Samui Airport Sees First International Tourists Since Lockdown

1. The project includes Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, and Koh Tao islands of Surat Thani province.
2. All travelers went through standard operating procedures for transport and health factors.
3. The visitors will be quarantined for 7 days at Area Quarantine hotels for the first 3 days and able to travel on sealed routes after that time.

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The first group of foreign visitors included about 10 tourism-related YouTubers and bloggers from Asian and European nations that were invited by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

Welcoming the visitors, was Thanet Phetsuwan, Deputy Governor for Marketing Communications at the Tourism Authority of Thailand. The travelers all underwent the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which covered their transport and health factors, he said.

According to Mr. Thanet, the visitors will stay at Area Quarantine (AQ) hotels for 3 days. There are 19 hotels with about 400 rooms altogether that provide this service.

From day 4 to day 7, they can travel on “Sealed Routes” with tour firms certified for the Samui Plus standard.

The Samui Plus Model might not be able to expect as many visitors as those in the Phuket Sandbox project but it informed the international community that Koh Samui and nearby islands were ready to welcome international tourists and guarantee their safety, Mr. Thanet said.

Health measures of the Samui Plus Model were stricter than those of Phuket, he said.

Sealed Routes

Under the Samui Plus Model, vaccinated tourists can book travel under the Sealed Route program as the registration for certificate of entry (COE) was opened on Monday, July 12, 2021.