Last throw of Covid dice?

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has set himself one deadline after another to meet which can easily make or break the government.

Several weeks ago, the government announcement to reopen Phuket’s doors to tourism was applauded. A permanent fixture on the world tourism map, the island province has been among the worst casualties of the Covid-19 pandemic which saw its borders shut in the first quarter of last year.

The tourism sector, which the country depends on heavily for foreign exchange, has been brought to its knees with the entire supply chain, from hotel owners to tour guides, finding themselves out of a job and unemployed for months on end.

A tourism expert said a flickering light at the end of the tunnel for people in the industry went out when the third and…