PHUKET tourism players have called for some of the strict Covid-19 curbs to be relaxed in the island as it will boost the tourism sandbox scheme.
Although authorities are handling a new surge of up to 200 infections a day in the resort island, it is not caused by foreign tourists coming there for holidays.
Phuket Tourism Council (PTC) president Thanet Tantipiriyakit said the latest cases were not caused by tourists and were mostly local transmissions.
According to a Bangkok Post report, he wants disease control measures to be eased to allow local visitors who are fully vaccinated and pass swab tests, to enter the province to boost its economic recovery.
The Federation of Thai Industries' Phuket Chapter president Chernporn Kanchanasaya said September will be a pivotal month and it was essential to vaccinate as many local residents as possible.
She also said the Digital Economy Promotion Agency was expected to set up smart checkpoints to screen visitors in October.
"The best measures must be put in place before people are allowed to enter Phuket,'' she said.
Sarayuth Mallam, chief adviser to the PTC, said that if the island was put under a two-month lockdown, it could spell doom for the Phuket sandbox scheme.
"Foreign consuls have said foreign visitors already feel deceived after arriving in Phuket. If the province is locked down again, no visitors will come at all," he said.
"Tourists from Bangkok and Europe will disappear during the high season. We need to strike a balance to co-exist with Covid," Sarayuth added.
He said European tourists want to wine and dine, but they can't do anything now and many have said they feel cheated.
"If Phuket was not ready, then why reopen? Without an easing of the curbs, all will be ruined," Sarayuth said.
The Post said Phuket governor Narong Woonciew was stepping up efforts to contain the surge of infections as quickly as possible, with transmissions increasing among residents and migrant workers.
With the spikes in local infections, the prospects for the Phuket sandbox scheme may look dimmer now than when it first started, he said.
"We have to do everything we can to get through this difficult situation and hope case numbers will slow down.
"We have to join forces and move forward. This is a life and death situation for the future of Phuket sandbox,'' the governor said.
Meanwhile, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said authorities should grant Indian tourists permission to visit as Covid-19 infections on the subcontinent has improved significantly.
The Indian market is forecasted to have 21,000 tourists generating at least 938 million baht in the fourth quarter under a best-case scenario that allows them to visit Phuket and six other tourist spots.
According to the Post, TAT's Mumbai office director Cholada Siddhivarn said the Indian market was the third largest for Thai tourism in 2019 as it logged nearly two million tourists and 80 billion baht in receipts.
Indian tourists took about 26.3 million overseas trips prior to the pandemic and have recently resumed trips to the Maldives, Dubai and the United Kingdom as those destinations have lifted restrictions.
The TAT is particularly keen on attracting high-spending Indian visitors, as its survey of 300 travel agents suggested 34 per cent want to promote Thailand packages to mid-market customers, 27 per cent for the luxury segment, while 24 per cent targeted the budget segment.
"We used to have more than 300 flights per week connecting Bangkok and Phuket with New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore," said Cholada.
She said the crucial factor was quarantine-free entry because 80 per cent of Indian arrivals stay less than seven days.
She said Indians continue to make inquiries with the TAT on having weddings in Thailand during the November to January period.
Each year, Thailand organises roughly 300 Indian weddings, costing at least five to six million baht per wedding, with each having about 200 guests.