Phuket night time businesses say Sandbox has been a huge failure. While the Thai PM and the Tourism Authorities have been proclaiming tens of thousands of tourists spending billions of baht, they haven't seen any benefit at all. ASEAN NOW

Picture: Sanook

 

People who run restaurants, pubs and bars in Phuket's night life areas say that for them the much vaunted Sandbox has been an utter failure.

 

While the Thai PM and the Tourism Authorities have been proclaiming tens of thousands of tourists spending billions of baht, they haven't seen any benefit at all.

 

The only people to have got money are the owners of big hotels. It hasn't filtered down to ordinary people at all.

 

Now they are faced with the third "high season" in a row losing money.

 

One manager told Sanook that when the Sandbox was announced their hopes were high. 

 

They followed all the regulations, got ready and had their staff double and triple vaxxed. 

 

Then they couldn't open. 

 

Picture: Sanook

 

A restaurateur in the night life area said that with the alcohol ban it was pointless opening at all. 

 

"No booze, no point" they said as no one wanted to go out and not be able to drink.

 

They had 100,000 in rent to find and staff salaries to pay - the designation of the Sandbox meant their staff had not even been eligible for state benefits leaving the onus on them to take care of their personnel. 

 

Others spoke of the three - four billion baht generated in the three months just going into the pockets of the big hotels. 

 

Tourists had stayed inside them as they catered to most of their needs. 

 

They had hardly left the big hotels at all.

 

Even small hotels had received zero benefit from the Sandbox. 

 

Others the media spoke to said that the ridiculous hoops that foreign tourists had had to jump through and the onerous expenses they face put off the majority of real tourists who were not people just looking for a way back to resume a life in Thailand. 

 

They said that only if things are made easier for tourists - like in places opening up in Europe - will they come in any decent numbers. 

 

With 10 pm closing, no customers and little hope despite the lifting of the alcohol ban on October 1st, they said that this would be the third high season failure in a row.

 

The Sanook report was a stark contrast to the big noises from the government and the TAT, notes ASEAN NOW. 

 

For the majority on the ground at least in the night time sector that was so big on the holiday island, it has been a complete failure.