Phuket ‘7+7’ scheme expands travel options to other islands

Thailand’s ballyhooed sandbox just got a little bigger.

The COVID-19 task force on Monday gave the greenlight to the so-called “7+7” extension to the Phuket sandbox.

Effective immediately, the new program will allow fully vaccinated travelers arriving from abroad to spend seven nights on Phuket and then another seven in select other destinations before being able to move freely around Thailand, current restrictions aside.

Those other destinations include Koh Phi Phi, Koh Ngai, and Railay in Krabi; Khao Lak and Koh Yao in Phang-Nga; and Surat Thani’s three holiday islands of Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao.

Current travel and health measures for the Phuket sandbox remain unchanged. If you wish to go elsewhere for your second seven nights of monitored non-quarantine, however, you must obtain a transfer form from your hotel in Phuket, declaring that you have…