PHUKET: Phuket International Airport held a full rehearsal of receiving vaccinated foreign tourists yesterday, ahead of the island reopening to international tourists next Thursday (July 1).
The practice run comes ahead of an expected visit to Phuket by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha tomorrow.
Five international flights will arrive in Phuket on July 1, said a report by the Official Phuket Information Center, operated by the Phuket office of the Ministry of Interior.
A Qatar Airways flight from Doha will arrive at 1:30pm, an EL AL Israel Airlines flight from Tel Aviv will touch down at 1:45pm, a Singapore Airlines flight from Singapore will land at 5:10pm, a Fly Dubai flight from Dubai will land at 8:10pm and an Etihad Airways flight from Abu Dhabi will arrive at 10:20pm.
The flights will bring 440 foriegn arrivals in total.
A report by the Phuket office of the PR Department (PR Phuket) yesterday said that provincial officials expect the number of international arrivals to gradually increase throughout next month, with about 10,000 arrivals in total expected to land in Phuket in July.
Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew led an inspection of the simulation yesterday (June 23), observing the processes tourists will go through before being allowed to leave the terminal.
Joining the inspection were Phuket Airport Director Thanee Chuangchoo, Vachira Phuket Hospital Director Chalermpong Sukontapol and a host of Phuket officers from the Immigration Bureau, Customs, Tourist Police as well as local police and and medical staff from Thalang Hospital.
The rehearsal included passengers disembarking their planes and having their temperature checked before being escorted to each staging area to have their documents processed and verified and swab samples taken.
Phuket is expected to be ready to meet the goals set by the July 1 deadline, Governor Narong said. "With the measures that Phuket Airport has prepared to make tourists who come to be confident in the standards and safety in the implementation of disease control in Phuket," he added.
"For service places, we are not fully open yet. [Restrictions on] Restaurants have been relaxed [for them] to open as usual, but the disease control measures must be strictly followed, wear a mask and keep social distance. The [disease-control] measures we are taking, we should continue, and there will be officers to look after each other for all parties to relieve their concerns," Governor Narong said.
"Many parts are starting to move. Employees are being hired to work. After being closed for a long time, things will come to change suddenly. Many things are being gradually prepared, for example on Friday [tomorrow] we will hold a 'Big Cleaning' event to clean up the whole island, whether it is cleaning beaches, roads and other places, at the same time," he added.