: thai tourism