Businesses on the southern island of Phuket have welcomed the government’s approval of a quarantine-free re-opening for vaccinated foreigners from July 1. From that date, Phuket will become the first province to waive mandatory quarantine for international arrivals who have been vaccinated against Covid-19. The re-opening is expected to generate over 84 billion baht.
Like many parts of the country that are heavily reliant on tourism, Phuket has been hit hard by the pandemic. Before Covid-19, the island welcomed between 70,000 and 80,000 foreign visitors every day. According to a report in the Bangkok Post, it now gets only around 10,000 visitors, most being Thai. While welcoming news of the imminent re-opening, Thanusak Phungdet from the Phuket Chamber of Commerce says it’s essential to vaccinate 70% of the local population before then.
“We have to procure more vaccines and…
