As Thai authorities continue to prove they are clueless about if or how to allow foreign tourists to return to the country after a ban on all foreign visitors began at the end of March, Phuket’s governor confirmed today there will be no foreign tourists in Phuket until after October 25th, 2020.
In other words, once Phuket’s Vegetarian Festival has ended.
The first tourists, a group of 120 from China, were scheduled to arrive in Phuket tomorrow, October 8th. That, however, has changed due to paperwork delays on the Thai end.
Now it looks like it will be several weeks more before foreign tourists are allowed back to Thailand, if then. Tourists that could help the country’s collapsing tourism industry, and prevent over 8 million Thais becoming newly unemployed by the end of the year.
Phuket Governor Narong Woonsiw confirmed foreign tourists are not arriving in Phuket tomorrow while on a local radio show ‘Governor Meet Media‘ earlier today.
He also stated he had not received an order from the Thai Ministry of the Interior to ready the island for international tourists.
Of course, this latest news does not surprise most foreigners currently watching the news in an effort to find out if they will ever be allowed back into Thailand.
Foreigners, some of whom, own townhouses, cars and other property in Thailand they cannot now access.
After all, it has become obvious in recent weeks, the Thai government has little interest in allowing most foreign visitors to return as, if they did, they would be doing everything they could to make it happen.
Instead, they are half-heartedly putting into place ridiculous and expensive requirements for a so-called Special Tourist Visa or planning for 120 Chinese tourists who have yet to arrive. (Article cont. below…)
Is Thailand’s Special Tourist Visa program happening in 2020? Highly unlikely — Opinion
120 tourists that, according to them, will help save the Thai tourism industry, instead of the 40 million tourists that were projected to arrive in the Kingdom by the end of 2020.
If the Thai government hadn’t panicked about a virus that, for most people that contract it, causes little more than minor cold symptoms that is.
Here at Tasty Thailand, we will keep you updated about any developments to this story.
As it stands at the moment, however, if you have been following the news about foreign tourists in Phuket with the hope you too could visit, as this story seems to infer, that will continue to not be possible any time soon.
