RTL Today – Phuket: Thailand to lift tourist quarantine for popular beach island

Thailand on Friday announced plans for an experimental quarantine-free model in ultra-popular beach destination Phuket, as the kingdom attempts to resuscitate its pandemic-battered economy.

Thailand has imposed massive restrictions visitor arrivals in order to stem coronavirus, but discouraging tourism has led to its economy recording the worst performance since the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

The impact has reverberated across the country’s services sectors — bruising entertainment, retail, hotels and restaurants.

Thailand’s tourism tsar announced Friday that Phuket — renowned for its sandy beaches and sapphire waters — will be used as a test

Tourists who have been vaccinated will be allowed to travel there without mandatory hotel quarantine.

Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said the “Phuket sandbox model” would begin some time from July…