The Phuket Sandbox is set to be a high-stakes experiment to test the waters and see if the government's plan to reopen the country by October will ever see the light of day.
Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha affirmed the government will proceed with the tourism sandbox plan on condition that health measures are strictly implemented to prevent Covid-10 from spreading.
The PM is expected to kick off the Phuket Sandbox tomorrow when the island will start welcoming tourists who have been vaccinated and certified to be Covid-19 free without quarantine.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), which is the main supporter of the model, has raised high expectations for the reopening plan.
The TAT predicted that the sandbox will draw more than 600,000 tourists, about 129,000 foreign arrivals and 500,000 Thais, to the resort island.
The new flow of visitors is expected to generate cash flow of about 15 million baht in the next three months, according to the tourist authority.
If proven to be successful, the model will be applied for the reopening of other popular tourist destinations including Koh Samui, Koh Tao and Koh Phangan. If everything goes as planned, then the PM's ambitious goal of reopening the country by October, in time for the high tourism season, will gain more traction.
From here to there, the road is long and requires careful steering complete with strict monitoring and compliance with the rules.
The journey starts with the vaccination requirement. Under the plan, the sandbox will go ahead after 70% of people in Phuket have been vaccinated. As of June 27, only 63% of people in the province had received a second Covid-19 vaccine dose, according to the Phuket Public Relations Office.
Safety and Health Administration (SHA) details are numerous under the sandbox plan, all of which will require careful monitoring and strict enforcement. These include pre-screening to ensure that visitors are free of Covid-19 and carry certificates of vaccination, the types of which are endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO), and further checks at intervals during their stay.
Hotel staff and SHA officers must also be able to track the visitors as they move around and take action immediately if their location devices are off. All transport and vehicles must also meet the SHA-plus standards.
Hotel operators in Phuket say they are ready to reopen and have prepared the necessary measures to receive visitors.
The TAT also reported that 460 businesses and 300 hotels in the province have passed sanitation standard tests. The authorities are in the process of ensuring that boat and pier operators can serve visitors safely.
All seems well except problems are often found in implementation. Apparently, the safety and health administration standards demand total compliance. No lapses, flexibilities or relaxations of the rules can be allowed if the sandbox is to avoid causing new outbreaks.
But strict implementation of curbs and total compliance have not been the country's strength, evident from what caused the past three waves. That is why it is crucial for authorities to leave no room for lapses as they put the sandbox model into motion.
If it is proven that the experimental programme goes well and no new clusters emerge from the reopening, the sandbox can offer a glimmer of hope for the long-suffering tourism sector.