hello everyone and welcome back again into another vlog from live love thailand lately
we have made a vlog about phuket and especially patong city where we showed how everything has
changed because of the latest outbreak and how things were so calm in this beautiful
island where almost everything was gone with the wind and turned the city into a ghost town after
too many opening plans proposed travel bubbles and so much more since the beginning of this year
finally came the phuket sandbox plan and against all odds the sandbox started in july hoping to
attract tourists and save phuket as much as possible by bringing back some life to the island
the hopes were big and the willing tourists that were waiting for a long time to visit thailand
without quarantine were excited to the sandbox plan so on one hand phuket was getting ready
to welcome tourists after a long closure and on the other hand tourists were excited to be there
after more than one year so what really happened and was the sandbox a good plan for real tourists
and why phuket now proposes full reopening plan instead of the sandbox
as we said sandbox plan started from the beginning of july
but the requirements and the complications were a lot and it was not a perfect way for regular
tourists to enjoy their vacation instead an alternative for the 15 days quarantine
tourists who are willing to join the sandbox were obliged to follow many requirements
besides the complications and the extra expenses
so all in all a two weeks mandatory stay in the island certified hotels the extra cost pcr test
besides all the documents and the insurances to apply for a certificate of entry in order to jump
into the plane and try to enjoy a vacation but wait there were other complications on the way too
despite the hard and expensive way to fit in the sandbox plan thousands of people arrived
to phuket since july 1 but was the expectations fulfilled once they were landed in phuket island
of course lots of these people who arrived to cook it it was not their first time
and the picture that they had in their mind from the previous visit
were still on but was that the reality that they faced or things were totally different
well phuket was totally changed and the island that was once full of life busy
streets restaurants massage parlors the walking streets and the booming nightlife were now totally
the opposite all of these things did not exist anymore especially after the last covet wave but
luckily the shores were much more beautiful the city was a calm place with almost empty streets
and it was kind of perfect place to relax and enjoy as a private island but this
picture did not make happy most of the tourists especially with the lack of complete nightlife
the phuket sandbox were followed by some saving spices after adding kosawei plus
and the seven days rule that gives you the advantage to leave the island and spend
another 7 days in other promoted sealed islands and hence to explore more places
instead of getting stuck in phuket but was that sufficient to attract more tourists
things did not change a lot after the sandbox plan and as we said it was an alternative for
the 15 days quarantine and the numbers that arrived although that they were in thousands
but that was not the target so was the sandbox a perfect plan
and what was the expectations of the tourists that they were not encouraged to join the plan
in general what does tourists expect when they jump into the plane freedom fun and budget
adventures if they will have those tree then they are tourists if not then what is it good for
phuket was totally not ready to provide those three essentials
that tourists were looking for the city was completely in another mood
freedom the two weeks stay in the island was the biggest problem for all the regular tourists
hence not everyone flies for a vacation and spends months overseas the second one was
fun and we know that despite all the efforts open businesses and restaurants the beach
and some action did not bring back the fun to pocket and most of the tourists were wondering
what to do rather than being entertained with the provided activities so there was no fun unless
walking and swimming and eating is enough for you to have a vacation after more than 10 hours flight
the third thing was a budget adventure well phuket sandbox plan
was totally far from budget and that was another major problem for regular tourists
in the coming months there will be other sandboxes till thailand opens up without
quarantine but should the same regulations obligations and restrictions have to be
applied to the coming sandboxes if we are looking for better results or real tourists i guess not
if the sandbox plan was successful phuket wouldn't be urging to open up the island fully
without restrictions and avoid the sandbox plan cause the island needs real reopening
rather than hard regulations that most of the real tourists will not fit in so
they expect that in december the island should open fully for the willing tourist
so that life and action can truly be back to phuket
i hope the coming sandboxes could be more tourist friendly
than the phuket one and hopefully thailand opens up more in the coming months so that
next year all the restrictions and obligations can be removed
and make a way to everyone to enjoy just like the old good days i hope you enjoyed
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